How to Create a Bootable Windows 10 USB in Linux

Last updated October 29, 2020 By Abhishek Prakash 419 Comments

Brief: This tutorial shows you how to create a bootable Windows 10 USB in Linux with and without a GUI tool called WoeUSB.

I have talked a lot about creating bootable USB of Linux in Windows. How about the other way round? How about creating a bootable Windows 10 USB in Linux?

If you are uninstalling Linux from dual boot or if you want to reinstall Windows completely or you simply want to have a Windows installation disk ready, you’ll need a bootable Windows 10 USB or DVD.

In this tutorial, I am going to show you how to create a Windows 10 bootable USB in Linux. I am using Ubuntu for this tutorial but the steps should be valid for other Linux distributions as well.

If you want to use WoeUSB graphical tool for creating Windows bootable USB, you can jump to that section directly. Personally, I don’t recommend WoeUSB.

Creating a Bootable Windows 10 USB in Linux

Prerequisite: Get Microsoft Windows 10 ISO and a USB of at least 8 GB in size

You can download Windows 10 ISO from Microsoft’s website. You have to specify the Windows 10 version, language and then you should see the link to download Windows 10.

Note that the Windows 10 ISO download link is valid for 24 hours only. So use a download manager in Linux to download the

5.6 GB file and finish it within 24 hours only.

Since the ISO and its content are more than 4 GB in size, I recommend a USB of at least 8 GB in size.

I have also made a video of this tutorial so that you can see the steps in action.

Step 2: Properly format the USB for creating bootable Windows USB

Insert your USB. You have to format it so make sure that you don’t have important data on the USB key.

In Ubuntu, press Super key (Windows key) and search for ‘Disks’. You have to use this tool to format the USB key.

In the Disks tool, make sure to select your USB drive and hit format.

It will ask to choose a partitioning scheme. It could be either MBR or GPT. Select one of them and hit Format.

It will show you a warning that you data will be erased.

Format the USB

The formatting of USB is not over yet. Now, you need to create a partition on the newly formatted USB.

Select the entire USB disk as the partition size.

Give a name to your USB and hit Create button.

Once done, your USB should be automatically mounted. It is now ready for creating bootable Windows 10 USB disk.

Files larger than 4 GB?

Newer Windows 10 ISO might have files larger than 4GB. In that case, FAT filesystem won’t work as it doesn’t allow a single file of size greater than 4 GB.

You should then format the USB in ExFAT format. This newer format allows files bigger than 4 GB.

Step 3: Copy the content of the ISO to USB

Now it’s time to copy the content of the Windows 10 ISO to the newly formatted USB.

You may ask, Abhishek, there is only one file and that is the ISO file itself. What are you talking about?

ISO is basically an archive format and you can see it’s content like any zip file in Linux. But to do that, you need to use ‘Disk Image Mounter’ tool that is installed by default in Ubuntu.

Go to your Windows 10 ISO, select it and right click on it. Now select ‘Open with other application’.

In the applications list, select Disk Image Mounter:

The ISO will be mounted. You may not see it in the left sidebar but if you click on the Other Locations, you should see it. Click on it to enter this mounted ISO folder.

You’ll see its content. All you need to do is to select all the files (Ctrl+A), copy it (Ctrl+C) and paste it in the USB drive (Ctrl+V).

Wait for the copying process to finish as it may take some time in copying 4-5 GB of data. Once it’s done, you have a bootable Windows 10 USB in your hand. Take out the USB and use it to any system you want, restart the system and change the boot settings to boot from the USB.

Alternate Method: Creating Windows 10 bootable USB in Linux using WoeUSB

You can also use a Graphical tool called WoeUSB for creating a bootable Windows USB in Linux. However, this tool might not work perfectly all the time. This is why I prefer the first method of mounting the Windows 10 ISO and copying its content to the USB.

If you are interesting in using WoeUSB, you can click on the next section to expand it and follow the steps.

You can also watch a video of creating Windows 10 bootable USB. Do subscribe to our YouTube channel for more Linux videos:

Let’s see how to create a bootable Windows 10 USB in Ubuntu and other Linux distribution.

Step 1: Install WoeUSB application

WoeUSB is a free and open source application for creating Windows 10 bootable USB. It is actually a fork of WinUSB tool that has been discontinued now.

Ubuntu and other Ubuntu-based Linux distributions such as Linux Mint, elementary OS etc have a PPA available. You can use the command below to install WoeUSB:

For other Linux distributions, you can check out the source code from the GitHub repository:

Step 2: Format USB drive

Now, plug in your USB key. You’ll have to format it first. I presume you know how to format a USB key in your Linux distribution.

Ubuntu users can simply right click on the USB and click format.

