Need help creating a bootable USB drive

Mitch4003 · 31 Aug 2016

Hello all,

Here's what I'm trying to do. I want to wipe my C drive and start over with the latest edition of Windows 10 from an ISO disc downloaded from Microsoft. I want to use another program to wipe the partition rather than use the Windows reset function to do it. It's taken me quite awhile to find a program that is free, portable-able to used on a USB drive, has at least a few wiping methods other than just writing zeroes or ones and will wipe a partition-not just the whole HD. So, I settled on Macrorit's Disk Partition Wiper. It says it can be used on an USB drive, but I tried 2 times to boot from it but only got errors about no boot files which I can understand but I was under the impression that I just needed the files I downloaded from Macrorit. So what additional files would I need to make this program work?

Mitch

shimshom · 31 Aug 2016

You can just use Diskpart while clean installing Windows so when you start the installation and it gets to the first screen press Ctrl + F10 to start cmd and if you have a SSD issue the commands below and once finished exit Diskpart and cmd then continue to install Windows and also make sure only the drive you're installing to is connected to the motherboard
Diskpart
List disk
Select disk n (where n is the number that was given for your SSD in List disk)
Clean
Create partition primary align=1024
Format fs=ntfs quick
Active (assuming you want to install an OS)
Exit

Note: If you want to create a 100MB partition (Or larger) with alignment, the create command is:
Create partition primary size=XXX align=1024
The size unit is always MB

Mitch4003 · 31 Aug 2016

Thanks for the reply, although I don't have an SSD, diskpart will still work. Also, are you sure diskpart would do as good of a job as a 3rd party program would?

cereberus · 01 Sep 2016

You are overcomplicating things.

Easiest way to create a bootable usb flash drive is to simply use rufus to burn iso to usb drive. Many web guides.

Backup valuable data, then boot from usb, select custom install, delete all partitions and simply install windows.

The installer sorts out all partitions for you.

alphanumeric · 01 Sep 2016

Mitch4003 said:

Thanks for the reply, although I don't have an SSD, diskpart will still work. Also, are you sure diskpart would do as good of a job as a 3rd party program would?

I use option two here, diskpart, http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials...e-windows.html My bootable thumb drives can be used to do legacy or UEFI installs. Works with Windows 7, 8 and 10. For me, its much easier than messing around with Rufus and having to have two separate install thumb drives. I have legacy and UEFI PC's. I have nothing against Rufus, I'd just rather use diskpart.

DavidY · 01 Sep 2016

Mitch4003 said:

I want to use another program to wipe the partition rather than use the Windows reset function to do it.

What are you trying to achieve which the normal Windows installer won't do? Is it to securely wipe so there is no trace of former data? I guess your thinking is that with Diskpart etc., someone with the right utility may still be able to restore and access the files?

alphanumeric · 01 Sep 2016

You can delete a single partition during a clean install. Or all of them, just select custom install and you'll get disk tools that will let you delete, create, and format partitions. I do it all the time, I delete everything except my data partition. Then just install into the unallocated space. Windows will then automatically create all the system partitions it needs.