Installation and Upgrade Create Windows 11 Bootable USB Installation Media


  • Staff
Win11USB Banner.png

This tutorial will show you how to create a bootable USB flash drive used to install Windows 11 with UEFI support.

You can use a Windows 11 installation USB flash drive to clean install, upgrade, reset, or repair Windows 11.

The installation USB can also be used as a recovery drive to boot to WinRE (aka: advanced startup).


You must be signed in as an administrator to create a bootable Windows 11 installation USB.

The USB flash drive needs to be at least 8 GB or larger in size.



Contents

  • Option One: Create Windows 11 Bootable USB Installation Media with Media Creation Tool
  • Option Two: Create Windows 11 Bootable USB Installation Media with Rufus
  • Option Three: Create Windows 11 Bootable USB Installation Media in Command Prompt





OPTION ONE

Create Windows 11 Bootable USB Installation Media with Media Creation Tool


This will be for a Windows 11 Version 23H2 build 22631.2861 USB.


1 Click/tap on the Download button below, and click/tap on the Download Now button at Microsoft's site below Create Windows 11 Installation Media. (see screenshot below)


Windows_11_MCT-1.png

2 Save the MediaCreationTool_Win11_23H2.exe file to your desktop, and run it.

Windows_11_MCT-2.png

3 If prompted by UAC, click/tap on Yes.

4 Click/tap on Accept for the license terms. (see screenshot below)

Windows_11_MCT-3.png

5 Uncheck the Use the recommended options for this PC box. (see screenshot below)

Leaving the Use the recommended options for this PC box checked will have the Media Creation Tool download an ISO that's the same language, edition, and architecture as the current PC.


Windows_11_MCT-4.png

6 Select (dot) USB flash drive, and click/tap on Next. (see screenshot below)

Windows_11_MCT-5.png

7 Connect your USB flash drive, click/tap on the Refresh drive list link, select the USB flash drive, and click/tap on Next. (see screenshot below)

Windows_11_MCT-6.png

8 It will now start Downloading Windows 11 and Creating Windows 11 media. (see screenshot below)

Windows_11_MCT-7.png

9 Click/tap on Finish when the USB flash drive is ready. (see screenshot below)

Windows_11_MCT-8.png





OPTION TWO

Create Windows 11 Bootable USB Installation Media with Rufus


1 If you have not already, you will need to download a Windows 11 ISO file.

2 Download the latest version of Rufus, and save its .exe file to your desktop.


This is a standalone exe file that doesn't install anything to your PC. For Rufus FAQs, see: rufus FAQ on GitHub


3 Connect the 8 GB or larger USB flash drive.

This USB flash drive will be formatted and lose all data on it.


4 Run the Rufus .exe file, and click/tap on Yes if prompted by UAC.

5 Change the following settings in Rufus, and click/tap on Start when finished. (see screenshot below)
  • Under Device, select the USB flash drive you want to format and use.
  • Under Boot selection, click/tap on the SELECT button, and navigate to and select the Windows 11 ISO file.
  • Under Image option (if available), select Standard Windows installation.
  • Under Partition scheme, select GPT.
  • Under Target system, select UEFI (non CSM).
  • Under Volume label, you can enter any name you like for the USB flash drive, or leave the default name.
  • Under File system, select NTFS.
  • Under Cluster size, select the (Default) (ex: 4096 bytes) it has listed.
Rufus-1.png

6 Check or uncheck the "Customize Windows installation" options you want, and click/tap on OK. (see screenshot below)
  • Remove Requirement for 4GB+ RAM, Secure Boot and TPM 2.0 – Check this option if you want to install Windows 11 on a computer with unsupported hardware.
  • Remove requirement for an online Microsoft account - Check this option to skip the Microsoft Account requirement. Windows 11 will not ask you to sign in with a Microsoft Account during the initial setup.
  • Disable data collection (Skip privacy questions) – Windows 11 will not ask you to send diagnostic data, enable location, advertisement ID, and other things some users consider privacy-invading.
  • Set a local account using the same name as this user's – Rufus will copy the current local account to the new installation.
  • Set regional options using the same values as this user's – Rufus will copy the current regional settings to the new installation.
Rufus1b.png

7 Click/tap on OK to confirm. (see screenshot below)

Rufus-2.png

8 Rufus will now start creating the bootable USB flash drive. (see screenshot below)

Rufus-3.png

9 When finished, click/tap on Close to close Rufus. (see screenshot below)

Rufus-5.png





OPTION THREE

Create Windows 11 Bootable USB Installation Media in Command Prompt


This option will use the dual FAT32 and NTFS partitions on the USB since the install.wim file for Windows 11 is usually over 4GB in size that prevents using only the FAT32 file system.



1 If you have not already, you will need to download a Windows 11 ISO file.

2 Connect the 8 GB or larger USB flash drive.

This USB flash drive will be formatted and lose all data on it.


