On separate media, and your computer is running Linux, there will be no problems - despite the competition between the two operating systems, this is not a difficult task at all. There are several ways to record: using the Linux functionality and through third party applications. Let's take a look at four of the most simple options with sequential instructions.

Instructions for creating a bootable Windows flash drives in linux.

  1. Run the program and click the first highlighted button: "Select Image". Specify the one you need.
  2. Next, connect the drive and start recording - after completing the first step, the second button will light up - select the flash drive on which the Windows image will be written.
  3. Upon completion, you will see an inscription indicating that the flash drive is ready for use.

Based on all of the above, you can generally do without the mediation of third-party software and create a flash drive with an installer in Linux much faster. For this:

  • stock up on the way optical disc Windows (you can download it or write it off from a working system);
  • flash drive with enough memory.
  1. The flash drive must first be configured for ntfs or FAT32 format (see above how to do this).
  2. The optical disk image must be turned into installation files. To do this, open it through an archiver and extract the contents from the repository.
  3. All elements are simply dragged onto the flash drive.

It should be noted that this way will be effective only for the updated intermediary between the OS and firmware - UEFI with the GPT partitioning system and 64-bit bit depth. For an earlier version of BSVV, this method will not work - you simply will not find desired files. To use a flash drive, it is very important to configure UEFI in such a way that the drive is recognized as an OS launcher. To do this, restart your PC and press the key combination that matches your version of BSVV (often F2 or Del, but there may be other options), and call the intermediary. You will see a window with images hard drives, which are numbered in order. Select your flash drive (it must be connected beforehand) and drag it to the first place (fortunately, UEFI allows you to use the mouse and has a more or less clear appearance). After restarting, a window will immediately open. Windows installation.

Probably most of you could think about the problem of preparing a boot flash drives with operating system Linux on board and subsequently install the Ubuntu system from a USB flash drive. In this article, we will be able to see in detail how to implement this in an already installed Linux. Read about how to create a bootable USB flash drive in Windows here:. Well, let's go 🙂

All we may need is an empty flash drive with at least 2 gigabytes of information to be entered, image ISO some kind of disk with a Linux system, an Internet connection and some free time.

Well, of course, the first thing we do in this case is (in no case do we insert a flash drive) we install a special software, namely a software application with a somewhat unusual name UNetBootin. This is a great software application designed to create bootable flash drives from ISO image ov. There is nothing superfluous in it, it is easy to manage and it is also available in the repository repository ubuntu.
Let's install it now:
sudoapt-getinstall unet-bootin

And after waiting for a few minutes, you can already run this program:

In that software application there is also the possibility create bootable flash drives even if you don't have hand iso image with Linux operating system. It will simply rewrite itself from the Internet and then be rewritten to a flash drive. In order to do this in the above software application, it will be necessary to select the top checkbox “distribution”, then select the required Linux distribution and select the version of this distribution. True, we already have our own ISO image. For this reason, we select the second checkbox “image”, select our image format - ISO from the list of formats (in case it suddenly does not appear by default), then press the “…” button and look for it on the hard drive our personal computer.

It is also possible to create an image manually (while specifying your initrd , kernel and using additional options), but all this goes very far beyond the scope of our today's article, and we don’t need it.

Everything, the image is already selected for us, then we must make our choice on the “Type” item - USB drive to indicate our flash drive, on which we will write our image “Drive: /nodiv/sdb2” and click on the Ok button. Everything, the process has begun! In the event that you made your choice on the top checkbox, then the process of burning the image may take much longer, since the image must first be downloaded to HDD, and then it will be recorded. This concludes our article. Good luck.

Familiar CD / DVD discs have seriously supplanted USB drives, which differ in speed, large capacity, compactness, reasonable price and versatility because USB ports equipped with a wide range of electronic devices.

Specialized programs are used to create installation USB drives for Windows or Linux. In this article, we will look at some of them. First, let's look at ways to create bootable media for Windows environments without application special utilities.

