Windows bootable flash drive program. Programs for creating a bootable USB flash drive

In articles on how to install Windows from a flash drive, we have already described some ways to create a bootable flash drive, but not all of them. Instructions on this topic are listed below, but we recommend that you first read the article itself - in it you will find new, simple and interesting ways.

This review will look at free utilities that allow you to create a bootable USB drive for installing Windows or Linux, as well as two programs for burning a multiboot flash drive. All “download” links in the article lead to the official websites of the programs.

Bootable USB flash drive Windows 10 and Windows 8.1 without programs

Those who have a modern computer equipped with a motherboard with UEFI software (a novice user can determine UEFI by the graphical interface when entering the “BIOS”), and who need to make a bootable USB flash drive to install Windows 10 or Windows 8.1 on this particular computer, can generally Do not use any third-party programs to create a bootable USB flash drive.

All you need to use this method: support for EFI boot, a USB drive formatted in FAT32 and preferably an original ISO image or a disk with the specified versions of Windows OS (for non-original ones it is more reliable to use the creation of a UEFI flash drive using the command line, which is described later in this material).

Microsoft Windows Installation Media Creation Tool

For a long time, the Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool was the only official Microsoft utility for creating a bootable USB flash drive (originally intended for Windows 7, described below in this same article).

And now, more than a year after the release of Windows 8 and 8.1, the next official program was released - Windows Installation Media Creation Tool for recording an installation USB drive with the Windows 8.1 distribution of the version you need.

With this free program, you can easily make a bootable USB or ISO image by choosing a professional, single-language or basic version of Windows 8.1, as well as the installation language, including Russian. In this case, the official distribution kit is downloaded from the Microsoft website, which may be important for those who require the original Windows.

Detailed instructions for using this method and how to download the program from the official Microsoft website here: http://remontka.pro/installation-media-creation-tool/

Multiboot flash drives

First of all, I’ll tell you about two tools designed to create a multiboot flash drive - an indispensable tool for any computer repairman and, if you have the skills, an excellent thing for the average computer user. As the name suggests, a multiboot flash drive allows you to boot in different modes and for different purposes, for example, on one flash drive you can have:

Installing Windows 8
Kaspersky Rescue Disk
Hiren's Boot CD
Installing Ubuntu Linux

This is just an example; in fact, the set can be completely different, depending on the goals and preferences of the owner of such a flash drive.

WinSetupFromUSB

Main program window

In my personal opinion, one of the most convenient utilities for creating a bootable USB flash drive. The functions are quite wide - in the program you can prepare a USB drive for later turning it into a bootable one, format it in a variety of ways and create the necessary boot record. The main function, which is also implemented quite simply and clearly, is to record a bootable USB flash drive from Linux installation images, disks with utilities, as well as installations of Windows 8, Windows 7 and XP (Server versions are also supported). The use is not as simple as some of the other programs in this review, but, nevertheless, if you more or less understand how this kind of media is made, it will not be difficult for you to figure it out. For everyone else, one day I will write detailed instructions describing the process of creating a multiboot flash drive for work.

Easy2Boot and Butler (Boutler)

The programs for creating bootable and multiboot flash drives Easy2Boot and Butler are very similar in operating principle. In general terms, this principle looks like this:

You prepare the USB drive in a special way
Copy bootable ISO images to the created folder structure on the flash drive

As a result, you get a bootable drive with images of Windows distributions (8.1, 8, 7 or XP), Ubuntu and other Linux distributions, utilities for computer recovery or virus treatment. Essentially, the number of ISOs you can use is limited only by the size of the drive, which is very convenient, especially for professionals who really need it.

The disadvantages of both programs for novice users include the need to understand what you are doing and be able to manually make changes to the disk if necessary (everything does not always work as desired by default). At the same time, Easy2Boot, given the availability of help only in English and the lack of a graphical interface, is somewhat more complicated than Boutler.

XBoot

XBoot is a free utility for creating a multiboot flash drive or ISO disk image with several versions of Linux, utilities, antivirus kits (for example, Kaspersky Rescue), Live CD (Hiren’s Boot CD). Windows is not supported. However, if we need a very functional multiboot flash drive, we can first create an ISO in XBoot, and then use the resulting image in the WinSetupFromUSB utility. Thus, by combining these two programs, we can get a multi-boot flash drive for Windows 8 (or 7), Windows XP, and everything that we recorded in XBoot. You can download on the official website https://sites.google.com/site/shamurxboot/

Creating bootable media in this program is done by simply dragging and dropping the desired ISO files into the main window. Then all you have to do is click “Create ISO” or “Create USB”.

