Contents ======= Windows To Go Required Files/Tools Walkthroughs Walkthrough 1 - Part 1 Walkthrough 1 - Part 2 Walkthrough 1 - Part 3 Walkthrough 2 - Part 1 Walkthrough 2 - Part 2 Walkthrough 2 - Part 3 Walkthrough 3 - Part 1 Walkthrough 3 - Part 2 Complete Windows setup Activation Appendices ========= bootmenupolicy DiskMgmt Edit UEFI entry Clone Win2Go Miscellaneous

Page contents -

• Clone Windows To Go to a new device
• Copy Windows To Go .vhd to a new device

Clone Windows To Go to a new device

This section covers cloning an operating system installed in Walkthrough 1 to a new device. Steps -

• 1] Devices/paths
• 2] Backup registry
• 3] Edit MountedDevices and PageFile
• 4] Capture as .wim
• 5] Restore registry
• 6] Apply .wim
• 7] Create boot files (bcdboot)
• 8] bootmenupolicy / Edit boot menu entry

1] Devices/paths

Paths used in this section (based on mount points specified when DiskPart was used to prepare the disk - see here and here) -

• E:\ - New external drive - boot partition.
• F:\ - New external drive - Target drive for Windows To Go.
• S:\ - path to Windows To Go source files (to be captured as F:\win2go.wim).

2] Backup registry

The Windows To Go system registry hive (S:\Windows\system32\config\system) will be edited in step 3. Create a backup before editing the offline registry - this will be restored in step 5.

Use the copy command to create a backup of the Windows To Go system registry hive (S:\Windows\system32\config\system)
copy S:\Windows\system32\config\system S:\Windows\system32\config\system.bak

3] Edit MountedDevices and PageFile

Edits to MountedDevices and Pagefile have been included in the same section as they involve mounting and editing the Windows To Go offline registry.

Drive mount points are stored in the MountedDevices registry key. Deleting the settings in this key will ensure that mount points are issued for the new device and all references to the previous device will be removed.

If a PageFile is configured in Windows To Go then there may be issues if cloning or copying Windows To Go to a new device - due to the PageFile generally running from a fixed path that may be tied to a hardware device no longer accessible.

Mount the offline registry hive S:\Windows\system32\config\system as HKLM\_TEMP (adjust path as required)
reg.exe load HKLM\_TEMP S:\Windows\system32\config\system

Edit the offline registry hive mounted in the previous step and delete all entries in the MountedDevices registry key (adjust path as required)
reg.exe delete HKLM\_TEMP\MountedDevices /va /f

Edit the offline registry hive and delete existing PageFile paths/settings (adjust path as required)
reg.exe add "HKLM\_TEMP\ControlSet001\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management" /v ExistingPageFiles /t REG_MULTI_SZ /d "" /f reg.exe add "HKLM\_TEMP\ControlSet001\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management" /v PagingFiles /t REG_MULTI_SZ /d "" /f

Unmount the registry hive mounted as HKLM\_TEMP
reg.exe unload HKLM\_TEMP

4] Capture as .wim

For information about the DISM /Capture-Image command syntax, enter the following in a command prompt
DISM.exe /Capture-Image /?

Capture the contents of the source drive (S:\) as F:\win2go.wim - adjust paths as required.
Dism /Capture-Image /ImageFile:F:\win2go.wim /CaptureDir:S:\ /Name:Win2Go

wimlib can be used as an alternative to DISM. Syntax -
wimlib-imagex.exe capture source target.wim --strict-acls

If using wimlib, capture the contents of source drive (S:\) as F:\win2go.wim - adjust paths as required.
wimlib-imagex.exe capture S: F:\win2go.wim --strict-acls

5] Restore registry

Restore the Windows To Go system registry hive backed up in step 2 (S:\Windows\system32\config\system.bak). This will restore registry settings in the Windows To Go installation used for cloning.