3 Open an elevated Windows Terminal, and select Windows PowerShell or Command Prompt.

4 Type diskpart into the elevated terminal, and press Enter. (see screenshot below step 18)

5 Type list disk into the elevated terminal, press Enter, and make note of the Disk # (ex: 3) for the USB flash drive from step 2.

6 Type select disk # into the elevated terminal, and press Enter.

Substitute # in the command above with the actual Disk # (ex: 3) from step 5) above for the USB flash drive.

For example: select disk 3


7 Type clean into the elevated terminal, and press Enter.

8 Type convert mbr into the elevated terminal, and press Enter.

9 Type create partition primary size=1024 into the elevated terminal, and press Enter.

10 Type create partition primary into the elevated terminal, and press Enter.

11 Type select partition 1 into the elevated terminal, and press Enter.

12 Type format fs=fat32 quick into the elevated terminal, and press Enter.

13 Type assign letter=X into the elevated terminal, and press Enter.

14 Type active into the elevated terminal and press Enter.

15 Type select partition 2 into the elevated terminal, and press Enter.

16 Type format fs=ntfs quick into the elevated terminal, and press Enter.

17 Type assign letter=Y into the elevated terminal, and press Enter.

18 You can now close the elevated Windows terminal.

diskpart.png

19 Open File Explorer (Win+E) to This PC. You will see the USB has two partitions. Partition "X" with FAT32 file system, and partition "Y" with NTFS file system. (see screenshot below)

File_Explorer_USB.png

20 Mount the ISO file from step 1.

21 Perform the following steps to copy the mounted ISO contents to the USB X: (FAT32) partition:
  1. Click/tap on the mounted ISO in the navigation pane of File Explorer to open it.
  2. Select everything except the sources folder in the mounted ISO.
  3. Right click or press and hold on the selected files.
  4. Click/tap on Show more options (Shift+F10).
Copy-1.png

22 Click/tap on Send to, and click/tap on the USB Drive (X: ). (see screenshot below)

Copy-2.png

23 Perform the following steps to copy the "sources" folder from the mounted ISO to the USB Y: (NTFS) partition:
  1. Click/tap on the mounted ISO in the navigation pane of File Explorer to open it.
  2. Select only the sources folder in the mounted ISO.
  3. Right click or press and hold on the selected sources folder.
  4. Click/tap on Show more options (Shift+F10).
Copy-3.png

24 Click/tap on Send to, and click/tap on the USB Drive (Y: ). (see screenshot below)

It may take a while to finish copying the sources folder to the USB Y: (NTFS) partition.


Copy-4.png

25 Open the USB X: (FAT32) partition, and create a new folder (Ctrl+Shift+N) named sources. (see screenshots below)

sources-1.png
sources-2.png

26 Open the Y:\sources folder from the USB Y: (NTFS) partition, and Cut (Win+X) the boot.wim file. (see screenshots below)

move_boot.wim-1.png
move_boot.wim-2.png

27 Paste (Ctrl+V) the boot.wim file from the USB Y: (NTFS) partition in step 24 into the new sources folder in the USB X: (FAT32) partition from step 23. (see screenshot below)

move_boot.wim-3.png

28 The Windows 11 bootable USB installation media is now ready.

29 You can unmount the ISO file.

30 You can now close all File Explorer windows.


That's it,
Shawn Brink


 

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Last edited:
A lot of pcs will not boot from an exFAT usb drive. I have just tested on both laptops and they will boot if fat32 not exFat.

This gives rise to the perennial issue of install.wim being greater than 4GB.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Pro + others in VHDs
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    ASUS Vivobook 14
    CPU
    I7
    Motherboard
    Yep, Laptop has one.
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Integrated Intel Iris XE
    Sound Card
    Realtek built in
    Monitor(s) Displays
    N/A
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    1 TB Optane NVME SSD, 1 TB NVME SSD
    PSU
    Yep, got one
    Case
    Yep, got one
    Cooling
    Stella Artois
    Keyboard
    Built in
    Mouse
    Bluetooth , wired
    Internet Speed
    72 Mb/s :-(
    Browser
    Edge mostly
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    TPM 2.0
A lot of pcs will not boot from an exFAT usb drive. I have just tested on both laptops and they will boot if fat32 not exFat.

This gives rise to the perennial issue of install.wim being greater than 4GB.

Are you able to boot from the USB using option 1 below?

 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self build
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING (11GB GDDR5X)
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G75 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3 wall mounted
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gbps Download and 35 Mbps Upload
    Browser
    Google Chrome
    Antivirus
    Microsoft Defender and Malwarebytes Premium
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Spectre x360 2in1 14-eu0098nr (2024)
    CPU
    Intel Core Ultra 7 155H 4.8 GHz
    Memory
    16 GB LPDDR5x-7467 MHz
    Graphics card(s)
    Integrated Intel Arc
    Sound Card
    Poly Studio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    14" 2.8K OLED multitouch
    Screen Resolution
    2880 x 1800
    Hard Drives
    2 TB PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD
    Internet Speed
    Intel Wi-Fi 7 BE200 (2x2) and Bluetooth 5.4
    Browser
    Chrome and Edge
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender and Malwarebytes Premium
A lot of pcs will not boot from an exFAT usb drive. I have just tested on both laptops and they will boot if fat32 not exFat.

