Creating Bootable
Device using RUFUS
RUFUS
Is a utility that helps format
and create bootable USB flash
drives, such as USB
key/pendrives, memory stick,
etc.
A few years ago, creating a bootable USB
drive used to be a somewhat daunting exercise
for many people as it meant using the
command prompt to access DiskPart which is a
great little command-line utility. Luckily for us,
there are now far simpler ways of achieving
this, by using free software like Rufus to do the
hard work instead. Please note though that
Rufus is a Windows only utility.
Rufus can easily create bootable USB’s Hiren’s Boot CD
for most bootable ISO, including
among others: NT Password Registry Editor
Windows XP (SP2) (not Ultimate Boot CD
Windows XP x64) GParted
Windows Server 2003 R2 Partition Magic
Windows Vista Debian
Windows 7 Many more
Windows 8 and Windows 8.1
Windows 10
Creating a bootable Windows 7 Ultimate x64 USB.
Things you will need:
• Bootable ISO of choice.
• Windows 7 Ultimate x64 ISO (If you have a Windows 7 disk, then you
can create your own bootable ISO easily using ImgBurn
• Latest version of Rufus
• A spare USB stick (The size of the USB required will vary depending
on the size of the ISO you are using. For this exercise I need an 8GB
USB)
Once you have the required items, you can start by opening up Rufus.
Don’t worry about any of the settings here as Rufus will automatically do this
for you depending on the type of ISO you are using.
By default, it will
appear to have many of the
options blank until you
connect your USB. Once
you connect the USB, these
fields will be automatically
filled for you.
Next, connect your USB to
your computer.
Now we need to select our
ISO. (in my case the
Windows 7 ISO) Select the
icon highlighted as shown
below, which will let you
browse for the required ISO
file.
Next, connect your USB to
your computer.
Now we need to select our
ISO. (in my case the
Windows 7 ISO) Select the
icon highlighted as shown
below, which will let you
browse for the required ISO
file.
Select the file by
left clicking on it
once and then
clicking on Open.
Rufus will now
have filled out the
fields for you. All
you have to do
now is hit Start.
Note, if you are using a USB stick
that is too small, like using a 4GB
USB for an ISO that is larger than
4GB you will get the following
error:
If your USB is the correct size then
you will get a standard warning
telling you that any data/partitions
that was on the USB before starting
the process will be permanently
deleted
copying files
Click OK, to start.
How long the process will take
to complete will depend on
the specs of your computer,
the USB (read/write speeds)
and the size of the ISO you are
using.
