Set Up Steam Deck with Windows Running Off a USB SSD Drive
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- Опубликовано: 5 июл 2024
- I wanted to use Windows on the Steam Deck without messing with the internal drive or the SD card so I can easily go back into SteamOS. This is the best way I found and Windows runs fast!
Honestly, I just wanted to play Diablo II Resurrected from Blizzard and Tunic on Xbox Game Pass and this was more fun than figuring out workarounds through SteamOS Linux. Hope this helps for anyone who wants to try it.
Steam Deck:
store.steampowered.com/steamdeck
Samsung T7 500GB SSD:
amzn.to/3TbDxPI
USB C Hub (not the exact one in the video, but a good brand):
amzn.to/3CcXFtK
Official Steam Deck Docks are now selling!:
store.steampowered.com/steamd...
Amazon links are affiliate links so thanks for clicking!
Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
00:19 Reasons for doing this.
01:15 Some problems with this method.
02:00 How to boot into Windows with the external SSD.
03:37 Required tools.
04:04 Required software & drivers.
06:44 Rufus to install Windows on the SSD.
09:14 Finishing up.
09:38 Turning on the touch keyboard. 
Наука
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This is what I did also, bought my external ssd 1 year before I got my steam deck, and there is a way for you to boot to the ssd without pressing the power button + the volume down.
Don’t remover 100% what it was called but the first time you do boot the the external ssd (power+vol down) their a menu you can go to the bios and one of the option is to be able to boot to a external ssd)
So all I have to do is plug in my ssd and it’ll boot straight to windows. Very helpful specially if you dock it. I mainly use it to boot up to windows to play anti cheat games like valorant, Genshin or as of now Call of Duty MWii.
That’s a great idea. I haven’t looked through the bios closely but some of them let you change the boot order to external first which sounds like what you did. If you don’t mind I’m going to pin your comment.
@@Loaded0 I’ll double check so to and see where the setting is and edit my comment, and that totally fine I have a feeling someone people rather do it this way anyways instead of trying to dual boot on the system itself.
Edit: so to have your Steam Deck auto boot to a usb device
1. Press and hold the volume Up + power
2. Click on setup Utility
3. Scroll down to “Boot”
4. In the ver bottom enable “USB Boot”
And that should auto boot to a external USB like the Samsung T7 some might need extra power to be able to auto boot
Thanks for the write up for people who may want to do this. I might use this for a video on emulation I’m working on too.
@@Loaded0 sounds good! Glad I was able to help a few people
Probably the clearest and to the point explanation I've watched on this. Subscribed.
Thanks for the nice comment.
Thank you so much for making this video, windows accessing internal ssd and micro sd was a dealbreaker for running windows on my deck.
Thank you for posting this video … all questions on if it was possible was answered… keep up the fine content.
My steam deck should get here soon. I’m so glad this video showed up. Subscribed and liked! Thanks
How’d that go? I was hyped to install windows on mine too but ran into every issue imaginable and gave up
Thanks for this clear and straightforward tutorial! Subscribed 👍
deep and detailed explanation and slow talking perfect for my slow as hell brain! Explanation perfect!(will be back if I run into any problems!!)
Wow, Steam Deck really seems limitless 💪 Great job!!!
Yeah, this thing is great value for what it can do. Lots of smart people out there working on new things too.
I been looking for a video like this. Thank you for your hard work. I subbed
Thanks for watching! Hope it helped.
Thank you so much! Your tutorial is very direct, and to the point!
Thanks for watching!
Some important information: the valve wifi drivers cause lag spikes and unstable ping even with good wireless connection, use the default windows drivers instead
That’s good to know. Is that with the latest drivers? They released a new one a couple weeks ago. I read it might also fix problems with the Windows 22H2 update.
I have the valve windows drivers and I have not experience any lag spikes. And I’ve been playing MWii with not problem.
(that's only when not powered to a basestation. Only when wireless and on battery-power. For those who are using Windows in desktop mode with an external display and peripherals and a power source - you won't see those spikes)
Thats pretty much the same with any device that uses wifi, regardless if you are using 2.4Ghz or 5.0Ghz wi-fi frequency... A good gamers rule of thumb is always use wire connection when gaming online. Even my Nintendo switch is always connected lan(RJ45) cable.
Think if of it like this, if you are thirsty(offline) what method you would use to drink(connect) water(internet) more effectively without wasting a single drop(packages of data)?
1- Drink water from a sprinkler(wifi)?
2-Drink Water from a Straw(lan)?
@@lrdalucardartnah I get spiked with it but on my ps5 abs such everything fine
Excellent video, thank you for making it!
Thanks for watching!
What an amazing tutorial. Thanks so much for this! 😊
Thanks for watching!
Great vid, duder. Think I am going to go the Windows from USB route as well, vs. SD card. Cheers!
Yeah Windows runs better this way. SD cards have a pretty bad write speed bottleneck which can cause slowdown.
great videos ! really informative
Now that's what I am talking about. I have the same SSD and was about sell it but now I'll keep it for my future Steam Deck.
Yeah, good for testing things on windows without messing with the Steam Deck. Nice name you got there. Where’s Half-Life 3?