This gives rise to the perennial issue of install.wim being greater than 4GB.
This particular perennial issue was solved some time ago. Create 2 partitions, one small FAT32 and one big NTFS, mount the ISO, copy all the files and folders in the ISO to the FAT32, *except* for the "sources" folder. Create manually a "sources" folder in the FAT32 partition, copy to it the boot.wim file from the sources folder in the ISO. Finally, copy all the contents of the ISO to the NTFS partition. That´s all.

The Rufus method doesn´t work with Secure Boot enabled.

And about the Option 2 above, it´s again the over-complicated procedure which is not needed. Little progress here.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10
In the 'download a Windows 11 ISO file' tutorial linked to in Step 1, at Step 6 you will see 'Create an ISO with install.esd instead of install.wim' in the conversion options. Tick this box and you'll get an ISO with an install.esd that's smaller than the Fat32 4GB maximum file size, thus removing the need to take special steps to accommodate a 'too large' install.wim.

1627429835926.png


In fact, you can reduce the size even further by selecting only the edition(s) that you really need at the previous step. An ISO with only two editions, Pro and Home, and an install.esd can be small enough to fit on a 4GB Fat32 USB.

1627430374240.png
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Home
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Aspire 3 A315-23
    CPU
    AMD Athlon Silver 3050U
    Memory
    8GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Radeon Graphics
    Monitor(s) Displays
    laptop screen
    Screen Resolution
    1366x768 native resolution, up to 2560x1440 with Radeon Virtual Super Resolution
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung EVO 870 SSD
    Internet Speed
    50 Mbps
    Browser
    Edge, Firefox
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    fully 'Windows 11 ready' laptop. Windows 10 C: partition migrated from my old unsupported 'main machine' then upgraded to 11. A test migration ran Insider builds for 2 months. When 11 was released on 5th October it was re-imaged back to 10 and was offered the upgrade in Windows Update on 20th October. Windows Update offered the 22H2 Feature Update on 20th September 2022. It got the 23H2 Feature Update on 4th November 2023 through Windows Update.

    My SYSTEM THREE is a Dell Latitude 5410, i7-10610U, 32GB RAM, 512GB ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro (and all my Hyper-V VMs).

    My SYSTEM FOUR is a 2-in-1 convertible Lenovo Yoga 11e 20DA, Celeron N2930, 4GB RAM, 256GB ssd. Unsupported device: currently running Win10 Pro, plus Win11 Pro RTM and Insider Beta as native boot vhdx.

    My SYSTEM FIVE is a Dell Latitude 3190 2-in-1, Pentium Silver N5030, 4GB RAM, 512GB NVMe ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro, plus the Insider Beta, Dev, and Canary builds as a native boot .vhdx.
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Lattitude E4310
    CPU
    Intel® Core™ i5-520M
    Motherboard
    0T6M8G
    Memory
    8GB
    Graphics card(s)
    (integrated graphics) Intel HD Graphics
    Screen Resolution
    1366x768
    Hard Drives
    500GB Crucial MX500 SSD
    Browser
    Firefox, Edge
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    unsupported machine: Legacy bios, MBR, TPM 1.2, upgraded from W10 to W11 using W10/W11 hybrid install media workaround. In-place upgrade to 22H2 using ISO and a workaround. Feature Update to 23H2 by manually installing the Enablement Package.

    My SYSTEM THREE is a Dell Latitude 5410, i7-10610U, 32GB RAM, 512GB ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro (and all my Hyper-V VMs).

    My SYSTEM FOUR is a 2-in-1 convertible Lenovo Yoga 11e 20DA, Celeron N2930, 4GB RAM, 256GB ssd. Unsupported device: currently running Win10 Pro, plus Win11 Pro RTM and Insider Beta as native boot vhdx.

