3 Methods to Create a Bootable Windows 10 USB / DVD Installer

Bootable disk is required when we need to do a fresh Windows installation. Bootable disk is a disk which contains special files to boot up or startup the computer to start a utility or program. In this case to install a Windows 10 operating system we require a bootable disk to start the installation process of Windows 10.

A bootable disk is not required when we upgrade from older operating system like Windows 7 to Windows 10. But if we downloaded an ISO file to install it on a different PC or for a clean install we must have to create a bootable disk.

Lets learn how we can create a bootable Windows 10 disk.

How to Create a Bootable Windows 10 Disk?

Microsoft has provided official tools to create a bootable disk without using any third party software. We here explain the 3 main methods.

1. Using Windows Media Creation Tool by Microsoft

This is the easiest and most reliable method. The utility automatically downloads Windows 10 and copy the files in USB disk by making it a bootable disk. This method can also be used to download the ISO file only. Follow the below steps.

1. 1. Download the Windows Media Creation Tool: Click here to download media creation tool.
   2. Double-click on the downloaded file.
   3. Select “create installation media for another PC“.
   4. Select Language / Edition and Architecture as per your requirement.
      To learn more about it, go to https://www.microsoft.com/en-in/software-download/windows10
   5. Select USB flash drive for USB or ISO file for DVD.
   6. Your disk will be ready after the completion of the process. It requires atleast 8 GB of pen drive. Make sure there will not be any important data in the disk as it will format the disk during the creation of the bootable disk.
   7. Select “USB Flash Drive” option and click on Next.

You can download windows 10 iso file for free directly from Microsoft using this media creation tool. An activation key will be required during the installation process.

2. Using Windows USB / DVD Download Tool

This is an old and still working method to create a bootable media for Windows Installation. The name can confuse you but it is also working perfectly for Windows 10 as well. However, this method requires an ISO image of Windows 10. So first you have to download the Windows 10 iso file.

1. This process needs an empty USB stick (Min: 8GB). Quick format the USB drive first.
2. Download Windows USB / DVD Download Tool & Install it on your computer.
3. After finishing of its installation, Run it.
4. It requires ISO image file of the windows. Select the ISO image and start the process. you can download the iso file of windows 10 using media creation tool as mentioned in method 1.
5. After completion of the process your bootable USB / DVD installer disk will be ready to use.
   
6. Windows USB / DVD Download Tool to create a bootable disk
   
7. Create Bootable USB / DVD with the ISO File

3. Create Bootable Windows 10 disk With the help of third party software

Though you will not be require to come to this method, but we are mentioning here if there is any issue in running Microsoft tools. Building a boot-able flash drive becomes pretty easy with the use of external software, named Rufus. Here are the essential guidelines when using Rufus for making a bootable Windows 10 flash drive.

1. Download Rufus.
2. Open Rufus.exe
3. When the software launches on the screen, plug in your USB flash drive.
4. Find the option Create a bootable USB drive.
5. From the menu that follows, select an ISO image.
6. Now click on the button next to this menu and click the Windows 10 ISO which you want to install on your computer.
7. Now hit Start and the software will begin to create a bootable USB flash drive.
8. Once you have developed the USB flash drive, just plug it in and you are ready to install / reinstall Windows 10.

4. Create Bootable USB disk Manually using command prompt

This method is useful for advanced users. Sometimes users only have access to command prompt only and unable to start the Windows. In this case if you have an ISO file you can create a bootable pen drive using this method. Follow the given guidelines carefully as this method is a little complicated:

1. Plug in your USB drive.
2. Search Command Prompt.
3. Run it as an administrator.
4. Open the disk management utility using Command prompt.
5. For this purpose, type diskpart in the CMD and hit Enter.
6. Now type list disk and hit Enter. This will display the list of available connected disks.
7. From this list you need to select your USB drive. For this, type select disc # and press Enter (Replace # with your disk number from the list)
8. The next step is to clean the USB drive. For this purpose, type clean and hit Enter.
9. Now create a bootable partition, simply type Create partition primary and press Enter.
10. You need to select the partition you just created. Type select partition 1 and then type active and hit Enter.
11. Now format the USB drive by typing format fs=fat32. After this press Enter.
12. Assign a letter to your USB drive, just type assign.
13. Finally, copy all the files of Windows 10 and paste them in the USB drive. Files can be copied from a Windows 10 disk or by extraction from an ISO file.

And that is all there is to know about the manual creation of a bootable Windows 10 USB flash drive. all the methods are equally useful. If you’re an expert you can use the manual method without taking help of software, but beginners are advised to seek software help to avoid any complications. The best and easy method is using the Windows Media Creation Tool .

Are you still using the Windows 7? Microsoft has ended the windows 7 support.
Upgrade to Windows 10 as early as possible.

Why we need to create a bootable Windows 10 USB drive?

Since the availability of USB drives, the use of CD and DVD has prominently declined. The major reasons behind this are the ease of use, portability, larger capacity and faster copying of data files by the USB drives in comparison to the older methods. All you need is a flash drive with a capacity of more than 4GB, although 6 to 12 GB available space is ideal for storing additional files as well. Create a bootable USB drive and keep it in a safe place that you can use this disk to easily fix the installation issues.

How to download windows 10 bootable USB or ISO image for clean windows installation.

Given above method 1 can be used to easily download the ISO image file. We didn’t found any other direct link to download ISO image for offline purpose. So downloading it using the media creation tool is the only method to get it directly from the Microsoft.

You can also upgrade to Windows 10 for Free using windows 7 license key.