Users can create bootable flash media for latest versions Windows OS without help special programs. This requires: a flash drive with a capacity of at least 4 GB and an ISO image or disk with the necessary Windows distribution.

The algorithm for creating a bootable flash drive is simple:

    • USB - formatted in FAT32
    • ISO image with the necessary distribution can be unpacked by any archiver;
    • after extraction on the computer, a pack with installation files is obtained;
    • the folder opens - all files contained in it are copied to a formatted USB drive;
    • when copying is completed, the flash drive is ejected.

The bootable flash drive is ready, you can use it on any computer.

Bootable flash drive from command line

Another way to create a bootable flash drive without special utilities involves using command line.

A flash drive formed in this way installs Windows 8 or 10 distributions on a computer, regardless of whether it is equipped with a UEFI interface or not.

The algorithm of actions for the formation of the carrier is as follows:

After the above steps, USB stick should appear in Windows Explorer with a letter assigned to it.

Next, you need to make the media bootable, for which the ISO image with the OS distribution is connected to the system and the command “Y: bootsect /nt60 X:” is entered on the command line (where Y is the name of the ISO image, and X is the name of the media);

Then, on the command line, enter the XCOPY Y:\*.* X:\ /E /F /H command (where Y is the media from where the copy is coming from and the name of the ISO image, and X is the name of the media) which the installation files are copied to the USB drive (command example: XCOPY "Y:\win.iso" X:\ /E /F /H).

it special application, which directly from the Microsoft website downloads the Windows distribution kit (8, 8.1, 10) to the user's computer, after which it forms boot disk for further installation of the OS on the computer.

In the case of Windows 10, the program, at the user's choice, updates the version of the OS installed on him to Windows 10 (Pro, Home).

The algorithm for creating media is as follows:

  1. from the official Microsoft pages a program file is downloaded with a bit depth similar to that installed on the user's computer OS;
  2. the downloaded file is launched;
  3. in the window that opens, select the option: "create installation media";
  4. select: language, OS release; bit depth (x32, x64, "both");
  5. media is selected (capacity - at least 3 GB, and if it is supposed to record both bit depths - at least 6 GB);
  6. in the next window, the selected media is displayed, and the "Next" button is pressed;
  7. after the creation of media is completed, the window " USB device done”, in which the “Finish” button is pressed to exit the program.

Creating bootable USB drives is also required for the Linux software environment, here the various methods, two of which are discussed below.

First of all, the preferred Linux distribution image (Ubuntu, etc.) is selected. Then a USB drive with a capacity of at least 1 GB is connected to the computer.

In the window that opens, the “Disk Image” item is checked, after which the “…” button is pressed and the required image file is selected. After pressing the "OK" button, the recording process starts, after which the program closes. The USB installation disk has been created and is ready to be used for its intended purpose.

The second method is just as simple and involves the use of the XBoot utility.

xboot

xboot free program, designed to create a multi-boot USB drive with several Linux distributions, antiviruses and other utilities.

XBoot requires NET installation Framework 4 or higher.

The media creation algorithm is as follows:

  1. launch xboot;
  2. ISO images of the necessary distributions and utilities are transferred to the main window;
  3. the program extracts information and generates an installation list;
  4. if necessary, the fields "Name", "Category", "Help Text" are edited by the user;
  5. after generating a set of utilities, the “Create USB” button is pressed;
  6. in the window that opens, select the drive and bootloader (it is recommended to use Syslinux), click the "OK" button;
  7. when the process ends, the program closes. It is better to download the utility on the official website.

Consider also some simple, but at the same time effective programs, allowing you to create bootable USB drives.

This is a free portable utility that helps you create an installation Windows package on USB drives. The program is a single zipped file that does not require installation. You can download the utility on the official website.

The compact interface offers two options:

  • drive formatting (FAT32 is not supported in NTFS);
  • selection of the Windows installation package (version 8 is supported).

To create bootable disks, ISO images, local folders, DVD disks are used.