    My SYSTEM FIVE is a Dell Latitude 3190 2-in-1, Pentium Silver N5030, 4GB RAM, 512GB NVMe ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro, plus the Insider Beta, Dev, and Canary builds as a native boot .vhdx.
Yes, I made an AIO with every edition using ESD for each version we've been given. install.esd has always been < 4 GB thus far.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 23H2 Current build
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HomeBrew
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 9 3950X
    Motherboard
    MSI MEG X570 GODLIKE
    Memory
    4 * 32 GB - Corsair Vengeance 3600 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti XC3 ULTRA GAMING (12G-P5-3955-KR)
    Sound Card
    Realtek® ALC1220 Codec
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2x Eve Spectrum ES07D03 4K Gaming Monitor (Matte) | Eve Spectrum ES07DC9 4K Gaming Monitor (Glossy)
    Screen Resolution
    3x 3840 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    3x Samsung 980 Pro NVMe PCIe 4 M.2 2 TB SSD (MZ-V8P2T0B/AM) } 3x Sabrent Rocket NVMe 4.0 1 TB SSD (USB)
    PSU
    PC Power & Cooling’s Silencer Series 1050 Watt, 80 Plus Platinum
    Case
    Fractal Design Define 7 XL Dark ATX Full Tower Case
    Cooling
    NZXT KRAKEN Z73 73.11 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler (3x 120 mm push top) + Air 3x 140mm case fans (pull front) + 1x 120 mm (push back) and 1 x 120 mm (pull bottom)
    Keyboard
    SteelSeries Apex Pro Wired Gaming Keyboard
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3S | MX Master 3 for Business
    Internet Speed
    AT&T LightSpeed Gigabit Duplex Ftth
    Browser
    Nightly (default) + Firefox (stable), Chrome, Edge
    Antivirus
    Defender + MB 5 Beta
  • Operating System
    ChromeOS Flex Dev Channel (current)
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Latitude E5470
    CPU
    Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-6300U CPU @ 2.40GHz, 2501 Mhz, 2 Core(s), 4 Logical Processor(s)
    Motherboard
    Dell
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel(R) HD Graphics 520
    Sound Card
    Intel(R) HD Graphics 520 + RealTek Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell laptop display 15"
    Screen Resolution
    1920 * 1080
    Hard Drives
    Toshiba 128GB M.2 22300 drive
    INTEL Cherryville 520 Series SSDSC2CW180A 180 GB SATA III SSD
    PSU
    Dell
    Case
    Dell
    Cooling
    Dell
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3S (shared w. Sys 1) | Dell TouchPad
    Keyboard
    Dell
    Internet Speed
    AT&T LightSpeed Gigabit Duplex Ftth
PowerShell - Create a USB Drive for Windows Installation


Change

Get-Disk | Where BusType -eq "USB"

to

Get-Disk | Where BusType -eq "USB" | Format-Table -AutoSize FriendlyName,Number,Size,PartitionStyle

P.S.
Windows11_InsiderPreview_Client_x64_en-us_22000.iso
install.wim over 4 GB.

$WIM = ($ISODriveLetter +":\sources\install.wim")

if ((Get-Item "$WIM").length -gt 4gb) {
Copy-Item -Path ($ISODriveLetter +":\*") -Destination ($Volume.DriveLetter + ":\") -Recurse -Exclude install.wim
Copy-Item -Path $WIM -Destination "$env:TEMP\install.wim"
Set-ItemProperty -Path "$env:TEMP\install.wim" -Name IsReadOnly -Value $false | Out-Null
Split-WindowsImage -FileSize 1000 -ImagePath "$env:TEMP\install.wim" -SplitImagePath "$env:TEMP\install.swm" | Out-Null
Copy-Item -Path ("$env:TEMP\*.swm") -Destination ($Volume.DriveLetter + ":\sources\")

}
else {
# Copy Files to USB
Copy-Item -Path ($ISODriveLetter +":\*") -Destination ($Volume.DriveLetter + ":\") -Recurse
}
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Microsoft Windows 11 Home
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    MSI MS-7D98
    CPU
    Intel Core i5-13490F
    Motherboard
    MSI B760 GAMING PLUS WIFI
    Memory
    2 x 16 Patriot Memory (PDP Systems) PSD516G560081
    Graphics Card(s)
    GIGABYTE GeForce RTX 4070 WINDFORCE OC 12G (GV-N4070WF3OC-12GD)
    Sound Card
    Bluetooth Аудио
    Monitor(s) Displays
    INNOCN 15K1F
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    WD_BLACK SN770 250GB
    KINGSTON SNV2S1000G (ELFK0S.6)
    PSU
    Thermaltake Toughpower GF3 1000W
    Case
    CG560 - DeepCool
    Cooling
    ID-COOLING SE-224-XTS / 2 x 140Mm Fan - rear and top; 3 x 120Mm - front
    Keyboard
    Corsair K70 RGB TKL
    Mouse
    Corsair KATAR PRO XT
    Internet Speed
    100 Mbps
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    Microsoft Defender Antivirus
    Other Info
    https://www.userbenchmark.com/UserRun/66553205
This particular perennial issue was solved some time ago. Create 2 partitions, one small FAT32 and one big NTFS, mount the ISO, copy all the files and folders in the ISO to the FAT32, *except* for the "sources" folder. Create manually a "sources" folder in the FAT32 partition, copy to it the boot.wim file from the sources folder in the ISO. Finally, copy all the contents of the ISO to the NTFS partition. That´s all.

The Rufus method doesn´t work with Secure Boot enabled.

And about the Option 2 above, it´s again the over-complicated procedure which is not needed. Little progress here.
I know - I wrote the tutorial in tenforums with a diskpart script to do the job LOL.

I never use rufus. The diskpart method is just as quick and works without changing secure boot.

