Free Iso Bootable Usb
There are times when your PC is not working properly. Or there might be moments when you would have to boot your PC from an external USB Drive for Windows On the Go or other reasons. That time you would need a bootable USB Drive. This is so because USB drives are available very easily and nowadays, everyone has one. Every power user has their own ways, their own tools to make a bootable USB Drive. Well, sometimes your method might encounter a bug or error or you might be new to this and finding a way to do this. You are at the right place. This article will be discussing the best ways in which you can build a bootable USB securely.
So, before we start enlisting our choices, let’s just learn about some common terms related to Booting.
Notes on ISO Support: All versions of Rufus since v1.1.0 allow the creation of a bootable USB from an ISO image (.iso). Creating an ISO image from a physical disc or from a set of files is very easy to do however, through the use of a CD burning application, such as the freely available CDBurnerXP or ImgBurn. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ). Part 2: How to Make Bootable USB Flash Drive from ISO (Mac) Etcher is a great tool to create a bootable drive on computers running Mac OS. There are some initial preparatory steps that you will need to execute before actually creating the boot drive from your ISO file. Rufus Download is a free application that could use to format and create bootable USB flash drives like pendrives, USB keys etc. Especially, it can be used for some helpful situations such as make a bootable device to install Windows, Linux, Ubuntu and more from ISO, work on a system that hasn't installed an OS, flash a BIOS or any other. Rufus, and related ISO-to-USB tools, are great when you need to get some sort of bootable program, or even an entire operating system, onto a USB drive. However, what if you have an ISO image that you want to 'burn' to a USB drive that isn't intended to be booted from? An ISO of Microsoft Office comes to mind as a common example. To create a bootable DVD or USB flash drive, download the ISO file and then run the Windows 7 USB/DVD Download tool. Once this is done, you can install Windows 7 or Windows 8 directly from the USB flash drive or DVD. The ISO file contains all the Windows installation files combined into a single uncompressed file. Free ISO to USB is a free software to create a bootable USB flash drive from ISO image file. For using this software you need to choose the desired ISO file and then click on “Next” button. For using this software you need to choose the desired ISO file and then click on “Next” button.
Terms related to Bootable USB
- Bootloader Options: This bootloader is responsible for loading the Operating System. Sometimes, you have a choice of selecting the bootloader when choosing the installation of a specific operating system.
- grub4dos: A bootloader package designed to allow users to select between multiple operating systems installed on a single system.
- syslinux: This is a lightweight bootloader package designed to allow users to select what type of or what operating systems are to be installed.
- QEMU Emulator: QEMU Emulator or Quick Emulator is a hardware virtualization tool that helps the user to test the booting capabilities of a Drive.
- Cluster Size: The contiguous groups of sectors that are assigned by the file system are called as clusters.
- File System: This controls the accessibility of the data. This accessibility makes sure that the data is copied properly.
- Bad Sector: This is a bonus feature that some special bootable USB maker tools provide the users with. Here, the bootable drive is checked if there are any bad sectors or corrupt subpartitions after the creation of a bootable USB.
Prerequisites for creation of a bootable USB
- First of all, you need an ISO file of the operating system with the bootmgr or the boot manager.
- Secondly, you will need a USB Drive (Pendrive) with a minimum capacity of 8GB depending on the size of your ISO.
- Thirdly, you need to know if your system supports UEFI Booting. Depending on this, you can create a UEFI Capable bootable disk or a Legacy Capable bootable disk.
Now let us see how to create or make a bootable USB Drive using CMD or free software.
Make Bootable USB using CMD
This is a great way to make a bootable USB drive. That is so because you do not need any extra or third party software to be run in order to do your task. So, here is how you do it.
First of all, insert your USB Drive into the Computer.
Then, open Command Prompt by searching for cmd in the Cortana search box or hit WINKEY+R to launch the Run utility and type cmd and hit Enter.
Now, after a black window pops up, type in-
to run the DISKPART utility.
After that, you will see a new black and white window popping up that would say DISKPART>.
Now, type-
to list all the Storage devices connected to your computer. After you hit Enter, you will see a list of storage devices (including your hard disk) connected to the computer. Identify your disk’s number here. After this, type-
where X is the disk number, you just identified and hit Enter.
You need to clear the table records and all the visible data on the drive. For that, type-
and hit Enter.
Now, you will need to recreate a new primary partition of the drive. For that enter this command-
and hit Enter.
You just created a new primary partition. Now, you will have to select it. To do so, type-
and hit Enter.
You have to format it now to make it visible to normal users. type in-
to format it and hit Enter.
If your platform supports UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) replace NTFS with FAT32 in the previous step.
Type in-
and hit Enter.
Lastly, type-
and press Enter key to exit the utility.
Now, when you are done with preparing your image for the operating system, save it to the root of the USB Storage Device.
Free software to create Bootable USB
ZOTAC WinUSB Maker
This is one of the first Bootable USB Creators that I used. ZOTAC WinUSB Maker has been my most reliable companion every time I intended to create one. We all know ZOTAC as a company that manufactures Graphics Cards, Mini PCs or other digital boards or hardware like SSDs.