Thank you so much! 😊
worked like a charm, thanks
Great, glad it worked out.
Great video! Thank you!
Thank for watching!
Amazing! Thank you so much!
Thanks for sharing, this looks far simpler than the dual boot method. Quick question, based on your experience, is 1050MB/s read and 1000MB/s write speed (as per your video, Samsung T7) sufficient for a smooth/ snappy experience in a light work scenario such as spreadsheets?
I’m waiting for Valve to implement a proper dual boot since they said they’re working on it, but this works well in the meantime and doesn’t take up internal space.
The speed will be sufficient for really any task. Most office PCs drive are slower than that. While the usb port probably won’t get the max speed all the time it’s still one of the fastest for external drives besides Thunderbolt.
@@Loaded0 Thanks for your reply!
Great video dude! I was wondering if I could do exactly this, boot windows off an external ssd. I wonder if such a set can be used with the NexDock. That way the Steam Deck can really just be a windows laptop.
Yeah I’ve seen those before. I think you could do that. The NexDock is essentially a battery powered monitor, keyboard, mouse, and usb hub so theoretically should be able to plug in the Steam Deck and the SSD into it.
Awesome tutorial, thanks! I swapped to this option instead of running windows from a micro sd. The only thing I'm noticing is apps are pretty slow loading up (using a Kingston Fury Renegade 1 TB and a Sabrent M2 USB enclosure with a JSAUX dock). The micro sd card was faster than the SSD - any tips?
Usually the SSD should be faster, but the dock will slow it down depending on what you’re using with it. First I would check to see if you’re using the fastest port on the dock. Hopefully it’s at least usb 3.0.
Sabrent is a good brand, but it could be a slow cable too so next make sure the cable is the fastest one you have. Usually the one that came with the enclosure would be best.
That ms for the video, I was trying to do it with a bootable usb and it wouldn't let me install on an external, so this helped.
What do you do for charging while gaming? Nebula Red Magic I've heard of, but not sure what else would work.
You’ll have to use a usb hub that supports charging to use and charge at the same time. The Steam Deck usually lasts 2-6 hours depending on the game from a full battery so if that’s long enough for you I’d just turn it off and charge between sessions.
Thank you for the video! Does this method work, with the deck and windows ssd, connected to a dock? I would like to use windows while the deck is being charged by the dock
Yes it should work fine that way. All docks aren’t the same though so try to get one with fast USB ports. At least USB 3.0 but faster is better.
Good video man. Just wondering. If i have the SSD connected via the offical dock, and i also have a normal external hard drive connected also. Does it boot up windows 10 from the SSD automatically without using the volume down and power button? If two external drives connected how does it know which one to automatically read to boot up windows ?
If you don’t use the volume and power buttons it will always boot into what’s on the internal drive (SteamOS).
In the startup menu after pressing the volume and power button it will show all drives. You have to know which drive has Windows on it and select it.
You can change a bios setting to default into booting an external drive without entering the boot menu in which case it should choose the drive with Windows automatically since the other drive will not have a boot partition on it.
Might consider this for desktop gaming for games like CoD or Halo. I like using Steam Deck as a regular PC for online gaming, and it's sad that most popular online games aren't compatible with Linux.
Yeah it’s the DRM and anticheat stuff they use. I mainly use it for gamepass games. I’d rather play locally than stream them.
Two tips for Steam Deck users.
1, Use a shorter cable if you plan on resting the external on the backside of the deck. That way there's less room for a flimsy wire to touch your hands.
2, For people if they're doing a Micro Gaming PC setup you could actually turn the ssd into a kickstand by only putting velcro on the top portion and keeping it faced how it is in the video. Then you just let it rest when the steam deck is place upright. You now have a simple kickstand, though I would highly recommend you get a accessory pack for that. There's one by JSAUX that comes with a back attachment for a battery/external storage media and it's awesome. Fits very snug.
Nice, I like the kickstand idea. Also all usb c cables aren’t the same so make sure a replacement cable is fast enough to support usb 3.2.
a short right angle cable would prob would great here
Yeah something like the one on the Steam Deck dock. That one even has a little angle to it to remove easily.
Thank you for the walkthrough! If I have an SSD that already has Windows 10 on it, could this still be used, or does it need to be a fresh install with "Windows To Go?"
It should boot if Windows was already set up, but you might run into problems with drivers since it’ll try to load the ones from the previous PC. Worth a try though and you can install the new drivers if it works. Without Windows to Go it’ll also expose the SteamOS drives in Windows too so just be careful about potentially messing with that drive.
@@Loaded0 Thank you for the feedback!
Just waking up and my legs really arch Ie maybe later it will click but in case it does not. You said unfortunately windows 11 does not have tablet interface but I think u said touch screen still work. What advantage / disadvantage is having ‘ losing the tablet support in stream deck purposes ?
Previous Windows had separate tablet interfaces. Take a look at how Windows 8 used to be. They went all in on tablets but people hated it and they started stripping those features as new Windows versions came out. Basically they had bigger icons, more gesture controls, and better scaling for small screens. All of that could have potentially helped using the Steam Deck. There is technically a tablet mode in Windows 11, but only for their Surface line.
