Many a time, it happens that your PC runs into some trouble, and you need some bootable media to fix your system. Even laptops came with a CD/DVD drive to use bootable media to repair or install your operating system in the earlier days. But things have changed, and in the day and age of portability and convenience, we no longer use DVDs as bootable media. Instead, we use a thumb drive/USB flash drive.
So, this article will provide step by step guide on how to make Windows 10 bootable USB so that you can use it to repair your PC or fresh install your Windows 10. Since Windows 11 is already here, you can create a bootable USB using the same method and try the new Operating System.
Making a USB flash drive bootable is a simple process, and you don’t need to break your head about it; we will make it easier for you with our step-by-step guide. There are various methods and tools to make a USB bootable. We will use two straightforward methods. We will discuss one method using a 3rd party tool, and in the other method, we won’t use any 3rd party software since many of you don’t like the hassle of using a separate tool. But first, let us discuss why we should use a USB drive to boot from-
Benefits of using a USB flash drive as a bootable USB
- Speed: A USB can be much faster than a traditional CD/DVD. So the installation time is reduced significantly.
- Portability: A thumb drive is small and can be carried wherever you go. You can even attach it with your car/bike keys, so it is always available to you.
- Longevity: Unlike traditional CD/DVDs, which can be scratched or damaged pretty easily, USB drives are sturdy and last long.
- Reusability: Unlike DVDs that are read-only after you write on them once, a USB drive can be used for various purposes even after making it bootable. Format it, and you are good to go. And whenever you need it, make it bootable again using our guide.
Due to the above-mentioned convenience, we recommend you to have a bootable USB flash drive always in your possession. Buy Best USB flash drive from Amazon.
Prerequisites to make Bootable USB
- Windows 10 ISO setup – You can download a genuine windows 10 setup from the official site and save it to your computer.
- A USB flash drive – You must have a portable USB flash drive/thumb drive with a minimum of 8GB size.
- Make sure to back up the data stored in a USB drive as the process you will follow will format and erase all the data stored in the USB flash drive.
Now let’s start with our guide on how to make Windows 10 bootable USB drive. From the two methods that we are going to discuss here, let’s start with the one where you don’t require any 3d party tool-
Method 1 – How to make Windows 10 bootable USB Using Commands Prompts?
Creating a bootable USB drive using CMD is really easy. You just have to type the commands one by one carefully.
- Step 1: Insert the USB flash drive you want to make bootable in one of the USB ports.
- Step 2: Now go to Start Menu and type CMD. You’ll get an App called command prompt. Right-click on it and select “Run as administrator” or do it from the right panel.
- Step 3: Now, on the command prompt window, type “diskpart” and press Enter.
diskpart
- Step 4: Now type “list disk” and press enter. This will list all the disk drives currently connected to your PC along with their size. Identify the USB drive judging by its size and remember the disk number associated with it. In our case, it is “Disk 2”.
list disk
- Step 5: Now type “select disk 2” and hit enter. This will select the disk to operate. Please type the disk number accordingly; in our case, it is disk 2, but it might be different for you.
select disk 2
- Step 6: Now type “clean” and hit enter. This will clean the USB flash drive.
Clean
- Step 7: Now type “create partition primary” and hit Enter. This will make a primary partition in the USB flash drive to be able to make it bootable.
create partition primary
- Step 8: Now Type “select partition 1” and hit enter to choose the primary partition.
select partition 1
- Step 9: Now, we need to format the selected partition as NTFS. To do that, type “format= fs ntfs quick”. Wait for the format process to 100% complete.
format=fs ntfs quick
- Step 10: Now type “Active” to make activate the partition.
active
- Step 11: type “exit” to exit the diskpart.
Exit
- Step 12: The process to make the USB drive bootable is over. The only thing left is to copy the operating system files to the USB drive. Once you do that, your bootable USB flash drive is ready to use.
So this was the method to how to make Windows 10 bootable USB without using a 3rd party app. Usually, we promote using built-in apps as much as possible unless it’s necessary to use a 3rd party tool so that your windows remain clutter-free. But the next method we are going to discuss involves a tiny app called Rufus, which is so convenient that we wholeheartedly recommend using it, especially since it doesn’t require any installation.
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Method 2 – How to make Windows 10 bootable USB using Rufus Tool?
This tiny 1.1 MB tool is easy to use and requires no installation. Just download it using the link below so that we can get on with the steps-
- Step 1: Insert the USB drive you want to make bootable and Open the Rufus tool. It should automatically detect your USB drive.
- Step 2: Now, you’ll have to choose where you want to copy your Windows files from the Boot selection option. You have 3 options here, the first option is Non-bootable which is really not what we are doing here, and the next two are FreeDOS and DISK or ISO image(Please select). We are assuming you have an ISO file of Windows since Microsoft provides them for free now, so choose the latter option.
- Step 3: Now, click on the SELECT button. This will allow you to locate the Windows ISO file on your hard drive. Choose the ISO file and click Open. This will load the ISO file on the RUFUS tool.
- Step 4: Now comes an import part; you must recognize which partition scheme your system uses. Either it uses MBR or GPT partition systems. For instance, older systems and windows 7 supported MBR partition schemes, but the recent devices and windows 10 only supports GPT partition scheme. Depending on the system, select the Partition scheme. Since we are working with a Windows 10 ISO, we’ve chosen GPT.
- Step 5: Now, from the file system option, select NTFS format as windows use the NTFS file system for storage.
- Step 6: Leave everything else on the Rufus tool to its default value and Click on Start to begin the process. It will take some time to make the USB drive bootable and to copy everything from the ISO.
- Step 7: Once the process completes, the status bar will be green with ready written on it. That’s it; now you have a perfectly bootable USB drive in your possession. You can Close the Rufus tool.
So this was the second method in this guide of how to make Windows 10 bootable USB. Let us know if you have any doubts regarding this topic in the comment section below. Also, read our other articles related to windows-
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