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Create Windows 10 Bootable Usb On Mac For Pc

In the past, Microsoft Windows was installed by disc, CD- or DVD-ROM, or the floppy disc – and optical data carriers are also gradually disappearing from the scene. Instead, the operating system is either preinstalled on the system partition of a new computer or laptop, or you acquire Windows directly online, complete with a digital license, and download it yourself.

Mac

Create a Bootable Mojave USB Installer Flash Drive in Mac OS X 10.14 - Duration: 17:42. Gemsbok Apple Tips and Tricks 39,311 views. Nov 20, 2017  Create Windows 10,8.1 Bootable USB on MacOS for PC no Boot-camp ( Please read Description ). How to Make Windows 10 Boot Camp Usb Stick Mac OS X High Sierra 10.13. How to make a Windows 10. Here are the steps to create a macOS bootable USB media (Sierra) with GPT partition support on Windows 10 or 7/8.1 to rescue your Mac.

But if you need an external installation medium, many people nowadays use a bootable USB drive. It’s quicker and more compact that an optical data carrier, and so is perfectly suited for setting up (or resetting) a system – there are also many other possible uses.

  1. Create a bootable USB with external tools

Why do you need a bootable USB?

There are lots of uses for a bootable USB drive. The most important is, of course, booting the PC if it will no longer start itself because of a virus, serious system failure, defective hard drive, or partition problems. The small piece of hardware is the standard solution for hosting an entire operating system and/or a recovery system like the multi-virus scanner Sardu and using it to successfully reboot and repair the computer.

In addition to various other tools, Sardu also contains 20 virus scanners that can search the entire hard drive of a defective computer for malware and clean it up.

Even if no such PC emergency is present, it’s a good idea to have a Windows image for data backup on a USB-capable storage medium (could also be an external hard drive) on hand.

You can also use a bootable USB to upgrade Windows 7 or 8 to Windows 10 if a previously automatic upgrade doesn’t function correctly. The drive also serves as a “clean” reinstallation of the operating system if it’s become too slow as a result of accumulated garbage.

Experienced computer experts and IT professionals also like to use a bootable USB as a “portable operating system” (the concept is known as “Windows2Go” for Microsoft). With this, you can use your preferred Windows version with all your favorite tools and personal data on foreign computers without having to fuss with the operating system already installed (regardless of whether it’s Windows or something else). This way, you can not only navigate in your familiar work environment but also access all your important documents via the cloud. A portable operating system also offers more security in case a keylogger on a foreign computer stores your passwords or your computer is infected with a virus.

Usb

Here are all possible uses for a bootable USB drive:

  1. Boot after a PC emergency
  2. Use a recovery system to repair your PC
  3. Store an image of the operating system
  4. Upgrade an old operating system to Windows 10
  5. “Clean” reinstallation of the operating system
  6. Use a “portal operating system” on a foreign computer

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How can you make a bootable USB drive?

Hardly any commercial USB drives are suitable from the outset for these diverse tasks. This is because most models are only loaded with a single file system when you first get them, for example, an FAT32 or exFAT file system. They’re missing the “master boot record” (MBR) that’s absolutely necessary for booting most PCs (specifically those with a “basic input/output system” (BIOS)). You have to make a new USB stick bootable on your own.

BIOS (basic input/output system) is a program that is preinstalled on the mainboard of most computers and activates the hardware when the system boots so that the operating system can communicate and interact with it.

A bootable USB drive can of course be created on a different computer than the one you want to use it on later. There are basically two possible methods: either manually or using automated tools. The first option seems a bit complicated at first glance, and because of the various manual steps is slightly more error-prone, but it’s still doable even if you’re not an expert.