Try to change priority if it's possible. Move external drive on first position to always load into windows when external drive is connected
Yup a couple people suggested this. I pinned their comments with instructions.
I did the same thing as you but boot on SD card originally but now discovered that it’ll damage the sd card very fast so looking into moving to external ssd instead. Do I have to reinstall the whole thing on the ssd with new windows registration or can I somehow clone the whole sd card to ssd?
I think you should be able to clone it. Not sure if the Windows license will be activated after cloning, but since it’s tied to the motherboard it may reactivate if you log out and back in using your Microsoft account.
Hi! I have the steam deck oled and on the driver download page there's the drivers for it. But there are just the APU and microsd drivers...the Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Audio drivers for the OLED version are "available soon". Can I install the steam deck base drivers?
No, we have to wait for Valve to release the drivers. You can use a usb WiFi/bluetooth adapter and I think I read the headphone jack might work for audio, but I’d wait on official drivers to install Windows on the OLED.
Is it possible to partition the ssd so that you can have some of the ssd for windows boot and windows games and the rest for additional storage for Linux games? Not dual boot off the external but just more Linux storage and windows on the external ssd.
I haven’t tried it myself but you should be able to. I would set up the windows boot first with Rufus, then partition some space out for Linux use from within Windows. Steam OS should be able recognize the Linux file partition.
Would this be possible to do on a jsaux M.2 dock??
That way anytime you dock the deck it boots into windows.
Yeah I’ve used the Steam Deck Dock this way and it works well. Great setup if you just want to use Windows at home on a monitor/TV.
I don’t have the JSAUX dock but I’m assuming it’ll use the m.2 as external storage the same way.
Hi! Is something not working with me, or win randomly reboot itself? I got the same exact setup,I just use the ssd plugging it into the official valve dock. Thanks for the help!
Is it just doing it constantly? Windows can reboot automatically to install updates but that’s not all the time. If you’re getting a blue screen before rebooting it could be a driver issue.
Also if you haven’t already go to the Steam OS side and update your Steam Deck Dock. I don’t know what the update was for but there was one available.
this might sound like a strange question but would it be possible if i use an external SSD to boot windows, but then I use the same SSD with windows on it to store my games for steamOS, or would that bork something in the drive?
Not really a strange question at all. Following this tutorial it won’t work since the whole drive is being used for Windows (NTFS format). SteamOS stores games on a Linux format drive (EXT4). Theoretically you should be able to partition one SSD and split it for use with Windows and SteamOS but they’ll work completely separate so you won’t be able to access the files from each other.
How is the battery while gaming on windows with external SSD? Because I just ordered a SSD but I'm concerned about the battery drain increase while gaming. And do you still use this set to game on windows? Or did u end end up dual booting on the internal SSD.
Battery life from the SSD drain doesn’t make much of a difference. It’s a long read but someone actually checked out the power usage of a similar product here:
www.anandtech.com/show/14661/usb32-g2-portable-ssds-roundup/6
I’ve since got a second Steam Deck which I put Windows on the internal.
@Loaded0 I'm in the process of buying windows 10 with product key. I will download it to my steam deck.
To get rufus do I go to steam deck desktop mode hit discover and type in rufus?
I do have games on my 4tb external hard drive, By puting windows 10 on my hard drive will that mess up the games I already have on the hard drive?
You need a windows pc for Rufus. Doesn’t work in Linux unfortunately. Rufus will also erase everything on the external drive to put Windows on it so the games will have to be redownloaded too.
@loaded0 Hi. Possible to boot into the SSD via a dock? So USB C on Steam Deck connected to dock > Connected to the SSD
Yes, that should work well. It’s a good way to have a Windows setup at home with a monitor. Just make sure the dock has decent speed usb ports.
Can you still use the steam deck for games through windows? Or would it require plugging in a controller to play? Basically do you get all the button functionality of the deck still?
You can still play games through Steam and the Steam Deck controller will work. For games outside of Steam there’s a workaround to make Windows think the attached controller is an Xbox controller. I’ve been using that and it works very well. You can also use any separate wired or wireless controller that works with Windows too.
@@Loaded0 is there a simpler way than using GlosSI for Xbox controller workaround? ruclips.net/video/nymS_DFTWbs/видео.html or is this what is recommended currently?
I didn’t like GlosSi when I tried it. Seemed complicated and still required Steam to be installed. I currently use this one:
github.com/mKenfenheuer/steam-deck-windows-usermode-driver
It basically just makes Windows think the Steam Deck is an Xbox 360 controller. It lets you remap buttons too.
My friend is it possible to use both windows OS and steam OS on 1 external ssd?Thanks for this video..subscribed as well
Yes, you’ll have to make two separate partitions on the external SSD, but it is possible. Might want to wait for official dual boot support from Valve though for things like that.
Could i use the ssd with windows already installed from my desktop computer and plug it into the steam deck? ( So im basically just skipping the install step?)
Windows doesn’t allow itself to be run on an external drive unfortunately. That’s why you have to use the Windows to Go method.