Another opportunity provided in the program is to download the necessary disk images by selecting them from a fairly extensive list.

Bootable Windows flash drives

This part presents programs whose purpose is to transfer installation files of the Windows operating system to a flash drive for easy installation on netbooks or other computers that are not equipped with optical CD drives (does anyone say that?).

Microsoft Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool

The Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool is an official free program from Microsoft designed to burn a bootable USB flash drive with Windows 7 or Windows 8. Despite the fact that the program was released for the previous version of the operating system, it also works great with Windows 8.

Selecting a Windows ISO image in a utility from Microsoft

Use does not present any difficulties - after installation, you will need to specify the path to the Windows disk image file (.iso), indicate which USB drive to write to (all data will be deleted) and wait for the operation to complete. That's all, the bootable USB flash drive with Windows 8 (7) is ready.

Bootable USB flash drive in Windows command line

If you need a flash drive to install Windows 8, 8.1 or Windows 7, then it is not necessary to use any third-party programs to create it. Moreover, some of these programs simply provide a graphical interface, doing everything that you can do yourself using the command line.

The process of creating a bootable USB flash drive in the Windows command line (including with UEFI support) looks like this:

You prepare the flash drive using diskpart on the command line.
Copy all operating system installation files to the drive.
Make some changes as needed (for example, if you require UEFI support when installing Windows 7).

There is nothing complicated in this procedure, and even a novice user can handle it if you follow the instructions.

WiNToBootic

Another free and perfectly working utility for creating a bootable USB flash drive with Windows 8 or Windows 7. Quite little known, but, in my opinion, a program worth attention.

Advantages of WiNTBootic compared to Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool:

Supports ISO images from Windows, unzipped OS folder or DVD
No need to install on your computer
High speed

Using the program is as simple as the previous utility - we indicate the location of the files for installing Windows and which flash drive to write them to, and then wait for the program to finish.

WinToFlash utility

This free portable program allows you to create a bootable USB flash drive from the installation CD of Windows XP, Windows 7, Windows Vista, as well as Windows Server 2003 and 2008. And not only that: if you needed a bootable USB flash drive for MS DOS or Win PE, you can also make one using WinToFlash. Another feature of the program is the creation of a flash drive for removing a banner from the desktop.

Rufus

Rufus is a free utility that allows you to create a bootable Windows or Linux USB flash drive. The program works on all current versions of Windows OS and, among its other functions, can check a flash drive for bad sectors and bad blocks. It is also possible to place various utilities on a flash drive, such as Hiren’s Boot CD, Win PE and others. Another important advantage of this program in its latest versions is the simple creation of a bootable UEFI GPT or MBR flash drive.

The program itself is very easy to use, but quite limited. Somewhat reminiscent of the stripped-down WinSetupFromUSB, which was mentioned above.

Considering the fact that many users in Russia do not really pay for programs, using UltraISO to create bootable flash drives is quite common. Unlike all the other programs described here, UltraISO costs money, and allows, among other functions available in the program, to create a bootable Windows USB flash drive. The creation process is not entirely obvious, so we will describe it here.

With a flash drive connected to the computer, run UltraISO.
Select the menu item (top) Bootstrapping.
Specify the path to the bootable image of the distribution that you want to burn to the flash drive.
If necessary, format the flash drive (this is done in the same window), then click “write”.

That's all, a bootable Windows or Linux flash drive created using the UltraISO program is ready.

Other utilities related to bootable flash drives

Windows Bootable Image Creator - creating a bootable ISO

WBI Creator is somewhat different from the general range of programs. It does not create a bootable USB flash drive, but a bootable ISO disk image from the folder with files for installing Windows 8, Windows 7 or Windows XP. All you need to do is select the folder in which the installation files are located, select the version of the operating system (for Windows 8, select Windows 7), indicate the desired DVD label (the disc label is present in the ISO file) and click the “Go” button. After this, you can create a bootable USB flash drive using other utilities from this list.

