How to create a bootable USB with Windows 10

It is a bootable usb drivewhich would be the Spanish translation of “boot”. Therefore, it is a USB that has the ability to run by itself on a PC without the need to have an operating system installed that recognizes it.

There you can save complete systems or also installation files. Although it is recommended that USB be 3.0 because of its speed, it is also applicable to USB 2.0.

If you want to install an operating system, you will need to have a ISO image. In the case of Windows, you can download it for free from its official website. It is a completely legal method, since the bootable USB will be able to recognize if your computer has the license to reinstall Windows.

If you can not pay the license and continue using the same system that you already installed.

There is a wide variety of programs to create bootable drives in Windows. One of the most used of all is Universal USB Installer, because it is simple and very fast. The first thing you have to do is download the application from its official website.

For create a bootable drivefollow these steps:

1. Install the application on your computer and open it.
2. In the window that appears on the screen, select the operating system that you want to save in memory.
3. In the second section select .iso file and look for the image that must be saved on the computer.
4. Choose the storage unit, which will obviously be the USB device.
5. Check the option of Formatso that a quick format is applied to the drive.
6. Click on Create and wait for the process to finish.

This installer will work for any operating system. However, you can also use the Microsoft tool to create bootable USB. You can find it by following this link, as well as the explanation on how to use it.

In case you don’t want to download any application, it is also possible to make a Bootable USB on the same Windows. For this you will have to use the command prompt. The steps to follow are simple and will not take you more than a couple of minutes:

1. Plug the USB thumb drive into the computer.
2. Search cmd in the Windows start menu and run as administrator.
3. When it opens, type diskpart and press Enter key to enter disk management.
4. Writes list disk to see a list of all available drives on the computer.
5. Writes select disk X, you have to replace said X with the number that corresponds to your USB drive. For example, if your USB is drive 1, then the command would be select disk 1.
6. When the drive is selected, type clean to delete all files on the storage drive.
7. Now we need to make the drive the primary partition, and this is achieved by typing create partition primary.
8. Writes activate for the unit to be usable.
9. Use the command format fs=fat32 quick to do a quick format.
10. Finally, write assign to be able to see the unit in “This Computer”.

Now all you have to do is type exit to exit the command prompt.

If you used the cmd to create the boot driveyou will have to manually pass the files from the ISO image to USB. To do this, open the image with winrar and extract all the items inside the flash drive. However, if you used the Universal USB Installer or the Microsoft tool, the pendrive will already be ready for installation.

1. Restart the computer with the USB drive connected to the computer.
2. When the logo of the brand or the motherboard appears, press the corresponding function letter to boot the system. Can be F2, F5, F11, F12among others, depending on the computer.
3. You will see a list with the available units, so select the USB.
4. Wait for the Windows installation wizard to load.
5. Click Install Now and enter the license key if you have one. Otherwise, click I don’t have a product key.
6. Choose the option Custom: Install Windows Only (Advanced).
7. Choose the drive where you want to install the system, it is recommended to format the drive. In this section you have the opportunity to configure the partitions of your hard drive.
8. After this, click Next and wait for the entire installation process to finish, this will depend on the speed of your USB drive.

The last thing you need to do is set some preferences, such as language, networks, and account management. The team is going to reboot several times and after a few minutes it will show the desktop home screen.

As already mentioned, there are several options for create a usb drive start through Windows. All of them work more or less the same, although some offer special features. Be that as it may, here we present other alternatives:

PassFab for ISO

It is a tool that downloads system images from Microsoft directly and imports them to your computer. They can be recorded on a compact disc or on a USB in formats FAT, FAT32 and NTFS.

Rufus

Its main feature is that it supports images not only of Windows, but also of Linux and other systems. Although it is a simple application, its tools are quite practical.

Live USB Install

It is generally used to install Linux distributions, although it is also compatible with Windows. If you want to install a OS GNUthe program takes care of finding the distribution of your choice without having to download it manually.

Media Creation Tool

This is one of the best options for create a bootable USB with Windows 10. In fact, it is the official Microsoft application and it is specifically designed for Windows operating systems. The program downloads the ISO image and does the whole procedure by itself so that your USB is bootable.

Yumi

Finally, we present another tool to create bootable USB, but more focused on experienced users. It offers advanced features, such as the ability to create bootable drives for more than one operating system using the same key.

Similarly, the program allows you to customize the device to add other applications that you want to include in the installation.

If you want to read more articles similar to How to create a bootable USB with Windows 10we recommend that you enter our category of Operating Systems.