My drive doesn't appear in the boot section. It is recognized in desktop mode, but not as a bootable drive in the BIOS. I am using a drive with windows already on it from my old PC and don't see the difference from formatting new drive. Am I doing something wrong?
Yeah, Windows won’t boot as an external drive normally. The key is that the shown process with Rufus makes a “Windows to Go” external drive which can boot.
does it support right now Davinci resolve or Premiere Pro on windows?
They should both work fine, but there’s not much info out there on the custom GPU they’re using on the Steam Deck. Hardware acceleration might not work or might not be supported well.
Hey What If you use the attach the SSD to a NexDock and just plug in your Steam Deck the the NexDock everytime you want to use Windows? Can you let me know if this is possible?
That would make the Windows more usable and make the steam deck a great productivity device.
(BTW I'm your 100th comment.
Thanks for the 100th comment! You’re actually the 2nd person that asked about the Nexdock. I didn’t realize they were so popular. Unfortunately I don’t have one, but I don’t see any reason it wouldn’t work since it essentially functions as a dock, input device, and portable monitor in one.
How did you solve the issue of low battery while trying to use an External ssd?
I just charge in between uses, but you can use a usb hub that has power passthrough to charge at the same time. A lot of cables though. It would have been great if it had at least two usb ports.
How long did it take when you first tried to boot into windows? Because when i followed this, It went to the steam logo and it has stayed there. I think its been like that for the past 50 minutes? Is that normal? Or should I restart it?
It should be very fast to go into the bios startup menu. Windows loading will depend on the speed of the drive you're using, but 50 minutes is probably too long. I would try a restart.
I like this idea of plugging in an external ssd just for Windows. One question: What would happen if the SSD got unplugged while using Windows? Will it corrupt the SSD or brick the Steam Deck?
In theory it could corrupt the data on the SSD. Windows is pretty good about restoring itself though. Worst case should be having to reflash the drive. As for the Steam Deck it’ll probably just crash and require a restart.
Not sure what i did wrong lol. It never boots into windows. I had made sure i followed everything. I did get a partition message in the beginning when using rufus, could that be a reason?
Maybe. Does your drive have multiple partitions on it? I think Rufus might not partition it if it does. Does it show up on the boot menu along with the SteamOS drive?
Um does ryzen control work with dell g15 5515 with rtx 3060 and ryzen 7 5800h
It should. I haven’t done it myself but I had several comments from people that said they used it.
Can you help me with 1 problem, when i choose the ssd in my bootmanager it does that loading thing and then shows the steamos logo, or just straight up starts in steamos. Checked the ssd name and all, so that is not the cause.
Sounds like it’s not recognizing the drive as bootable. Is the SSD connected directly to the Steam Deck? Sometimes using a hub or dock connection in between can cause it to not work. Otherwise I would try writing the SSD with Rufus again and see if that works.
I use external SSD too and it's works fine.
i bought the steam deck dock, and i cant see my drive in the boot manager. How do i fix this?
@@atxkebladi I don't know, I use an Ugreen dock station. I can see the boot manager with that.
Can you still use SD cards and other external HDDs or SSDs to play games while in this window mode? I ask because I saw the "dont mess with internal storage" option and it kind of worries me as I have a 500 gbs HDD that I'd like to use for games.
Yeah you can use other external drives and SD cards. They can all be connected at the same time too. The internal storage warning is just so you don’t inadvertently erase the wrong drive.
@@Loaded0 Is there also any way to do this process from the Steam Deck itself? As Rufys it's not compatible with linux, u had a hard time finding someone with Windows pc to complete this process.
Also, I was not able to connect a seconday screen at the moment. Is it possible or does it have anything to be with the drivers?
I’ve tried looking for ways to do it on the Steam Deck, but couldn’t find anything. Rufus and WinToUSB are the only apps I know of that can make this and they only have Windows versions.
As for the external display it should work, but it depends on the hub or dock you’re using. People have good results with the official Steam Deck dock and the recent JSAUX docks. It could be a power issue or display recognition issue so try using your hub powered and also try plugging in the display cable while the Steam deck is on or boot with it plugged in. Also the display might be recognized, but Windows might not automatically display anything. You might have to change the display settings to mirror or extend your desktop.
I don’t have a computer (beside the deck) do I really need one? Is it possible to install the required software onto the internal deck storage and then use Rufus to port it to the SSD? If this will not work, why? I’m using a dock with a built in m.2 slot
If so, what can I undownload from the internal drive afterwards?
The problem is that Rufus only works on Windows. I haven’t found anything that can create a Windows To Go drive in Linux. Borrowing a PC might be the only option.
Does it have to be an SSD drive, or would a USB Hard Drive work too?
Hard drive should work, but it’ll probably need it’s own power. It’ll also run Windows slower especially on startup.
I’m going to upgrade my 64GB steam deck with a 2TB drive. Is it possible to use the original 64GB eMMC ssd in an enclosure to boot up windows? If windows is set up this way, would it still be possible to access information on the 2TB drive or the SD card?