I never bother convertin .wim to .esd as that takes far longer than running the script in my tutorial.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Pro + others in VHDs
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    ASUS Vivobook 14
    CPU
    I7
    Motherboard
    Yep, Laptop has one.
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Integrated Intel Iris XE
    Sound Card
    Realtek built in
    Monitor(s) Displays
    N/A
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    1 TB Optane NVME SSD, 1 TB NVME SSD
    PSU
    Yep, got one
    Case
    Yep, got one
    Cooling
    Stella Artois
    Keyboard
    Built in
    Mouse
    Bluetooth , wired
    Internet Speed
    72 Mb/s :-(
    Browser
    Edge mostly
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    TPM 2.0
Are you able to boot from the USB using option 1 below?

Nope - if exFAT no, but using Fat32 yes. My bios does not see usb (with windows installer on it) if exFat formatted, but does if fat32 formatted.

Tested my method in Win 10 tutorial and it works fine.

Code:
echo on
REM =========================================================================================
REM ======BIG WARNING - FIRST TWO PARAMETERS MUST BE CONFIGURED CORRECTLY ===================
REM =========================================================================================

REM SET DRIVE NUMBER OF MOUNTED USB DRIVE - WARNING THIS MUST BE CORRECT.
REM IT IS USUALLY LAST ONE IN DRIVE NUMBER LIST
REM VERY BIG WARNING - IF  YOU CHOOSE WRONG DRIVE YOU WILL WIPE IT!!!
REM SET TO 99 INITIALLY TO PREVENT RISK OF ACCIDENTAL DELETION
set USBDRIVE=99

REM  SET DRIVE LETTER OF MOUNTED DRIVE - IF DRIVE LETTER IS WRONG, BATCH WILL NOT WORK.
set ISODRIVE=I

REM =========================================================================================
REM ================== ALL OTHER PARAMETERS CAN NOMRALLY BE LEFT ALONE ======================
REM ============== ONLY CHANGE DRIVE LETTERS IF NEEDED E.G. USED ELSEWHERE ==================
REM =========================================================================================

REM SET DRIVE OF TEMPORARY FILES
set USBTDRV=C


REM SET DRIVE LETTER OF FAT32 PARTITION
set FAT32=Q

REM SET DRIVE LETTER OF EXFAT PARTITION
set EXFAT=R

REM CREATE WORKING DIRECTORY
%USBTDRV%:
cd\
rd usbcreate /s /q
md usbcreate
pause

REM LIST DISKS AND CHECK USB DRIVE NUMBER IS SET
echo LIST DISK > %USBTDRV%:\usbcreate\listdisk.txt
CLS
diskpart /s %USBTDRV%:\usbcreate\listdisk.txt
IF %USBDRIVE%==99 goto :NOTSET
pause
GOTO :CONT1
:NOTSET
echo off
echo.
echo XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
echo X                                                            X
echo X YOU HAVE NOT SET DRIVE NUMBER OF USB DRIVE                 X
echo X IT IS USUALLY LAST ONE IN THE ABOVE LIST BUT CAN DIFFER    X
echo X                                                            X
echo X MAKE SURE USB DRIVE IS PLUGGED IN                          X
echo X                                                            X
echo X WARNING - MAKE SURE DRIVE NUMBER IS RIGHT                  X
echo X OR ELSE YOU COULD WIPE WRONG DRIVE                         X
echo X                                                            X
echo X I ACCEPT NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY MISTAKES                X
echo X YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!!!!                                  X
echo X                                                            X
echo XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
PAUSE
GOTO :ENDPROG
:CONT1

REM CREATE EI.CFG
echo [CHANNEL] > %USBTDRV%:\usbcreate\ei.cfg
echo Retail >> %USBTDRV%:\usbcreate\ei.cfg

REM FORMAT USB DRIVE
echo select disk %USBDRIVE% > %USBTDRV%:\usbcreate\formatdisk.txt
echo clean >> %USBTDRV%:\usbcreate\formatdisk.txt
echo convert mbr >> %USBTDRV%:\usbcreate\formatdisk.txt
echo create partition primary size=2000 >> %USBTDRV%:\usbcreate\formatdisk.txt
echo create partition primary >> %USBTDRV%:\usbcreate\formatdisk.txt
echo select partition 1 >> %USBTDRV%:\usbcreate\formatdisk.txt
echo format fs=fat32 quick >> %USBTDRV%:\usbcreate\formatdisk.txt
echo assign letter=Q >> %USBTDRV%:\usbcreate\formatdisk.txt
echo active >> %USBTDRV%:\usbcreate\formatdisk.txt
echo select partition 2 >> %USBTDRV%:\usbcreate\formatdisk.txt
echo format fs=exFat quick >> %USBTDRV%:\usbcreate\formatdisk.txt
echo assign letter=R >> %USBTDRV%:\usbcreate\formatdisk.txt
echo exit >> %USBTDRV%:\usbcreate\formatdisk.txt
diskpart /s %USBTDRV%:\usbcreate\formatdisk.txt
pause
REM CREATE DRIVE
cd \usbcreate
md baseiso
xcopy %ISODRIVE%:\*.* %USBTDRV%:\usbcreate\baseiso\ /s /y

