How to Create a UEFI Bootable USB Drive to Install Windows 10 or 7?

This is a step-by-step guide on how to create a bootable USB flash drive with a Windows 10 or Windows 7 install image for a UEFI computer. We’ll need the following:

• USB flash drive (USB v2 or v3) with a capacity of at least 4 GB for Windows 7 or 8 GB for Windows 10;
• 64-bit Windows install image (32-bit Windows versions won’t boot on the UEFI computer). A Windows distribution could be in the form of the installation DVD or an ISO image file.

Let’s look at a few of the most popular ways that you can create a bootable UEFI USB flash drive for installing Windows 10.

Use Media Creation Tool to Create Windows 10 Install USB Stick

Microsoft’s official tool for creating installation media and ISO images with Windows 10 is Media Creation Tool. You can download the latest version here – https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10

1. Run the file MediaCreationTool2004.exe;
2. Select Create installation media (USB flash drive, DVD, or ISO file) for another PC);
3. Select the language, edition and architecture (bitness) of the Windows 10 image that you want to write to the USB drive;
4. Then select that you want to write the image to a USB flash drive;
5. Select your flash drive in the list of removable devices and USB drives.

That’s all. Click Next -> Next -> Finish and wait until the install Windows image is written to the USB drive.

Using Rufus to Create Windows UEFI USB stick

It is much easier for novice users to create bootable UEFI flash drive for installing Windows using the graphical interface of the popular Rufus utility. At the moment, the Rufus version 3.10 is available on the developer’s website https://rufus.ie . The tool is quite compact (about 1 MB), doesn’t require installation and it’s completely free. In addition, it works much faster than analogs.

Run the Rufus tool with administrator privileges and specify the following settings:

• Device: select your USB flash drive;
• Boot selection: specify Windows ISO image file (you can create an ISO image with the latest Windows 10 build using the Media Creation Tool, see example);
• Partition scheme: GPT;
• Target system: UEFI (non-CSM);
• File system: FAT32.

Click START to write a Windows image to a USB flash drive. After 10-15 minutes, your bootable USB flash drive with Windows install image for UEFI computer is ready.

Using Diskpart to Create UEFI Boot-Stick with Windows

You can create a bootable UEFI flash drive with the Windows install image manually. The procedure described below is suitable for advanced users, is performed from the command line and allows you to fully control (and understand) all the steps in the process of creating a bootable USB flash drive.

Step-by-step guide on how to create a boot Windows flash drive for a UEFI system using diskpart:

1. Connect a USB flash drive to the corresponding PC port;
2. Run the command prompt as an administrator;
3. Run the DISKPART tool by typing in the command prompt: Diskpart
4. Display the list of all drives in the computer: list disk
5. Find the disk that corresponds to your USB flash drive (in our example it is Disk 2) and select it:
   Select Disk 2

Copy the contents of your Windows x64 install image to the USB flash drive that you have prepared. You can do it using Windows Explorer, your favorite file manager or from the command prompt, for example:

(where D:\ is an installation DVD or mounted ISO image containing a Windows distro, and F:\ is a letter assigned to the USB flash drive);

This completes the process of creating a bootable UEFI flash drive with Windows 10.

Create UEFI Bootable USB Drive to Install Windows 7

If you are creating an install USB flash drive with Windows 7 for a UEFI computer, you need to perform additional steps:

1. Go to f:\efi\microsoft\boot folder on the USB flash drive;
2. Entirely copy its contents one level up (to the F:\efi\boot directory);
3. Copy the bootmgfw.efi file to the f:\efi\boot folder and rename it to bootx64.efi.

Create UEFI Bootable USB Media with PowerShell

You can also use PowerShell cmdlets to create a bootable UEFI flash drive.

The following PowerShell one-liner will list the connected USB media devices. After you select the flash drive you need, it will be cleaned up, the primary partition will be created and formatted in the FAT32 file system (using cmdlets from the Storage disk management module):

$Results = Get-Disk |Where-Object BusType -eq USB |Out-GridView -Title ‘Select USB Drive to Create UEFI bootable device’ -OutputMode Single |Clear-Disk -RemoveData -RemoveOEM -Confirm:$false -PassThru |New-Partition -UseMaximumSize -IsActive -AssignDriveLetter |Format-Volume -FileSystem FAT32

Mount the install ISO image of Windows 10:

$Volumes = (Get-Volume).Where(<$_.DriveLetter>).DriveLetter
Mount-DiskImage -ImagePath C:\ISO\Windows10-2004×64.iso
$ISO = (Compare-Object -ReferenceObject $Volumes -DifferenceObject (Get-Volume).Where(<$_.DriveLetter>).DriveLetter).InputObject

Because in PowerShell, I could not detect which drive letter was assigned to the mounted ISO image; I had to compare the list of disks before and after mounting using Compare-Object.

Now you need to go to the Boot directory and copy the contents to a USB flash drive using Copy-Item cmdlet:

Set-Location -Path «$($ISO):\boot»
bootsect.exe /nt60 «$($Results.DriveLetter):»
Copy-Item -Path «$($ISO):\*» -Destination «$($Results.DriveLetter):» -Recurse -Verbose

After the described procedures, you have a bootable USB flash drive to install Windows on a UEFI computer in the native mode. More detailed procedure of Windows installation on computer with UEFI interface will be considered in one of the next article.

