How to create a bootable USB key from a Windows HyperV VM
Did you ever want to boot an HyperV Windows VM from a USB key on a physical PC? Or simply want to boot windows from a USB key? Why would you want to do that you ask? Well, this can be really handy to run the new flavor of Windows you want without needing to mess with your PC internal HDD. It allow you to bring your own Windows environment in a classroom and boot to what you know every time and continue to work where you left things at.
Since it also run from a fast USB 3 key it can actually be much faster than running windows on an old clunky 5400 rpm internal drive.
So how can you make such a bootable USB key? Really easily it turn’s out. 1st, gather the following things:
- Get a fast USB 3.0 key like the Sandisk Extreme USB 3.0 Flash Drive.
- Download and install a copy of Rufus 2.10
- Build yourself a Windows HyperV VM. Make sure the VM virtual HDD is smaller than the capacity of your USB key by 5 to 10 GB. This space will be used for the pagefile.