help identify this flashdrive (I believe its a bootable device)

yup, mine looks like that, I already posted it at the top of the page

despues18 said:

so there doesn't seem to be an .iso file in there for the OS, i thought there would be one i could use for virtual box, the virtual machine program. Im not sure why there wasnt one but, should I use media creation tool to make one?

Yes, you can use the MCT to make an ISO that you can then use to install your VM. Or you can download an ISO directly from Microsoft.

The ISO made by the MCT will have the label ESD-ISO, while an ISO downloaded directly from MS will have a label similar to that of your flash drive (so I'd guess it was made from an ISO using something like Rufus).

Currently you can get directly download either the ISO for 1809 (October 2018 Update) or 1803 (April 2018 Update) direct from the Microsoft download page.

Use the F12 Developers Tools in Edge (or IE) and set the User Agent String on the Emulation tab to 'Apple Safari (iPad)'.

Bree said:

Yes, you can use the MCT to make an ISO that you can then use to install your VM. Or you can download an ISO directly from Microsoft.
It all sounded good until the last paragraph, I couldn't make out why you'd to IE and do that, Ill try to download one of those, tried calling MS, wow, what a waste of time.
The ISO made by the MCT will have the label ESD-ISO, while an ISO downloaded directly from MS will have a label similar to that of your flash drive (so I'd guess it was made from an ISO using something like Rufus).

Currently you can get directly download either the ISO for 1809 (October 2018 Update) or 1803 (April 2018 Update) direct from the Microsoft download page.

Use the F12 Developers Tools in Edge (or IE) and set the User Agent String on the Emulation tab to 'Apple Safari (iPad)'.

It all sounded good until the last paragraph, I couldn't make out why you'd to IE and do that, Ill try to download one of those, tried calling MS, wow, what a waste of time.

im pretty sure i did this usb flash drive option with my usb flashdrive,

but im not aware how to install the os on my virtual machine with it, i only know how to do with iso

despues18 said:

It all sounded good until the last paragraph, I couldn't make out why you'd to IE and do that....

There is a difference between the ISO made by the MCT and one downloaded directly from MS. The MCT has a more compact install.esd in the sources folder while the downloaded ISO has an install.wim. It makes no difference which you use to do an instsall, but for some more complicated uses only an install.wim will do.

Also, you cannot make 1803 with the MCT, so if you need that you have no choice.

As the MCT will only run on Windows, if you use a different system to go to the page (such as Linux or MacOS) then the page changes to the one where you can download an ISO directly. The F12 tools let you make Edge look like it is a non-Windows browser, so the page will offer you the choice of ISOs download instead of the MCT.

despues18 said:

im pretty sure i did this usb flash drive option with my usb flashdrive,...
...but im not aware how to install the os on my virtual machine with it, i only know how to do with iso

Save yourself a lot of trouble, just run the MCT again and this time take the second option here...