Seagate Free Agent 2.0 USB drive doesn't boot after cloning Windows 11 pro.

gundobaldo66 · Jan 16, 2025

I was finally able( or so I thought) to make a portable full Windows with RUFUS 4.42103 p. on a Kingston USB 3.0 pen drive but I am not out of the woods yet.

I had set the Kingston USB key as a1st boot priority in the BIOS. The boot started with a never ending “ getting ready” prompt, but it never booted. After a couple of minutes I got a message “ the computer restarted unexpectedly or encountered an unexpected error. Windows cannot proceed with the installation”.

When I checked the USB drive I was surprised that all my programs, applications and files were gone and the portable Windows contained a fresh Windows ISO installation, not the full current OS , even though I had taken care that RUFUS was set for the full ISO image containing all my apps.

There is no point for me in going through all this if I cannot have in the USB drive my current OS with all the Apps and personal documents. .

I wonder if I’ll ever able be to solve this problem! Any ideas of what is wrong?

Thanks

Gundo

antspants · Jan 16, 2025

Try formatting the USB using RUFUS first, before creating the to Go USB.

Select USB
Select Non bootable
Click start

You can also Show advanced drive properties

Show advanced format options

Cheers.

johnlgalt · Jan 16, 2025

gundobaldo66 said:
When I checked the USB drive I was surprised that all my programs, applications and files were gone and the portable Windows contained a fresh Windows ISO installation, not the full current OS , even though I had taken care that RUFUS was set for the full ISO image containing all my apps.

Is this .ISO that has all your apps and such made from your existing Windows installation?

If so, can you boot from the .ISO directly (say if you were to put it on a DVD)?

I suspect not - if you want to install Windows To Go via Rufus, it needs to be from a bootable Windows installation disc. Without the .ISO being bootable, it won't have the necessary files to make the installation bootable.

So, let's backtrack.

What, exactly, are you trying to accomplish here?

gundobaldo66 · Jan 17, 2025

If I want to do a full Windows 11 backup of my data including apps and documents, do I have to select the entire disk or just the partition containing the current OS? So far I had selected only the partition C:\ of disk 2.as a backup source May be this is the problem.

I attach a screenshot of the Disk Management layout

Thanks

Gundo

johnlgalt · Jan 17, 2025

Here is the thing. For backup that you can use to RESTORE to a working installation if that one partition goes bad, you need the one partition.

If you need to restore it because the HD goes bad, for example it is not booting, or experiences a full crash, where some / all data is lost, you need all the partitions. Similarly, to clone it so it is bootable from a different hard drive / SSD, you need to clone all the partitions (technically, you'd only need *one* of those recovery partitions, but you'd have to figure out which one you need for your current install, and they are quite small, relatively speaking, so it won't hurt to just do the whole drive). The OS partition doesn't have all the boot information to actually boot from.

Since the more effective backup strategy is the whole disk backup (as this covered a single partition failure, multiple partition failure, and entire drive failure), from which you can restore just the partitions needed or the entire drive, you're much better off doing all the partitions instead of the single system partition. So, there is no need for 2 backups sets, one being that one partition and another being the whole drive. And the whole drive backup will only be (at most) 1.3 GB larger, as those other 3 partitions are tiny (100 MB + ~600 MB + ~660 MB = ~1360 MB). And probably not that large, unless those tiny partitions are actually full.

Now, that all being said, were you trying to make the bootable Windows on your external drive for the purpose to have a backup way to log in and get back working, or to take with you to other computers and boot from with your own installation? Either way, creating a Windows to Go from Rufus would require that you start with a fresh installation .ISO to create a new Windows to Go installation, and would have to set that up independently. The benefit here is that it would be set up properly as a bootable OS from an external drive, and would be completely independent of your existing OS on your computer, and would not have to be updated very often as the data on the WinToGo install would be of limited use - i.e. you'd only use it when you needed to, and mostly for the purposes of having a way to restore your computer's actual OS back to the original drive / a new (replacement) drive, instead of having to boot via DVD or USB to your backup program's restore program.

