Windows 10 is one of the most popular operating systems in the world today. With its many features and capabilities, it is no surprise that so many people choose to use it. If you are looking to install Windows 10, you have a few options. One of the most popular methods is to use a USB flash drive to create a bootable installation drive. Here are three different ways to do it:
Method 1: Using Rufus
If you want to create a bootable USB flash drive using Rufus, follow these steps:
- Download Rufus from the official website and install it on your computer.
- Insert the USB flash drive that you will use to create the bootable installation drive.
- Open Rufus and select your USB flash drive from the list of available drives.
- Under the “Boot selection” section, click the “Select” button and choose the Windows 10 ISO file that you downloaded.
- Under the “Partition scheme” section, select “MBR” if your computer uses BIOS or “GPT” if it uses UEFI.
- Under the “File system” section, select “NTFS” if you want to create a bootable installation drive that supports files larger than 4GB, or select “FAT32” if you want the drive to be compatible with older systems.
- Click the “Start” button to begin the process of creating the bootable installation drive.
- Wait for Rufus to finish creating the bootable installation drive.
Method 2: Using the Windows 10 Media Creation Tool
If you want to use the Windows 10 Media Creation Tool to create a bootable installation drive, follow these steps:
- Download the Windows 10 Media Creation Tool from the official Microsoft website.
- Insert the USB flash drive that you will use to create the bootable installation drive.
- Open the Windows 10 Media Creation Tool and select “Create installation media for another PC”.
- Select the language, edition, and architecture that you want for your Windows 10 installation.
- Select “USB flash drive” as the media type.
- Select the USB flash drive that you inserted earlier.
- Click “Next” to begin the process of creating the bootable installation drive.
- Wait for the Windows 10 Media Creation Tool to finish creating the bootable installation drive.
Method 3: Manually Creating a Bootable USB Flash Drive
If you want to manually create a bootable USB flash drive to install Windows 10, follow these steps:
- Insert the USB flash drive that you will use to create the bootable installation drive.
- Create a new folder on the USB flash drive and name it “Win10”.
- Mount the ISO file of Windows 10 on your computer.
- Copy all the files and folders from the mounted ISO file to the “Win10” folder that you created earlier on the USB flash drive.
- Download and install the Windows Automated Installation Kit (AIK) on your computer.
- Open the Deployment and Imaging Tools Environment command prompt with administrator privileges.
- Type “diskpart” and press Enter.
- Type “list disk” and press Enter.
- Identify the number of the USB flash drive that you inserted, and type “select disk [disk number]” (replace “[disk number]” with the number of the USB flash drive).
- Type “clean” and press Enter.
- Type “create partition primary” and press Enter.
- Type “format fs=ntfs quick” and press Enter.
- Type “active” and press Enter.
- Type “exit” and press Enter.
- Type “xcopy K:\* C:\ /E /F /H” (replace “K” with the drive letter of the mounted Windows 10 ISO file and “C” with the letter of your USB flash drive) and press Enter.
- Wait for all the files to be copied to the USB flash drive.
- Restart your computer and boot from the USB flash drive to begin the Windows 10 installation process.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. Can I install Windows 10 from a USB flash drive on a Mac?
A. Yes, you can use a USB flash drive to install Windows 10 on a Mac. You will need to use software like Boot Camp Assistant to create a bootable installation drive.
Q. Can I install Windows 10 from a USB flash drive if my computer doesn’t have a DVD drive?
A. Yes, you can use a USB flash drive to install Windows 10 on a computer that doesn’t have a DVD drive. This is actually the recommended method for installing Windows 10.
How to Install Windows 10 from USB
Now that you know how to create a bootable installation drive for Windows 10 using a USB flash drive, it’s time to install the operating system. Follow these steps:
- Insert the USB flash drive that contains the bootable installation drive into the computer where you want to install Windows 10.
- Restart your computer and enter the BIOS or UEFI firmware settings to change the boot order.
- Select the USB flash drive as the first boot device and save the changes.
- Restart your computer and boot from the USB flash drive.
- Follow the on-screen instructions to install Windows 10.
- Make sure to activate Windows 10 and install all the necessary drivers and updates.
Conclusion
Installing Windows 10 from a USB flash drive is a convenient and easy way to get the operating system up and running. Whether you choose to use Rufus, the Windows 10 Media Creation Tool, or manually create a bootable USB flash drive, the process is straightforward and can be completed in a short amount of time. Now that you know how to create a bootable installation drive for Windows 10 using a USB flash drive, you can install the operating system on any computer that supports it.
Video Tutorial
For those who prefer video tutorials, here is a helpful guide on how to create a bootable USB flash drive to install Windows 10:
