Home » Spyrus Windows To Go live drive hands-on

Spyrus Windows To Go live drive hands-on

Written By Diangson Louie
Published • October 4th, 2018
Hands-onPersonal Computing
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Here’s the scenario. You have your own laptop; it’s your favorite and very productive with it, and you want to use it for work. However, you can’t because your company doesn’t support a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policy for a number of reasons like security. So what do you do?

One solution to this problem is to turn your PC/laptop in a Trusted enterprise Windows workstation. If you’re asking how? That’s where Spyrus Windows To Go live drive come in.

The Spyrus Windows To Go is basically a Microsoft certified Windows To Go (WTG) drive with SSD storage and Windows 10 Enterprise already installed. It’s very portable, bigger than your usual flash drive but still very portable and can fit inside a pocket. It’s also tough as the exterior is made of metal with a plastic frame on the inside. There’s no mention of water-proofing so make sure to keep it away from any liquids.

Operating it relatively simple. First, you need to insert it to your laptop’s USB port (preferably USB 3.0 interface), the blue indicator will light up to let you know it’s active. Second, enter your laptop’s BIOS and point the system to boot from the Spyro. After saving and restarting, your laptop will then boot directly from the Spyro and will run Windows 10 Home Enterprise. For Apple users, don’t worry as it also works with Macs.

The interface looks just like the default Windows 10. It doesn’t have a lot of pre-installed apps which is nice considering that the unit we have only had 32GB of storage but Spyrus offers up to 1TB drives if you really need the space.

Performance-wise, it operates well like you’re running Windows from an entry-level laptop so MS Office-based tasks and casual internet browsing should be fine. It’s pretty barebones but still receives Windows updates to keep it secure.

Speaking of security, the Spyrus Windows To Go live drive comes with the following features:
• Built-in PKI smart card
• FIPS 140-2 Level 3 validated
• XTS-AEX 256 hardware encryption
• Read-only mode options
• Data vault read/write option (can be used on Surface Prof
4 for secure data management)
• MIL-810 tested hardware providing military ruggedness

The Spyrus Windows To Go live drive pricing varies depending on the model. It can go for USD 123.50 for the 32GB, up to USD 1,140 for the 1TB. It’s pricey but certainly handy for Enterprise IT.