What Is A Bootable USB? Understanding Bootable USBs

Why make a bootable USB stick on Windows?

A bootable USB drive is an external hard drive that contains the operating system and can be used to boot a computer or laptop. Most users plan to create a bootable USB drive in Windows for the following three different purposes.

◆Repair Windows PC: the most important one should be saving the PC when it cannot boot successfully due to a virus, serious system failure, defective hard drive, or other disk errors. With the bootable USB drive, you can reboot the computer and repair it accordingly.

◆Clean install OS: it can be used as an external installation media to clean install the operating system. This is much quicker and easier than installing OS from CD or DVD-ROM.

◆Bring your familiar OS everywhere: the bootable USB drive can also be a portable Windows device, which you can take everywhere and enjoy the familiar OS environment on other computers, even the brand-new one without OS installed.

How to create a bootable USB in Windows 10/8/7

In the last section, we have mentioned that AOMEI Partition Assistant provides can make a bootable USB drive. Here we will take how to make a bootable USB from ISO as an example.

Preparation work:

① Prepare an empty USB drive. To speed up the process, a USB 3.0 drive and computer with a USB3.0 port are recommended.

② Download the Windows ISO files from the Microsoft official site.

③ You can download the AOMEI Partition Assistant first and give it a try.

AOMEI Partition Assistant

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Windows 11/10/8.1/8/7

Step 1. Plug the prepared USB drive in your Windows 10 computer and verify it is detected successfully. Run AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional. Click “Tools” in the top toolbar, and choose “Windows To Go Creator”.

Step 2. Here we choose the first option "Create Windows ToGo for personal computer".

Step 3. Choose "Create Windows ToGo with system disc/ISO" and select the prepared ISO files, then hit on "Next".

Step 4. In the subsequent window, choose the USB you plan to use. Then click the "Proceed" option to start making a bootable USB from ISO.

If you have don’t have prepared Windows ISO files, you can choose the second method in "Step 3" to create Windows bootable USB with current system.

Conclusion

Bootable USB drives are an essential tool in modern computing, offering flexibility, portability, and ease of use compared to traditional CDs. They are particularly useful for repairing PCs, clean installing operating systems, and carrying a portable OS environment. With tools like AOMEI Partition Assistant, creating a bootable USB drive is straightforward and efficient, enabling users to handle a variety of tasks with minimal hassle. Whether for personal use or business needs, bootable USB drives provide a practical solution for system installation, maintenance, and restoration.

FAQs

1. Can I use any USB drive to create a bootable ISO?

   • Yes, as long as the USB drive has at least 13GB of capacity, you can use it to create a bootable ISO with AOMEI Partition Assistant.

2. Is AOMEI Partition Assistant compatible with all Windows versions?

   • AOMEI Partition Assistant is compatible with Windows 7, 8, 8.1 Home/Pro/Education, and Windows 10 Home, as well as Windows 11.

3. What if my USB drive is not detected by the software?

   • If the software does not automatically detect your USB drive, try refreshing the list of drives. Ensure the USB is properly connected and recognized by your computer.

4. Can I use a USB 2.0 drive instead of USB 3.0?

   • Yes, you can use a USB 2.0 drive, but the process will be faster with a USB 3.0 drive and port.

5. What additional features does AOMEI Partition Assistant offer?

   • Besides creating bootable USB drives, AOMEI Partition Assistant can also repair Windows boot failures, rebuild MBR, check and fix bad sectors, and manage partitions.