Bootable flash windows 10. Five programs for creating a bootable flash drive

Good day!

For Windows installations Many users are increasingly resorting to flash drives. This is understandable, because installing an OS using a flash drive has a number of advantages:

  • Files are copied from it faster, which means the installation will be completed in less time;
  • You can put the flash drive in any of your pockets and always have it at hand;
  • it can be connected to a laptop, PC, netbook - to any device with a USB port (and on many modern laptops There is no CD/DVD drive at all...).

In this article I will look at several current methods creating a boot boot (it is also sometimes called installation) flash drives with Windows 10.

Advice!

Method 1: Through a tool from Microsoft

Pros: suitable even for those who do not have ISO image from Windows (we will officially download it); normal Windows without hard-wired problems; you can simply update your old OS (without a classic reinstallation); official method from Microsoft.

Minus: you need a fast and good Internet channel to Microsoft servers.

We are talking, of course, about the instrument - . To download this utility, you need to go to the official website of the program.

Microsoft Media Creation Tool

Short description: special a utility from Microsoft that allows you to download an ISO image from an official site. company server and use it to create bootable media (flash drives, external drives etc.). The tool is intended for Windows 10 OS only.

After downloading and launching the program, you will first be asked to accept license agreement(I won’t cite it here). If you accept, then you need to do the following:


Basically, there is nothing more to comment here: now you either have an ISO image with Windows 10 - and you can burn it to a DVD (or on a flash drive, I’ll talk about this later in the article), or you already have a bootable USB flash drive (it all depends on what you chose in step 3, see description above).

In general, in my opinion, this tool from Microsoft is very convenient and effective for preparing installation media (what was missing for so long before...).

To help!

You might find this article useful on how to burn an ISO image to a USB flash drive. - (there are a couple more ways listed there).

Method 2: Using Rufus utility (BIOS, UEFI)

To run the program, you need an ISO image (for example, the one we created in the previous step).

Utility for work - Rufus

One of best utilities for recording bootable USB flash drives. Despite its small size, the utility is very multifunctional. The most important thing: allows you to write flash drives both for classic installation (from under BIOS) and on new PCs with UEFI support. For “contrast”, I will consider both options.

How to create a bootable USB flash drive in Rufus (Important! All data on the flash drive will be deleted when performing this task) :

  1. insert the flash drive into the USB port and run the program as administrator (just click right click by the utility icon and select it in context menu) ;
  2. Device: specify a USB drive (special attention - if you have several flash drives/disks connected to your PC);
  3. Partition scheme and type system interface : MBR for computers with BIOS or UEFI-CSM; (if for UEFI - indicate GPT for UEFI computers);
  4. File system: NTFS (for UEFI - FAT 32);
  5. Cluster size: 4096/8192 bytes (default);
  6. New volume label: custom field;
  7. Quick formatting – Yes;
    Create an extended label and device icon – Yes;
  8. Create boot disk– ISO image. Click the button and specify the path to the Windows 10 image(for UEFI, specify Windows image 10 64-bit). Check the option Standard installation Windows;
  9. The last step is pressing the button "Start", the program will ask you again about formatting the media. We just agree and wait for the operation to complete (all setup steps are shown in the screenshots below).

Method 3: Using UltraISO

Ultra ISO

One of best programs for working with ISO images: allows you to create them, write them to flash drives and CD/DVD discs, edit them, change them, extract files from them, etc. Generally, indispensable tool, if you are involved in working with ISO images...

To create an installation flash drive in UltraISO, you need to do the following (we'll look at it step by step).

1) First you need to download and install UltraISO (this is standard, I don’t consider it), and run the program as administrator (to do this, right-click on the program icon and select this option in the context menu)!

2) Then you need to open the ISO image - click File/open, or you can press a combination of buttons Ctrl+O .

Opening an ISO image // UltraISO

2) If the image opened and there are no errors, then click menu (see screenshot below).

