Best Methods To Create a Bootable USB Flash Drive [Windows, Linux]

Well, here is a large list of some software that can create a USB for you. That USB can contain a windows installation disk, a Linux CD ( could be a live version as well ), Ultimate boot CD, Hiren’s Boot CD, Antivirus Rescue CD, Recovery software live CD, Disk partitioning software and a lot more.

Create Windows Bootable USB

1 - WinToFlash :

As you can see from the above screenshot, it’s the easiest software you can use to create a bootable windows. It can create a bootable version of windows xp/2003 , winPE XP/2003 , Windows vista/2008/7/8 setup to USB drive, and some more…. .

2 - Windows 7 USB/DVD download tool :

Windows 7 USB/DVD download tool is created by Microsoft itself to make it easier to create a bootable USB drive or burn windows 7 Iso file to a DVD.

3 - A Bootable USB :

A Bootable USB is a little app made to let you install windows vista/2008/7  from a USB drive.

4 - A Bootable USB ( By Askvg.com ) :

Seems to have the same name as the above one.But it’s got a few more options and it works for x64 versions of windows as well.

5 - Setup from USB :

A simple and easy to use app to make a bootable windows vista/7 USB drive. Required .NetFramework 4.

6 - OStoGO :

A small app made to put your windows vista/7 DVD into a USB drive.

7 – RMPrepUSB :

An advanced tool to create bootable windows USB. Should be used with care.

8 -  WinSetupFromUSB :

A good app that should be used with care that can let you create a bootable windows or Linux.Allows you to test in QEMU

9-  FlashBoot :

A nice software that can put Windows XP/Vista/7 on a USB flash drive.Worth about $38 USD.

Create MultiBootable USB

10 - YUMI – (Your Universal Multiboot Installer) :

YUMI can be used to create a MultiBootable USB drive with multiple Operating Systems, Antivirus Utilities, Recovery tools…… and more. Uses Syslinux. One other really nice feature with it is that it can download the ISO file for you before using it on USB drive.

11 – XBoot :

XBoot is a nice utility that can create Multiboot USB/ISO for Linux, Live CDs, Antivirus Utilities,….. and more. My favorite part about it is that it can let you test the USB inside windows.

12- SARDU :

A really nice piece of software that can create a Multibootable ISO and USB drive. That can contain some antivirus tools, utilities, live versions of Linux ad windows installers. All you need to do is to put the ISO files in the ISO folder and enjoy your powerful USB disk.

Create Linux and Others Bootable USB

13 -  Universal USB Installer :

One really nice app that is quite the same as YUMI , except that it doesn’t support MultiBoot, however, it supports a large variety of Linux distros, Antivirus utilities, Windows vista/7, Hiren’s Boot CD,….. and a lot more.Can also download the ISO for you.

14 - LiveUSB Install :

A small utility that you can use to create a bootable Linux ( with many distros supported, in addition to some Antivirus rescue disks and some more tools). Got some other options including writing .img files to a USB disk.

15 - UNetbootin :

A nice app available for Windows, Linux, Mac OS X. Can also download the ISO for you. Supports many distros, Antivirus utilities,….. and some more.Supports making bootable USB no matter what distro ( as long as the ISO is bootable ).Visit Homepage for more details.

16 - MultiSystem ( Linux ) :

A Linux-Only app that you can use to create a bootable linux USB drive.Check the Home page for more details.

17 – Fedora LiveUSB Creator :

A little app that will just let you put your Fedora ISO on your USB drive.

18 - CD 2 USB :

A little Command line utility that can create a live USB of Ubuntu. Doesn’t format the USB drive and installs the bootloader on it.

19 - ISO to USB :

Simply, create a bootable USB from a Bootable ISO.

20 - ISO2Disc :

             A tiny app that can burn the ISO file to a CD/DVD or a USB flash Drive.

21 - Rufus :

Creating bootable USB drives the easy way

 

Rufus is a small utility that helps format and create bootable USB flash drives, such as USB keys/pendrives, memory sticks, etc.
It can be be especially useful for cases where:

• you need to create USB installation media from bootable ISOs (Windows, Linux, etc.)
• you need to work on a system that doesn't have an OS installed
• you need to flash a BIOS or other firmware from DOS
• you want to run a low-level utility

 Download
From version 1.2.0, a single version of Rufus is provided, that includes FreeDOS support.

• Rufus v1.2.0 (420 KB)
• Other versions    OR
• http://rufus.akeo.ie/ 

22 - WinUSB Maker:

WinUSB Maker, is a tool to make dynamically any Removable Device / External HDD as bootable with Windows Setup

Link to Download
http://www.joshcellsoftwares.com/2012/06/WinUSBMaker.html

23 - Windows Bootable image creator:

This software is portable so you don't need to install it. Simply download the ZIP file, extract it and run the EXE file.

 Link

 FAQ’s:

USB drive is not bootable, not appearing in boot menu.
- Some old computers don’t support booting from USB drive.
- Use one of these software first to format the USB drive to make it bootable.( Bootable USB Drive Creator Tool , PE2usb ).
- I was using once an SD card in a card reader. The only method that seemed to work for me is to start installing XP,vista or win 7 using WintoFlash,stop it as soon as it’d done with formatting and starts copying files to the USB disk. You can use any other software then and it should be bootable.
How to test the USB without restarting the computer?
- Well, i used to use XBoot usb emulator which actually uses Qemu. I stopped doing that when Moba live CD was released.
- Another method is using virtualbox. That methos is explained at pendrivelinux.com