Create Windows Installation Usb

September 07, 2024 •

Creating a Bootable Windows Installation USB

Date Published: September 7, 2024 Updated: October 24,2025

This guide explains how to create a bootable USB drive for installing Windows. It includes instructions for obtaining the ISO, preparing the USB drive, and enabling edition selection. Enhancements include automation tips and error handling for common issues.

Important Note: If when using the media to install Windows, devices are not present (for example disks or network cards), then you may need to inject drivers into the WIM files. Alternatively, use the vendor’s installation media.

1. Get a Windows ISO

First, obtain an ISO file with a Windows installation. It’s important to obtain an ISO which contains the correct SKU of Windows.

Why N Editions Could Be a Bad Idea:

2. Preparing the USB Drive

Step 1: Mount Windows ISO

Mount the Windows ISO which you’re using for creating the Windows USB installation media.

You can do this in modern versions of Windows by double clicking the ISO file.

Once the ISO is mounted, it will appear as another drive letter on your machine. Make a note of the drive letter.

Step 2: Partition USB Stick

Whilst only 8GB is required for creating the bootable USB stick, it’s better to use a USB stick with 32GB or 64GB, as this will make management easier (because you can store multiple WIMs).

The following will wipe the contents of the USB stick.

  1. Open Command Prompt as Administrator
  2. Run the utility DISKPART
  3. Show a list of the disks attached to the system: 
    list disk
  4. Based upon the output of the previous command you now know the disk number of your USB drive, so you can select it: 
    select disk X
  5. Clean the drive: 
    clean
  6. Create a primary partition: 
    create partition primary
  7. Once the partition has been created, list the partitions and select the correct partition: 
    list partition
select partition 1
  8. Type the following command to activate the partition: 
    active

  9. Format the USB drive either:

    as FAT32 (supports secure boot, but file size limit for install.wim):

    format fs=fat32 label="BootableUSB" QUICK OVERRIDE

    OR as NTFS:

    format fs=ntfs label="BootableUSB" QUICK OVERRIDE
  10. Exit Diskpart using the command: 
    exit

Step 3: Copy Boot Sector and Files

With the ISO mounted, and the USB stick plugged into the laptop. Back in DISKPART, list the volumes to find the drive letter of the ISO which you just mounted.

Open Command Prompt as Administrator (not Powershell).

Edit the following and paste into the command prompt to set the correct drive letters for the ISO and the USB:

REM Change variable to drive letter of mounted ISO
SET ISO=E:
REM Change variable to drive letter of USB
SET USB=D:

If using FAT32:

Paste the following into the command prompt to create the boot sector on the USB drive, and also copy the files from the ISO to the USB. This can take some time.

%ISO%
cd boot
bootsect /nt60 %USB%
robocopy %ISO%\ %USB%\ /E /XF %ISO%\sources\install.wim

Wait until the files finish copying; this can take some time.

Split the wim from the source and output to the USB stick:

Dism /Split-Image /ImageFile:%ISO%\sources\install.wim /SWMFile:%USB%\sources\install.swm /FileSize:4000

Wait until complete.

If using NTFS:

Paste the following into the command prompt to create the boot sector on the USB drive, and also copy the files from the ISO to the USB. This can take some time.

%ISO%
cd boot
bootsect /nt60 %USB%
xcopy %ISO%\*.* %USB%\ /E /F /H

Wait until the files finish copying; this can take some time.

4. Allow Local Account

Bypass the need for cloud account use by saving the following as unattend.xml in the sources folder on the USB installation media:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<unattend xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:unattend">
  <settings pass="oobeSystem">
    <!-- amd64 -->
    <component name="Microsoft-Windows-Shell-Setup"
               processorArchitecture="amd64"
               publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35"
               language="neutral"
               versionScope="nonSxS">
      <OOBE>
        <HideWirelessSetupInOOBE>true</HideWirelessSetupInOOBE>
        <HideOnlineAccountScreens>true</HideOnlineAccountScreens>
        <HideLocalAccountScreen>false</HideLocalAccountScreen>
        <NetworkLocation>Work</NetworkLocation>
        <SkipMachineOOBE>false</SkipMachineOOBE>
        <SkipUserOOBE>false</SkipUserOOBE>
        <ProtectYourPC>1</ProtectYourPC>
      </OOBE>
    </component>

    <!-- arm64 -->
    <component name="Microsoft-Windows-Shell-Setup"
               processorArchitecture="arm64"
               publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35"
               language="neutral"
               versionScope="nonSxS">
      <OOBE>
        <HideWirelessSetupInOOBE>true</HideWirelessSetupInOOBE>
        <HideOnlineAccountScreens>true</HideOnlineAccountScreens>
        <HideLocalAccountScreen>false</HideLocalAccountScreen>
        <NetworkLocation>Work</NetworkLocation>
        <SkipMachineOOBE>false</SkipMachineOOBE>
        <SkipUserOOBE>false</SkipUserOOBE>
        <ProtectYourPC>1</ProtectYourPC>
      </OOBE>
    </component>
  </settings>
</unattend>

5. Enabling Edition Selection

Windows bootable media can contain multiple editions of Windows. On OEM hardware the edition selection menu can be skipped during installation.

To make the edition selection menu appear during Windows installation, use notepad to create a file called ei.cfg with the following contents, and save this into the sources\ folder on the USB stick:

[Channel]
Retail
[VL]
0

This ensures the edition selection menu appears during installation.

Enhancements

Automating USB Creation

Use a PowerShell script to automate the above steps:

$ISO = "E:"
$USB = "D:"

# Prepare the USB
diskpart /s @"
select disk X
clean
create partition primary
active
format fs=ntfs label="BootableUSB" QUICK
"@

# Copy boot sector and files
Start-Process -FilePath "$ISO\boot\bootsect.exe" -ArgumentList "/nt60 $USB" -Wait
Copy-Item -Path "$ISO\*" -Destination "$USB\" -Recurse -Force

Error Handling

  • USB Not Recognized:
    • Ensure the USB is properly connected before running DISKPART.
  • File Copy Fails:
    • Check if the ISO drive is correctly mounted and accessible.
  • Boot Sector Errors:
    • Verify that the bootsect.exe file exists in the ISO’s boot folder.

Best Practices

  1. Label the USB Drive:
    • Use meaningful labels like BootableUSB for easy identification.
  2. Test Bootability:
    • Test the USB on a non-production machine before deploying.
  3. Use Modern USB Sticks:
    • Prefer USB 3.0 or 3.1 sticks for faster file transfers and installations.