Last time I expanded the GPD Pocket’s storage I went with the SanDisk CZ43, and honestly it felt like a waste of money. Then in the comments, a guy called Maotou said there’s a Lexar USB drive that’s a bit better, and around the same time I saw a Japanese video on YouTube recommending that same drive for expanding the GPD Pocket, so I figured I’d give it a shot. Turns out it’s way better than the SanDisk one.

The GPD Pocket doesn’t have a TF card slot, so you’re stuck with the USB port, which is why this USB drive caught my eye. It’s the SanDisk CZ43. Super short, so I figured it’d work.

Windows To Go is one way of installing Windows onto a USB drive or other removable media. Generally speaking, with USB drives you either buy one that’s Windows To Go certified, or you go with some third-party method off the internet. I tried the third-party route. It worked, but it’s not reliable, not stable — a couple of upgrades and it’s probably dead. In the end I just bought a Kingston with Windows To Go certification on eBay. For the list of certified products, see Microsoft’s official page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_To_Go

Last time I bought an iQunix USB drive, only I carelessly picked black and found out it wasn’t metal at all. I figured black was fine, black it is. Then later I complained about it on X and the company got in touch, saying I could pay the 20 yuan difference and swap for the metal version. Thought it over. Sure, why not. So in the end the metal one arrived anyway.

I had a spare 128GB Plextor ngff SSD lying around after a swap, and selling it wouldn’t have gotten me much, so I figured I’d just grab a cheap KingSpec enclosure and mess around with it. It’s pretty tiny once it arrives, just a little thing…

Starting with Windows 8, there’s a feature called Windows To Go. Basically you install your entire Windows system onto a USB drive, find a computer, plug the drive in, and boot into your own system. Pretty cool, right? It’s essentially the same idea as a Linux Live CD. Even so, it’s not exactly easy to pull off. Microsoft gives you a wizard in the Control Panel, but it’s useless, because when you run it, it tells you “only Microsoft WTG-certified USB drives can be used to create Windows To Go.” And those certified drives? Either you can’t buy them, or the only one you can get on JD.com starts at 699 yuan. Absolutely makes you want to scream. So we just have to ignore that dumb wizard and do it ourselves.