From Ubuntu, Installing Windows 10 on an external SSD

Question

I've followed every post about this subject, but I feel like most breeze over details, so maybe I have a few misconceptions:

Steps to Problem:

1. Downloading the ISO file here: https://www.microsoft.com/it-it/software-download/windows10

2. Format external SSD to be NTFS

3. Install ISO onto external SSD using mkusb

4. Boot onto external SSD produces the windows 10 installation screen, but when I get past the language screen I get: "windows 10 A media driver your computer needs is missing. This could be a DVD, USB or Hard Disk driver"

Question:

• Do I need to install windows on a bootable USB instead of the SSD? How then can I demand the USB installation installs onto the SSD and not the main hard drive (which has Ubuntu)

• This error is usually seen for Windows 7 (missing usb3.0 drivers, but Windows10 comes with them, corrupted ISO, but I'm fairly sure the ISO is good)

I'm a bit lost as how to accomplish this. Some help in this regard would be swell. I have a laptop with Ubuntu (an internal SSD), and a blank external SSD (With the official Windows 10 ISO and an official product key), and want to get Windows on the external drive.

Solution

You can’t install windows to the same drive you are installing from. You’ll need to create a separate bootable USB drive using the media creation tool you linked to. An ISO is not needed.

The external SSD should not be partitioned, nor formatted. Windows does this itself. At the time of installation you will be able to choose your destination drive to install on.

You made no mention of dual booting your system. Once Windows is installed, it will modify your startup files and Ubuntu will no longer be bootable. But it will still exist on the original internal drive.

Again, you made no mention of dual booting which is a completely different topic. So the best thing to do is to unplug your internal drive before installing Windows. Then if all goes well, you should be able to plug the internal drive back in and boot Ubuntu. If you want to boot Win 10 on the external drive, you can plug it in and use your motherboard’s boot selection menu (F2, F12, etc.) and choose the external drive.

Also, Windows 10 does not have all USB 3.0 drivers. You may need to install on a USB 2.0 port, until you have loaded all the drivers, then you can probably switch to USB 3.0.