How to install Windows 10 from USB with UEFI support

Source: Windows Centtral

When installing a clean copy of Windows 10, usually you connect a USB media to the device to launch the «Windows Setup» wizard to continue with the installation process. However, if you have a computer with a Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI), instead of the legacy Basic Input/Output System (BIOS), it is crucial to use the appropriate media for the system firmware type.

On Windows 10, there are at least two methods to create a USB bootable media. You can use the Microsoft Media Creation Tool to download the files onto a removable storage with support for both firmware types (UEFI and legacy BIOS). Or you can use a third-party tool called «Rufus,» which makes it easy to create a USB to install Windows with support for UEFI.

In this Windows 10 guide, we will walk you through the steps to create a USB flash drive that includes support for UEFI using the Microsoft Media Creation Tool and Rufus.

How to create Windows 10 UEFI boot media with Media Creation Tool

The best way to create a bootable USB media for an in-place upgrade or clean install of Windows 10 is to use the official Media Creation Tool available through the Microsoft support website.

To create a USB install media, connect a flash drive of at least 8GB of space, and then use these steps:

Under the «Create Windows 10 installation media» section, click the Download tool now button to save the file on the device.

Source: Windows Central

Select the Create installation media (USB flash drive, DVD, or ISO file) for another PC option.

Source: Windows Central

(Optional) Clear the Use the recommended options for this PC option.

Source: Windows Central

Select the correct language, architecture, and edition of Windows 10 (if applicable).

Quick tip: If you plan to install Windows 10 on multiple computers running 32-bit and 64-bit architectures, use the «Architecture» drop-down menu and select the Both option.

Select the USB flash drive option.

Source: Windows Central

Select the flash drive from the list. (If the storage device is not available, click the Refresh drive list option.)

Source: Windows Central

Click the Next button.

Click the Finish button.

Once you complete the steps, the Media Creation Tool will download the files and will create a bootable USB flash drive that you can use to install Windows 10 on devices with support for UEFI and BIOS.

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How to create Windows 10 UEFI boot media with Rufus

Alternatively, you can use Rufus, a free third-party tool that allows you to create an installation media with support for UEFI devices. You can use the tool to create a bootable media using an existing ISO file, or you can use the option to download the files from the Microsoft servers and then create the installation media.

Create install flash drive with Windows 10 ISO

To create a bootable media using an existing Windows 10 ISO file, connect a flash drive of at least 8GB of space, and use these steps:

Under the «Download» section, click the latest release (first link) and save the file on the device.

Source: Windows Central

Use the «Target system» drop-down menu and select the UEFI (non CSM) option.

Source: Windows Central

Under the «Show Advanced drive properties» section do not change the default settings.

Source: Windows Central

Under the «Volume label» field, confirm a name for the drive — for example, «win10_20h2_usb.»

Source: Windows Central

In the «File system» and «Cluster size» options do not change the default settings.

Click the Show advanced format options button.

Check the Quick format option.

Check the Create extended label and icon files option.

Click the Start button.

Click the OK button to confirm.

Click the Close button.

After you complete the steps, Rufus will create a USB flash drive to install Windows 10 on a device using UEFI with a locally available image.

Create boot flash drive downloading Windows 10 ISO

Rufus also includes an option to download the Windows 10 ISO file directly from the Microsoft servers, which you can then use with the tool to create a bootable USB flash drive.

To create an install media of Windows 10 with Rufus, connect a USB flash drive of at least 8GB of space, and then use these steps:

Under the «Download» section, click the latest release (first link) of the tool to save the file onto your computer.

Source: Windows Central

Click the Settings button at the bottom of the page.

Source: Windows Central

Under the «Settings» section, use the «Check for updates» drop-down menu and select the Daily option.

Source: Windows Central

Under the «Boot selection» section, click the arrow button next to the «Select» option and choose the Download option.

Source: Windows Central

Use the «Language» drop-down menu and select your installation language.

Quick note: If you are in the United States, select the «English» option. Otherwise, select the «English International» option.

Use the «Architecture» drop-down menu and select the 32-bit or 64-bit option (recommended).

Quick tip: You can check the architecture of your device on Settings > System > About, under the Device specifications section.

Click the Download button.

Source: Windows Central

Use the «Target system» drop-down menu and select the UEFI (non CSM) option.

Source: Windows Central

Under the «Show Advanced drive properties» section, do not change the default settings.

Under the «Volume label» field, confirm a name for the bootable drive — for example, «win10_20h2_usb.»

Under the «File system» and «Cluster size» sections, do not change the default settings.

Click the Show advanced format options button.

Check the Quick format option.

Check the Create extended label and icon files option.

Click the Start button.

Click the OK button.

Click the Close button.

Once you complete the steps, the tool will run the script and download the Windows 10 ISO file. After the download, you can use that ISO file to create a bootable media to install Windows 10 on a UEFI device.

When you have the USB bootable media with support for UEFI systems, you can use it to start the «Windows Setup» wizard to perform a clean installation of Windows 10 or an in-place upgrade.

However, since the «UEFI:NTFS bootloader» does not include a digital signature for secure boot, you must temporarily disable secure boot on the motherboard firmware before you can boot into the setup wizard. Usually, you would complete this task from within the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface that you can access by hitting one of the function keys (F1, F2, F3, F10, or F12), the ESC, or Delete key as soon as you start the computer.

The only caveat is that these settings will be different per manufacturer and even by computer model. So make sure to check your device manufacturer’s support website for more specific instructions. After the installation of Windows 10, you can enable the feature again.

More Windows 10 resources

For more helpful articles, coverage, and answers to common questions about Windows 10, visit the following resources:

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