As listed on its official website, here is what ZOTAC says about their product:
Easily create a bootable Windows flash drive for your ZBOX mini-PC with the ZOTAC WinUSB Maker utility. The drag-and-drop utility makes creating bootable flash drives quick and painless – just drag the destination and source into the ZOTAC WinUSB Maker, and click start. ZOTAC WinUSB Maker supports Windows image files and DVD discs as sources for compatibility with all major operating systems supported by ZBOX mini-PCs. USB flash drive and SD card destinations are supported for simple OS installations on ZOTAC ZBOX mini-PCs.
The main highlighting features of this tool are its compatibility with Windows XP and higher with .NET Framework 4.0 installed, Smooth and simple GUI based operation, Quick operations, x64 and x86 support and UEFI Support, etc. You can download a copy for you for FREE here.
Rufus
Rufus is another very famous and easy to use bootable USB Maker. This supports all kinds of USB Pendrives, Keys, Memory Sticks, etc. The minimum software requirement is that it needs Windows XP at least.
The product page on its official website says this:
Rufus is a utility that helps format and create bootable USB flash drives, such as USB keys/pendrives, memory sticks, etc. It can be especially useful for cases where: you need to create USB installation media from bootable ISOs (Windows, Linux, UEFI, etc.) you need to work on a system that doesn’t have an OS installed you need to flash a BIOS or other firmware from DOS you want to run a low-level utility Despite its small size, Rufus provides everything you need! Oh, and Rufus is fast. For instance it’s about twice as fast as UNetbootin, Universal USB Installer or Windows 7 USB download tool, on the creation of a Windows 7 USB installation drive from an ISO. It is also marginally faster on the creation of Linux bootable USB from ISOs. (1) A non exhaustive list of Rufus supported ISOs is also provided at the bottom of this page.
It supports both UEFI and GPT installations and is also open source. It is free.
Windows USB/DVD Download Tool
Windows USB/DVD Download Tool is also a really simple tool to create a bootable USB Drive. All you need to have a pen drive and an ISO file. First, select the ISO file, check the destination drive and all the other booting settings. Now after you pass through all the four steps by clicking next, you have your bootable pen drive ready.
PowerISO
Not to be biased, but I personally love PowerISO. It is fast, multipurpose and is so feature rich. You can create various images from archives or folders; you can create bootable USB drives at a very great speed. Plus, it is portable and requires very fewer system resources. If you want to read more about it, head here to its official website.
Read next: How to create bootable USB media from ISO for Windows 10.
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So you have an ISO file that you want on a flash drive, or some other USB storage device. You also need to be able to boot from it. Sounds straightforward, right? Copy the file over and you're done!
Unfortunately, it's not that simple. Properly burning an ISO to USB is different than just copying the file. It's even different than burning an ISO to a disc. Adding to the complexity is that you plan on booting from the USB drive once you're done getting the ISO image on there.
See Burning an ISO to USB When You Don't Need to Boot From It at the bottom of the page if that's your plan instead. That process is a bit different..and easier!
We should mention here that you're never technically 'burning' anything to a USB drive since there are no lasers or similar technology involved. This term has just been carried over from the common practice of burning an ISO image to an optical disc.
Regardless, there's a fantastic free tool that will handle all of this for you automatically. Continue on below for an easy tutorial on how to burn an ISO file to USB with the free Rufus program.
How to Burn an ISO File to a USB Drive
This process also works to burn a Windows 10 ISO to USB. However, doing so via Microsoft's Windows 10 download and installation tool is best. Our How and Where to Download Windows 10 piece explains everything you need to know.
Time Required: 'Burning' an ISO image file to a USB device, like a flash drive, usually takes less than 20 minutes but the total time depends a lot on the size of the ISO file.
Download Rufus, a free tool that will correctly prepare the USB drive, automatically extract the contents of the ISO file you have, and properly copy the files contained within it to your USB device, including any files in the ISO needed to make it bootable.
Rufus is a portable program (does not install), works on Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, and XP, and will 'burn' an ISO image file to any type of USB storage device you happen to have. Be sure to choose Rufus 3.4 Portable on their site.
If you'd prefer to use a different ISO-to-USB tool, some other good ones include UNetbootin, ISO to USB, and Universal USB Installer. Of course, if you do choose another program, you won't be able to follow the instructions we've written here because they pertain specifically to Rufus.
Double-click or double-tap on the rufus-3.4p.exe file that you just downloaded. The Rufus program will start right away.
As we mentioned earlier, Rufus is a portable program, meaning that it just runs as is. This is a big reason why we prefer this ISO-to-USB program over some of the other options out there.
When first opening Rufus, you're asked whether the program should occasionally check for updates. It's up to you whether you want to enable this but it's probably best to choose Yes if you plan to use Rufus again in the future.
Insert the flash drive or other USB device into your computer that you want to 'burn' the ISO file to, assuming it's not already plugged in.