Burn image hard drive Ultra ISO

3) In the next step you need to set the basic recording settings:

  • disk drive - specify the letter of the flash drive (Attention! If you have 2-3 flash drives connected to your PC, you can easily make a mistake. All information from the flash drive will be deleted during the recording process!);
  • recording method: USB-HDD+ (if the flash drive won’t boot into anything, try specifying the option USB-HDD no pros/cons);
  • then click the button "Record" .

Recording Settings // Ultra ISO

4) Actually, all you have to do is wait until the information is written to the flash drive. The recording time depends on the speed of your USB port, the ISO image (the number and size of files on it), and the PC load.

The recording is completed successfully - the installation flash drive is ready!

Method 4: Direct recording to a flash drive

Important! Such a flash drive will only work on modern computers/laptops with UEFI support (if you created a flash drive using this material, but the computer does not see it, most likely you do not have UEFI, but BIOS. Just rewrite it using the first three programs/methods: Microsoft Media Creation Tool, UltraISO, Rufus).

Great free archiver, which supports dozens of formats: 7z, rar, zip, etc. It can extract files from an ISO image (which is what is needed for this task).

Probably the most famous archivist in Russia. In general, it is in no way inferior to the first, and also allows you to extract files from ISO.

1) First you need to format the USB flash drive. To do this, go to "This computer", right-click on the flash drive and select "Format" (as in the screenshot below).

2) File system specify FAT 32! It is also recommended to do quick formatting(clearing table of contents).

Important! All data from the flash drive will be deleted when formatted.

Note: to do this, simply right-click on the ISO image and select 7-Zip/open from the context menu (as in the screenshot below).

4) Then simply extract all the files from the image to your flash drive. For this purpose in 7-Zip click the button "Extract", and then select your drive. In general, everything is quite simple. Similar actions will be in the same WinRar.

After all the files have been extracted to the flash drive, you can proceed.

That's all, good luck and quick installation Windows 10

Just a few years ago, it was easier to install Windows directly from a CD. But this is not always possible; now not every computer (and especially laptop) has a DVD drive. With development high-speed Internet And modern technologies(increasing the volume and speed of access to flash memory) CD/DVD disks are gradually losing their relevance.

Modern ultrabooks, laptops and netbooks are rarely equipped with a disk drive and usually offer it as an option. The disk has been replaced by a modern and convenient flash drive. Modern models mobile devices have long supported such a function as installing Windows from a bootable USB flash drive. To do this, you need to burn a bootable ISO image onto it, and then this flash drive can be used on a laptop or PC.

Which version of Windows 10 should I choose to burn the installation flash drive?

If your laptop or computer (processor, motherboard) supports 64-bit architecture and has at least 4 GB of installed random access memory- best Windows selection 10 64-bit. In all other cases, the 32-bit version.

The main and significant difference is that Windows 10 x64 supports more than 3.2 GB of RAM (up to 256 GB per this moment). Windows 10 x86 - accordingly, “sees” only 3.2 Gb or less.

Download Windows 10 (ISO image) legally and free to create a bootable USB flash drive.

On the official Microsoft website ( Microsoft Store) you can download the image for free operating system Windows 10 32-bit and 64-bit in ISO format. After downloading, you will be able to take advantage of a 30-day trial, test period to evaluate the capabilities of the new OS. At the end of this period you will need to enter license key For Windows activation 10.

How to download Windows 10 ISO image (32-bit, 64-bit) from the official Microsoft website:


To write an image to a USB flash drive, you can use Windows USB Download Tool or Media Creation Tool. MediaCreationTool is a utility created specifically for writing Windows 10 images to a bootable USB flash drive. USB Download Tool - Compatible with earlier versions OS.

Media Creation Tool is a utility for burning a USB installation disk with Windows 10 Pro (x86, x32).

It's more latest version Software for creating bootable media, created specifically for Windows 10. It fixes many errors and simplifies the process of writing an OS image to a flash drive.