But if you are trying to clone your entire system to run from the external drive, then it could (potentially) have issues if you took it to another computer, as it would be set up for your computer with your hardware and the related drivers, etc. Even then, though, if your aim is to have your entire system cloned to the external drive, every time you make a backup you'd have to clone it to the external drive to be a current copy (mainly for your data, as that is what will be changing the most).

So, that is why I am asking what, exactly, is your aim here.

1. Are you simply making backups that you can use to restore data from in the event of some sort of failure?

2. Are you trying to make a Windows To Go installation as a way to be able to have something to boot to with a full OS environment for a variety of reasons (hardware failure, just for fun, to play with WTG, etc.)

3. Are you trying to actually clone your OS and data to a second, external drive, for a (specific) purpose?

gundobaldo66 · Jan 17, 2025

johnlgalt said:
Here is the thing. For backup that you can use to RESTORE to a working installation if that one partition goes bad, you need the one partition.

If you need to restore it because the HD goes bad, for example it is not booting, or experiences a full crash, where some / all data is lost, you need all the partitions. Similarly, to clone it so it is bootable from a different hard drive / SSD, you need to clone all the partitions (technically, you'd only need *one* of those recovery partitions, but you'd have to figure out which one you need for your current install, and they are quite small, relatively speaking, so it won't hurt to just do the whole drive). The OS partition doesn't have all the boot information to actually boot from.

Since the more effective backup strategy is the whole disk backup (as this covered a single partition failure, multiple partition failure, and entire drive failure), from which you can restore just the partitions needed or the entire drive, you're much better off doing all the partitions instead of the single system partition. So, there is no need for 2 backups sets, one being that one partition and another being the whole drive. And the whole drive backup will only be (at most) 1.3 GB larger, as those other 3 partitions are tiny (100 MB + ~600 MB + ~660 MB = ~1360 MB). And probably not that large, unless those tiny partitions are actually full.

Now, that all being said, were you trying to make the bootable Windows on your external drive for the purpose to have a backup way to log in and get back working, or to take with you to other computers and boot from with your own installation? Either way, creating a Windows to Go from Rufus would require that you start with a fresh installation .ISO to create a new Windows to Go installation, and would have to set that up independently. The benefit here is that it would be set up properly as a bootable OS from an external drive, and would be completely independent of your existing OS on your computer, and would not have to be updated very often as the data on the WinToGo install would be of limited use - i.e. you'd only use it when you needed to, and mostly for the purposes of having a way to restore your computer's actual OS back to the original drive / a new (replacement) drive, instead of having to boot via DVD or USB to your backup program's restore program.

But if you are trying to clone your entire system to run from the external drive, then it could (potentially) have issues if you took it to another computer, as it would be set up for your computer with your hardware and the related drivers, etc. Even then, though, if your aim is to have your entire system cloned to the external drive, every time you make a backup you'd have to clone it to the external drive to be a current copy (mainly for your data, as that is what will be changing the most).

So, that is why I am asking what, exactly, is your aim here.

1. Are you simply making backups that you can use to restore data from in the event of some sort of failure?

2. Are you trying to make a Windows To Go installation as a way to be able to have something to boot to with a full OS environment for a variety of reasons (hardware failure, just for fun, to play with WTG, etc.)

3. Are you trying to actually clone your OS and data to a second, external drive, for a (specific) purpose?

My aim is to

SIW2 · Jan 17, 2025

gundobaldo66 · Jan 17, 2025

johnlgalt said:
Here is the thing. For backup that you can use to RESTORE to a working installation if that one partition goes bad, you need the one partition.