Universal USB Installer window

This program allows you to select one of several available Linux distributions (as well as download it) and create a flash drive with it on board. The process is very simple: select the distribution version, specify the path to the location of the file with this distribution, specify the path to a flash drive pre-formatted in FAT or NTFS and click Create. That's it, all you have to do is wait.

These are not all programs designed for these purposes; there are many others for various platforms and purposes. For most common and not so common tasks, the utilities listed should be sufficient. Let me remind you that it’s quite easy to create a bootable USB flash drive with Windows 8 or Windows 7 without using any additional utilities - just using the command line, which I wrote about in detail in the relevant articles.

An installation or recovery disk of the operating system, with the help of certain programs, can be transferred to a flash card and used in case of computer failures or restoration of the operating system from the BIOS, as a result of complete damage to Windows or other OS. For this purpose, you can use programs for creating a bootable USB flash drive for Windows 7:

Ultra ISO

An application for creating a bootable USB flash drive or converting ISO CD/DVD formula files, providing the ability to analyze and directly modify audio or image files contained on optical CD/DVD discs and extract the necessary information from them.

You can manipulate downloadable ISO information to create installation flash media and CD/DVDs. This is a utility for revising and editing ISO documents that can work with all modern image codes.

Rufus

E is a small tool for formatting and compiling bootable USB drives, memory cards and keys. Compared to analogues, the Rufus program is faster and useful when there is a need to create an installation and recovery flash drive with an ISO image of a variety of operating systems.

The utility can also reflash BIOS or DOS or run low-level applications.You can download a program for creating a bootable flash drive from torrent sources or on our website.

Win32 Disk Imager

The program offers the ability to clone USB and memory card information for portable SD (Secure Digital) devices and store them in the form of IMG files. In addition, the utility is capable of transferring ISO images to removable storage media. Win32 Disk Imager has a 128-bit hashing algorithm and does not require separate installation.

UNetBooting

Gives the user the opportunity to create LiveUSB installation disks for Ubuntu, Fedora and other Linux distributions without storing them on CDs. The tool works with Mac OS X, Windows or Linux operating systems. A set of installation files can be downloaded directly in the application window or through Linux's own ISO image file.

PeToUsb

Computer resource-saving software written to format flash drives and removable HDDs with subsequent formation of recovery distributions of Windows operating systems on them and creating their reserves on USB drives. To do this, the utility uses Master Boot Record. One of the undeniable advantages of PeToUSB is that the software works with pre-installation versions of BartPE and WinPE.

WinToFlash

A multilingual program for creating a bootable USB flash drive for Windows 7. It allows the user to accurately move the installation files of almost all operating systems of the Windows family to removable drives in a few clicks.

The utility supports 32 and 64-bit processors, and also works with CAB, ARJ, ISO, DMG, ZIP, RAR and 7z formats. The application can format drives in FAT-32, NTFS and FAT-16 file systems.

Windows Bootable Image (WBI) Creator

The application was created to, in a few steps, assemble a bootable ISO image file that fully imitates the operating system of any generation Windows 7, 8. The utility is so unpretentious to use that to create a resuscitation flash reserve, a basic knowledge of the computer is enough. If the speed of the program is a plus, then the lack of a burning function will be a disadvantage.

DownloadWindows Bootable Image (WBI) Creator

Universal USB Installer

A utility from a series of freely distributed programs that provides the prospect of creating a bootable flash drive from groups of Linux recovery files, based on Debian, Puppy Linux, Ubuntu, OpenSUSE, Mint, Linux and Fedora builds.

To complete the entire operation, you need to select the assembly that you are going to write to removable media and specify the path to the image on the computer’s HDD. The program includes the ability to format a flash drive into the FAT32 system.

Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool

Microsoft developers have provided an official version of a small program for creating a clone of a working version of the Windows 7 operating system, with subsequent deployment to optical or flash media. The tool is designed for owners of netbooks and other computer devices that are not equipped with drive cables. The program is as simple as possible - after installation, all that remains is to select the system distribution in the ISO image and specify the installation path.

WiNToBootic

An application that allows you to create a USB NTFS installation disk for the Windows and Linux family. Software focused on ease of use and performance. You can record an ISO dummy by dragging and dropping information.

