Downloading the ISO using How to Create Windows 10 Bootable USB Using Rufus. has streamlined how we download and set up media with Windows 10, which may actually be confusing for some. Since systems today use Unified Extensible Firmware Interface ( UEFI ) instead of BIOS (a replacement to standard BIOS), the Windows USB/DVD Download Tool is becoming redundant. When you try to install Windows 10 using bootable media; you may run into issues where the system will not recognize the new media or will return errors such as Installation failed due to GUID Partition Table. Here are two simple ways to create bootable media on Windows 10. Using Microsoft Media Creation Tool. You can use the Official Microsoft Method to Install Windows, head over to this website (here). Now once you are on that website you can click on the “Download Tool Now” option. You don’t have to worry about the versions here as it will download the Latest Version of Windows for you automatically. Once the download is complete you can go ahead and open the file downloaded. It should take a while to download the latest available Windows version for you then you can safely proceed to Install the Windows without any problem. Just make sure that you have a minimum of 8GB of USB storage to create the media. This method is official and it doesn’t really provide you that much freedom over the Windows you have downloaded whatsoever. However, you can use the method shown below by using Rufus to flash Windows 10 Image File to a Flash Drive then using that to install Windows. Using Rufus to Install Windows. Now with this method, you will have to prepare some things first. As this is a third-party tool it won’t download the ISO file for you. You will have to get it manually by following the steps below. You don’t have to worry about the ISO file as it is going to be 100% official . First of all , head over to this website ( here ). Now once you are on that website you will have to press the following set of keys “CTRL + SHIFT + I”. Once you do that it should open the Inspect Element tool. Now click on the Mobile option to emulate the mobile version of this website and then reload the page. Once the page is reloaded the website should be a Mobile Version. Now simply select Windows 10 and then select your Language then click “Confirm” . It should load the next page for you where it will ask you which architecture of Windows would you like to download. Simply select the suitable one for you and download the ISO. Note: The Links should only be valid for 24 hours , so make sure to download the ISO before it expires. Now you will have to load this ISO file to your Flash Drive . You will need a program called Rufus which is a small utility to create bootable media for MBR and GPT Partitions. You will have to get Rufus from this link (here). How to create your Windows 10 bootable USB drive using Rufus. Are you going to create a Windows 10 bootable USB drive but don’t know how to do it? Don’t worry! With Rufus , you’ll be able to create your Windows 10 bootable USB drive with just several steps! What is Rufus. Rufus is a free and open-source portable utility running on Windows platform. It is a powerful tool that can be used to create bootable USB drives. Despite its small size, it provides you with almost everything you need during the process of creating bootable USB drives. To create your Windows 10 bootable USB drive Using Rufus. Before creating your Windows 10 bootable USB drive, you need to prepare a USB flash drive with more than 8GB storage . To gain a flying speed when you install Windows 10 using the bootable USB drive, It’s recommended that you use a USB 3.0 drive as your bootable USB drive . Step 1: Download the Windows 10 ISO file from the Microsoft official website. 1) Click here to visit the Microsoft official website for downloading Windows 10. 2) Click Download tool now on the web page to download the media creation tool. 3) Double click the downloaded file to open the media creation tool. Click Yes when you’re prompted for permission. 4) Click Accept when you see the window below. 5) Select Create installation media (USB flash drive, DVD, or ISO file) for another PC and click next. 6) Select the language and architecture of your Windows 10 ISO file and click Next . Note: If the installed memory of your PC is less than 4GB, it’s recommended that you select the 32-bit architecture. 7) Select ISO file and click Next . 8) Select the location to save the Windows 10 ISO file. After that, the media creation tool will start to download Windows 10 ISO file . 9) Click Finish to close the media creation tool. Step 2: plug your USB flash drive into the USB port on your computer. Plug your USB flash drive into the USB port on your PC and make sure it can be detected and recognized. If you’re using a USB 3.0 flash drive, please plug it into the USB 3.0 port on your PC to optimize its performance. [caption align="alignnone" width="439"] the USB 2.0 port (left) and the USB 3.0 port (right)[/caption] Step 3: Start creating your Windows 10 bootable USB drive using Rufus. 1) Click here to download Rufus. 2) Double click the downloaded file to run Rufus. 3) Select the USB drive you prepare for creating Windows 10 bootable USB drive. 4) Click select to navigate to the location of your official Windows 10 ISO file you downloaded. 5) For Image option , select Standard Windows installation . 6) For Partition scheme , select MBR if you’re using a computer with traditional BIOS( old machine ). If your PC is new machine that supports the UEFI boot mode, select GPT . If you have no idea: If the PC has no : you need to access your computer’s BIOS to check whether your PC supports the UEFI Boot mode or not. Here is how to do it: i. Start your PC and press a certain key at the same time to access your PC’s BIOS. Usually, the key to press are likely to be: F1 , F2 , F3 , Esc , or Delete . If you are not sure, consult the manufacturer of your computer for the answer. ii. navigate to the Startup or Boot tab (the name of that tab varys on different computers) to see whether your PC supports the UEFI boot mode or not. 7) For Target system, select UEFI if the partition scheme you selected is GPT ; select BIOS if the partition scheme is MBR . 8) For other options like and Cluster size , select the default . 