If you need to restore it because the HD goes bad, for example it is not booting, or experiences a full crash, where some / all data is lost, you need all the partitions. Similarly, to clone it so it is bootable from a different hard drive / SSD, you need to clone all the partitions (technically, you'd only need *one* of those recovery partitions, but you'd have to figure out which one you need for your current install, and they are quite small, relatively speaking, so it won't hurt to just do the whole drive). The OS partition doesn't have all the boot information to actually boot from.

Since the more effective backup strategy is the whole disk backup (as this covered a single partition failure, multiple partition failure, and entire drive failure), from which you can restore just the partitions needed or the entire drive, you're much better off doing all the partitions instead of the single system partition. So, there is no need for 2 backups sets, one being that one partition and another being the whole drive. And the whole drive backup will only be (at most) 1.3 GB larger, as those other 3 partitions are tiny (100 MB + ~600 MB + ~660 MB = ~1360 MB). And probably not that large, unless those tiny partitions are actually full.

Now, that all being said, were you trying to make the bootable Windows on your external drive for the purpose to have a backup way to log in and get back working, or to take with you to other computers and boot from with your own installation? Either way, creating a Windows to Go from Rufus would require that you start with a fresh installation .ISO to create a new Windows to Go installation, and would have to set that up independently. The benefit here is that it would be set up properly as a bootable OS from an external drive, and would be completely independent of your existing OS on your computer, and would not have to be updated very often as the data on the WinToGo install would be of limited use - i.e. you'd only use it when you needed to, and mostly for the purposes of having a way to restore your computer's actual OS back to the original drive / a new (replacement) drive, instead of having to boot via DVD or USB to your backup program's restore program.

But if you are trying to clone your entire system to run from the external drive, then it could (potentially) have issues if you took it to another computer, as it would be set up for your computer with your hardware and the related drivers, etc. Even then, though, if your aim is to have your entire system cloned to the external drive, every time you make a backup you'd have to clone it to the external drive to be a current copy (mainly for your data, as that is what will be changing the most).

So, that is why I am asking what, exactly, is your aim here.

1. Are you simply making backups that you can use to restore data from in the event of some sort of failure?

2. Are you trying to make a Windows To Go installation as a way to be able to have something to boot to with a full OS environment for a variety of reasons (hardware failure, just for fun, to play with WTG, etc.)

3. Are you trying to actually clone your OS and data to a second, external drive, for a (specific) purpose?

My aim is to have a 2nd bootable external device ( typically a USB flash drive) with my current Windows 11 OS on it, complete with all my APPs and personal data, so that I can boot from it , if need be, without having to waste time in reinstalling them, as I would have to do if it were a fresh install.
Lately, among other things,I tried RUFUS portable, using an ISO image of my complete OS, It won't work.

I also tried cloning to a USB drive, etc. The device won't boot..
Today I have revisited Macrium Reflect . With the previous computer it was very easy to recover the full drive image with their Media Disc in the CD/Rom drive. Unfortunately, with the new computer ( a Dell Optrex 3000 tower) this is not possible, even though I set it as 1st BIOS priority. I don't know why.
I tried to use a USB Pen drive as a boot media for Macrium, instead of a CD , but it says that it is unsupported.
This is where I stand now. I have spent way too much time on this . This Forum has been very helpful, but perhaps there are things beyond my level of computer literacy. I think I'll it a quit

THanks for the help

Gundobaldo 66

gundobaldo66 · Jan 17, 2025

SIW2 said:
View attachment 122426

View attachment 122427

View attachment 122428

Thank you so much. I was close to call it a quit, but I'll try this ....I'll let you know

Gundo

gundobaldo66 · Jan 17, 2025

SIW2 said:
View attachment 122426

View attachment 122427

View attachment 122428

Thanks for the suggestion of choosing The Windows to Go option. I selected the 2nd mode ( "Creating WTG with the current system" , because I want to have all my apps and files on it, which is not possible with a fresh installation of Windows 11 ISO.
As a source, I used a previously created ISO file of my current full Windows 11 OS and as a destination an oldish 232 GB Seagate Free agent Desktop USB. 2.0 drive. Should it have been a USB 3.0 , perhaps?

