Making Making your operating system’s USB drive bootable is a smart idea if you have a Windows 10 computer. In order to fix a computer that won’t turn on or connect to the internet, you can install or reinstall Windows 10 in this manner. Creating a bootable USB for Windows 10 is explained here.
Hi guys, this is Ali from Tech Softy Let’s discuss how to create a bootable USB flash drive for Windows 10. There are two common ways to do this.
- Media Creation Tool (Microsoft)
- Third-party application (Rufus)
The first way is to directly use the media creation tool from Microsoft and the second way is to use a third-party application (Rufus) to create your Windows 10 bootable USB in that case, you will need a Windows 10 ISO file which you can download for free. There are several third-party applications out there you can choose from here I’ll be using Rufus I find it quite easy to use it has great reviews as well and of course it’s free.
Before you begin, make sure you have the following:
- A steady internet connection
- A USB flash drive with at least 8 GB of available space
- Your 25-character product key (not required for digital purchases).
Now without further delay let’s jump right into Method 1.
Microsoft Media Creation Tool
Okay so for the first method, I will be using the Microsoft media creation tool you can get that directly from Microsoft website.
- Simply go to google and search download Windows 10. Click on the first result from Microsoft or click here to go to download page directly.
2. On this page under the Create Windows 10 installation media click on Download Now Button.
3. Windows 10 media creation tool will download shortly it’s just about 80 megabytes in size so it should download pretty fast if you have good internet connection. After the download, run the tool by double-clicking.
4. Accept the license terms and conditions.
5. Now here the default option is to upgrade this PC now what you want to select create installation media for another PC.
6. But first insert your USB flash disk before you do that you should ensure you backup the files on your USB stick because the media creation tool will automatically delete the files on your USB during the creation process.
7. Select create installation media for another PC and click on next on this page you have to select the language architecture and the edition of Windows 10 you wish to have by default I have English US as the language. Windows 10 edition and then 64-bit architectures the recommended options.
8. Now if you want to change these configurations to match your PC specifications so first uncheck use recommended options for this PC now only then you will be able to change the default settings for the language. I will leave mine as English US edition. Windows 10 then on the architecture there are three options 32-bit 64-bit and both if you already know the architecture of the PC you want to install your Windows 10 on then you can select it here but if you don’t or if you have multiple pcs you wish to install Windows 10 with put 32-bit and 64-bit options then your best bet is to select the both option. That way you will need to create multiple installation media however this will require more space on the USB somewhere around 8 gigabyte or more. So if you want to go with the both option then it’s better to use at least 16GB USB to avoid any error. However if you want to go with only the 32-bit or 64-bit option then an 8GB USB is enough.
If you can get a USB 3.0 it could save you a bit of time during the discretion process and also when you use it to install windows on another computer compared to the USB 2.0. So hit Next to proceed with the process.
9. On this page it gives you the option of either using a USB flash drive or created an ISO file which will later be burned to a DVD. So I will leave it as USB flash drive and hit next.
10. Then select the USB flash drive you want to use you can easily go back to your computer folder to confirm the volume level of the USB Drive to ensure you select the right drive then hit next to start the download.
11. A media creation process now this stage will take a while depending on the speed of your internet connection the processing power of your computer and also the speed of your USB stick.
Some USB sticks are faster than others especially when you compare the 2.0 – 3.0. If you have the 3.0 do use it 2.0 also work fine but it might take a little more time during the discretion process and also when you install windows on another computer. In any case this process will take 15 to 20 minutes on average. Could take more or less time depending on the factors I just mentioned above. Moreover you can keep working on your laptop during this process.
Now we’ve successfully completed a media creation process for Windows 10 installation you should have this page saying your USB flash drive is ready you can also go to your computer folder to verify that your USB now has the installation files and is configured as bootable. it should look something like
this so now we are ready to install Windows 10 offline using this USB flash drive or You can choose what to keep in your PC.
Rufus
Method 2 is Rufus which is third-party application to create your Windows 10 bootable USB. Before downloading or running Rufus you need to have your Windows 10 ISO file saved somewhere on your computer. If you’ve not yet download the Windows 10 ISO file the procedure is pretty similar to the first method we just did.
- So from Microsoft page you downloaded media creation tool run the tool by double-clicking.
2. Accept the license terms.
3. Select create installation media for another PC. Then click next.
4. On this page select the language architecture and edition of Windows you wish to have and hit next.
5. On this page that follows it gives you the option of either using a USB flash drive or create an ISO file which you will later burn to a DVD. So simply select the ISO file option and hit next.
Then select the location where you want to save your ISO file and hit save.
Wait for the download and media creation process to complete again. Afterwards you should see a page showing the location where your ISO file was saved and if you go to that location you will find your file Windows.ISO. Now we have the ISO file. Go ahead and download Rufus.
- Go to Google and search Rufus and click on the first result from rufus.ie.
It will bring you to the download page. Or you can download directly from this link. Rufus Download.
2. Scroll down to where it says download and click on the last updated version now is version 4.3 depending on when you’re reading this article it could be a different version.
Click on it download. it’s just about 1 MB. Now after downloading insert your USB to ypur Laptop or PC and then double-click on installation file.
3. Click yes on the user account control.
4. Select the USB device you want to use in case you have multiple USB devices attached the use the drop down to select disk or ISO image.
5. Then click on the select button to the right and locate the ISO file you have saved and select that. You need to select a partition scheme for the disc where you intend to install your Windows. There are two options MBR and GPT. GPT is the newest scheme meant to replace MBR with some improved features.
6. If you intend to use this USB to install windows on a formatted laptop or PC with no disk partitions then should select the GPT option during the installation it will automatically convert your disk to GPT however if you want to use the USB to upgrade from a previous version of Windows then you may want to check the partition format of the disk for Windows 10
Go to your Search and type create and format disk partition and open it.
Now right-click on disk where you intend to install your windows and select properties.
Click on the volume. If you see the partition style of your disk is GPT so GPT is selected here click on start it will informs you that all data on the USB stick will be deleted.
During the process now ensure you’ve backed up all the files on the USB stick then hit OK and wait for the process to complete.
Now when completed it will say ready. Then you can close Rufus and eject your USB flash drive from your PC.
Windows 10 bootable USB drive ready to install Windows 10 on other computers. If you found it useful share with anyone you think might want to see.