Burning an ISO image to a USB drive will erase everything on the drive! Before continuing, check that the USB drive is empty or that you have backed up any files you want to keep.
From the Device drop-down at the top of the Rufus program screen, choose the USB storage device you want to burn the ISO file to.
Rufus tells you the size of the USB device, as well as the drive letter and current free space on the drive. Use this information to double-check that you're choosing the correct USB device, assuming you have more than one plugged in. Don't worry about the free space indicated since you'll be erasing the entire drive as part of this process.
If no USB drive is listed under Device, or you can't find the drive you're expecting to see, there might be an issue with the USB device you're planning on using for the ISO image, or Windows is having some sort of problem seeing the drive. Try another USB device and/or another USB port on your computer.
From the Boot selection drop-down, make sure Disk or ISO image (Please select) is chosen.
Click SELECT.
When the Open window appears, locate and then select the ISO image you want to burn to the flash drive.
Once selected, tap or click Open.
Wait while Rufus inspects the ISO file you chose. This might take several seconds or may go by so quickly that you don't even notice.
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If you get an Unsupported ISO message, the ISO you chose is not supported for burning to USB by Rufus. In this case, try one of the other programs listed in Tip #3 below or check with the maker of the ISO image for more help getting their software to work from a USB drive.
Under the Image option area, pick Standard Windows installationif you see this and if that's the case.
For example, if you're putting a Windows installation ISO image onto the flash drive, and you get this option, you'd want to enable it for sure.
Leave the Partition scheme, Target system, File system, and Cluster size options alone unless you know what you're doing or you've been advised to set any of those parameters to something else.
For example, maybe a bootable tool you downloaded in ISO format advised on its website to make sure the file system is FAT32 instead of NTFS if you're burning to USB. In that case, make the File system change to FAT32 before continuing.
You're welcome to enter a custom volume label in the Volume label field, but leaving it at whatever the default happens to be, or even blank, shouldn't have any impact on anything.
Under Format Options, inside the Show advanced format options menu, you'll see a number of.. yes, format options! You can leave all of them in their default state but you're welcome to select Check device for bad blocks if you have some concern that the flash drive or USB device you're using may have an issue.
1 Pass is just fine in most cases but knock that up to 2, 3, or even 4 if you've had issues with this drive before.
Tap or click on START to start the 'burning' of the ISO file to the USB device you chose.
If you get an Image is too big message, you'll need to use a larger USB device or choose a smaller ISO image.
Tap or click OK to the WARNING: ALL DATA ON DEVICE 'XYZ' WILL BE DESTROYED message that appears next.
Take this message seriously! Make sure the flash drive or other USB device is empty or that you're fine with erasing everything on it.
Wait while Rufus properly formats the USB drive so it's bootable, and then copies all of the files to the drive that are contained in the ISO image you selected in Step 8.
The total time to do this depends very much on how large the ISO file is that you're working with. Some small diagnostic tools (like the 18 MB ONTP&RE ISO) take under one minute, while larger images (like a 5 GB Windows 10 ISO) could take closer to 20 minutes. Your computer and USB hardware speeds are a big factor here as well.
Once the status at the bottom of the Rufus program window says READY, you can close Rufus and remove the USB drive.
Booting From the USB Drive
Now that the ISO file is properly 'burned' to the USB drive, you can boot from it and then continue with whatever it is you're using this bootable drive for.
For example, if you've put a memory testing program on a flash drive, you can now boot from that flash drive and test your RAM with it. Same goes for bootable hard drive testing programs, password recovery tools, data wipe programs, antivirus tools, etc.
You're more than welcome to use the procedure we've outlined above with Rufus for Windows ISO images, like those you might have downloaded for Windows 8, Windows 7, etc. However, there is a more 'official' procedure that uses free software direct from Microsoft.
We've written complete tutorials on these procedures, which also includes guidance on other aspects of installing Windows from a USB stick. See How to Install Windows 8 From USB or How to Install Windows 7 From USB, depending on the version of Windows you're installing.
Booting from a USB drive is often as easy as plugging the drive in to any free USB port and then restarting your computer, but it can sometimes be much more complicated. See our How to Boot From a USB Drive tutorial if you need help.
Burning an ISO to USB When You Don't Need to Boot From It
Free Iso Bootable Usb Linux
Rufus, and related ISO-to-USB tools, are great when you need to get some sort of bootable program, or even an entire operating system, onto a USB drive. However, what if you have an ISO image that you want to 'burn' to a USB drive that isn't intended to be booted from? An ISO of Microsoft Office comes to mind as a common example.
Create Bootable Usb From Iso Windows 7
In these cases, think of the ISO image you're working with as just any other compressed format, like a ZIP file. Use your favorite file compression program — we often recommend the free 7-Zip tool — to extract the contents of the ISO image directly onto the previously-formatted flash drive. That's it!
Free Burn Iso To Usb Bootable
See this List of Free File Extractor Programs for some more free programs that work with ISO files in this way.