This software, together with the method described above for downloading an ISO image, allows you to download, create a bootable USB flash drive, and install Windows 10 on your computer completely legally and for free. You only need to purchase and enter a license key to activate the product in order to fully take advantage of all the features of the operating system (https://www.microsoft.com/ru-ru/windows/get-windows-10).

How to burn Windows 10 to a USB flash drive using the Windows USB/DVD Download Tool.

If you have already downloaded the original Windows 10 image from the Microsoft Store, you can use it to create a bootable USB flash drives or DVD disc. You just need to install the utility and follow the simple instructions on the screen.

Absolutely any flash drive with a capacity of 4 GB or more (preferably 8 GB) is suitable. The flash drive must be empty (!). If there are any files on it, they will be deleted during the image recording process. For successful recording bootable media, you must have Administrator rights and make sure you have the .NET component installed Framework versions not lower than 2.0

You can download Windows USB/DVD Download Tool for Windows 10 from the official Microsoft website: https://www.microsoft.com/ru-ru/download/windows-usb-dvd-download-tool

Recording, creating a bootable USB media for installing Windows 10.

  1. Install and run Windows application USB/DVD Download Tool.
  2. In the SOURCE FILE window, specify the path to the previously downloaded Windows 10 ISO image or press the BROWSE button to search and OPEN to select the desired file. Click the NEXT button.
  3. At this stage, you need to select a flash drive or DVD drive on which you want to install the image, click USB DEVICE to USB recording flash drives or DVD disk to burn a DVD disc.
  4. Select the USB drive from the drop-down list and click BEGIN COPYING.
  5. Now we wait for some time, usually 5-10 minutes, until all installation files are copied and Windows folders 10 from the ISO image file. When copying is complete, a notification will appear indicating that the installation flash drive has been successfully created.
  6. Bootable USB ready! You can start installing Windows 10 either from under Windows or boot directly from a flash drive (you need to select boot priority from USB in the BIOS).

There are some features of recording 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows 10 to a flash drive. In some cases, when recording a 64-bit image on a 32-bit version of Windows 10 (7, 8), an error may occur while creating the boot sector.

On last stage creation, the following message appears: “Files copied successfully. However, we were unable to run bootsect to make the USB device bootable. If you need assistance with bootsect, please click the “Online Hlep” link above for more information.”

I'll tell you how to fix the bootsect error below.

Bootsect.exe error when writing a bootable USB flash drive for Windows 10 64-bit.

For successful creation bootable flash drive for 64-bit Windows 10 in a 32-bit environment, you need to download and copy the bootsect.exe file to the folder with Windows program USB Download Tool. Procedure:

  1. Open the previously downloaded Windows 10 ISO image with some archiver (WinRAR) or file manager(Total Commander).
  2. You will see a list installation files and folders. Here you need to go to the Boot folder and find the bootsect.exe file. Copy it by right-clicking on it or using Ctrl+C.
  3. Open the folder to the Windows USB Download Tool, by default it is C:UsersUserNameAppDataLocalAppsWindows USB DVD Download Tool. Paste the copied file by right-clicking “Paste” or Ctrl+V.
  4. Start the process of recording the operating system image again from the first step.

The Windows USB/DVD Download Tool supports recording bootable USB flash drives for installation:

  • Microsoft Windows 10 (x86, x64);
  • Microsoft Windows 8.1 (x86, x64);
  • Microsoft Windows 8 (x86, x64);
  • Microsoft Windows 7 (x86, x64).

How to make a bootable USB flash drive for Windows 10 (7, 8) using UltraISO.

One of the most optimal solutions This issue is to use the UltraISO program. It opens up wide possibilities for the user:

  • Editing existing disk images;
  • Creation virtual disks on a computer or recording disk images.