You can use the 64GB for Windows, but Windows can’t natively access the internal drive or SD care because they’re formatted in a Linux file system in SteamOS. There are workarounds available though.
Have you tried running any games from the SSD? if so, how was the experience?
Yup, I mainly used it for gaming through game pass. Works great, but depending on the game the SSD can get pretty warm. Didn’t seems to affect performance though and the SSD still works fine.
hello again! is it safe to use external SSDs rather than the internal? and which perform faster internal or external
Internal will be faster, but yes external works well and is safe to use. Just don’t unplug it when the Steam Deck is on.
@@Loaded0 hello, what happen if I unplug external ssd while steam deck's windows os is on?
It’ll most likely just crash the Steam Deck. If that happens just hold the power button until the Steam Deck turns off. Then you can turn it on again. It may also corrupt the Windows data depending on when it is unplugged.
Hi do I have to buy a windows 11 home key? And steam os hasn't got Google so can I use Firefox to download all what I need?? Then do I plug in the ssd to just download windows? Just abit confuse 😂
Thanks
So you’ll need a Windows PC to do all the steps. Problem is that Rufus doesn’t have a Linux version to run on a Steam Deck. You don’t need a Windows key if you don’t mind it not being activated. Basically it just doesn’t let you customize Windows (wallpapers or colors, etc) until you activate it. It’ll still run all your games and apps.
So use a Windows PC and follow the steps in the video and hopefully it’ll work for you.
Hey thanks for the video man. Do you know if it’s possible to install windows on a partition of the ssd I have the same T7. I want to give windows 450gb and leave 1.5tb to save and run steam os games but when I get to select the drive where I want want windows to be installed I get this error . Windows cannot be installed to this disk. The selected disk has an MBR partition table. On EFI system, Windows can only be installed to GPT disk. I partitioned the t7 with kde partition manager and tried nfst and exfat none worked
Yeah, you should be able to do it with two partitions. The partition table is different from the partition format. You’ll have to convert the T7 to a GPT table. Sounds like your using Linux which I’m not fully familiar with but I found a website that might help:
recoverit.wondershare.com/partition-tips/convert-mbr-to-gpt-linux.html
Hey man thanks man appreciate it I’ll keep Troy if thanks for all your work.
Is it possible to use a ssd with windows 10 pre installed bc I wanna use the 1 tb ssd out of my laptop bc it died so I can’t do what I wanted to do originally where I install windows 10 on the sd card and dual boot it btw I’m only asking this bc it was my only computer so I have no other way to get windows on the steam deck
It’s possible it’ll work actually. Depends on if Windows will default to standard drivers or if it’ll just crash on startup. Also since the Windows license is tied to hardware it will probably be deactivated. I would give it try though.
how is battery life with the usb drive plug ? i would have been happy a little "dock"/ adapter, when i can plus a usb drive and a external battery in the same time.
Battery life is about the same. You can use a hub and charge at the same time. The problem with small usb drives is that they’re not fast or not meant for constant usage. An SSD is the way to go for a responsive Windows experience, but unfortunately they’re also much larger than a usb thumb drive.
@@Loaded0 does plugging the SSD into the official steam deck dock work? Wouldnt that fix all of the "not being able to charge" issues?
Yup, it works with the dock too and can charge at the same time. Good way to use a Steam Deck as a Windows computer setup at home connected to a monitor/TV for gaming or work.
Hi how did you get past the Samsung T7 encryption on the SSD? Thanks!
It shouldn’t be encrypted unless someone added it at some time. Anyways, Rufus is formatting the drive which will erase all data on it.
@@Loaded0 yes realised I had to turn off the encryption first then format using rufus. I tried formatting via rufus and encryption on and it didn’t work. Thanks!
Followed your video and got it running bud, but running into some bother.
When I plug in the monitor it won't display. But if I plug the SSD out the monitor displays. After using 4 different HDMI cables. Any ideas? I'm using the official steam deck dock
Hmm that’s weird. So basically it works under SteamOS but not Windows? Not exactly sure what it could be, but here’s what I’d try:
Make sure the dock is plugged in to adequate power. Make sure the dock firmware is updated in SteamOS too.
Check to see if the monitor is recognized in Windows, but maybe just not set to display in the display settings.
Make sure the newest display drivers from Valve are installed.
Run Windows Update for any additional drivers that might need to be installed.
Try starting up with the hdmi cable plugged in. If it still doesn’t display once in Windows unplug the hdmi and plug it back in. Normally Windows will make a sound when I recognizes a new device.
It would be great if theres a mount or a case which can hold the SSD. Maybe someone from the comunity can make a 3d print so people can use that. would be really usefull
Yeah that would be nice. I just use Velcro strips and that works well for now. Doesn’t need a lot since the SSD is so light.
@@Loaded0 @BrownHuman there's a Lego like velcro called dual lock, from 3M, that I especially like for these situations.
Plain Velcro itself is fine too, but it gets kind of fuzzy after a while. Dual lock is just a bunch of rigid plastic locks and it sort of snaps together. If you really like it, you can get like six feet of it in a long loop, or you can buy the more expensive per-foot short packages.
u can use jsaux mod case for that and it not very expensive.