The program, unlike competing applications, has such features as USB creation with NTFS support, Windows 7 boot loader, ISO 13346 (UDF), ISO 9660 (Joilet), ISO: Windows 7/8/2008 / Vista / PE2 and PE3.

WinSetupFromUSB

The program can format removable media in the FAT32 and NTFS file system, and also create an ISO copy of the operating systems BartPE, WinBulder, Windows 7, XP, WinFLPC, Vista and others on it. One caveat - some antivirus programs may recognize the WinSetapFromUSB setup_dbg.ex and setup.ex extensions as malicious. Therefore, antivirus responses should be accepted as false.

XBoot

A powerful program for creating a bootable DVD/CD or USB media of one or more ISO image files. Management is very simple - after dragging information into the program window, just run the executive command “Create USB” or “Create ISO”.

The application has a universal download option for Grub4dos or ISO Emulation, in case of working with operating systems that do not support this utility. You can download this program for creating a bootable USB flash drive for Windows 7, 8 for free on our website, via a direct link.

With many programs offering their own solution to the problem of archiving and storing a working copy used by the operating system user, it is difficult to make an unmistakable choice. Nevertheless, the listed applications are able to effectively perform the stated functions. All you have to do is choose the option with the most suitable set of capabilities.

This installation method is suitable if you own a netbook or your CD/DVD drive has failed and you need to install Windows 7. This method is also good because the process of installing Windows 7 from a flash card is several times faster than from a CD or DVD disk.

Before you start recording Windows 7 onto a flash drive, copy all important data from the flash drive to other storage media (a hard drive where Windows will not be installed, another flash card, disk, etc.), as during the formatting and recording process Windows 7 image onto a USB flash drive, all the data on it will be destroyed.
First way
If you are creating a bootable USB flash drive while in the Windows 7 operating system, then you will need a program Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool, which can be downloaded from Of. Microsoft website following the link.
If you are creating a bootable USB flash drive under the Windows XP operating system, you will need to install Microsoft.NET Framework 2.0 And Microsoft Image Mastering API 2.0. Of course, if you already have them installed (usually the first program), then you do not need to install them again.

1) Insert the USB flash drive into the laptop.
2) Launch the program. Click the button Browse.

3) Select the Windows 7 ISO image and click the button Open.

4) After you have specified the Windows 7 ISO image, click the button Next.

5) Click the button USB device.

6) Your flash drive should appear in this window. Click the button Begin copying

7) Click on the button Erase USB Device

8) Click Yes.

9) The process of writing the Windows 7 image to the USB flash drive will begin

10) When recording is complete, the status will change to Backup completed. Close the program

Second way
For the second method you will need a program Ultra ISO.
1) Insert the USB flash drive into the laptop.
2) Launch the program. In Windows 7 and Windows Vista, it is recommended to run the program as an administrator.
The UltraISO program is paid, but you can use a trial period, we will consider this option. Click the "Trial period..." button

3) Select a menu item File ->Open...

4) Select the Windows 7 ISO image and click the button Open.

. Select an item Burn a Hard Disk Image...

6) In the field Recording method: select USB-HDD. Click the button Format.

7) The formatting utility will launch. Click the button Begin.

8) Click OK.

9) After formatting, a success window will appear. Click OK.

10) Close the program.

11) Press the button Write down.

12) Click Yes.

13) The process of writing the Windows 7 image to the USB flash drive will begin.

14) Upon completion of recording in the column Event The message “Recording complete!” will appear. Close the program.

Third way
For the third method, we need the WinSetupFromUSB 1.0 Beta 7 - program.

Note: the link has a newer version, but the principle remains the same.
1) Insert the USB flash drive into the laptop.
2) Launch the program. In Windows 7 and Windows Vista, the program must be run as an administrator.

In field USB disk selection and format your flash drive should be listed.
Note: If the flash drive is not detected, then format it using the PeToUSB or HPUSBFW utility.
Also, the flash drive may not be detected if it is inserted into the laptop after the Winsetupfromusb 1.0 Beta7 program has been launched and for it to be detected, just press the button Refresh.
3) Click the button RMPrepUSB.

4) Mark the following lines: WinPEv2/WinPEv3/Vista/Win7 bootable (CC4), NTFS. Place a check mark next to it Boot as HDD (C: 2PTNS). Click the button 6 Prepare Drive.

5) Click the button OK.

6) Click the button OK.