REM COPY ALL FILES TO EXFAT FOLDER
label %EXFAT%:USB-EXFAT
%USBTDRV%:
cd \usbcreate\baseiso
xcopy *.* %EXFAT%:\ /s /y
xcopy %USBTDRV%:\usbcreate\ei.cfg %EXFAT%:\sources /s /y

REM COPY ALL FILES EXCEPT THOSE IN SOURCES FOLDER (DELETE FROM BASEISO)
label %FAT32%:USB-FAT32
del %USBTDRV%:\usbcreate\baseiso\sources\*.* /q
cd %USBTDRV%:\usbcreate\baseiso
rd sources /s /q

%USBTDRV%:
cd \usbcreate\baseiso
xcopy *.* %FAT32%:\ /s /y
cd %FAT32%:\
md sources
xcopy %EXFAT%:\sources\boot.wim %FAT32%:\sources\boot.* /s /y

REM DELETE WORKING DIRECTORY
%USBTDRV%:
cd\
rd usbcreate /s /q
:ENDPROG

pause
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Pro + others in VHDs
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    ASUS Vivobook 14
    CPU
    I7
    Motherboard
    Yep, Laptop has one.
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Integrated Intel Iris XE
    Sound Card
    Realtek built in
    Monitor(s) Displays
    N/A
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    1 TB Optane NVME SSD, 1 TB NVME SSD
    PSU
    Yep, got one
    Case
    Yep, got one
    Cooling
    Stella Artois
    Keyboard
    Built in
    Mouse
    Bluetooth , wired
    Internet Speed
    72 Mb/s :-(
    Browser
    Edge mostly
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    TPM 2.0
I had the same problem on my old rig, BIOS only, trying to boot WIn10. It's why I went to making ESD in the first place. I had a couple of not so happy campers in terms of HP branded USB devices that were formatted using exFAT, but which crapped out when I tried making them FAT32.

Then I found out that bootable NTFS USB devices worked perfectly fine, though, so I reverted to using WIM based ISOs. Then I found Rufus and stopped worrying about it.

When I built the new rig, it has the power to make the ESD files at a pretty decent speed, so I'm back to ESD based ISOs again.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 23H2 Current build
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HomeBrew
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 9 3950X
    Motherboard
    MSI MEG X570 GODLIKE
    Memory
    4 * 32 GB - Corsair Vengeance 3600 MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti XC3 ULTRA GAMING (12G-P5-3955-KR)
    Sound Card
    Realtek® ALC1220 Codec
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2x Eve Spectrum ES07D03 4K Gaming Monitor (Matte) | Eve Spectrum ES07DC9 4K Gaming Monitor (Glossy)
    Screen Resolution
    3x 3840 x 2160
    Hard Drives
    3x Samsung 980 Pro NVMe PCIe 4 M.2 2 TB SSD (MZ-V8P2T0B/AM) } 3x Sabrent Rocket NVMe 4.0 1 TB SSD (USB)
    PSU
    PC Power & Cooling’s Silencer Series 1050 Watt, 80 Plus Platinum
    Case
    Fractal Design Define 7 XL Dark ATX Full Tower Case
    Cooling
    NZXT KRAKEN Z73 73.11 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler (3x 120 mm push top) + Air 3x 140mm case fans (pull front) + 1x 120 mm (push back) and 1 x 120 mm (pull bottom)
    Keyboard
    SteelSeries Apex Pro Wired Gaming Keyboard
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3S | MX Master 3 for Business
    Internet Speed
    AT&T LightSpeed Gigabit Duplex Ftth
    Browser
    Nightly (default) + Firefox (stable), Chrome, Edge
    Antivirus
    Defender + MB 5 Beta
  • Operating System
    ChromeOS Flex Dev Channel (current)
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Latitude E5470
    CPU
    Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-6300U CPU @ 2.40GHz, 2501 Mhz, 2 Core(s), 4 Logical Processor(s)
    Motherboard
    Dell
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel(R) HD Graphics 520
    Sound Card
    Intel(R) HD Graphics 520 + RealTek Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell laptop display 15"
    Screen Resolution
    1920 * 1080
    Hard Drives
    Toshiba 128GB M.2 22300 drive
    INTEL Cherryville 520 Series SSDSC2CW180A 180 GB SATA III SSD
    PSU
    Dell
    Case
    Dell
    Cooling
    Dell
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3S (shared w. Sys 1) | Dell TouchPad
    Keyboard
    Dell
    Internet Speed
    AT&T LightSpeed Gigabit Duplex Ftth
I had the same problem on my old rig, BIOS only, trying to boot WIn10. It's why I went to making ESD in the first place. I had a couple of not so happy campers in terms of HP branded USB devices that were formatted using exFAT, but which crapped out when I tried making them FAT32.