Please share your experience with the creation of bootable windows 10 disk using the below comment box.

3 Methods to Create Bootable USB Windows 10 [Full Guide]

Here, we collect three different methods to help you create bootable USB in Windows 10 easily and effectively.

By Emily / Last Updated June 10, 2020

Why create a bootable USB in Windows 10?

In most cases, when the Windows 10 operating system goes wrong and the PC starts to run slowly or even stop working properly, your first move will be searching online for a solution. If lucky, you can get an effective solution to fix this issue. If not, the last resort should be reinstalling the operating system from the DVD or CD. What if your PC does not have an optical drive, or the original installation DVD is not available any longer?

In this situation, a bootable USB installer is a great alternative, which allows you to reinstall Windows 10 from a USB drive. Briefly, the USB stick is portable and compatible with nearly all desktops or laptops. After all, a USB port can be found on every PC. Besides, installing OS from USB drive is also quicker than from DVD or CD. Therefore, more and more users like to make a bootable USB installer to keep handy.

3 Methods to make a bootable USB drive for Window 10

In this part, we would like to share 3 different methods with you to make a bootable USB flash drive so that you can install OS more flexibly. Without any further ado, let’s get started.

Note: no matter which method you will choose finally, please ensure you have a copy of the required files stored in USB stick because it will be erased in the process. Free AOMEI Backupper is recommended for this backup task.

1. Create bootable USB Windows 10 via CMD

First of all, we will demonstrate how to make a bootable USB using Command Prompt. Download the Windows 10 ISO files from the official site and make sure the USB flash drive has at least 5GB free space.

Step 1. Press “Win+R” at the same time to open “Run” dialogue. Input “cmd” and hit on “Enter” key.

Step 2. When the Command Prompt window opens, type “diskpart” and press “Enter” to launch DiskPart.exe tool. Then execute the following command in sequence.

в–ёlist disk
в–ёselect disk #
в–ёclean
в–ёcreate partition primary
в–ёselect partition 1
▸format fs=ntfs quick (To create UEFI bootable USB, format it as FAT32 with command “format fs=fat32 quick” instead)
в–ёactive

After you format the USB flash drive and set the primary partition as active, type “Exit” to close the diskpart.exe. Then use File Explorer to copy and paste the entire contents of the Windows ISO to the USB flash drive.

What if file copy fails?
If the Windows image file is over than 4GB, surpassing the file size limit of FAT32 file system, you will fail to copy files onto the USB flash drive. Once it happens, do as below:
1. Copy everything except the Windows image file (sources\install.wim) to the USB drive (either drag and drop, or use the following command, where D: is the mounted ISO and F: is the USB flash drive.)
robocopy D: F: /s /max:3800000000
2. Split the Windows image file into smaller files, and copy them onto the USB drive:
Dism /Split-Image /ImageFile:D:\sources\install.wim /SWMFile:F:\sources\install.swm /FileSize:3800

2. Make bootable Win 10 USB via Windows USB/DVD Download Tool

Secondly, you can make use of the Windows USB/DVD Download Tool. It can create a copy of ISO files onto USB flash drive as an installer.

Step 2. Run it. In the Source box, type the name and path of your Windows ISO file, or click BROWSE and select the file from the OPEN dialog box. Click “Next”.

Step 3. Select USB DEVICE to create a copy on a USB flash drive.

Step 4. Choose your USB drive and click “Begin copying”.

After it is finished, install Windows by moving to the root folder of your USB drive, and then double-click Setup.exe.

3. Make bootable USB via MediaCreationTool

Considering that most users tend to use MediaCreationTool, so here we also illustrate how to use this tool to create bootable USB in Windows 10.

Step 1. Download MediaCreationTool and run it as an administrator.

Step 2. Select ”Accept” in the license terms screen.

Step 3. Select “Create installation media for another PC”, and then select Next.

Step 4. Choose the language, edition, and architecture (64-bit or 32-bit) for Windows 10.

Step 5. Choose ”USB flash drive” and click “Next”.

Step 6. Choose your prepared USB drive from the list, then ”Next”.

Step 7. Once done, the tool will start to download the latest Windows 10 installation files to your device.

When it is over, this data is written to your flash drive and the USB is made bootable with the newest Windows 10 setup.

Further study: create bootable USB to run Win 10 from flash drive

Above content is all about how to make a bootable USB stick to install OS. If you do that for running Windows 10 operating system on another computer with an older operating system, you can run Windows 10 directly through a bootable USB drive. For this purpose, you can turn to the free partition manager: AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard. It is compatible with all editions of Windows 10/8/7 and Windows XP/Vista. With it, you can create Windows bootable USB drive with ISO files. Below is the detailed instruction:

Step 1. Download the freeware, install and run AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard.

Step 2. Click “All Tools” > “Windows To Go Creator” on the left side.

Step 3. Tick “Create Windows ToGo for personal computer”, and then click “Next”.

Step 4. Choose “Create Windows To Go with system disc/ISO” and select the prepared ISO file. Click “Next”.

Step 5. Select the USB drive you have prepared and click “Proceed”.

After it is done, you can insert the bootable USB to the target computer, change boot order in BIOS and boot PC from it.

If you want to create bootable USB drive with current operating system installed on your computer, you can upgrade to Professional. That also enables you to run Windows from USB on Mac.

Summary

In this article, we shared 3 different ways to create bootable USB in Windows 10 as an installer, plus an additional way to make a portable boot USB to run OS on any other computers. Choose one according to your specific requirements. If you plan to create a bootable USB to repair boot issues caused by damaged MBR or disk errors, the AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard can also help you a lot.