THe process kicked in and it got 100% completed, but it closed with an message that the installation failed. When I checked the content of the USB drive, I found that there were only 9 GB of files and folders on it, whereas the size of the current OS on the HD was about 100 GB.
Something went wrong., just like in all my previous attempts. I can't understand why , but I'm getting closer and closer to quit..

Thanks for your help

Gundo

theHDW

SIW2 · Jan 18, 2025

"Creating WTG with the current system"

I expect that means it will copy the os from a hdd/ssd to the destination.

gundobaldo66 · Jan 18, 2025

gundobaldo66 said:
SIW2 said:

I expect that means it will copy the os from a hdd/ssd to the destination.

Click to expand...

Exactly. What I copied to the USB destination drive was the ISO image of the current Windows 11 OS on partition C of the SSD drive
As noted, only 9 GB were copied to the USB, which is way less of the 100 GB of the current Windows 11 OS on partition C:\ of the SSD.

SIW2 · Jan 18, 2025

The iso is not an hdd/ssd.

If you insist on using an iso as the source, perhaps try the first the first option. I dont know if that will work because the first option is expecting a regular ms installation iso. If you have created the iso correctly including the install.wim file it might still work

The second option is to copy a current installation from and hdd/ssd not from an iso file. The second option is not set up to extract the contents of a wim file.

gundobaldo66 · Jan 18, 2025

johnlgalt said:
Here is the thing. For backup that you can use to RESTORE to a working installation if that one partition goes bad, you need the one partition.

If you need to restore it because the HD goes bad, for example it is not booting, or experiences a full crash, where some / all data is lost, you need all the partitions. Similarly, to clone it so it is bootable from a different hard drive / SSD, you need to clone all the partitions (technically, you'd only need *one* of those recovery partitions, but you'd have to figure out which one you need for your current install, and they are quite small, relatively speaking, so it won't hurt to just do the whole drive). The OS partition doesn't have all the boot information to actually boot from.

Since the more effective backup strategy is the whole disk backup (as this covered a single partition failure, multiple partition failure, and entire drive failure), from which you can restore just the partitions needed or the entire drive, you're much better off doing all the partitions instead of the single system partition. So, there is no need for 2 backups sets, one being that one partition and another being the whole drive. And the whole drive backup will only be (at most) 1.3 GB larger, as those other 3 partitions are tiny (100 MB + ~600 MB + ~660 MB = ~1360 MB). And probably not that large, unless those tiny partitions are actually full.

Now, that all being said, were you trying to make the bootable Windows on your external drive for the purpose to have a backup way to log in and get back working, or to take with you to other computers and boot from with your own installation? Either way, creating a Windows to Go from Rufus would require that you start with a fresh installation .ISO to create a new Windows to Go installation, and would have to set that up independently. The benefit here is that it would be set up properly as a bootable OS from an external drive, and would be completely independent of your existing OS on your computer, and would not have to be updated very often as the data on the WinToGo install would be of limited use - i.e. you'd only use it when you needed to, and mostly for the purposes of having a way to restore your computer's actual OS back to the original drive / a new (replacement) drive, instead of having to boot via DVD or USB to your backup program's restore program.

But if you are trying to clone your entire system to run from the external drive, then it could (potentially) have issues if you took it to another computer, as it would be set up for your computer with your hardware and the related drivers, etc. Even then, though, if your aim is to have your entire system cloned to the external drive, every time you make a backup you'd have to clone it to the external drive to be a current copy (mainly for your data, as that is what will be changing the most).

So, that is why I am asking what, exactly, is your aim here.

1. Are you simply making backups that you can use to restore data from in the event of some sort of failure?

2. Are you trying to make a Windows To Go installation as a way to be able to have something to boot to with a full OS environment for a variety of reasons (hardware failure, just for fun, to play with WTG, etc.)