The important part here is that you should format it in NTFS:

Note: If you use Fat 32 file system for formatting, you may encounter the error below later on:

Step 3: Using WoeUSB to create bootable Windows 10

We have everything ready for us now. Start WoeUSB program.

Browse to the downloaded Windows 10 ISO file and select the USB drive on which you want to install it. Just click on Install to begin the process.

Note that it may take up to 15 minutes in creating the Windows 10 USB. Don’t get fooled by the ‘done’ on the screen.

That’s it. You should see a success message.

Step 4: Using Windows 10 bootable USB

Once the bootable USB is ready, restart your system. At boot time, press F2 or F10 or F12 repeatedly to go to the boot settings. In here, select to boot from USB.

You’ll see that Windows 10 is being booted and it gives you the option to install or repair your system. You know what to do now from here.

I hope you find this tutorial useful for creating bootable USB of Windows 10 in Linux . If you have questions or suggestions, please feel free leave a comment.

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Создаём загрузочный USB диск с Windows из под Linux

В ubuntu уже есть приложение для создания образов дисков — Startup Disk Creator, но оно умеет создавать только загрузочные USB с Linux. Для создания загрузочного USB-диска с Windows из Linux, существует WinUSB, но она довольно давно не обновлялась, и честно говоря, у меня не заработала. Данный пост довольно подробный, и рассчитан преимущественно на людей, плохо знакомых с Linux.

Перед тем как я продолжу, следует указать что в Windows мире два метода загрузки:

• MBR, при котором в начале диска резервируется место, и располагается специальный загрузочный файл;
• EFI, при котором исполняемый файл загрузчика хранится в стандартном расположении на FAT32 файловой системе;

Если вы не знаете какой выбрать, то наиболее часто используемый вариант который работает без модификации файлов Windows — это msdos таблица разделов с fat32 файловой системой и загрузочным флагом.

Прежде всего USB-диск необходимо подготовить. В Linux наиболее простой и удобной для этих целей утилитой является gparted.

Ставим его если не установлен:

Подготовка USB диска

Выбираем нашу USB флэшку, отмонтируем её если она смонтирована:

Отмонтирование USB диска в gparted

Теперь необходимо пересоздать таблицу разделов, при этом выбрать тип msdos . Заходим в меню Устройство (Device) и выбираем Создать таблицу разделов (Create partition table) :

Gparted создание таблицы разделов

После этого выбираем неразмеченную область, нажимаем правой кнопкой мыши по ней же и выбираем пункт меню «Новый». В появившемся окне выбираем файловую систему NTFS или FAT32. Если у вас какая-то нестандартная сборка в которой могут быть файлы больше 4 гигабайт, то файловая система должна быть определенно NTFS, в противном случае, можно выбрать FAT32, и, тогда, так же можно будет загрузиться с UEFI. Так же необходимо указать метку для USB-диска. Важно: метка должна быть не просто «Windows», а какой либо более уникальной. Если файловая система FAT32, то метка должна быть указана заглавными буквами.

Создание нового раздела Gparted

Применяем все наши изменения:

Применение изменений в Gparted

Выходим из gparted.

Копирование файлов Windows на USB диск

Теперь необходимо смонтировать образ с Windows и скопировать данные с него на наш подготовленный ранее usb диск. В большинстве современных рабочих окружений это можно сделать из файлового менеджера. По необходимому образу нажимаем правой кнопкой мыши, выбираем Открыть с помощью и выбираем Disk Image Mounter :

Монтирование образа с Windows в файлом менеджере Thunar

Если у вас нет такой утилиты, то можно смонтировать из командной строки:

Где $HOME/Загрузки/Windows.iso необходимо заменить на путь до образа с Windows. Образ будет смонтирован в директорию /mnt/cdrom .

Делаем USB-диск загрузочным

Если создаем MBR загрузочный диск

Для создания MBR загрузочной записи будем использовать grub:

• $user — имя текущего пользователя;
• $drive — название образа;
• /dev/sdX — расположение диска (в моем случае /dev/sdb ;

Если образ монтировали руками, то /media/$user/$drive/boot необходимо заменить на /mnt/cdrom/boot .
В случае, если не было никаких ошибок, то в консоли должны увидеть примерно следующее:

Теперь на USB-диске в директории boot/grub необходимо создать файл grub.cfg с таким содержимым:

В листинге выше, $USB_drive_label необходимо заменить на метку, которую мы присвоили диску на первом шаге. В данном случае WINUSB2503 .

Перезагружаемся, загружаемся с USB-диска и выбираем Start Windows Installation .

