Query for others who use Rufus to create a bootable Win10 flash drive

Ztruker said:

Hey, New Years resolution (for you) :) :) :) . Write a Tutorial with all the bells and whistles on using DISKPART to create Win 10 installation flash drives.

Happy New Years

That would be great. I searched all over TenForums and other forums as well. I cant find a tutorial anywhere on how to create a bootable Windows 10 USB flash drive using Diskpart. It would be really handy to have instructions on how to do the whole process using Diskpart..including how to mount the ISO in Windows 10 afterwards.
Happy New Year mate

PolarNettles said:

If you don't tell diskpart to convert to GPT then it will create an MBR, which will have the 1st stage of the BIOS bootloader. The full UEFI bootloader (efi\boot\bootx64.efi) as well as the 2nd stage of the BIOS bootloader (\bootmgr) are copied later from the ISO.

As I mentioned earlier, if the USB drive is MBR and has both BIOS and UEFI bootloaders present then which one is used depends on your system's configured UEFI boot order.

So Diskpart....if you don't manually tell Diskpart to convert to GTP....creates MBR by default which will have the 1st stage of the BIOS bootloader. What about the 1st stage of UEFI bootloader?..my PC is UEFI. I presume it must also have UEFI bootloader too?
I know you say that the 2nd stage of BIOS bootloader and the Full UEFI bootloader are copied later from ISO but what about at the beginning before the ISO is accessed?

Also, Can you tell me if I decide to use the Diskpart method. Bearing in mind my PC is UEFI and my USB flash drive will be in MBR. Does Windows 10 automatically set up windows on my hard disc in GPT format. At what stage does Windows setup make that decision..whether to partition the c:drive (system) in GPT or MBR style?

NavyLCDR said:

The reason I use diskpart is because it creates a flash drive in exactly the same format as the one you would get straight out of a retail packaged Windows 10 directly from Microsoft. The select partition 1 command above is not required - but if for some reason diskpart does not automatically select the partition you create with the command above it, it will cause it to be selected. It does no harm to enter the command - but it should not be required.

The same is true with the assign command. After you format the partition, diskpart should automatically assign the next drive letter. But, if for some reason that does not happen automatically, the assign command will do it. Again, that should not be necessary, but it does no harm to enter the command either. The assign command, by itself, will dynamically assign the next available drive letter to the flash drive. The "assign letter=X" command will assign whatever letter you substitute for X to the flash drive, assuming that letter is not already in use.

It makes no difference if you close the command window before or after you mount the ISO file to copy the files and folders over to the flash. I like to do it before just because it is super simple to enter exit twice in a row. I can't see any advantage to waiting until after the files are copied to close the command window.

I know that the Diskpart method sets up the USB flash drive with an MBR partition as default. Is that OK for me? My laptop is UEFI. I want to be sure that Windows setup is done in GPT i.e my PC c: drive (system) is GPT.
Does booting up with a USB flash drive with an MBR partition mean that Windows 10 will be installed in MBR too?

sportsfan148 said:

I know that the Diskpart method sets up the USB flash drive with an MBR partition as default. Is that OK for me? My laptop is UEFI. I want to be sure that Windows setup is done in GPT i.e my PC c: drive (system) is GPT.
Does booting up with a USB flash drive with an MBR partition mean that Windows 10 will be installed in MBR too?

The USB flash drive, in my opinion, should be MBR partitioned with a FAT32 partition that is marked as active. That is the way Microsoft makes the flash drives, whether it is with the Media Creation Tool, or whether it comes out of a purchased retail boxed version of Windows. If you boot the USB flash drive in UEFI mode, it will partition the hard drive as GPT and set it up for UEFI booting. On your UEFI firmware's boot override menu, there should be a boot menu entry for something like UEFI USB XXXX, where XXXX is the description of the flash drive. As long as you pick the boot menu entry with UEFI in front of it, you will be booting (and installing) in UEFI mode.

sportsfan148 said:

So Diskpart....if you don't manually tell Diskpart to convert to GTP....creates MBR by default which will have the 1st stage of the BIOS bootloader. What about the 1st stage of UEFI bootloader?..my PC is UEFI. I presume it must also have UEFI bootloader too?

The UEFI bootloader is just a .efi file located in the \efi folder. There is no need for a separate bootloader in the partition table like MBR uses. The reason MBR has a built-in one is because legacy BIOS did not understand partitions or filesystems so they needed boot code in the MBR to actually locate and load the OS files. Filesystem support is now built in to UEFI so there's no need for separate boot code as part of the partition table.

sportsfan148 said:

I know you say that the 2nd stage of BIOS bootloader and the Full UEFI bootloader are copied later from ISO but what about at the beginning before the ISO is accessed?

There is no UEFI bootloader before you copy the files from the ISO for the reason stated above.

sportsfan148 said:

Also, Can you tell me if I decide to use the Diskpart method. Bearing in mind my PC is UEFI and my USB flash drive will be in MBR. Does Windows 10 automatically set up windows on my hard disc in GPT format. At what stage does Windows setup make that decision..whether to partition the c:drive (system) in GPT or MBR style?

I believe I have answered this multiple times in this thread. It doesn't directly matter how the USB drive is partitioned - it depends on whether your system chooses to boot in BIOS or UEFI mode. Windows Setup bases its decision based on which bootloader is used.

I created a Windows Setup USB drive with MBR and my UEFI lets me select whether to boot via the MBR or via the .efi file. This boot order is dependent on your UEFI setup. So your particular system may select UEFI mode first; other systems may not.