Do you have to format the ssd? also does your ssd get hot? mine does =\
Rufus should format it for you before writing to it so you shouldn’t have to format it. The SSD can get hot depending on what you’re using it for. That’s the good thing about SSDs though compared to SD cards and USB flash drives. They can get hot and still run at a usable speed.
How is the performance as compared to windows on sd card?
Much better with things like startup and loading. Also file transfer will be faster too. SD cards are about similar in speed to spinning hard drives so an SSD will feel much more responsive.
question i have a dock can i hook up to the usb and will it work that way ?
Yes, that’s the way you’ll do it initially for the first Windows start up since you’ll need a keyboard and mouse, but you can continue to use it with the SSD plugged into the dock too. Most docks can provide power too so it’s a great way to have a home Windows desktop setup using a Steam Deck.
@@Loaded0 thank you
Is it possible to save the Windows installation and the associated drivers on the SSD?
No, Rufus will format the whole drive so it won't stay on there. You can always download the drivers after Windows is set up though.
only problem with this setup is you can't charge the device while in windows. I have a similar setup but I attached a small portable dock that has PD and have an external drive with windows connected to it.
Yeah my little dock has a power pass through too. Obviously it’s not as portable with another dongle, but it’s doable. I don’t find myself playing for more than the battery life though so I just turn it off and unplug the SSD while I charge.
Good idea! I was going to order another micro sd card but just realised I have a spare 1tb ssd drive sat in my drawer. Which dock are you using?
I used the word dock loosely. Right now it’s just the usb hub I show in the video. My Steam Dock should be delivered this week though so I’m looking forward to that. I looked through a lot of the ones on Amazon but most had some problem (slower USB ports, only 1 video out, blocking the air intake, etc) so I decided to go with the official dock.
Agreed. wish it had two USB C ports, gonna try getting ALOGIC USB-C Adapter, USB-C to Dual USB-C to expand the ports and allows charging too. hope for the best and will see if it works. Dongle mess like a macbook!
As long as the usb adapter support power passthrough and is fast enough it should work well.
is there a way to charge it and connect it to the SSD at the same time?
Yes, you’ll need to use a dock or a hub like the one I showed briefly that has a power passthrough. It’ll add some bulk though. The Steam Deck battery usually last long enough for me to just charge in between gaming sessions though.
yall think my sandisk ultra flair 16gb is gonna run well enough? I mean it does have 150mb/s so it should stutter less than a samsung evo micro sd
It’s mostly the write speed that’s a bottleneck and it slows things down. Also 16gb might not be enough for Windows.
Cool background. Tomas brush?
Is that the game developer/RUclipsr? Could be, but I got it off Reddit months ago and they’re not good with crediting artists unfortunately.
I'm getting a bad system config when trying to boot into windows from the steam bios.
I've downloaded the iso, used Rufus and put it on the ssd, and when trying to boot I get the error.
Sounds like a corrupted file so really the only thing to do is try it all again including redownloading the Windows iso. Maybe do a full format of the SSD just in case before putting Windows to Go on it with Rufus.
Can someone help me.
I run Windows from external nvme with enclosure. I have tried w11, w10, tinyw11. All of them got this freeze and followed by bsod when i played games. By my observation, when that’s happened, there a loss of power on ext ssd. I tried disconnected the ssd and reconnected it again and magically the freeze gone for awhile. A few minutes latter its comeback. I have disable usb saving power management from device manager and control panel. And nothing changes. Is this because the deck didn’t have enough power to run the ssd while gaming?
Yeah this is probably what it is. Unfortunately some external drives just don’t run stably as an OS drive. It’s probably why Microsoft doesn’t allow it without the Windows to Go workaround in the first place.
I'm still contemplating whether to install a dual boot onto my new SSD or just do this as I intend to use Windows mainly in docked mode, basically the Deck being a portable mini desktop at that point, while I just keep using SteamOS on the internal drive for gaming. But if I hit certain games that would run better on WIndows, having an internal installation would probably be better...
I’m waiting for an official dual boot option which Valve promised eventually. Besides games that don’t run at all, I feel most games actually run better on SteamOS. Also there’s so many workarounds to use Windows well on the Steam Deck it’s almost a pain to use it that way. Good way to try it and see if it’s for you before going the internal dual boot option.
@@Loaded0 I was under the impression that dual boot is already possible, when googling it, every hit says it would be coming with SteamOS 3... We're already past that, last time I checked my Deck was on 3.4.6. What has happened to that?
I guess I'll do the external drive thing first for real. It's way easier to clone the existing drive onto my new one and just making the main partition bigger, although I could leave some space for another one while I'm at it.
Thanks to the fact that my Samsung 980 Pro 2TB bought in 2021 is one of those affected by the firmware issue, I basically have one 1TB model left as soon as I swap it in my PC. Bought a Crucial P3+ 4TB when I noticed files becoming inaccessible and immediately swapped my secondard drive, which was the 2TB 980 Pro out. Just need to put it back in temporarily and flash the firmware with Samsung Magician, then it's good again, luckily! It will then replace my 1TB 980 Pro that's my system drive currently which will then be ready to rock in an external case with an USB 3.2 20GBit/s capable controller. That would be my Windows drive for the Deck then, and probably my external "flash drive" at the same time... :)
Official support isn’t available yet, but they’re expecting it to be out during SteamOS 3 (which 3.4.6 is part of). There’s plenty of ways to get dual boot working though.
