HOW TO CREATE A BOOTABLE USB DRIVE USING WIN32 DISK IMAGER

STEP – 1: Getting your ISO File.

This is a very first and important step. In order to write an ISO Image you need to download it first. basically we require to write any OS like windows XP or Windows 10 so all you need is an ISO image of that OS. You must be take care that it should not be corrupted.

Getting a copy of windows in ISO file is very is as its available on internet. However if you don’t know where you can get Windows 10 ISO image to make it bootable i will help you here!

Follow these steps to create installation media (USB flash drive or DVD) you can use to install a new copy of Windows 10, perform a clean installation, or reinstall Windows 10.

Before you download the tool make sure you have:

• An internet connection (internet service provider fees may apply).
• Sufficient data storage available on a computer, USB or external drive for the download.
• A blank USB flash drive with at least 8GB of space or blank DVD (and DVD burner) if you want to create media. We recommend using a blank USB or blank DVD, because any content on it will be deleted.
• When burning a DVD from an ISO file, if you are told the disc image file is too large you will need to use Dual Layer (DL) DVD Media.

Check a few things on the PC where you want to install Windows 10:

• 64-bit or 32-bit processor (CPU). You’ll create either a 64-bit or 32-bit version of Windows 10. To check this on your PC, go to PC info in PC settings or System in Control Panel, and look for System type.
• System requirements. Make sure the PC meets the system requirements for Windows 10. We also recommend going to the PC manufacturer’s website for additional info about updated drivers and hardware compatibility.
• Language in Windows. You’ll need to choose the same language when you install Windows 10. To see what language you’re currently using, go to Time and language in PC settings or Region in Control Panel.
• Edition of Windows. You should also choose the same edition of Windows. To check what edition you’re currently running, go to PC info in PC settings or System in Control Panel, and look for Windows edition.

Step -2 Format your Flash Drive

In this step you need to make your pendrive/ flash drive writable you need to format it first. To perform a quick format Insert your Flash drive in USB Port then go to my computer and right click on Flash drive and click on format

Now click on start and it will be formatted!

Step-3: Writing the ISO image on flash drive

Now the most important step! First of all Open the Win32 Disk Imager. Now click on folder icon you and locate the folder where you have the ISO image; by default it will check for download folder and only ISO file type will be seen. So you will able to select it easily.

You will need to have your USB drive plugged in before starting the transfer. Generally, a good practice is to ensure only the drive you will be using for this purpose is plugged into your machine. Having multiple USB drives plugged into the machine at the time can easily make you lose track of which drive is which.

This can ultimately end with you formatting the wrong drive and losing valuable data you may have had on it.
At this time, you may be prompted to format your USB drive before proceeding. However, you can feel free to ignore this prompt. Cloning your image file to the USB stick will overwrite any data on it regardless, so formatting isn’t really necessary. You can still format your drive before you begin, but just know that it isn’t mandatory at all.

The interface of Win32 Disk Imager is very intuitive and very little work goes into setting up the file transfer. All you need to do is select the directory which contains the image file you would like to clone and the directory of the USB flash drive you would like to clone it to. Double-check to make sure you have selected the correct file paths and then click on the ‘Write’ button.

Another pop-up will display, asking you if you are sure you would like to continue. After selecting ‘Yes’, the window will introduce the progress bar, along with the transfer speed, so that you can monitor the progress until completion. After the transfer is complete, a pop-up message will display to inform you that the write has been successful. All you have left to do after this would be to safely remove your USB drive and use it as you please from there on out.

Features of Win32 Disk Imager

This is a Windows program for saving and restoring images from removable drives (USB drives, SD Memory cards, etc). It can be used to write boot images (i.e. ubuntu-12.04-preinstalled-desktop-armhf+omap4.img) to a SD Flash device or USB flash device, making it bootable.

• This is pretty less space-consuming software ranging up to a good 44 MB size only which is even less than what we get for a standard app.
• The program is very simple and the entire working of the system is pretty user friendly and easy.
• There are no additional complicated features to get you confused about the process.
• You can boot your image files onto a USB or other storage device options.
• This software works on Windows7, Windows 8.1, and Windows 10 and is never too demanding.
• For Windows Vista and Windows XP, there is another version available that can be supported by these low versions.
• Verify Image – Now you can verify an image file with a device. This compares the image file to the device, not the device to the image file (i.e. if you
• write a 2G image file to an 8G device, it will only read 2G of the device for comparison).
• Additional checksums – Added SHA1 and SHA256 checksums.
• Read Only Allocated Partitions – Option to read only to the end of the defined partition(s). Ex: Write a 2G image to a 32G device, reading it to a new file will only read to the end of the defined partition (2G).
• Save last opened folder – The program will now store the last used folder in the Windows registry and default to it on next execution.
• Additional language translations (thanks to devoted users for contributing).

Best Alternatives

Following are the best alternative to Win32 Disk Imager !