9) Click START to create your Windows 10 bootable USB drive. When the process is completed, to check whether your bootable USB drive works or not, you can follow the steps below: 1) Plug your Windows 10 bootable USB drive into your PC. 2) Restart your PC and reboot it from your bootable USB drive. Please don’t hesitate to comment below if you have any questions. You may also like… By Justin Zeng. Justin is a technical writer. As a Microsoft 365 Certified: Modern Desktop Administrator Associate, he loves exploring new technologies and writing technical how-to tips to help fix their computer / phone issues. When he's not writing, there's a 99 percent chance he's reading, playing video games or listening to music. How to Use Rufus. wikiHow is a “wiki,” similar to Wikipedia, which means that many of our articles are co-written by multiple authors. To create this article, volunteer authors worked to edit and improve it over time. This article has been viewed 130,144 times. Rufus is a program that allows you to create a bootable USB drive from an .iso file, which is helpful when you want to install programs and operating systems on Windows-based computers that lack an optical disc drive. To use Rufus, you must: : Install Windows 10 on USB Drive with Rufus. Yes, if you are a macOS or Linux user and don’t want to install Windows 10 on your main PC then it is possible to enjoy it directly from a USD hard disk or the flash drive. Although we can create virtual machines, due to limited resource laptops or PC, it could not give the best performance at all. In that situation, using Windows To Go, is really a good idea. With the help of this Windows feature, we can easily carry it on a USB storage device without worrying or filling up the limited storage space of your computer’s internal storage space. Windows To Go supported operating systems: /8.1/10 Enterprise Edition Windows 10 Education Edition Windows 10 Professional Edition. Note : Feature that allows creating Windows To Go, without using any third-party tool is not available anymore in Windows 10 2004 or later versions. The main reason for removing this inbuilt feature, that lets users set up Windows To Go Pen Drives is that it can’t support updates, thus after sometimes our portable Windows 10 installation could become vulnerable. However, you can still use third-party software such as Rufus to create WTG USB drives. Let’s see how to install Windows 10 or 8 on USB Flash Drive for portable use. Things you need to perform the following steps. 32 GB or above USB. You can also use an external USB HDD as well. Rufus software Supported Windows operating system ISO image. Step 1: Download the Windows 10 preview ISO to experience this, if you don’t have a compatible bootable image. Here is the link for that. Remember, to download the ISO you should have a , if you don’t have then simply register one, it is free. Step 2: To create Windows To Go USB drive get the executable file of Rufus from Rufus.ie. This is a free tool that we can use to create a Linux bootable USB drive as well. Step 3: Plug-in the USB Flash Drive or Hard Disk to system and run the Rufus software. Step 4: Under Device , click on the Drop-Down box and select the connected USB drive that you want to use for Windows To Go. Step 5: Next is Boot Select, click on the “ SELECT ” button and choose the Windows 8 or 10 ISO image you have. Step 6: In the “ Image Option ” drop-down instead of Standard Installation select the “ Windows To Go “. Step 7: For Partition Scheme, select MBR , this supports both BIOS or UEFI . Step 8: If you want, you can change the name of the Volume as per your choice. Step 9: Finally click on the “ Start ” button to initiate the process of creating a Windows To USB. Step 10: The software will push a message that all data resides on the USB drive will destroy. Just hit the OK button to accept it. Wait for a few minutes. Create Windows To Go USB Drive with Rufus. Step 11: Once the Windows 10 installation on a USB drive is completed, you will have two partitions on your Drive, one is for the system that holds the boot information, and the second one Windows core and other files such as Program Files and more… WIndows TO Go USB partitions. Step 12: Now, boot your system and from the boot menu which generally appears via F9, F7, F8, F12, Esc, or Del key, however, it solely depends on the manufacturer of your motherboard BIOS. Moreover, when we boot our system, it shows the “key” for the very short time that we can use to get the BIOS menu. So, when you have that, set it to boot from Windows To Go USB drive. Note : You just have created a Media that uses the UEFI: Bootloader. Please remember that. to boot this media, You must disable secure boot, in case it is active. Step 13: Now you will have your portable Windows 10 OS that has been installed on a USB drive. Also, keep one thing in mind if you are using a USB drive then don’t install too many software because that ultimately going to consume your Pen drive or external Hard disk you have used to set it up. Instead choose any other internal drive for installing tools, games, or software. In this way, the portable Flash drive will have free space for OS operations. Using Rufus to create installation USB. I've been having ridiculous amounts of trouble getting the Media Install tool (whatever its called) from Microsoft to create an USB Installer for windows - I'm done with it, don't want to use it. I've heard there's a program called Rufus, from here: https://rufus.ie . Is this a safe application to use? Subscribe Subscribe to RSS feed. Report abuse. Replies (4) Hi Lahon. I'm Greg, an installation specialist and 9 year Windows MVP here to help you. You just have to make sure to choose UEFI vs. Legacy since it is separate in Rufus and doesn't create an installer for either/or. BTW sometimes using MCT on another PC works better. I hope this helps. Feel free to ask back any questions and keep me posted. If you'll wait to rate whether my post helped you, I will keep working with you until it's resolved. Standard Disclaimer: There are links to non-Microsoft websites. The pages appear to be providing accurate, safe information. Watch out for ads on the sites that may advertise products frequently classified as a PUP (Potentially Unwanted Products). Thoroughly research any product advertised on the sites before you decide to download and install it. Windows MVP 2010-20. Millions helped via my tutorials and personally in forums for 12 years. Now an Independent Advisor.