Install Windows 10 On Usb Drive

  

Regardless of whether you're using a Windows 10 tablet that has a small storage drive to start, or if you've managed filled up your hard drive, a lack of free space doesn't mean you have to miss out on important updates that fix bugs or add new features. Here's how to get around a lack of space for installing updates with just a pair of USB flash drives.

Of course, if you've got a decent-sized storage drive, you could try cleaning up your hard drive or temporarily moving some of your larger files (photos, movies, etc) onto an external drive. But if that's just not an option, here's how to get around a lack of space for installing updates with just a pair of USB flash drives.

How to install Windows 10 updates on low storage devices

In this Windows 10 guide, we'll walk you through the steps to install a new major update of Windows 10 on devices with low disk space.

Install Windows 10 On Usb Drive Mac

Hardware you'll need

Before you can install Windows 10 on a device with low free storage space, you'll need a few things:

  • A second PC to create a bootable drive.
  • Two empty USB flash drives, each with at least 16GB in size.

  • Two free USB ports on your device.

    • If your device has a Micro-USB port, then you'll need a USB On-The-Go (OTG) cable to adapt the Micro-USB port to a standard USB port.
    • If you only have one free USB port, you'll also need a basic USB hub with a least two ports.

And now that you have your installation USB drive, you can use it to start the computer on which you want to install Windows. You may have to fiddle with the BIOS on the computer to allow it to boot from USB or to change the boot order so that it will boot from the USB first. How to install a Windows 10 update from a flash drive. Connect both the USB flash drive with the Windows 10 installation files and the other empty USB flash drive. Double-click the Setup.exe file to launch the Windows 10 installation from the USB flash drive. Select the Keep personal files and apps option to only update your system.

How to create an installation drive for Windows 10 updates

Before you install Windows 10, it’s a good idea to save any work and back up your PC before you start. If you used the media creation tool to download an ISO file for Windows 10, you’ll need to burn it to a DVD before following these steps. Attach the USB flash drive or insert the DVD on the PC where you want to install Windows 10. These days most PCs can boot from USB, so you need no DVD drive any more to install Windows 10. Installing Windows 10 from a USB flash drive is much faster than optical drive setup. Here is how you can transfer your Windows 10 setup to a bootable USB stick. I assume that you already have an ISO image with Windows 10.

For this process, you'll need a USB flash drive with the latest installation files of Windows 10, which you can create using the Media Creation Tool.

To create a bootable media, do the following:

  1. Connect one of your USB flash drives to a PC other than the one you're trying to upgrade.
  2. Head over to the Microsoft support website to download the Media Creation Tool.
  3. Click the Download tool now button.
  4. Double-click the MediaCreationTool.exe file to launch the utility.
  5. Select the Create installation media for another PC option.

  6. Click Next to continue.

  7. Select your language, edition, and architecture.

    Quick Tip: If you're trying to update a small tablet with low storage, it's likely to be using a 32-bit architecture. You can quickly check the device architecture by going to Settings > Devices > About and double-checking the System type information.

  8. Select the USB flash drive option.

  9. Click Next.

  10. Select your USB flash drive from the list.

  11. Click Next.

  12. Click Finish to complete the task.

How to install a Windows 10 update from a flash drive

To install feature updates of Windows 10, do the following:

Have a look at Photoshop CS4:Adobe Photoshop is probably the best known photo editing application till date. Adobe cs4 free download for windows 7. Apart from these cosmetic enhancement there are some functional changes as well like the cropping has become more easy. Adobe Photoshop Portable CS4 is an application that can be used on multiple systems as it is installed on USB drive. The CS4 version has brought more magic into image editing. It has got a Mercury Graphics Engine that will enable you t perform very fast. Adobe Photoshop Portable CS4 has a totally revamped interface and it has got more darker than before.

  1. If necessary for your device, connect the USB OTG cable and/or the USB hub.
  2. Connect both the USB flash drive with the Windows 10 installation files and the other empty USB flash drive.
  3. Double-click the Setup.exe file to launch the Windows 10 installation from the USB flash drive.

  4. Select the Keep personal files and apps option to only update your system.

  5. If you get the 'Windows needs more space' option, click the Choose another drive or attach an external drive with 10GB available link.
  6. Select your empty USB flash drive to serve as temporary storage.

  7. Click Refresh.

  8. Click Install.

  9. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the installation process as necessary.

    Note: Some devices may only have a single Micro-USB port that is used for both charging and data transfer, which can make the battery-draining update process somewhat tricky when you also need that port to connect your USB drives. Your device will reboot during the installation process, after the first reboot you will no longer need either flash drive or the USB hub to finish, so you can unplug those and connect your power cable. Of course, if your PC has a dedicated power port, you can just leave everything (power included) plugged in throughout the whole process.

After the installation completes and after a few black screens and reboots, you'll be back to your desktop once again. Because this is technically an upgrade, you won't need to go through the out-of-box experience to finish setting up Windows 10.

Do you have a Windows 10 device with low storage capacity that still didn't get the latest major update? Did this process worked for you? Tell us in the comments below.

Install Windows 10 On Usb Hard Drive

More Windows 10 resources

Windows 10 Install Software On Usb Drive

For more help articles, coverage, and answers on Windows 10, you can visit the following resources:

Install Windows 10 On Usb Thumb Drive

We may earn a commission for purchases using our links. Learn more.