Create bootable USB Windows 10 from ISO Rufus

The following procedure refers to installation of Windows 7/8.1/10, in Legacy mode only!
For installing Windows in UEFI mode please refer to How to install Windows in UEFI mode.

Preparing bootable USB drive

1. Download Rufus application from: Rufus
2. Connect USB drive to any computer. Make sure to disconnect all other USB mass storage devices.
3. Run Rufus application and configure it as described in the screenshot.
   
   Warning! Everything on the destination disk will be overwritten.
4. Choose the Windows installation media image:
5. Press Start button to proceed.
6. Wait until completion.
7. Disconnect the USB drive.

Installing Windows on Phoenix BIOS systems

1. On the target PC set USB to be the first boot device in the boot order (in BIOS).
2. Connect the prepared bootable USB drive to the target PC and boot from it.
3. Press F5 during boot until the One-Time-Boot menu appears.
4. Choose the USB HDD option from the list of bootable devices.
5. Windows installation process will start.

Installing Windows on AMI BIOS systems

TBD

Are you going to create a Windows 10 bootable USB drive but don’t know how to do it? Don’t worry! With Rufus, you’ll be able to create your Windows 10 bootable USB drive with just several steps!

What is Rufus

Rufus is a free and open-source portable utility running on Windows platform. It is a powerful tool that can be used to create bootable USB drives. Despite its small size, it provides you with almost everything you need during the process of creating bootable USB drives.

Before creating your Windows 10 bootable USB drive, you need to prepare a USB flash drive with more than 8GB storage. To gain a flying speed when you install Windows 10 using the bootable USB drive, It’s recommended that you use a USB 3.0 drive as your bootable USB drive.

Step 1: Download the Windows 10 ISO file from the Microsoft official website.

1) Click here to visit the Microsoft official website for downloading Windows 10.

2) Click Download tool now on the web page to download the media creation tool.

3) Double click the downloaded file to open the media creation tool. Click Yes when you’re prompted for permission.

4) Click Accept when you see the window below.

5) Select Create installation media (USB flash drive, DVD, or ISO file) for another PC and click next.

6) Select the language and architecture of your Windows 10 ISO file and click Next.

7) Select ISO file and click Next.

8) Select the location to save the Windows 10 ISO file. After that, the media creation tool will start to download Windows 10 ISO file.

9) Click Finish to close the media creation tool.

Step 2: plug your USB flash drive into the USB port on your computer

Plug your USB flash drive into the USB port on your PC and make sure it can be detected and recognized. If you’re using a USB 3.0 flash drive, please plug it into the USB 3.0 port on your PC to optimize its performance.

Step 3: Start creating your Windows 10 bootable USB drive using Rufus

1) Click here to download Rufus.

2) Double click the downloaded file to run Rufus.

3) Select the USB drive you prepare for creating Windows 10 bootable USB drive.

4) Click select to navigate to the location of your official Windows 10 ISO file you downloaded.

5) For Image option, select Standard Windows installation.

6) For Partition scheme, select MBR if you’re using a computer with traditional BIOS(old machine). If your PC is new machine that supports the UEFI boot mode, select GPT. If you have no idea:

• If the PC has no operating system: you need to access your computer’s BIOS to check whether your PC supports the UEFI Boot mode or not. Here is how to do it:
  
  i. Start your PC and press a certain key at the same time to access your PC’s BIOS. Usually, the key to press are likely to be: F1, F2, F3, Esc, or Delete. If you are not sure, consult the manufacturer of your computer for the answer. 

  ii. navigate to the Startup or Boot tab (the name of that tab varys on different computers) to see whether your PC supports the UEFI boot mode or not.

• If the PC is already with the Windows system: on your keyboard, press the windows logo key and R at the same time to open the Run dialog. Type msinfo32 and press Enter to view the system information of your PC. If the BIOS mode of your PC is UEFI, then select GPT. If it is BIOS, select MBR.
  
  
  

7) For Target system, select UEFI if the partition scheme you selected is GPT; select BIOS if the partition scheme is MBR.

8) For other options like File system and Cluster size, select the default settings.

9) Click START to create your Windows 10 bootable USB drive.

When the process is completed, to check whether your bootable USB drive works or not, you can follow the steps below:

1) Plug your Windows 10 bootable USB drive into your PC.

2) Restart your PC and reboot it from your bootable USB drive.

Please don’t hesitate to comment below if you have any questions.

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Justin is a technical writer. As a Microsoft 365 Certified: Modern Desktop Administrator Associate, he loves exploring new technologies and writing technical how-to tips to help people fix their computer / phone issues. When he's not writing, there's a 99 percent chance he's reading, playing video games or listening to music.

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