You have good SSDs so I don’t think you’ll run into problems, but I have read comments that some docks can cause issues with booting.
@@Loaded0 Good to know, thanks!
Got the Valve dock. Hope it's fine :)
This is just a more simple way to get access to windows without havign to jump through hops and weird shenanigans to make it work internally on your steam deck, not to mention you will have to give up your pressious steam deck small storage space to add another entire OS, which means you have even less pace to install games... most games now a days hit 80-100gigs so make the math...
Alternatively ppl might just want a windows to boot certain things faster with less fiddling and command prompts. Like write a document or even using a drawing program like CSP or Photoshop.
uh oh....So you you need an external computer i order to do with? cus atm my oly "PC" is the deck...rufus seems to be a exe file. the only way to run exe's is with WINE.
is there perhaps a way of doing this from the deck without ever needing to use an external computer?
my old pc stoped working so i upgraded to a steamdeck whichn is now my only pc!! so if you know a way of doing this that would be awesome!
Yeah, someone else asked me that before and I couldn’t find a reliable way to do it without a separate windows pc unfortunately.
Hello, i don't know if you found a way to do it.
But in case you didn't, I'd recommend you to use boxes to emulate windows, then you put rufus on it :p it worked for me
Have you tried the rEFInd script to get this to dual boot?
I’ve read about refind when I was trying to make use of a really old MacBook a while back. I’m hoping that Valve will implement an official dual boot solution like they promised before resorting to unofficial methods.
I did all you said, i have a sabrent usb c hub, windows seems to be starting then it goes back to steam os by itself, i itred it 10 times, even recover but nothing, windows is starting but then the steam deck logo rolls in and i am in steam os again for no damn reasons, any help?
Can you try without the hub and see if it boots into Windows? You might not be able to set it up without a keyboard and mouse, but at least you can see if it’s the hub causing problems.
did it boot up thru the USB hub?
If create the windows via windows go directly on the usb ssd like you did then you don't need a usb dock, mouse, or keyboard.
after installing windows via rufus you can copy the steam deck drivers folder as well as any other files you want to transfer to the windows install directly to the sdd. You will then be able to access them once logged in. You have full touch control in windows to navigate and type.
Yeah I guess I should be able to since it’ll just be an ntfs formatted SSD. I didn’t think about that. Oh, I think you still might need the keyboard just for Windows setup. I don’t remember if it knows to bring up the on screen keyboard. Hopefully that may have changed in the newer Windows versions though.
windows 11 it does, not sure about previous windows versions. @@Loaded0
Nice, thanks for the update. Not having to use a keyboard will be great for people without a pc.
How can I get the hotspot drivers to work everytime I try to use it nothing shows use hotspot on windows but I can on steamos??
Are you trying to connect to a hotspot or setup the Steam Deck as a hotspot? Either way, you’ll need to download the official Wi-Fi drivers from the Steam Deck Windows driver website to have it work.
What’s the name of those straps to hold my hard drive on the back of my steam deck there’s no link
Oh, not really straps but I used command strips for picture frames. They’re kind of like velcro but not as annoying and holds stronger.
Can this SSD drive still be used on my actual PC for storage? Or is it now only usable by the Steam Deck?
Technically it should work but you might see weird partitions on it when you plug it in on another PC. I don’t think it locks the drive or anything.
@@Loaded0 Thanks. I’m going to try it!
I wonder if this still works I have a spare 500gb ssd lying around. I used to dual boot but I took it off bc I wanted more space in SteamOS and I kinda lowkey want Windows again.
I’ve moved on to a dedicated Windows Steam Deck, but this is still a viable alternative. Get a good enclosure for your SSD though. Any problems that seem to happen are usually due to high power requirement from the USB port.
@@Loaded0 Yep ty I tried it yesterday works perfectly. Last time I did Win10 dual boot, now yesterday I tried Windows 11 it looks clean 👍
can i do this in usb flash drive or card reader with sdcard?
You can but Windows won’t run as well on those due to the slower read and write speed. I would avoid using a flash drive, but a fast SD card would be ok.
So you can use an adhesive hook to that and 🎉 play many games on gamepass
Game pass is what I use it for most at the moment.
Dose that ssd use alot of battery from the steam deck?
No, it'll draw a bit more than the internal SSD but since you're also saving power from not using the internal SSD and the SD card reader it won't be much difference. This is also where having a faster drive helps because it'll complete file reads/writes faster and use less power.
it wasn't letting me choose windows to go, so i used the other one, will there be a problem?
It’s worth trying if you already made the boot drive, but it could have problems with updates and some software installations if they don’t like being on an external drive.
You can try another software called WinToUSB if Rufus didn’t work for you.