UltraISO

The main function of the utility is to create, edit and convert images. At the same time, it is also able to form bootable USB media, you can download the program. The algorithm for this procedure is simple:

The USB drive is connected to the computer;

    1. UltraISO starts;
    2. in the menu, select the "File" tab, then the "Open" item, and then in the opened window "Open ISO file» the required image is selected;

    1. in the menu, select the "Boot" tab and the item "Burn HD image";

    1. in the disk image recording window: specify the path to the image file, select the drive, select the USB-HDD method, click the "Burn" button.

  1. at the end of the process, the message "Recording completed" appears, after which the program can be closed.

Rufus

Rufus is a free, portable program that creates boot drives for Windows (all latest releases) and Linux.

In addition, the utility allows you to:

  1. work on computers without installed OS
  2. flash BIOS;
  3. make other firmware from under DOS;
  4. run the low-level formatting utility;
  5. check the drive for bad blocks;
  6. format the drive.

The program does not require installation and starts immediately after downloading.

The utility's customizable interface is simple and straightforward, since it is a clone of the disk formatting window in Windows.

When analyzing the issues of creating bootable media, one cannot ignore the creation of so-called multi bootable flash drives.

Multiboot flash drives

A multi-boot USB drive is a universal tool that includes a set of utilities and distributions, with the help of which: OS (Windows, Linux) is installed, system recovery is done, hardware is checked and tested, a breakdown is made hard drive into partitions, a portable OS (LiveCD) is loaded, etc.

There are many options for creating multiboot flash drives, so let's consider two popular methods involving the use of WinSetupFromUSB and Easy2Boot programs.

In addition to the latter, you will need the distributions that are supposed to be used (Windows 8.10, Ubuntu, LiveCD, Acronis Disk Director), and the USB drive itself, which turns into a multiboot one. Its capacity is selected in such a way that the necessary utilities fit. So, let's consider the first option.

AT this option uses WinSetupFromUSB, a free program that creates a multiboot flash drive from installation images Windows 8, Linux and utility discs. With its help, the media is prepared for transformation into a bootable one, formatted in the required form, etc.

The utility does not require installation - the downloaded archive is unpacked and the required version (x32 or x64) is launched.

The algorithm of actions is as follows:

  1. after launch, in the main window, a USB drive is selected to which the recording is made;
  2. the item “AutoFormat it with FBinst” is checked - initiates formatting of the selected drive and transformation into a boot disk. (The mentioned item is checked if the image is written to the media for the first time. If a drive previously created using this utility is used, then when the corresponding images are added to it, formatting is not applied);
  3. the required distribution is marked (or several, if a multiboot flash drive is needed) and the path to it is indicated
  4. after adding distributions, the “Go” button is pressed;
  5. after the process is completed, the "Exit" button is pressed.

Now let's move on to the second option.

This option uses the Easy2Boot utility, designed to create multiboot flash drives. It complements the RMPrepUSB application, which is pre-installed on the computer.

The algorithm of actions is as follows:

  • RMPrepUSB starts;
  • in the window that opens, the position “Do not ask questions” is marked;
  • in the size section, the position is marked - MAX;
  • in the volume label section, the position is set to “any”;
  • in the Boot sector section, the position is marked - Win PE v2;
  • In chapter file system and options are marked positions - FAT32 + Boot as HDD or NTFS + Boot as HDD. FAT32;
  • the position "Copy system files from …” and the path to the archive with Easy2Boot that has not yet been unpacked is indicated;
  • the "Prepare Disk" button is pressed;
  • after waiting, the button "Install Grub4Dos" is pressed;
  • the question that appears is answered - "No";
  • without leaving the program, the contents of the USB drive are opened in Explorer;
  • from the ISO folder, the necessary images are transferred to the appropriate folders;
  • after transferring the images to the disk, the Ctrl + F2 buttons are pressed;
  • when the process is complete, the multiboot USB drive is ready.

Frequently asked Questions

I recorded a Windows distribution kit on a USB flash drive without programs, during the boot process an error occurs "Insert a Windows disk into the device ..."

