3 Methods to Create Bootable Windows 10/11 USB Drive

Many times, you need to require a bootable windows 10 USB drive to install a fresh OS or repair an existing operating system. Either installing a fresh version of Windows 10 or repairing an old installation you need to create a bootable USB Drive. However, it is different from creating a recovery drive because, in a recovery drive, you can reset your PC to its default state as it comes from the manufacturer.

Why do we need to create a bootable flash drive?

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How to Create Bootable Windows 10 USB Flash Drive?

There are several methods to creating Windows 10/11 Bootable Flash Drive. you can use the automatic tool like Rufus or Microsoft media creation tool or use the command-line utility to create a bootable flash drive.

Method 1: Using Media Creation Tool

Media Creation Tool is designed and developed by Microsoft to create a bootable flash drive for upgrading your PC or installing a fresh version of Windows 10/11. You need a minimum of 8GB USB drive to create a bootable USB drive.

Step 1: Go to the following Microsoft official link to download Media Creation Tool. If the link is broken, then you can directly visit the Microsoft Official site to download this tool.

download_media_creation_tool

https://www.microsoft.com/en-in/software-download/windows10

Step 2: Open media creation tool. Accept License and click on the Next button. You will see two options there; select Create Installation Media (USB flash drive, DVD, or ISO file) for another PC and click on the Next button.

create_usb_bootable

Step 3: Uncheck the option “Use the recommended options for this PC” and then select your desired edition and architecture to download windows 10.

select_win10_edition

Step 4: Insert a USB drive to the PC and select the “USB flash drive” option in the media creation tool.

usb_flash_drive

Step 5: Select your USB Drive and click the Next button.

select_usb_drive

Step 6: It will start downloading Windows 10 on your USB drive.

downloading_win_10

Method 2: Using RUFUS to create a bootable USB drive

RUFUS is a well-known small utility to create a bootable pen drive using the ISO file. If you have already Windows10 ISO files and you want to make a bootable pen drive using it, you can freely use the RUFUS utility.

Step 1: Download Rufus.

https://rufus.ie/en/

Step 2: Open the Rufus app. Set the following option:
  1. Device: Select your USB Drive.
  2. Boot Selection: Click on the Select button and browse your ISO file.
  3. Image Optimization: Let it default.
  4. Partition Scheme: Select your Partition Scheme as GPT or MBR according to your CPU architecture.
  5. Leave the other option as default settings.

rufus

Step 3: Click on the Start button after setting up all the options correctly. It will show you a warning message that all the data will be lost from the USB drive. Click OK to continue.

start_rufus

Method 3: Using Command Line Utility

If you don’t want to use any utility and want to make bootable media like a pro, you can use Windows Command Prompt to create a bootable pen drive. However, it is risky to create a bootable pen drive using the command line, because selecting the wrong partition may delete all your hard drive data. So, it is advisable to be alert when selecting a partition.

Step 1: Insert a minimum of 8GB USB Drive to PC.
Step 2: Open Command Prompt as Administrator.

cmd

Step 3: Type DISKPART

diskpart

Step 4: Type LIST DISK

listdisk

Step 5: Carefully select your disk. To select a disk Type, SELECT DISK 1. If you are seeing your USB Drive as Disk 0 or Disk 2, select Disk no. carefully.

selectdisk1

Step 6: Now, execute the following set of commands one by one.

CLEAN
CREATE PARTITION PRIMARY
SELECT PARTITION 1
ACTIVE
FORMAT FS=NTFS QUICK
ASSIGN
EXIT

cleandisk

Step 7: Now go to the folder where the Windows ISO file is stored. Extract this ISO file using WinRAR or using any other zip extractor tool.
Step 8: Copy the location of your Windows files and type the following command in the command prompt. We assume your windows file is stored D:\Windows10.
  1. Type D: and press Enter. It will let you in D drive.
  2. Now type cd Windows10 and you will be in the Windows directory.
  3. Next type cd boot to enter the boot directory.

Now, execute the following command to copy boot sector files from your windows directory to a USB drive. Here, you must change your USB drive letter. In my case, F is my USB Drive.

BOOTSECT.EXE /NT60 F:

copy_bootsect

Step 9: Congratulations! You have successfully created the bootable pen drive. Now copy-paste all the Windows files to the USB drive.

Summary

In this article, there are 3 ways to create a bootable pen drive. You can use Media Creation Tool, Rufus, and Command-Line tool to create bootable Windows7/Windows8/Windows10 and Windows11 media.