Use the delete command to delete the Windows To Go system registry hive (S:\Windows\system32\config\system)
del S:\Windows\system32\config\system

Use the copy command to restore the backup (S:\Windows\system32\config\system.bak)
copy S:\Windows\system32\config\system.bak S:\Windows\system32\config\system

6] Apply .wim

For information about the DISM /Apply-Image command syntax, enter the following in a command prompt
DISM.exe /Apply-Image /?

Extract the contents of image 1 in F:\win2go.wim to the target drive (F:\) - adjust paths and image number as required.
Dism /Apply-Image /ImageFile:F:\win2go.wim /Index:1 /ApplyDir:F:\

wimlib can be used as an alternative to DISM. Syntax -
wimlib-imagex.exe apply source image# target

If using wimlib, extract the contents of image 1 in F:\win2go.wim to the target drive (F:\) - adjust paths as required.
wimlib-imagex.exe apply F:\win2go.wim 1 F:

7] Create boot files (bcdboot)

"BCDBOOT command line tool is used to copy critical boot files to the system partition and to create a new system BCD store" (https://winteltools.com/bcdboot/).

For more information about the bcdboot command syntax, enter the following in a command prompt (see here for output from Windows 10 version 21H2 bcdboot)
bcdboot /?

Create BIOS and UEFI boot files on the target drive (E:\), using the templates embedded in the operating system files extracted to drive F:\ in the preceding step - adjust paths as required.
bcdboot F:\windows /s E: /f ALL

8] bootmenupolicy / Edit boot menu entry

The bcdedit tool is used to edit entries in the Boot Configuration Database (the BCD store). Whilst bcdedit is beyond the scope of this guide, a brief overview of bcdedit and BCD paths may be helpful -

• \boot\BCD - default path to the BIOS BCD store.

• \EFI\microsoft\boot\BCD - default path to the UEFI BCD store

• {default} - globally uniquie identifier (GUID) for the default entry in the BCD store. Running the bcdboot command (in step 4) will set the current Windows To Go entry as {default}.

Setting the bootmenupolicy to legacy will display a basic boot menu, with improved boot speeds. More detailed information about bootmenupolicy is available here.

Edit bootmenupolicy in the BIOS boot menu (adjust paths as required) bcdedit.exe /store E:\boot\BCD /set {default} BOOTMENUPOLICY legacy

Edit bootmenupolicy in the UEFI boot menu (adjust paths as required) bcdedit.exe /store E:\EFI\microsoft\boot\BCD /set {default} BOOTMENUPOLICY legacy

Edit the BIOS boot menu and change the name (description) of the menu entry (adjust paths/description as required)
bcdedit.exe /store E:\boot\BCD /set {default} description "Windows To Go (64-bit)"

Edit the UEFI boot menu and change the name (description) of the menu entry (adjust paths/description as required)
bcdedit.exe /store E:\EFI\microsoft\boot\BCD /set {default} description "Windows To Go (64-bit) wimboot"

Copy Windows To Go .vhd to a new device

This section covers copying an operating system installed to a .vhd file in Walkthrough 2 to a new device. Steps -

• 1] Devices/paths
• 2] Copy .vhd
• 3] Mount .vhd
• 4] Create boot files (bcdboot)
• 5] bootmenupolicy / Edit boot menu entry
• 6] Edit MountedDevices and PageFile
• 7] Unmount .vhd

1] Devices/paths

Paths used in this section (based on mount points specified when DiskPart was used to prepare the disk - see here and here) -

• E:\ - New external drive - boot partition.
• F:\ - New external drive - backing disk for .vhd file.
• S:\win2go.vhd - path to .vhd source file (to be copied to F:\win2go.vhd).
• T:\ - Mount point for F:\win2go.vhd file.

2] Copy .vhd

Copy S:\win2go.vhd (source .vhd) to F:\win2go.vhd (new device). Example using the copy command with /Z parameter to display progress -
copy S:\win2go.vhd F:\win2go.vhd /Z

3] Mount .vhd

Basic DiskPart usage is covered here.