So I did exactly what you did with the exact hard drive, why doesn’t windows recognize the HDMI port when I connect the Dock?
It’s a bit finicky with Windows and video out support right now. I got it to work with the official Steam Deck Dock, but had to unplug and plug back in the hdmi. It also changed the Steam Deck screen back to vertical when it did.
It can also depend on the dock you’re using. Some things to try though (make sure all the required drivers are installed first):
1. Unplug the hdmi, power on the external display and then connect the hdmi.
2. Try plugging in the hdmi with the external display off then turn it on.
3. Do the above 2 things with the dock connected to power if it has that capability.
4. Try another dock/dongle.
@@Loaded0 Awesome thank you, got it working after unplugging the HDMI. Might've just been my monitor being annoying
so seeing as you have to keep the ssd plugged in .. that means you cant charge the deck while running windows or anything off of it, no?
Yup. You can charge if you use a hub like the one I showed in the video since it has a charging pass through port and still use Windows, but then it gets a bit messy with cords.
I've found that I don't have Steam Deck sessions longer than the battery lasts though so I just turn it off, unplug the SSD, and charge it for next time. It's an annoying extra step because there's only one port.
how can i get my external SSD Ravpower get detected by Rufus? Very excited to follow this guide!
It doesn’t show even after you check “list usb hard drives” in Rufus? If it doesn’t maybe try formatting it to ntfs first.
@@Loaded0 well there it is! I appreciate pointing that out, not back to the guide!
Should I put the windows OS to external SSD or dual boot the internal SSD then use the external ssd for windows storage? Help thanks
If you’re going to attach the external SSD for Windows storage anyways might as well put it all on the SSD. Then the internal storage will be free for SteamOS and there shouldn’t be any problems with updates down the line.
@@Loaded0 thank you!!!!!!!
I have a Samsung t7 shield and it’s formatted in exfat. I have a lot of games on there. Do I have to wipe it before I add windows on it?
Yes Rufus will wipe the whole drive unfortunately.
@@Loaded0 darn, is there a way for the steamdeck to play my games from the drive as is?
@DEMANATI If you have the installers for the games on the drive you could probably run them in SteamOS as long the game is supported and they’ll install and run.
If you had them installed onto the drive from another pc it probably won’t work as they need other files that aren’t found on the drive (directx or writable folders for saves and stuff). Some smaller self contained games might run in SteamOS direct from the drive though.
Could I just plug the ssd into my pc and install windows like it’s a new build. And then just plug it into the deck and boot up?
I don’t think Windows will install normally onto an SSD. Let me know if it works though. Also the hardware for your PC and Steam Deck will be different so it might cause problems on boot up even if it does install to the SSD.
Does this methods work for external HD’s also
It should work, but spinning HDs are slower so Windows will take longer to load everything. Good to use an external HD if you need lots of storage space though.
Oh cool! But is there anyway you could brick your steam deck by doing it this way? Someone told me so.
It’s very hard to brick a Steam Deck since it’s just a PC in the end. Using a separate drive for Windows is even less likely to brick anything since you’re leaving everything on the Steam Deck intact. If you unplug the SSD and start it up it’ll just boot into SteamOS like normal.
You think is possible with an HHD?
Yeah it’ll work with many different storage devices, but the problem will be how slow it is unless it’s an SSD. Also HDD use more power too so the Steam Deck might not be able to boot with it.
Cant find my ssd on rufus... What file system does it need to be in?
Did you check “list USB hard drives” in Rufus? Doesn’t really matter what file system it’s in because Rufus will change it, but the end result will be ntfs.
I'm getting an error that says "Undetermined error while formatting* shortly after starting the actual formatting process. The log shows a list of errors reading as "The device is not ready. - Retrying..." Which happens about 4 times before it goes through the process again a couple more times. Can you help?
Sounds like something might be using the drive so it can’t format it. Does it let you format it manually through the Windows file manager? If that works try running again after it’s been formatted. If it doesn’t let you format it manually either then there’s a program using the drive that you’ll have to close. Maybe something like an anitivirus program or maybe even something running off the SSD itself. Also try a different usb port too. Let me know how it goes.
@@Loaded0 I actually checked that, it let me format it normally with zero issues. Once done, I was able to access it too. I tried to run it immediately after formatting it again and same issue. I haven't checked if there is a program accessing it so I'll let ya know if anything changes.
Ok. I also found this in the Rufus faq that might help:
github.com/pbatard/rufus/wiki/FAQ#Error_0x00000015_The_device_is_not_ready
@@Loaded0 sorry just saw ur response. I was able to get Win11 successfully installed using this method, which doesn't utilize Rufus:. ruclips.net/video/IdCpiUsfq7s/видео.html
Seems to work just fine, fortunately. Now I've come across 2 new issues. I am not able to completely install Genshin Impact without the operating system crashing AND I would also like to get windows installed on an SD card but that seems to be failing. I was able to successfully get windows 10, but windows 11 crashes, won't even load.
I was able to succeed with installing Windows 10 on my SD card using this method:. ruclips.net/video/VnSlrJihEiU/видео.html
But I do want to say thanks for all ur help and for this video!