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I have created system backup of Windows 10 installation using Aomei Backupper and restored it external USB drive, however i cannot boot from external drive, how can i fix it?

Perhaps problem is that original disk was GPT and external USB is MBR?

Drive E and G are what become on my USB Drive after restoring. enter image description here

EDIT:

Edited few more settings of BCD on boot partition of USB E:

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Managed to get boot menu setup on E: and boot from that partition however upon selecting OS on drive G: i am getting error

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With another boot option i created i managed to get little further to this screen after loading for a while.

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Roman Toasov
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  • "cannot boot from external drive" is not sufficient information to diagnose your problem. As I don't run Windows 10 myself I won't be able to help you unfortunately. – r2d3 Mar 19 '22 at 22:55
  • i updated my question, what OS you run? – Roman Toasov Mar 19 '22 at 22:56
  • I am running XP and Windows 7. As for your update there is still the information missing at which point of the boot process your boot process breaks. I never answer boot problems because there are too many variables. Microsoft makes installing Windows 10 on a USB drive difficult. Here is a tutorial in German language describing a possible way of installation: https://www.wintotal.de/tipp/windows-10-auf-usb-stick-installieren/ – r2d3 Mar 19 '22 at 23:09
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    @RomanToasov - Why are you asking us what OS we are running? It doesn’t appear you selected all of your partitions when you performed the initial backup. When you restored a GPT onto a drive the restoration of that backup would have also made it GPT – Ramhound Mar 19 '22 at 23:15
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    @Ramhound My understanding is the OP wants to boot from the USB backup. – ChanganAuto Mar 19 '22 at 23:41
  • @RomanToasov There are two ways to boot it: (1) Ensure its connected to the PC, boot to WinRE's command line: BootRec FixMBR && BootRec /RebuildBCD (this will create a dual boot and you'll be prompted which to boot to when the Windows bootloader loads); (2) Configure an EFI boot partition on the external drive (Steps 3 & 5) (to boot to it, select the drive from the UEFI firmware boot menu, as this allows booting it without adding an entry to the BCD Store). General FYI: if it's a thumb drive, performance will be sub-par to horrible – JW0914 Mar 20 '22 at 01:44
  • i have external 2.5" over USB 3.0 port. @Ramhound i ask for understanding because on every corner of internet consumers and marketing people are roaring "why you still use Windows 7" etc, and i do use Windows 7 myself that's why i want to run Windows 10 only when needed to run specific graphic apps that are Windows 10 only... P.S. Cannot install in separate partition on SSD also because i have problems with my 240GB SSD slow down when partitioned. Well actually i did not dedicate entire USB drive for the W10 only freed 100gb in beginning of the disk so it stay MBR. – Roman Toasov Mar 20 '22 at 08:27
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    @RomanToasov - Windows was not designed to be booted from a USB device. One of the reasons the performance was so bad, is the same reason, Microsoft discontinued Windows 2 Go installation more than 3 years ago. – Ramhound Mar 20 '22 at 18:21
  • @DanielB Where are you getting that information from, as you can apply a Windows 10 WIM to an external drive and boot it without issue. Is it recommended to do so, no, as the performance isn't going to be there unless running it from a quality external SSD with a case designed as an efficient heat sink – JW0914 Mar 21 '22 at 23:53
  • @JW0914 You’re right, it does work. Maybe I remembered some information incorrectly. – Daniel B Mar 22 '22 at 18:30
  • @Ramhound could you point me to instruction on how to do it? – Roman Toasov Mar 27 '22 at 21:13
  • @RomanToasov - Do what exactly? Windows 2 Go? Use Rufus way I know that works. – Ramhound Mar 27 '22 at 21:37
  • I used https://www.easeus.com/backup-recovery/backup-windows-10-to-usb-drive.html for Back Up Windows to USB External Drive. There are also steps available to boot from USB External Drive. – Nooruddin Lakhani Nov 21 '22 at 05:45

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