Regardless of which option you choose, you always need the following things:

  1. The Windows utility program DiskPart or an external tool with the same functions.
  2. A USB drive with at least 4GB of storage (for a 32-bit operating system) or at least 8GB (for a 64-bit system). To obtain a high working speed (or enable the creation of a portable operating system), the selected drive should support the standard USB 3.0. If the drive is already being used, make sure that it doesn’t contain any important or indispensable data.
  3. An ISO file for the desired operating system that contains all setup files that you need for installation. These files used to be found on a CD- or DVD-ROM, which came with a new computer or could be acquired separately. Today, Windows is generally preinstalled on a system partition of a matching PC or laptop. You can create such an ISO file yourself, though, for example with the use of tools like WinISO, UltraISO, or the burn program InfraRecorder. But it’s simpler to just download the required operating system from the internet. In the case of Windows 10, this can be done completely legally via the media creation tool from Microsoft. Downloading directly from the company’s website is also possible for Windows 7 and Windows 8, for example.

You can legally download various versions of Windows from Microsoft. Note, however, that you need a license for the activation and legal use of the operating system, which you can get online in the form of a product key. Without this official confirmation, your user rights are strictly limited after 30 days. This means: You will have no more personalization options or updates support, but instead will receive warning messages that remind you to activate Windows as soon as possible.

Make a bootable USB drive with the Windows utility program DiskPart

If you dare to do the necessary work by hand, you can simply use the cmd.exe application, better known as “Command Prompt”, to create a bootable USB drive on all operating systems from Windows Vista (including Windows 10). This goes as follows:

  • Plug the USB drive into your computer’s USB port.
  • Search for the “cmd” application in the Windows start menu, right-click on the item, and select “Run as administrator” from the context menu. This opens a small window with white text on a black background.
  • Type the command “diskpart” and confirm your input with the enter key (you’ll also do this after every other entered command). This starts the storage device manager.
  • Enter the command “list disk” to display all available storage devices.
  • You can recognize your USB by its storage capacity, and it’s usually listed as “disk 1”. In the system partition, “disk 0” is usually your PC, so a hard drive or solid state drive in your computer.
  • Based on the assumption that your USB has the label “disk 1”, enter the command “sel disk 1” to select it (or the corresponding “disk 2”, etc.).
  • Enter then command “clean” to delete all files from the USB.
  • Enter the command “create partition primary” to create a main partition.
  • Enter the command “list par” and select the newly created main partition with “sel par 1”.
  • Activate the partition with the command “active”.
  • Format the USB with the command “format fs=FAT32 label=“WINDOWSUSB” quick override” (in place of “WINDOWS USB” you can also choose another label, so long as it doesn’t contain any spaces or special characters. The drive will later be displayed under this name if you plug into a running Windows computer). Formatting may take a while. You can track its progress in the percentage bar.
  • As soon as the process is finished, enter the command “assign” to automatically assign a drive letter (for example “G:”) to your USB.
  • Enter “exit” to close DiskPart, and then “exit” again to close the command prompt.

To finish the process, you just have to copy the Windows ISO file to a bootable USB stick. This is done with a basic drag-and-drop. If you’re using an installation disc, you can also drag all setup files from there onto your drive (use the folder options to display all of the hidden files first). That’s all possible in the command prompt as well. For a source media with the drive letter “D:” and a USB drive with the letter “G:”, the corresponding command would look as follows: “xcopy D:*.* G:*.* /S /E /F” (all of the spaces are intentional).

Create a bootable USB with external tools

The media creation tool mentioned previously can also write a downloaded ISO file to a USB drive in one go, and so create a bootable USB – but it only works with Windows 10. There are, though, many freeware programs suitable for all operating systems (including Linux) that can take over the tasks of the otherwise manual device management. Some of the most popular are Rufus, WinUSB, and UNetbootin. Each of these tools are made up of a single very small file that you can download directly and start without installation.

Bootable USB with Rufus

Rufus is widely considered to be the fastest and most reliable tool for the creation of a bootable USB. It also supports UEFI (“Unified Extensible Firmware Interface”), a new mainboard firmware that replaced the old BIOS and can already be found on almost all newer computers. From Windows 8, it’s also possible to install “Windows2Go” as a portable operating system on an external storage device with Rufus.