7) After this, something like this will appear Dos window.
Warning: Do not close this window. It should close automatically.

8) After Dos the window will close click the button Exit.

9) Check the box next to it Vista/7/Server 2008 - Setup/PE/RecoveryISO. Click on the square on the right.

10) A window will appear Browse folders in which you need to select the virtual drive in which the Windows 7 ISO image is mounted.
After you have done this, press the button OK.

11) Press the button GO. The process of writing Windows 7 to the USB flash drive will begin.

12) At the end of recording, a small window will appear. Click OK.

13) Close the program.

Fourth method
The installation method is quite simple, so anyone can do it! For this we need:
1) Windows 7 image
2) Flash drive with a capacity of at least 4GB
3) A program for creating and editing ISO images, ultraISO from the above method or free MagicDisk
You can take any media from a regular flash drive to an SD card, but not less than 4GB!
4) Launch the command line (in Windows XP this is standard->command line. In Windows Vista/Windows 7, open start, at the very bottom there is a search, enter cmd and open with administrator rights).
5) Next on the command line enter diskpart, the disk management utility will open.

6) Next, in the diskpart utility itself, enter: list disk, this will display all the physical disks of the PC, namely disks and not partitions.
Among them we are looking for our flash drive.

7) Then we execute the command select disk #, Where # This is the number of our flash drive.
In this case, the flash drive on the screen is number 1, therefore s elect disk 1. All further manipulations will be carried out only with this disk.
8) Execute the command clean, clean the drive, then the command create partition primary- create a new partition on the disk.
9) After creating a new section, write select partition 1, select this section for manipulation, enter active, thereby making the section active.
10) Now for the flash drive to be visible in bios, you need to format it in NTFS format, which we do with the command format fs=NTFS.
11) Next, you need to activate the process of connecting the device and assigning letters to it, we do this with the command assign.
That's it, the preparation process is complete.

Installing Windows 7
You can record the distribution using any file manager or a free one.
In this case, you need to somehow open the image of the installation disk with the OS, this can be done with any disk emulator, Alcohol or MagicDisk, create an image and copy everything from it with a file manager to our prepared flash drive.
That's it, the process of creating the installation flash drive is completed, now we try to install the OS by first setting it in bios.

Well, that’s all, which of the four methods of creating a bootable flash drive to use is up to you.

Enabling booting from a flash drive in the BIOS
Before you start installing Windows 7 from a flash drive, you need to go into the BIOS and enable booting from the flash drive.
To enter the BIOS you need to press a certain key when the computer boots. On desktop computers, this is the Del key. On laptops, the F2 key is most often used.
Usually, when you turn on the laptop, a screen appears on which at the very bottom there is a line that says which key you need to press in order to enter the BIOS.
If you do not have such a line, then you need to look at the information on how to enter the BIOS User Manual walking with a laptop.

1) Insert the flash drive into the laptop if it is not inserted.
2) Turn on the laptop, if it is on, then reboot.
3) Go to BIOS.

Using an example, the whole process will look as shown below; if your BIOS is different, then the principle will remain the same. If you have questions, write in the comments.

4) Go to the tab Boot. In it, in boot order, you need to put our flash drive in first place, using the arrow keys and keys F5 And F6. That is, we use the arrow keys to select our flash drive, and use the key F6 we take her to the very top.
To find out which keys you need to use to set the boot order, see the tips on the right.
The name of the flash drive should appear in the line USB HDD.
Also, the flash drive may appear in the line USB KEY.
To save changes and exit the BIOS, press the key F10. (Depending on the BIOS manufacturer, the key may be different. See tips on the right or below).

5) A window will appear asking in English whether to Save changes and Exit? You are taking Yes.

6) After this, a reboot will occur and the Windows 7 installation process will begin.

Installing Windows 7 from a USB flash drive

If a bootable USB flash drive with Windows 7 was created using the WinSetupFromUSB 1.0 Beta 7 program, a green screen will first appear. Select Start Vista/Win7/Server 2008 Setup or PE/Recovery ISO from partition 0.

Next, the Windows 7 setup program will launch.

Write in the comments what is not clear and what questions you have.

In articles on how to install Windows from a flash drive, I have already described some ways to create a bootable flash drive, but not all. Below in the list are individual instructions on this topic, but I recommend that you first read the article itself below the list - in it you will find new, simple and interesting ways to make a bootable USB flash drive, sometimes even unique ones.

