Windows Turning SSD into Bootable USB

chungus

chungus

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I've lost my usb somewhere and I need to install windows in to my friend's PC. I have a SSD which I'm not using, so I was thinking if I could turn it into a Bootable USB by connecting to the sata cable?
If not tell me something that doesn't involve cloning the windows installed in my pc.
I also do not have sata to usb converter
 
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Just seeking a clarification before suggesting: Do you have a usb to sata cable or enclosure to which you can connect the sata ssd to?
 
chungus said:
I've lost my usb somewhere and I need to install windows in to my friend's PC. I have a SSD which I'm not using, so I was thinking if I could turn it into a Bootable USB by connecting to the sata cable?
If not tell me something that doesn't involve cloning the windows installed in my pc.
I also do not have sata to usb converter
Click to expand...
Yes you can, both sata to usb cables and enclosures have a sata-usb controller to translate the protocols. Install Ventoy/easy2boot etc and enjoy. However, it's a bit oversized if you ask me, I tried to use it as a bootable disk/usb but eventually switched to an nvme ssd (Edit: with enclosure ofc) due to smaller footprint. But again if it's lying unused go ahead I am all for reusing your hardware.
 
n1r0 said:
Bruh how can it be USB if you're connecting directly to a mobo SATA port?
Don't think you'll be able to do it using internal SATA. You'll need a cheap USB SATA cable/enclosure
Click to expand...
So no way without buying an enclosure?
 
Technically it's possible, since that's how your OS boots.

The problem is finding a software to write a Windows ISO to a internal drive/partition and make it bootable. If you accidentally wrote it to C:\ you will kill your current OS, so this is not a widely available feature.
Cloning an existing USB bootable media to internal drive/partition and setting that partition to Active should work, but you don't have a USB drive.
 
Try this:
  1. Run diskmgmt.msc
  2. Format the SPARE SSD
  3. Right click the SPARE SSD and select Mark partition as Active
  4. Open the ISO file with 7Zip
  5. Unzip the contents to the SPARE SSD
  6. Reboot and go into BIOS and select the SPARE SSD to boot from
For obvious reasons, I take no responsibility if something goes wrong. There's a reason foolproof softwares exist.
 
n1r0 said:
Technically it's possible, since that's how your OS boots.

The problem is finding a software to write a Windows ISO to a internal drive/partition and make it bootable. If you accidentally wrote it to C:\ you will kill your current OS, so this is not a widely available feature.
Cloning an existing USB bootable media to internal drive/partition and setting that partition to Active should work, but you don't have a USB drive.
Click to expand...
@chungus, you will be able to install ventoy to an internal drive without any issues, though you will have to set the boot order in UEFI and set windows as first priority. However, if you wanna be on the safer side, just remove the main SSD, do your thing and put it back in (You will use an actual bootable USB to do your thing since the main OS will be lying on your desk). No chance of damaging your main OS that way.
 
vishalrao said:
How's this easy2boot tool compared to Ventoy, if you've tried both, your feedback?
Click to expand...
I have tried both and I prefer Ventoy due to it's ease of use with Linux, windows is just cherry on top. Either of them will do the job, pick one and stick with it. I have dedicated 128G ventoy USB stick with everything in it. Ventoy also let's me customize my boot menu, like themes and stuff so it kindda has a personal touch to it.
 
vishalrao said:
How's this easy2boot tool compared to Ventoy, if you've tried both, your feedback?
Click to expand...
I've got Ventoy installed on a NVME drive enclosure. Find it very very useful and hasslefree for troubleshooting and live booting various Linux distros. Just copy the isos on the drive and boot from it and select the iso from the bootmenu and voila you are able to try it. No need to create a liveboot usb for each distro. You have to format the drive only once when you install Ventoy on it.
Prior to ventoy which can be used on almost any usb drive, I had the iodd drive enclosure which offered a similar but hardware based solution. One advantage of the iodd enclosure was that one could prevent write access to the usb drive on a hardware level (by flicking a switch). This was useful when connecting the usb drive to a virus/malware infected system.
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n1r0 said:
Try this:
  1. Run diskmgmt.msc
  2. Format the SPARE SSD
  3. Right click the SPARE SSD and select Mark partition as Active
  4. Open the ISO file with 7Zip
  5. Unzip the contents to the SPARE SSD
  6. Reboot and go into BIOS and select the SPARE SSD to boot from
For obvious reasons, I take no responsibility if something goes wrong. There's a reason foolproof softwares exist.
Click to expand...
Not gonna work! For anything bootable, it must have a master boot record, volume boot record, and contain an operating system or a program that can be executed alongwith a live file creation timestamp is needed.
If that wasn't the case, nobody would had to go through Rufus etc. tools to create usb pen drive instead they would have instead unzipped the iso and boot directly!

@chungus whats the issue buying or at least sourcing an enclosure? Its pretty cheap and always comes handy in such situations.
This way any sata storage can come to the rescue.
 
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