The only disadvantage of this program is that it is paid. But this issue can also be resolved - using this link https://ezbsystems.com/ultraiso/ you can download a free demo version, which you can use throughout certain period time (believe me, the demo version will be quite enough to rewrite Windows from a disk to a flash drive; you are unlikely to do this all the time).

The subsequent algorithm of actions will look like this:

  1. For the purpose of recording to a flash drive Bootable ISO image with Windows 10, first of all you will need to open this ISO image. All you need to do is select the “File” menu in UltraISO and click on the appropriate tab.
  2. In the window that appears, to select a file, you need to find the boot ISO file with Windows 10, and confirm your choice, after which the contents of the bootable ISO image can be seen in the UltraISO program window.
  3. You need to insert the flash drive into the USB port and open the “Boot” menu in the program. Select the option “Record image of Hard disk."
  4. Result - a window will appear to write a bootable ISO image to a USB flash drive. In principle, no further action is required. The only thing is that you will need to make sure that in the drop-down menu “ Disk Drive» selected required flash drive, to avoid an unpleasant surprise.
  5. Click on the “Record” command.
  6. The next step will be a warning that due to the recording of the bootable ISO image, all information previously placed on the flash drive will be deleted. To continue, you will need to click on the “Yes” button.
  7. Once confirmation is received, UltraISO will automatic mode will record boot image ISO to flash drive.
  8. Finishing this process You can start installing Windows 10 using the bootable USB flash drive you received.

Just in case when installing Windows 10 from a flash drive it says “.”

Agree, there is nothing complicated about this. The most important thing is to always have what you need at hand software and strictly follow the recommendations!

The use of DVDs in the process of creating installation media is now becoming a thing of the past. More and more often, users are using flash drives for such purposes, which is quite justified, because the latter are more convenient to use, compact and fast. Based on this, the question of how bootable media is created and what methods to do this is quite relevant.

Installation flash drive with operating system Windows system 10 can be created by several methods, including methods using OS tools from Microsoft, and the ways in which it is necessary to use additional software. Let's take a closer look at each of them.

It is worth noting that before you begin the process of creating media, you must have a downloaded image of the operating system Windows systems 10. You also need to make sure that you have a blank USB drive with a capacity of at least 4 GB and free space on the PC disk.

Method 1: UltraISO

To create an installation flash drive, you can use powerful program with a paid license. But the Russian-language interface and the ability to use the trial version of the product allow the user to appreciate all the advantages of the application.
So, to solve the problem with using UltraISO You just need to follow a few steps.


Method 2: WinToFlash

Creating an installation flash drive with using WinToFlash it happens like this.


Method 3: Rufus

Follow the instructions below to create bootable media.


Using these methods, you can create a bootable USB flash drive in just a few minutes. Moreover, it is obvious that the use third party programs more efficient, as it allows you to reduce the time spent answering numerous questions that you need to go through using a utility from Microsoft.

Nowadays, few users use DVDs to install the OS on their computer. Even Microsoft decided to sell the new operating system not on blanks, but on flash drives. Therefore you need to know how to do installation flash drive Windows 10, if you want to reinstall the system or downloaded the image and decided to install the OS on your computer.

Video instruction

The video will help you learn how to create a Windows 10 installation flash drive.

Without using third party programs

This method is simple and does not require the use of third party programs. But the computer on which Windows 10 will be installed must have UEFI software.

Worth knowing! Majority motherboards, produced by manufacturers over the past 2 - 3 years, support EFI boot.

Important! Set the BIOS to boot from a removable drive. It's better to do this in Boot Menu"motherboards".

Via Command Line


It’s more convenient to watch the process of creating a distribution kit on video.

Windows 10 Installation Media Creation Tool utility for installation in the official way

The Windows 10 Installation Media Creation Tool utility was created by Microsoft programmers after the release of the new OS. It creates a bootable USB flash drive automatically. But it is better to use the utility if you know Windows key or you are going to do a clean installation after you have previously updated from the “seven” or “eight”. If you took the second path, skip the key entry point and at the end of the installation, enter your own account— activation will be performed automatically. The main drawback of the utility is that it requires access to the Internet.


