If you can boot into Windows, you can force your PC to boot off the USB drive on restart. If I take that route, I must then strike the F12 function key to get to an alternate boot menu. On my newer Lenovo PCs, the BIOS tells me that striking the proverbial “any” key will interrupt initial boot-up. Booting Your Windows 10 Install USBĪs a Windows PC is booting, you may be able to interrupt the boot sequence before the Windows loader gets going by striking a function or special key on that machine. Now, you’ve got a brand-new, ready-to-use bootable USB flash drive with Windows 10 21H1 (or whatever version is current as you read this).

The process concludes with a brief cleanup to get rid of temporary files and other detritus. Click “Browse” to locate your Windows ISO file and then click “Next.When the MCT writes the bootable files to the drive, it tells you it’s ready. Run the tool and give it permission to make changes to your PC. Once you’ve got the tool installed, creating your USB installation drive is a pretty straightforward process. The tool works just fine for Windows 7, 8, and even 10. The description on that page, on the actual download page, and on the tool itself talk a lot about Windows 7 and even XP.

With your ISO file saved to your computer, your next step is to download and install the Windows USB/DVD Download Tool. RELATED: How to Create a Windows ISO from a Disc Using ImgBurn Step Two: Create Your Installation USB Drive with the Windows USB/DVD Download Tool Be sure to copy anything you want off of it, because this process will erase it. Once you have both your ISO and flash drive in hand, you’re ready to continue. You’ll also need a minimum of a 4GB flash drive to create your installer.

If you don’t have Windows installation DVD, you can download ISO files for Windows 10, 8, or 7 directly from Microsoft. If you already have an installation DVD, you can use it to create an ISO file using ImgBurn, a handy little free utility that’s been around forever. Step One: Create or Download an ISO for the Windows Installation Mediaīefore you can create your USB installation drive, you’ll need to have your Windows installation media available as an ISO file.

Setup win 10 from usb