Making bootable USB drives

Instructions for how to make a bootable drive using windows command line.

Creating the Bootable Windows 10 USB Drive

First, I will explain how you can manually create a bootable Windows 10 USB drive. Here is where the archiving tool comes in handy, as you will have to use it to extract the contents of the ISO in a folder on your Windows PC. After this is complete, plug in the USB drive and follow the next steps to create the installation media:

  1. Open a Command Prompt window. To do this, open Run (Windows key + R will do the trick; alternatively, it can be found in the Start menu), type "cmd" and then press the OK button.
  2. Use the "diskpart" command to open the disk partitioning software. Accept the UAC prompt, if asked, to continue.
  3. Use the "listdisk" command to display the list of storage drives -- it will reveal all the HDDs, SSDs, USB drives, and so on, that are attached to your PC.
  4. Identify the disk number of the USB drive that you are using -- you can easily find it by looking at the size column; it is usually the last one that is listed.
  5. Use the "select disk X" command to select the USB drive -- "X" is the disk number of your USB drive, and it is shown in the first column.
  6. Use the "clean" command to erase everything on the USB drive.
  7. Use the "create partition primary" command to create a primary partition on the USB drive.
  8. Use the "select partition 1" command to select that partition.
  9. Use the "active" command to make said partition active.
  10. Use the "format fs=fat32 quick" command to format it as FAT32, using the Quick (fast) routine.
  11. Use the "assign" command to assign a drive letter to the USB drive -- it will show up as a drive under My Computer.
  12. Copy the extracted contents of the Windows 10 ISO to the USB drive


Keywordsbootable usb drive diskpart command line   Doc ID63530
OwnerDarryl B.GroupLaw School
Created2016-05-19 14:56:56Updated2016-05-19 14:57:29
SitesLaw School
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