3. Are you trying to actually clone your OS and data to a second, external drive, for a (specific) purpose?

Thanks

I read your excellent analysis more thoroughly now and I’ll give you a more thorough reply, because it looks like there were things I overlooked .

To your points:

1.No, I do not intend to clone the current OS to a USB drive in order to work on another computer. I’d still use it on my PC.

2 I don’t need to continuously update/back up the cloned OS to the most recent status, as long as it contains the basic apps, files and documents I envisage to use regularly or from time to time. In fact, In the past, my drive image BUP ‘s were good enough for months, until new apps, files and documents required an updated Drive Image

3.I realize that it is better to clone the whole disk and not just the OS partition. Perhaps this is part of the problem. I’ll redo the clone this way.

4.Concerning RUFUS Windows To Go, you say I have to start from a fresh Installation ISO. Does this mean that this will wipe the current OS on the HDD and then I’ll have to reinstall all my apps? This is exactly what I wanted to avoid.

My purpose is to have a bootable USD drive with the ISO image of the current system, but it doesn’t boot.
I have also tried AOMEI Partition Assistant (Window to Go). Same result. It won't boot from the USB drive.
Also, It doesn't help the fact that the Dell BIOS( UEFI only) is very difficult to navigate, compared to the Legacy system. Sometimes the boot devices don't show up in the list and the ADD ON option is not easy to handle because mouse and keyboard are disabled and I cannot type in the File name for the (Root) device to be added to the BOOT configuration list.

THanks

Gundo

gundobaldo66 · Jan 19, 2025

antspants said:
Try formatting the USB using RUFUS first, before creating the to Go USB.

Select USB

Select Non bootable

Click start

You can also Show advanced drive properties

Show advanced format options

Thanks for the hint

I Formatted the USB drive with RUFUS 4.6.2208 as per your instructions, then I re-ran the same RUFUS supposedly to create the BOOTABlE USB drive.
When I press START, the process starts but stops shortly with a FAILED message.

I notice that the partition scheme in RUFUS is MBR. Shouldn't it be GPT? My BIOS is UEFI only. I cannot change it to GPT. in the RUFUS display. May be this is the problem.

There is also BURN feature mentioned somewhere. Do I have to burn something, somewhere, to create the bootable USB? Also, what do I do with the Media Creation Tool I had downloaded? It starts the Windows Install process. Do I have to do it now or a t a later stage? Are there other earlier vesrsions of RUFUS that I should use?
It would help if I could know if and at what stage of the sequence the BURN and the Media Creation Tool fit in the sequence.have a sequence of steps for creating a Boota

Thanks

Gundo

antspants · Jan 19, 2025

All I sugested was formatting the USB before you started. In case the USB was corrupt.

It doesn’t matter what you format the USB to because when the Media is created, the USB will be formatted appropriately.
There has been a lot mentioned since my post, from people that know a lot more than I do, and to be honest, I have no idea what you are trying to do anymore. Maybe it’s because I just woke up and have yet to finish my first Espresso. I will re read it when I am in the land of the living.

gundobaldo66 · Jan 20, 2025

It is becoming increasingly clear that by using the Media Creation tool , with or without Rufus , even if I choose the option of keeping my files and documents on the 2nd installation, it will be practically a fresh installation, which I want to avoid because I'll have to reinstall all the apps.
I think the only way is to make drive image of the OS and if it fails for whatever reason( virus, etc) I'd recover it from the Drive IMAGE. ( Macrium). It takes only a few minutes.
I thought that having two bootable HDD with the same OS to switch to and from would be faster than re-install each time all the apps after a fresh installation , but I was wrong.

Thanks again for the help

GUNDO

johnlgalt · Jan 23, 2025

gundobaldo66 said:
Thanks

I read your excellent analysis more thoroughly now and I’ll give you a more thorough reply, because it looks like there were things I overlooked .