This review will look at free utilities that allow you to create a bootable USB drive for installing Windows or Linux, as well as programs for burning a multiboot flash drive. Also presented are options for creating a USB drive to run Windows 10 and 8 without installing and using Linux in Live mode without rebooting the computer. All “download” links in the article lead to the official websites of the programs.

Update 2016. Since writing this review of programs for creating a bootable flash drive, several new options have appeared for preparing a USB drive for installing Windows, which I consider necessary to add here. The next two sections are these new methods, and then the “old” methods that have not lost their relevance are described (first about multiboot drives, then specifically about creating bootable Windows flash drives of various versions, as well as a description of several auxiliary useful programs).

Bootable USB flash drive Windows 10 and Windows 8.1 without programs

Microsoft Windows Installation Media Creation Tool

More than a year after the release of Windows 8, the next official program was released - Windows Installation Media Creation Tool for burning an installation USB drive with the Windows 8.1 distribution of the version you need. And now a similar Microsoft utility has been released for burning a bootable USB flash drive for Windows 10.

Multiboot flash drives

Installing Windows 8
Kaspersky Rescue Disk
Hiren's Boot CD
Installing Ubuntu Linux

This is just an example; in fact, the set can be completely different, depending on the goals and preferences of the owner of such a flash drive.

WinSetupFromUSB

Main window WinsetupFromUSB 1.6

In my personal opinion, one of the most convenient utilities for creating a bootable USB flash drive. The functions of the program are wide - in the program you can prepare a USB drive for subsequent conversion into a bootable one, format it in a variety of ways and create the necessary boot record, check the bootable flash drive in QEMU.

The main function, which is also implemented quite simply and clearly, is to record a bootable USB flash drive from Linux installation images, disks with utilities, as well as installations of Windows 10, 8, Windows 7 and XP (Server versions are also supported). The use is not as simple as some of the other programs in this review, but, nevertheless, if you more or less understand how this kind of media is made, it will not be difficult for you to figure it out.

Free SARDU program for creating a multiboot flash drive

SARDU is one of the most functional and simple, despite the lack of a Russian-language interface, programs that make it easy to burn a multiboot flash drive with:

Images of Windows 10, 8, Windows 7 and XP
Win PE images
Linux distributions
Anti-virus boot disks and bootable drives with utilities for resuscitating the system, setting up partitions on disks, etc.

Moreover, for many images the program has a built-in downloader from the Internet. If all the methods of creating a multi-boot flash drive that have been tried so far have not yet worked for you, I strongly recommend trying: Multi-boot flash drive in SARDU.

Easy2Boot and Butler (Boutler)

The programs for creating bootable and multiboot flash drives Easy2Boot and Butler are very similar in operating principle. In general terms, this principle looks like this:

You prepare the USB drive in a special way
Copy bootable ISO images to the created folder structure on the flash drive

XBoot

Creating bootable media in this program is done by simply dragging and dropping the desired ISO files into the main window. Then all you have to do is click “Create ISO” or “Create USB”.

Another opportunity provided in the program is to download the necessary disk images by selecting them from a fairly extensive list.

Bootable Windows flash drives

Microsoft Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool

Selecting a Windows ISO image in a utility from Microsoft

Bootable USB flash drive in Windows command line

The process of creating a bootable USB flash drive in the Windows command line (including with UEFI support) looks like this:

You prepare the flash drive using diskpart on the command line.
Copy all operating system installation files to the drive.
Make some changes as needed (for example, if you require UEFI support when installing Windows 7).

There is nothing complicated in this procedure, and even a novice user can handle it if you follow the instructions.

Flash drive with Windows 10 and 8 in WinToUSB Free

The WinToUSB Free program allows you to make a bootable USB flash drive not for installing Windows 10 and 8, but for directly launching them from a USB drive without installation. At the same time, in my experience, it copes with this task better than its analogues.

An ISO image, a CD with Windows, or even an OS already installed on the computer can be used as a source for a system written to USB (however, the latter option, if I'm not mistaken, is not available in the free version).

WiNToBootic

Another free and perfectly working utility for creating a bootable USB flash drive with Windows 8 or Windows 7. Quite little known, but, in my opinion, a program worth attention.