The error occurs if a non-licensed assembly of the Windows image (pirated) was used, errors occurred during the formatting of the flash drive (at the same time, the explorer did not show error messages), the ISO image was unpacked by the archiver directly to the USB drive:

  • Reformat the USB drive by unchecking "Quick Format";
  • First, unpack the ISO to any folder on the PC, then copy it to the media.

After formatting, the flash drive is no longer detected in Windows Explorer

  • The problem appears when there was a forced interruption of the formatting process.
  • The USB port may be damaged. motherboard(contact is lost from time to time) - rearrange to another port and reformat.

Microsoft has a virtual monopoly among operating system vendors, apart from products Apple, which uses the Mac OS of its own design. However, in search of an alternative, many users have resorted to installing certain versions of Linux, which on this moment also has an excellent graphical shell, functionality. In this case, it is very important to know how to create a bootable flash driveubuntu to install a new OS, because DVD drives are now absent on almost all new laptop models, and users do not always install it on computers anymore.

As a rule, Linux distributions are installed by those who have already used or are currently using an OS from Microsoft. Accordingly, in order to proceed to the installation process, first you need to make an external bootable media using the already pre-installed operating system. As such, there are no standard tools for performing these actions, however, on the Internet you can find many programs that are designed to solve this problem. One of the most popular is UNetbootin. It can be downloaded from the official site. Next, you need to download the image of the OS itself from the developer's home page, choosing the appropriate bit depth. In the vast majority, Linux versions, including Ubuntu, are distributed absolutely free of charge, with exceptions, only those that specialize in solving specific problems can be distinguished. After this application starts, you need to:

Wait for the procedure to end, after which, in case of a successful operation, a window will appear on the screen, in which there will also be a record of what to download from this media it is necessary to make certain BIOS settings in the "Boot" section.

Similar creation of bootable removable media can be done not only with Linux version Ubuntu, but in fact with any other.

Creating a bootable USB flash drive in Linux OS environment

If this version of the OS is already installed on a computer or laptop, such actions can be caused for several reasons:

  • slow Internet connection that does not allow you to update the operating system to initial state(a similar process can be compared with resetting a smartphone to factory settings, but here you need to have a connection to the global network);
  • a decision was made to try other Linux distributions or the same one, but a different version;
  • sometimes, when using several operating systems in parallel, there may be problems with boot sector, which will cause it to fail to run. operating system;
  • required installing ubuntu to another computer or laptop.

A bootable flash drive can also be made using the UNetbootin program already discussed, just downloaded for the corresponding OS, but many users do not like to install additional software so as not to clog the system. Such actions can be performed with built-in tools and in several ways. Let's consider each of them:

  1. Using Startup Disk Creator

The operating system provides a utility that allows you to work with disks. Before you run it, you need to connect the USB flash drive to which the recording will be made, and then:


Upon completion, a message will appear on the screen.

  1. Terminal usage

Initially, Linux did not have any graphical shell and all commands, without exception, were entered using the command line. Therefore, even if it is possible to perform certain actions using the manipulator, advanced users and to this day they enter certain commands using the keyboard. To create a bootable USB flash drive with the appropriate OS version, you must:


Next, the creation process will begin, but there will be virtually no evidence of this, except that it will be impossible to type any text in this terminal window. It all ends when the cursor is displayed here.

Make a bootable Ubuntu flash drive on a Mac platform

Given that this OS was developed similarly to Linux, the graphical shell and functionality are quite similar here, although it can only be fully installed on Apple devices. Let's execute the necessary procedure using the same terminal. For this:


Once the cursor becomes active again, the operation is completed.

If you don't really like typing in certain commands, you can also use UNetbootin here, after installing this application.

Summing up all of the above, we can say that the procedure for creating a bootable Ubuntu USB flash drive is not difficult and even a beginner can handle it.

In contact with

Ubuntu already has an application for creating disk images - Startup Disk Creator, but it can only create bootable USBs with Linux. For create a bootable windows usb drive from linux, there is WinUSB, but it hasn't been updated for a long time, and to be honest, it didn't work for me. This post is quite detailed, and is intended mainly for people who are new to Linux.