The possibilities are:
USB drive MBR - UEFI boots via MBR - BIOS bootloader is used - Setup boots in BIOS mode and creates MBR
USB drive MBR - UEFI boots via .efi - UEFI bootloader is used - Setup boots in UEFI mode and creates GPT
USB drive GPT - UEFI boots via .efi - UEFI bootloader is used - Setup boots in UEFI mode and creates GPT

So if you partition the USB drive with GPT then you are guaranteed to have Windows Setup create GPT. If you partiion the USB drive with MBR then it's not guaranteed which one you'll get unless you are explicitly choosing the boot mode in your UEFI.

PolarNettles said:

The UEFI bootloader is just a .efi file located in the \efi folder. There is no need for a separate bootloader in the partition table like MBR uses. The reason MBR has a built-in one is because legacy BIOS did not understand partitions or filesystems so they needed boot code in the MBR to actually locate and load the OS files. Filesystem support is now built in to UEFI so there's no need for separate boot code as part of the partition table.


There is no UEFI bootloader before you copy the files from the ISO for the reason stated above.



I believe I have answered this multiple times in this thread. It doesn't directly matter how the USB drive is partitioned - it depends on whether your system chooses to boot in BIOS or UEFI mode. Windows Setup bases its decision based on which bootloader is used.

I created a Windows Setup USB drive with MBR and my UEFI lets me select whether to boot via the MBR or via the .efi file. This boot order is dependent on your UEFI setup. So your particular system may select UEFI mode first; other systems may not.



The possibilities are:
USB drive MBR - UEFI boots via MBR - BIOS bootloader is used - Setup boots in BIOS mode and creates MBR
USB drive MBR - UEFI boots via .efi - UEFI bootloader is used - Setup boots in UEFI mode and creates GPT
USB drive GPT - UEFI boots via .efi - UEFI bootloader is used - Setup boots in UEFI mode and creates GPT

So if you partition the USB drive with GPT then you are guaranteed to have Windows Setup create GPT. If you partiion the USB drive with MBR then it's not guaranteed which one you'll get unless you are explicitly choosing the boot mode in your UEFI.

Thanks mate for your patience..I know you explained that when we talked about Rufus ..I was just checking that it was the same if I decided to use Diskpart

NavyLCDR said:

The USB flash drive, in my opinion, should be MBR partitioned with a FAT32 partition that is marked as active. That is the way Microsoft makes the flash drives, whether it is with the Media Creation Tool, or whether it comes out of a purchased retail boxed version of Windows. If you boot the USB flash drive in UEFI mode, it will partition the hard drive as GPT and set it up for UEFI booting. On your UEFI firmware's boot override menu, there should be a boot menu entry for something like UEFI USB XXXX, where XXXX is the description of the flash drive. As long as you pick the boot menu entry with UEFI in front of it, you will be booting (and installing) in UEFI mode.

Thanks again...this thread has been very informative. Your help is very much appreciated along with all the other guys on this thread

My USB flash drive fat32 partition is showing as Active in Disk Management. Healthy (Active, Primary Partition). You can only have an active partition on a drive that is MBR partitioned. GPT does not allow active partitions.

NavyLCDR said:

My USB flash drive fat32 partition is showing as Active in Disk Management. Healthy (Active, Primary Partition). You can only have an active partition on a drive that is MBR partitioned. GPT does not allow active partitions.

Originally Posted by NavyLCDR
Rufus is a waste of time.

Create a Bootable USB Flash Drive

Make sure to use FAT32 instead of NTFS:

To create a bootable USB flash drive

Insert a USB flash drive into a running computer.

Open a Command Prompt window as an administrator.

Type diskpart.

In the new command line window that opens, to determine the USB flash drive number or drive letter, at the command prompt, type list disk, and then click ENTER. The list disk command displays all the disks on the computer. Note the drive number or drive letter of the USB flash drive.

At the command prompt, type select disk <X>, where X is the drive number or drive letter of the USB flash drive, and then click ENTER.

Type clean, and the click ENTER. This command deletes all data from the USB flash drive.

To create a new primary partition on the USB flash drive, type create part pri, and then click ENTER.

To select the partition that you just created, type select part 1, and then click ENTER.

If your server platform supports Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI), you should format the USB flash drive as FAT32 rather than as NTFS. To format the partition as FAT32, type format fs=fat32 quick, and then click ENTER.

Type active, and then click ENTER.

Type exit, and then click ENTER.

When you finish preparing your custom image, save it to the root of the USB flash drive.

Then just mount the Windows installation ISO file and copy all the files and folders from the mounted ISO file to the USB flash drive and you're done.


Hi again mate. I copied and pasted here your post from the Tutorials thread. Ive listed all of your Diskpart commands and I'm going to use your exact method to create a bootable Win10 USB flash drive at the weekend. I'm then going to use the Media Creation Tool to download the Windows 10 ISO.
A couple of questions if you don't mind me pestering you again so that I'm sure I perform the whole procedure correctly. At the end of your instructions you say "When you finish preparing your custom image, save it to the root of the USB flash drive." What exactly does that mean?
You then go on to say "
Then just mount the Windows installation ISO file and copy all the files and folders from the mounted ISO file to the USB flash drive and you're done
"
I'm unsure how to follow those two instructions. Would you mind explaining in detail for a novice what exactly you mean in both of those instructions.
I'm not familiar with mounting ISO's..so its a learning curve for me..Sorry