Then I found out that bootable NTFS USB devices worked perfectly fine, though, so I reverted to using WIM based ISOs. Then I found Rufus and stopped worrying about it.

When I built the new rig, it has the power to make the ESD files at a pretty decent speed, so I'm back to ESD based ISOs again.
If pc can run legacy bios, booting from NTFS is ok.

My new laptop is UEFI only, and despite fact it is not an actual requirement to use FAT32, that is how it is implemented in most UEFI pcs. So @Brink needs to put a warning in tutorial the diskpart method may not work. The method I put code in works on all pcs.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Pro + others in VHDs
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    ASUS Vivobook 14
    CPU
    I7
    Motherboard
    Yep, Laptop has one.
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Integrated Intel Iris XE
    Sound Card
    Realtek built in
    Monitor(s) Displays
    N/A
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    1 TB Optane NVME SSD, 1 TB NVME SSD
    PSU
    Yep, got one
    Case
    Yep, got one
    Cooling
    Stella Artois
    Keyboard
    Built in
    Mouse
    Bluetooth , wired
    Internet Speed
    72 Mb/s :-(
    Browser
    Edge mostly
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    TPM 2.0
Warning already added. :wink:

Luckily, this is all temporary until Microsoft's MCT is available for W11.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self build
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING (11GB GDDR5X)
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G75 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3 wall mounted
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gbps Download and 35 Mbps Upload
    Browser
    Google Chrome
    Antivirus
    Microsoft Defender and Malwarebytes Premium
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Spectre x360 2in1 14-eu0098nr (2024)
    CPU
    Intel Core Ultra 7 155H 4.8 GHz
    Memory
    16 GB LPDDR5x-7467 MHz
    Graphics card(s)
    Integrated Intel Arc
    Sound Card
    Poly Studio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    14" 2.8K OLED multitouch
    Screen Resolution
    2880 x 1800
    Hard Drives
    2 TB PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD
    Internet Speed
    Intel Wi-Fi 7 BE200 (2x2) and Bluetooth 5.4
    Browser
    Chrome and Edge
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender and Malwarebytes Premium
Warning already added. :wink:

Luckily, this is all temporary until Microsoft's MCT is available for W11.
Unfortunately, I have inject drivers as standard iso is missing a lot, and that takes size over 4GB. It is much faster to download complete iso rather than building one with MCT.

In the end, hardware manufacturers are to blane by imposing an artificial constraint.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Pro + others in VHDs
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    ASUS Vivobook 14
    CPU
    I7
    Motherboard
    Yep, Laptop has one.
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Integrated Intel Iris XE
    Sound Card
    Realtek built in
    Monitor(s) Displays
    N/A
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    1 TB Optane NVME SSD, 1 TB NVME SSD
    PSU
    Yep, got one
    Case
    Yep, got one
    Cooling
    Stella Artois
    Keyboard
    Built in
    Mouse
    Bluetooth , wired
    Internet Speed
    72 Mb/s :-(
    Browser
    Edge mostly
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    TPM 2.0
Option 2 in the tutorial updated to use the FAT32 and NTFS partitions on the bootable USB to work in all situations. :-)
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self build
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING (11GB GDDR5X)
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G75 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3 wall mounted
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gbps Download and 35 Mbps Upload
    Browser
    Google Chrome
    Antivirus
    Microsoft Defender and Malwarebytes Premium
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Spectre x360 2in1 14-eu0098nr (2024)
    CPU
    Intel Core Ultra 7 155H 4.8 GHz
    Memory
    16 GB LPDDR5x-7467 MHz
    Graphics card(s)
    Integrated Intel Arc
    Sound Card
    Poly Studio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    14" 2.8K OLED multitouch
    Screen Resolution
    2880 x 1800
    Hard Drives
    2 TB PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD
    Internet Speed
    Intel Wi-Fi 7 BE200 (2x2) and Bluetooth 5.4
    Browser
    Chrome and Edge
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender and Malwarebytes Premium
Option 2 in the tutorial updated to use the FAT32 and NTFS partitions on the bootable USB to work in all situations. :)
Nice update.