Healthy! Use the flash drive created using the utility to clean install OS or to restore it.

Watch the video on how to go through the process of creating a distribution using the Windows 10 utility in the Media Creation Tool.

Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool

The Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool utility creates bootable flash drives not only with “seven”. It is suitable for creating a “tens” distribution kit:


Learn clearly how to create Windows distribution 10 using the utility 7 USB/DVD Download Tool can be on video.

Rufus program

Use the program Rufus if your computer has standard BIOS(does not support EFI boot).

Important! The “Partition scheme and system interface type” item will offer two options to choose from:

    • GPT for computers with UEFI – for PCs that support EFI boot;
    • MBR for computers with BIOS or UEFI-CSM - for PCs with standard BIOS.

    Detailed operation of the Rufus program is presented in the video.

    Using UltraISO

    The UltraISO program is used by many users. It is considered a universal assistant when working with virtual, DVD/CD discs and more. It will also help you create a Windows 10 distribution.


Note! It is advisable not to change the remaining items - they are set in in the right position default.

In the video you will be able to see in detail how to create a bootable Windows 10 USB flash drive using the UltraISO program.

Conclusion

You can create a bootable Windows 10 USB flash drive by copying data to media using official utilities from Microsoft or third-party programs. According to the editors, the best option– use the utility Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool. But if you do not have access to the Internet, then you can use the program Rufus or Ultra ISO.

In this article we will look at two ways to create a bootable Windows flash drives 10, which is suitable for you to install, restore or reinstall the operating system. Let me note that a bootable USB flash drive is currently the most popular and convenient medium for installing Windows 10, because... compared with DVD disc provides much greater speed of the process.

Method 1: Create a bootable Windows 10 USB flash drive using the official Media Creation Tool from Microsoft

This official way creation bootable usb flash drives. It's not the fastest, but it's the most correct. Using this method you will create a bootable USB flash drive containing Windows 10 latest build with almost all the latest updates.

Click on the button Download the tool now. This will start downloading the file:

2. Run the downloaded file. Wait for the program to start (about a minute). Then click Accept.

3. Select Create installation media … and press Further:

4. Select the language that is convenient for you, OS edition (home or professional), bit depth (in most cases it makes sense to choose 64-bit) and click Further:

When choosing an edition, remember that you must have the appropriate Home or Pro edition license. For example, if you upgraded Windows 8.1 to Windows 10 and received Pro version, then select Pro. If you had the Home edition on the computer where you want to install (or reinstall) the OS, then Pro will not be activated for you.

5. Select USB flash memory device, connect the flash drive to the USB port and press Further:

Important note! If you want to create several bootable flash drives with “ten”, then at this stage it is better for you to select the ISO file option. In this case, the program will save the Windows 10 image to your computer and you can then burn it to different media using another method, which I described in the next paragraph. This procedure will take much less time than if you create each bootable usb media in Microsoft's Media Creation Tool.

6. The flash drive must be determined in the section Removable media . Click on the button Further to start the process of creating an installation flash drive:

When the preparation of the Windows 10 bootable USB flash drive is completed, you will see the following window:

Method 2: Create a bootable Windows 10 USB flash drive from an existing .iso image

If you have already downloaded an iso image, you can also create a bootable one Windows flash drive 10. I will note what to use this method only makes sense if the downloaded image is fresh. You should not write the old ISO onto a USB flash drive, because... After installation, you will wait a long time for updates and may even have to restart your computer several times.

So, to record an existing Windows ISO images 10 to a flash drive, follow these steps:

1. Connect the USB flash drive.

2. Launch the UltraISO program.

3. Open the disk image:

5. Click Write down and wait for the process to finish:

Let me remind you once again: the first official method is preferable, because using it you will always have the latest Windows version 10 with (almost) all updates at the time of media creation.