Advantages of WiNTBootic compared to Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool:

Supports ISO images from Windows, unzipped OS folder or DVD
No need to install on your computer
High speed

Using the program is as simple as the previous utility - we indicate the location of the files for installing Windows and which flash drive to write them to, and then wait for the program to finish.

WinToFlash utility

Rufus

The program itself is very easy to use, and, in the latest versions, among other things, it can make a Windows To Go drive to run Windows from a flash drive without installation.

With a flash drive connected to the computer, run UltraISO.
Select the menu item (top) Bootstrapping.
Specify the path to the bootable image of the distribution that you want to burn to the flash drive.
If necessary, format the flash drive (this is done in the same window), then click “write”.

That's all, a bootable Windows or Linux flash drive created using the UltraISO program is ready.

Other utilities related to bootable flash drives

Below are additional programs that can help you create a bootable flash drive (including with Linux), and also offer some features that are missing in the utilities already mentioned.

Linux Live USB Creator

Distinctive features of the program for creating bootable USB flash drives Linux Live USB Creator are:

The ability to download the required Linux image using the program itself from a fairly good list of distributions, including all the popular Ubuntu and Linux Mint variants.
The ability to run Linux from a created USB drive in Live mode in a Windows environment using VirtualBox Portable, which is also automatically installed by Linux Live USB Creator on the drive.

Of course, the ability to simply boot a computer or laptop from a Linux Live USB Creator flash drive and install the system is also present.

Windows Bootable Image Creator - creating a bootable ISO

Universal USB Installer window

These are not all programs designed for these purposes; there are many others for various platforms and purposes. For most common and not so common tasks, the utilities listed should be sufficient. Let me remind you that it’s quite easy to create a bootable USB flash drive with Windows 10, 8 or Windows 7 without using any additional utilities - just using the command line, which I wrote about in detail in the relevant articles.

If you decide to install the Windows operating system from a flash drive, then the first thing you will need is a special program to transfer files from the disk image to the flash drive. In this article we will look at a number of popular programs for creating a bootable flash drive.

Windows 7 USB/DVD Download tool is a free program developed by Microsoft. It is designed to quickly burn an image of a Windows installation disk to an optical disc or flash drive. The program has the simplest possible interface.

All the user needs to do is select a disk image for, select the type of drive (flash drive or DVD), and also specify the flash drive that will be used as a boot drive.

If this is your first time installing Windows from a flash drive and you need the most simple and understandable program for creating a bootable flash drive, then Windows 7 USB/DVD Download tool from Microsoft is the ideal choice. Download this program from .

Just like the previous program, WinSetupFromUSB is a free program for creating . This program has significantly more capabilities and allows you to quickly create a multiboot flash drive with the ability to install operating systems such as Windows XP, Windows 7, BartPE (WinBulder/UBCD4Win/WinFLPC), DOS, Linux and *BSD.

The WinSetupFromUSB program is suitable for those users who already have some experience in installing operating systems and want to get more options. On the official website you can also read the instructions for using it.

UltraISO is a paid program for working with disk images. Among other things, this program can create bootable flash drives. In order to create a bootable USB flash drive using the UltraISO program, you need to open the “Boot” menu in the program and select “Burn Hard Disk Image”.

After this, a window will open in which you need to select a disk image and flash drive. In general, creating a bootable USB flash drive using the UltraISO program is not difficult, but this program is overloaded with other functions, which can create difficulties for inexperienced users. UltraISO programs are available on the official website.

FlashBoot is a paid program for . Using this program, you can format a flash drive and transfer operating system installation files to it. FlashBoot is much like the Windows 7 USB/DVD Download tool, but has more features. For example, using FlashBoot you can create a bootable USB flash drive directly from an optical disk, just like the Windows 7 USB/DVD Download tool requires a disk image in ISO format.

FlashBoot is a paid program, but you can use the trial version. you can from the official website.

Rufus

Rufus is a small free program that works without installation on your computer. You can use it to create a bootable USB flash drive. The program has a simple interface, but nevertheless has a number of interesting functions. For example, the user is given the choice of GPT or MBR partition table format.

On the official website of the program you can also read the instructions.

Standard general purpose programs

Analyzing the size of folders on disk

Standard general purpose programs

Programs for creating a bootable USB flash drive