Если создаем UEFI загрузочный диск

С UEFI все несколько проще. Следует обратить внимание, что данный способ подходит только для Windows 7 x64 и выше.
После того, как все файлы скопировались, необходимо зайти в директорию efi/boot . Если в ней присутствуют файлы bootx64.efi или bootia32.efi то всё в порядке, можно пробовать загрузиться с диска.

Install Linux from USB Device or Boot into Live Mode Using Unetbootin and dd Command

Installing Linux from a USB mass storage device or logging into Live Linux Environment is a cool Idea. Booting from a USB mass storage device is sometimes necessary, especially when the ROM media device is not working.

Booting Windows from a USB mass storage device is not difficult, and with the availability of various software, it has been just a few clicks away. Booting into a windows machine requires only three files, namely boot.ini, ntldr, and ntdetect.com.

But booting into a Linux machine is a complex process which requires a whole lot of files and process in a well-defined execution manner. The booting process is complex but creating a boot-able USB media is very interactive and fun.

We will be creating USB boot-able image in two different way

• Unetbootin – is an open-source tool for creating bootable Live USB drives for Ubuntu, Fedora, and other Linux distributions.
• dd – is a command-line tool for converting and copying files.

For creating a USB bootable image, certain basic requirements are:

• Usb Mass Storage Device (Pen Drive).
• Linux Image in CD/DVD/ISO or Internet connection (Not recommended for large images).
• Windows/Linux Platform.

Creating Bootable USB Device Using Unetbootin Tool

To install UNetbootin on Ubuntu and Ubuntu-based Linux distributions, use the following apt command to add PPA and install it.

Alternatively, you can download UNetbootin binaries and run them without installing on the Linux systems (supports all Linux distributions).

Insert Your USB pen-drive into the Windows/Linux machine and Launch Unetbootin, you will be greeted with a window similar to.

Unetbootin Tool

Check the content above the red line. The type should be Usb Device, strictly and if more than one usb device is plugged in you need to know the name of the exact Usb device you need to work upon. A wrong selection will lead to wiping your hard disk, so be aware. You can browse to the stored disk image on your hard drive, from the Unetbootin window.

Unetbootin Add ISO

Or alternatively download from the internet, in real-time. Although it is a time taking process and may result in an error when a larger image is downloaded.

Create Bootable Linux USB-Drive

Click OK, and the process of downloading and/or extracting the image will start. It will take time depending upon the size of the download and/or the file size of the ISO image. Once completed, click ‘exit‘.

Plug out the usb storage device safely and plug it into the machine you want to boot. Restart it and set that usb storage device to boot first from the BIOS menu which maybe F12, F8, F2, or Del depending upon your machine and build.

You will be greeted with a window as below, from where you can boot into Live Linux Mode and/or Install on Hard Disk from there, directly.

Booting Linux from USB

Pros of using Unetbootin

1. Most of the processing is automated.
2. Easy to use.
3. Make it possible to create a boot-able stick from windows/Linux.

Cons of using Unetbootin

1. One wrong selection of disk and all your Data and Installation on primary HDD is wiped.

Creating a Bootable USB Device using dd Command

dd command originally was a part of UNIX, which is implemented in Linux. The dd command is capable of striping headers, extracting parts of binary files. It is used by the Linux kernel Makefiles to make boot images.

The basic syntax of dd command is

The bite Size is generally “some power of 2, and usually, not less than 512 bytes i.e., 512, 1024, 2048, 4096, 8192, 16384, but can be any reasonable whole integer value.

sync option allows you to copy everything using synchronized I/O.

Run the below command with modification depending upon your source and destination.

It will take time to create the boot-able disk depending upon the size of the ISO image and your RAM capacity.

Don’t interrupt the boot stick creation, once the process is completed, you will get something like this in your terminal.

Now safely eject the disk, plug it into the machine you want to boot with Linux, and Yup doesn’t forget to change the booting option in your BIOS, setting your flash stick to boot primarily.

When USB is booted, You will be greeted with a window similar to.

Kali Linux Boot Menu

Pros of the above method:

1. Least possible error in making a copy.
2. No extra/ third party tool required.

Cons of the Above method:

1. No room for error, an error, and everything is wiped.
2. Non-interactive way.
3. You should know, what you are doing, as you won’t get any manual/prompt/help at run time, you must be good in terminals.

Remember, All the distro don’t allow Live Environment, but most of today’s distro does. You will be able to log into a live Linux Environment only if supported.

The above article does not aim at comparing the two methods. Before writing anything we give hours in testing and executing the process to ensure you get a 100% working solution.

If you get stuck at somewhere, feel free to contact us in the comment section. For any damage to data/disk, as a result of the above method, neither the Author nor Tecmint is responsible.

That’s all for now. I will soon be here again, with another interesting article, you people will love to read. Till then stay healthy, safe, tuned, and connected to Tecmint.

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