Select the virtual hard disk copied in step 2 - adjust path as required.
select vdisk file=F:\win2go.vhd

Mount the virtual disk selected in the preceding step.
attach vdisk

assign letter=T

4] Create boot files (bcdboot)

"BCDBOOT command line tool is used to copy critical boot files to the system partition and to create a new system BCD store" (https://winteltools.com/bcdboot/).

For more information about the bcdboot command syntax, enter the following in a command prompt (see here for output from Windows 10 version 21H2 bcdboot)
bcdboot /?

Create BIOS and UEFI boot files on the target drive (E:\), using the templates embedded in the operating system files mounted as drive T:\ in the preceding step - adjust paths as required.
bcdboot T:\windows /s E: /f ALL

5] bootmenupolicy / Edit boot menu entry

The bcdedit tool is used to edit entries in the Boot Configuration Database (the BCD store). Whilst bcdedit is beyond the scope of this guide, a brief overview of bcdedit and BCD paths may be helpful -

• \boot\BCD - default path to the BIOS BCD store.

• \EFI\microsoft\boot\BCD - default path to the UEFI BCD store

• {default} - globally uniquie identifier (GUID) for the default entry in the BCD store. Running the bcdboot command (in step 4) will set the current Windows To Go entry as {default}.

Setting the bootmenupolicy to legacy will display a basic boot menu, with improved boot speeds. More detailed information about bootmenupolicy is available here.

Edit bootmenupolicy in the BIOS boot menu (adjust paths as required) bcdedit.exe /store E:\boot\BCD /set {default} BOOTMENUPOLICY legacy

Edit bootmenupolicy in the UEFI boot menu (adjust paths as required) bcdedit.exe /store E:\EFI\microsoft\boot\BCD /set {default} BOOTMENUPOLICY legacy

Edit the BIOS boot menu and change the name (description) of the menu entry (adjust paths/description as required)
bcdedit.exe /store E:\boot\BCD /set {default} description "Windows To Go (64-bit)"

Edit the UEFI boot menu and change the name (description) of the menu entry (adjust paths/description as required)
bcdedit.exe /store E:\EFI\microsoft\boot\BCD /set {default} description "Windows To Go (64-bit) wimboot"

6] Edit MountedDevices and PageFile

Edits to MountedDevices and Pagefile have been included in the same section as they involve mounting and editing the Windows To Go offline registry.

Drive mount points are stored in the MountedDevices registry key. Deleting the settings in this key will ensure that mount points are issued for the new device and all references to the previous device will be removed.

If a PageFile is configured in Windows To Go then there may be issues if cloning or copying Windows To Go to a new device - due to the PageFile generally running from a fixed path that may be tied to a hardware device no longer accessible.

Mount the offline registry hive T:\Windows\system32\config\system as HKLM\_TEMP (adjust path as required)
reg.exe load HKLM\_TEMP T:\Windows\system32\config\system

Edit the offline registry hive mounted in the previous step and delete all entries in the MountedDevices registry key (adjust path as required)
reg.exe delete HKLM\_TEMP\MountedDevices /va /f

Edit the offline registry hive and delete existing PageFile paths/settings (adjust path as required)
reg.exe add "HKLM\_TEMP\ControlSet001\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management" /v ExistingPageFiles /t REG_MULTI_SZ /d "" /f reg.exe add "HKLM\_TEMP\ControlSet001\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management" /v PagingFiles /t REG_MULTI_SZ /d "" /f

Unmount the registry hive mounted as HKLM\_TEMP
reg.exe unload HKLM\_TEMP

7] Unmount .vhd

Basic DiskPart usage is covered here.

Select the mounted virtual hard disk - adjust path as required.
select vdisk file=F:\win2go.vhd

Unmount the virtual disk selected in the preceding step.
detach vdisk

Document date - 6^th July 2022