Operation of the tool is simple:

  • Open the program with a double-click
  • Select your USB drive in “Device
  • Select “Create a bootable disk using” and the option “ISO Image
  • Right-click on the CD-ROM symbol and select the ISO file
  • Under “New volume label”, you can enter whatever name you like for your USB drive
  • You’ll receive the warning “ALL DATA ON THIS DEVICE WILL BE DESTROYED”, which you can confidently confirm with “OK”– at this point, you’ve ideally already saved any important files from the USB drive
  • Click on “Start
  • As soon as the green bar is full, click on “Finish
  • Eject your bootable USB drive with “Safely eject hardware

Avoid simply pulling the finished bootable USB drive out of the port without using the “Safely eject hardware” option. This could cause you to lose data, since the computer still has access to the storage device and theoretically could still have writing processes underway. With a USB-capable external hard drive, abrupt separation from the computer connection amounts to a system crash on the hard drive.

Benefits Drawbacks
✔ Fast and reliable tool ✘ USB drive formatting necessary
✔ Very small file size
✔ Also supports UEFI
✔ Windows2Go possible

Make a bootable USB with WinUSB

The tool WinUSB essentially functions exactly like Rufus, but with two differences: The first is that the creation of a bootable USB is possible without prior formatting (provided there’s enough storage space), so the USB can also be used to store personal files and documents (though it’s recommended to keep a backup copy of all data). Another special feature: As desired, WinUSB can also write multiple different Windows operating systems onto the same drive. This makes it almost an equivalent to the Linux tool Yumi.

With WinUSB, the creation of a bootable USB also takes place in just a few steps:

  • Select your USB with “Plug and select the USB drive
  • Right-click on “ISO” under “Add Windows”, and then on “Next
  • Enter whatever label you want for the selected Windows distribution, then click on “OK” and “Next
  • Click on “Start
Benefits Drawbacks
✔ No formatting necessary ✘ Only in English
✔ Can write multiple operating systems to one USB
✔ Slim user interface
✔ Various Ubuntu distributions can be loaded

Create a bootable USB drive with UNetbootin

Like the popular tool Universal USB Installer, UNetbootin (short for “Universal Netboot Installer”) is actually specialized for Linux systems. It’s primarily used to install various Linux distributions – such as Ubuntu – on a USB drive so that they can be started directly from the storage media.

UNetbootin also works with Windows:

  • Click on the menu item “Image” – “ISO” is already selected as the source
  • Select your USB under “Drive” and then click “OK
Benefits Drawbacks
✔ Various Linux distributions to choose from ✘ USB drive formatting necessary
✔ Can create portable operating systems
✔ Also functions with Windows ISO files

The best freeware tools for bootable USB drives: An overview

File size Formatting necessary?
Rufus 945KB Yes
WinUSB 4.7MB No
UNetbootin 4.6MB Yes

How to start Windows with a bootable USB drive

After its successful creation, you can test your bootable USB drive by using it to start your computer. This is also a necessary step to preconfigure BIOS or UEFI for a possible emergency situation.

To do this, you have to change the boot order in the boot menu:

  • Open your computer’s boot menu. Depending on the mainboard manufacturer, this is done by pushing a different key on the keyboard. “Del” is the one most commonly used, but the “F1”, “F2”, “F8”, or “F10” keys can also be used for this function (though rarely any others). Which button you have to push is usually displayed in the margin of the screen as soon as the manufacturer logo appears. But be aware: You only have a short window of time to press the right button. If you miss it, you’ll have to restart your PC and try again.
  • If you have a newer PC, it’s possible that UEFI is installed instead of BIOS as firmware. If this is the case, it’s also possible that no button for starting the boot menu will be displayed. Instead, proceed as follows: Click on “Update and recovery” under “System settings”. Then click on “Recovery” and under “Extended start” select “Restart now”. The computer will now be restarted. On the following screen, click on “Troubleshooting”, then “Extended options” and finally on “UEFI firmware settings” to get to the UEFI.
  • BIOS and UEFI can look different depending on the computer model and have different names for the individual menu items. Don’t be confused by this, though – the structure is basically the same.
  • With the arrow keys, navigate through the BIOS/UEFI. Go to the “Boot” tab (this might also be called “Boot menu”, “Boot manager”, or something similar).
  • There, you can select your USB drive so the next system startup will boot from it.
  • You can also permanently change the boot order by pushing the [Image↑] or [Image↓] keys to change the order of the boot drives. Set your USB drive on the top of the list to start from it as soon as it’s plugged into your computer.
  • Press the [Esc] key to leave BIOS/UEFI.