Sorry for the late reply - it's been bitterly cold and icy (for SE USA) here lately, and I've had a few things going on lol.

gundobaldo66 said:
To your points:

1.No, I do not intend to clone the current OS to a USB drive in order to work on another computer. I’d still use it on my PC.

OK, good to know.

gundobaldo66 said:
2 I don’t need to continuously update/back up the cloned OS to the most recent status, as long as it contains the basic apps, files and documents I envisage to use regularly or from time to time. In fact, In the past, my drive image BUP ‘s were good enough for months, until new apps, files and documents required an updated Drive Image

Sounds good so far.

gundobaldo66 said:
3.I realize that it is better to clone the whole disk and not just the OS partition. Perhaps this is part of the problem. I’ll redo the clone this way.

Very good., This is what is the best approach moving forward.

gundobaldo66 said:
4.Concerning RUFUS Windows To Go, you say I have to start from a fresh Installation ISO. Does this mean that this will wipe the current OS on the HDD and then I’ll have to reinstall all my apps? This is exactly what I wanted to avoid.

My purpose is to have a bootable USD drive with the ISO image of the current system, but it doesn’t boot.
I have also tried AOMEI Partition Assistant (Window to Go). Same result. It won't boot from the USB drive.
Also, It doesn't help the fact that the Dell BIOS( UEFI only) is very difficult to navigate, compared to the Legacy system. Sometimes the boot devices don't show up in the list and the ADD ON option is not easy to handle because mouse and keyboard are disabled and I cannot type in the File name for the (Root) device to be added to the BOOT configuration list.

THanks

Gundo

OK, so I think it sounds like there are two things here.

1) You want a backup of your system and apps and data through any given backup program that you can restore at will.

2) You want an alternate method to have bootable on the fly with a good collection of your apps and such to be able to boot if your main PC stops working.

Correct?

Now, as to Rufus - the Windows To Go would be on the external drive - that is where you would be starting from scratch. It does not take a current install and make it a portable installation - it starts with a clean USB drive and a bootable Windows installation disc (or also USB drive) and makes a new Windows To Go installation - from scratch. This does not affect your current installation on your internal hard drive.

So, what it sounds like (and what might be the much better option for you) would be to take a look at making a Virtual Machine of your system exactly as it is (minus the drive space, unless you have that much available on the external drive) that can then be made to be bootable directly. I think it can be done. However, it is a bit more technical.

I think at least a couple of members here done this, let me see if they can help.

@hsehestedt @Brink any ideas here?

johnlgalt · Jan 23, 2025

gundobaldo66 said:
Thanks for the hint

I Formatted the USB drive with RUFUS 4.6.2208 as per your instructions, then I re-ran the same RUFUS supposedly to create the BOOTABlE USB drive.
When I press START, the process starts but stops shortly with a FAILED message.

I notice that the partition scheme in RUFUS is MBR. Shouldn't it be GPT? My BIOS is UEFI only. I cannot change it to GPT. in the RUFUS display. May be this is the problem.

There is also BURN feature mentioned somewhere. Do I have to burn something, somewhere, to create the bootable USB? Also, what do I do with the Media Creation Tool I had downloaded? It starts the Windows Install process. Do I have to do it now or a t a later stage? Are there other earlier vesrsions of RUFUS that I should use?
It would help if I could know if and at what stage of the sequence the BURN and the Media Creation Tool fit in the sequence.have a sequence of steps for creating a Boota

Thanks

Gundo

The options that ants suggested were only to be used when formatting the USB drive (which you could have done without using Rufus at all).

Those options are *not* to be used when trying to make the bootable USB drive - in order to run Windows it has to boot into Windows, so making it non-bootable defeats that whole purpose of the drive.

Your final post about making the drive images and restoring from those is good, but you've intrigued me and my previous post alludes to a possible alternate method that might just be right up your alley (and mine, too, technically speaking).

Seagate Free Agent 2.0 USB drive doesn't boot after cloning Windows 11 pro.

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