Before I continue, I should point out that there are two boot methods in the Windows world:

  • MBR, in which space is reserved at the beginning of the disk, and a special boot file is located;
  • EFI, in which the bootloader executable is stored in a standard location on the FAT32 file system;

If you do not know which one to choose, then the most commonly used option that works without modification Windows files is an msdos partition table with a fat32 file system and a boot flag.

First of all, the USB disk needs to be prepared. In Linux, the most simple and convenient utility for these purposes is gparted.

Install it if not installed:

sudo apt-get install gparted

Training USB disk

Select our USB flash drive, unmount it if it is mounted:

Now you need to recreate the partition table, while choosing the type msdos. Go to the menu Device (Device) and select Create partition table (Create partition table):

After that, select an unallocated area, click right click click on it and select the "New" menu item. In the window that appears, select the NTFS or FAT32 file system. If you have some kind of non-standard assembly in which there can be files larger than 4 gigabytes, then the file system must definitely be NTFS, otherwise, you can select FAT32, and then you can also boot from UEFI. You also need to specify a label for the USB drive. Important: the label should not just be "Windows", but something more unique. If the file system is FAT32, then the label must be in capital letters.

Applying all our changes:

Exit gparted.

Copying Windows Files to a USB Drive

Now you need to mount the image with Windows and copy the data from it to our previously prepared usb disk. In most modern work environments, this can be done from file manager. Right-click on the required image, select Open with and select Disk Image Mounter:

If you do not have such a utility, then you can mount from the command line:

sudo mount -o loop $HOME /Downloads/Windows.iso /mnt/cdrom

Where $HOME/Downloads/Windows.iso must be replaced with the path to the Windows image. The image will be mounted to the /mnt/cdrom directory.

Making a USB drive bootable

If we create an MBR boot disk

To create an MBR boot record we will use grub:

sudo grub-install --target=i386-pc --boot-directory="/media/$user/$drive/boot" /dev/sdX

  • $user - current user name;
  • $drive - image name;
  • /dev/sdX - disk location (in my case /dev/sdb ;

If the image was mounted manually, then /media/$user/$drive/boot must be replaced with /mnt/cdrom/boot .
If there were no errors, then the console should see something like this:

Installing for i386-pc platform. Installation finished. No error reported.

Now on the USB drive in the boot/grub directory, you need to create a grub.cfg file with the following content:

default=1 timeout=15 color_normal=light-cyan/dark-gray menu_color_normal=black/light-cyan menu_color_highlight=white/black menuentry "Start Windows Installation" ( insmod ntfs insmod search_label search --no-floppy --set=root --label $USB_drive_label --hint hd0,msdos1 ntldr /bootmgr ) menuentry "Boot from the first hard drive" ( insmod ntfs insmod chain insmod part_msdos insmod part_gpt set root=(hd1) chainloader +1 boot )

In the listing above, $USB_drive_label needs to be replaced with the label that we assigned to the disk in the first step. In this case WINUSB2503 .

Reboot, boot from the USB drive and select Start Windows Installation.

If we create a UEFI boot disk

With UEFI, everything is somewhat simpler. Please note that this method is only suitable for Windows 7 x64 and above.
After all the files have been copied, you need to go to the efi/boot directory. If it contains bootx64.efi or bootia32.efi files, then everything is in order, you can try to boot from the disk.

If none of the above files is present, then you need to go to the directory where the Windows image is mounted, open the install.wim file with an archiver (7z must be installed). In the archiver, open the path ./1/Windows/Boot/EFI , unzip the bootmgfw.efi file into the efi/boot directory and rename it to bootx64.efi . If these files are not present, then most likely you have a 32-bit Windows image. 32 bit Windows does not support booting from UEFI.

  • Make a bootable Windows USB from Linux - contains some useful information;
  • Grub2/Installing - Ubuntu documentation;
  • Installing GRUB using grub-install - GRUB 2.0 documentation;