When you start your PC for the first time, the portable Windows will need a bit more time to boot, since the hardware first has to be detected. While it’s being detected, Windows may also restart several times.

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After a successful boot process, you still have to set up your operating system on the USB drive. This means: Run the Windows setup, establish the internet connection, and download and install all necessary drivers and updates from the internet.

Related articles

A macOS USB installer saves much time when you want to install the OS offline on two or more Macs. Also, it helps in recovering a system after a startup failure. It is easy to make a macOS USB disk from the full installer downloaded from the App store; Apple provides clear-cut instructions for the same. However, people use this feature only when they have a problem with their computer, mainly when their system is not booting up. In this post, we explore the ways to make a bootable macOS USB for Catalina 10.15 and others from Windows PC and Mac.

Make macOS Catalina 10.15 USB installer on Windows PC

TimeMachine is the safest option to recover a broken Mac in the offline mode. If a backup is not there, you have to go for a clean installation either from a bootable USB/DVD drive or the Internet. In my case, I lost the boot partition of my iMac and didn’t have a TimeMachine backup. Internet recovery was showing up, but it kept on failing to download the OS files from the servers. As it is my only Mac, I had no option left, until I found the method to use a Windows PC to create a Mac OS bootable USB installer. I did this for making a macOS High Sierra USB drive, and later I was successful in reinstating my iMac. As of now, the OS is Mojave, but the process given below is compatible with all editions of macOS including the upcoming macOS Catalina 10.15.

Step 1: Download macOS Catalina [DMG] for Windows

As said in the beginning, a Mac is must for creating bootable macOS USB disk. If you think about doing it from Windows, the options are limited. The cross-compatibility of extensions for the two OS are entirely different. Luckily some Windows applications support a bootable macOS disk format, DMG. Hence, If we can download macOS DMG file, then it possible build the USB installer from Windows environment.

Most of the sites talking about the bootable macOS USB installer on Windows is not guiding on how to download the required DMG files for the method. Check our page to download macOS Catalina installer installer in DMG format for Catalina, Mojave and High Sierra.

Step 2: Partition USB disk on Windows to make it bootable on Mac

Here we are creating a UBS installer for Mac on Windows. So make sure that we keep the partition of the USB disk to have an appropriate scheme. Converting the USB disk to have a GUID partition table (GTP) is recommended for this method work effectively.

Office for mac update packages. Connect the USB disk to Windows and run the above-given commands in the correct order. It cleans and converts the USB disk to GUID partition table if it is using MBR or something else.

Step 3: Make bootable macOS Catalina USB installer on Windows 10

When the Internet recovery is stuck and fails to download the OS files, you could use Windows to make a bootable macOS USB installer. Out of the two or three software for handling macOS installer [dmg] in Windows, Transmac is the best one. Transmac is not free, but the developers offer a 15-day trial period, and that is sufficient for one-time use. Now let’s move on to the steps to create macOS Catalina USB disk on Windows.

