Is it possible to have a full install of Windows 11 on thumb drive? (sh.itjust.works)

submitted 1 day ago by unicornBro@sh.itjust.works to c/privacy@lemmy.ml

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I have a Debian laptop that I use for most things and a Windows 11 laptop that only gets powered on when I need to use the Lockdown Browser for my weekly quiz.

Is there such thing as having a full Windows 11 installation on a thumb drive that I can save things on? I need to be able to save files and the Lockdown Browser on it. And finally of course the Lockdown Browser must work when I use it as well. Is there such thing as that? Is there a reputable place where I can buy one so that I don't waste many hours and probably fail trying to make one myself? Thanks in advance.

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[-] brickfrog@lemmy.dbzer0.com 10 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

There's no Microsoft official way to do that.

But unofficially - Use Rufus to install Windows To Go on your USB drive with your Windows 11 ISO.

Microsoft discontinued Windows To Go in 2019 so in theory a future Windows update could break those type of installs but for now they still seem to work https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_To_Go

~~PS - If Lockdown Browser works in a virtual machine environment maybe you also have the option of installing Windows 11 in QEMU + Virt-Manager and just running a Windows VM that way. Works great under Debian.~~

EDIT: Doing a quick search it looks like Lockdown Browser actually tries to check for virtual machine usage, ugh. Guess they really want you to run a physicial system for that :/ https://support.respondus.com/hc/en-us/articles/4409604116123-I-receive-a-warning-The-browser-cant-be-used-in-virtual-machine-software-such-as-Virtual-PC-VMWare-and-Parallels

this post was submitted on 02 Feb 2026

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