Actually, if you use exFat for the second partition, the usb drive can then be used by users to install Windows on Macs which can read exFat but not NTFS. The batch file I included in post #9 uses exFAT.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Pro + others in VHDs
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    ASUS Vivobook 14
    CPU
    I7
    Motherboard
    Yep, Laptop has one.
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Integrated Intel Iris XE
    Sound Card
    Realtek built in
    Monitor(s) Displays
    N/A
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    1 TB Optane NVME SSD, 1 TB NVME SSD
    PSU
    Yep, got one
    Case
    Yep, got one
    Cooling
    Stella Artois
    Keyboard
    Built in
    Mouse
    Bluetooth , wired
    Internet Speed
    72 Mb/s :-(
    Browser
    Edge mostly
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    TPM 2.0
Does Secure Boot need to be disabled (as Rufus stress) for Win 11?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 - Release Preview channel
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Kol's custom ROG
    CPU
    Intel 13900K
    Motherboard
    Asus ROG Maximus Hero Z790
    Memory
    Corsair Dominator Platinum RGB 32GB DDR5 6000MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    Gigabyte 4090 Gaming OC
    Sound Card
    SoundBlaster X-AE5
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell Alienware AW3821DW
    Screen Resolution
    3840x1600 144hz
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 980 Pro 500GB
    860 EVO's
    Samsung 990 Pro 2TB
    External RAID enclosure - 2x Seagate 3TB HDD
    PSU
    Seasonic Prime Ultra 1300W Platinum
    Case
    Phanteks Eclipse P600S
    Cooling
    Custom water cooling. EK Velocity (CPU), EK Quantum Vector2 (GPU), EK Quantum D5 Pump, 360mm radiator in case + 560mm external radiator
    Keyboard
    Corsair K100
    Mouse
    Logitech G502X
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender, VBS
Does Secure Boot need to be disabled (as Rufus stress) for Win 11?
I don't use Rufus, but technically I wondered as well how installations with it work on Win11 - as it uses a SysLinux (i.e. non Secure boot compatible)partition with a NTFS driver to boot to get past the FAT32 4GB limitation with the setup files on a NTFS partition.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows
Some myth busting: Even some distinguished IT pros and experts will tell you that you cannot boot from NTFS formatted install media. Please, believe me, it really is just a myth: nothing in the UEFI specifications prevents NTFS boot. Rather, the issue is that some manufacturers do not add the correct firmware drivers to their systems.

All modern UEFI based devices can be booted from NTFS formatted USB media, subject to firmware containing correct drivers. For instance, all recent HP, Lenovo, Surface and Dell UEFI devices have no issues in booting from a single partition, NTFS formatted USB flash drive. However, it’s important to note that NTFS boot requires Secure Boot be disabled in UEFI settings.


Kari
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 PRO x64 Dev
    Manufacturer/Model
    Hyper-V Virtual Machine (host in System 2 specs)
    CPU
    Intel Core i7-8550U
    Memory
    6 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Microsoft Hyper-V Video
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Laptop display (17.1") & Samsung U28E590 (27.7")
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 PRO x64 Dev Channel
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP HP ProBook 470 G5
    CPU
    Intel Core i7-8550U
    Motherboard
    HP 837F KBC Version 02.3D.00
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel(R) UHD Graphics 620 & NVIDIA GeForce 930MX
    Sound Card
    Conexant ISST Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Laptop display (17.1") & Samsung U28E590 (27.7")
    Hard Drives
    128 GB SSD & 1 TB HDD
    Mouse
    Wireless Logitech MSX mouse
    Keyboard
    Wireless Logitech MK710 keyboard
    Internet Speed
    100 Mbps down, 20 Mbps up
    Browser
    Edge Chromium Dev Channel
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    2 * 3 TB USB HDD
    6 TB WD Mirror NAS
Some myth busting: Even some distinguished IT pros and experts will tell you that you cannot boot from NTFS formatted install media. Please, believe me, it really is just a myth: nothing in the UEFI specifications prevents NTFS boot. Rather, the issue is that some manufacturers do not add the correct firmware drivers to their systems.

All modern UEFI based devices can be booted from NTFS formatted USB media, subject to firmware containing correct drivers. For instance, all recent HP, Lenovo, Surface and Dell UEFI devices have no issues in booting from a single partition, NTFS formatted USB flash drive. However, it’s important to note that NTFS boot requires Secure Boot be disabled in UEFI settings.


Kari
Thanx bud, interesting :wink:
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows
Thanx bud, interesting :wink:
It really is interesting to see how much false information is out there. If you look my specs (My Computers, System Two, link at bottom left in my posts), I always use an NTFS formatted, single partition USB for my clean installs / deployments on this laptop. My customized WIM files can be up to 15 - 18 GB, no problems to copy them to USB flash drive and boot from it.

Kari
 
Last edited:

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 PRO x64 Dev
    Manufacturer/Model
    Hyper-V Virtual Machine (host in System 2 specs)
    CPU
    Intel Core i7-8550U
    Memory
    6 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Microsoft Hyper-V Video
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Laptop display (17.1") & Samsung U28E590 (27.7")
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 PRO x64 Dev Channel
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP HP ProBook 470 G5
    CPU
    Intel Core i7-8550U
    Motherboard
    HP 837F KBC Version 02.3D.00
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel(R) UHD Graphics 620 & NVIDIA GeForce 930MX
    Sound Card
    Conexant ISST Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Laptop display (17.1") & Samsung U28E590 (27.7")
    Hard Drives
    128 GB SSD & 1 TB HDD
    Mouse
    Wireless Logitech MSX mouse
    Keyboard
    Wireless Logitech MK710 keyboard
    Internet Speed
    100 Mbps down, 20 Mbps up
    Browser
    Edge Chromium Dev Channel
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    2 * 3 TB USB HDD
    6 TB WD Mirror NAS

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