Windows 10 Iso

  1. I already have the macOS Catalina 10.15 dmg file on my Windows desktop.
  2. Install the Transmac 12.4 trial for Windows; download here.
  3. Right-click on Transmac icon, and select to run it with Admin privileges.
  4. As shown in the screenshot, right-click on your USB disk and pick the option Restore with Disk Image.
  5. Point the Windows Explorer to the location where you have the bootable macOS DMG file.
  6. Wait until the software completes restoring the USB disk with Install macOS Catalina app.
  7. The disk is ready when you see the message “Restore Complete”.
  8. If you click on the just-made USB installer on Transmac, you could see the macOS Catalina 10.15 files present in the drive.
  9. Now safely remove the USB and connect it it the Mac you would like to recover.


Here we focus on preparing macOS Catalina 10.5 USB installer on Windows. But this method is same and applicable for Mojave, High Sierra and all previous versions up-to OS X Lion.

How to boot to macOS Catalina from USB Installer made on Windows

Check the image below for macOS Catalina USB installer showing up in the boot options. In this way you could recover and restore a Mac without Internet. Some models of Macs show a prohibitory symbol when you boot from macOS Catalina recovery USB made on Windows. In that case, you need to Install Mojave or High Sierra first and then upgrade to Catalina 10.15 using the in-built software updater.

While restarting, Press the Option key on your Magic keyboard or MacBook see the boot choices. However, if you use a Windows keyboard for Mac, press the Alt key. When you see the boot menu, click on Install macOS Catalina (10.15), and proceed to the recovery process.

Alternative: Make a bootable Catalina USB installer on macOS

The recovery partition in a Mac helps in restoring it from TimeMachine or the Internet when there is a system failure. It keeps the essential apps like Disk Utility, which aids in re-installing a fresh copy of macOS. However, this partition gets deleted when you change your Macs hard disk to SSD or like. A bootable macOS USB installer comes helpful in such situations. It is also useful when you want to install macOS on a couple of offline systems without wasting bandwidth and time.

You need a macOS DMG files for making a USB recovery disk in Windows but that not the case when you have a Mac. The only thing is that you have a copy of the Install macOS app, the offline installer downloaded from the App Store. Check out the most reliable ways to macOS USB recovery disk for Catalina, Mojave and High Sierra.

Method 1: Using Terminal to make macOS Catalina USB disk

    1. Maintain a copy of macOS Catalina full installer in the Applications folder.
    2. Use Disk Utility to erase the target USB to have macOS Extended format and GUID partition scheme.
    3. Now, copy the command for macOS Catalina 10.15 from Apple website, here and paste it to the Terminal app.
    4. In the code lines, there is a string “WINYTIPS.” Change it with the name of your USB.
    5. Open the Terminal app in Mac and copy-paste the edited code.
    6. Press the ENTER key and provide Admin password.
    7. Wait for a minute for the system to copy macOS Catalina installer and boot files to the USB.

Method 2: Using a third-party app to make booatble macOS USB disk.

Create Windows 10 Bootable Usb On Mac For Pc 2018

If you are not familiar in dealing with the Terminal app and command-line interface, consider a freeware macOS app to create the bootable macOS installer. Among the many applications out there, we prefer Diskmaker as it supports Catalina, Mojave, High Sierra, and all other macOS builds after Lion.

Create Windows 10 Bootable Usb On Mac For Pc 2019

The latest version DiskMaker 9 compatible with macOS Catalina 10.15.

Windows 10 Download

Also, you may consider an alternative, macOS Catalina Patcher by Collin, here. The best thing about the patcher app is that it can make bootable MacOS ISO, and USB disk by downloading Catalina from the Internet, which DiskMaker do not support.

Download and create macOS Catalina USB bootable disk

  • Download the latest version of the app from dosdude’s portal and mount the dmg file on your Mac.
  • Click continue until you see the window shown in the screenshot.
  • Here you may select an existing copy or macOS Catalina or download one from the Internet.
  • Click on “Browse for a Copy” If you already have macOS 10.15 in your Applications folder.

Now, select the installation method as “Create a Bootable Installer,” and then pick the target USB disk in the next screen. Your macOS USB installer will be ready in a few minutes.

Windows 10 Bootable Usb Download

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Make Windows 10 Bootable Usb On Mac For Pc

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