How do I create a bootable usb drive for bare metal install

I have been trying to create a USB installation drive. I have the Windows10 .iso image. I have created a recovery USB drive but it doesn't allow me to access the image just the advanced options. I want to be able to do a clean install of Windows 10. So:
I want to boot to the USB stick
I want to be able to format my drives
I want to be able to install a clean copy of Window 10.

I have searched and searched online but can't seem to find a solution.
Your help would be appreciated.

John
Laguna Beach, CA

Rufus Rufus - Create bootable USB drives the easy way

Ztruker said:

John, to get the free copy of Windows 10 you must upgrade a qualifying Windows 7 or 8.1 system. Once you have activated then you can do a clean install.

What OS is currently on the computer? Your specs say Win 10 Pro. Were you in the Insider program? If so and if you are at build 10240 then you can do a Clean Install.

What OS was originally on the computer? If it came with Windows 8/8.1 then it's UEFI/GPT setup and Rufus will allow you to create the flash drive for that. Otherwise you probably want BIOS/MBR.

I have installed Windows 10 Pro from 8.1 pro. No I was not on the insider program. What is BIOS/MBR?? I have the windows 10 iso image I just can figure out how to create a bootable USB drive so I can mount and install the image. I want to be able to format my disks and install clean without any help from the OS.

Thanks for your reply

Johnml said:

I have installed Windows 10 Pro from 8.1 pro. No I was not on the insider program. What is BIOS/MBR?? I have the windows 10 iso image I just can figure out how to create a bootable USB drive so I can mount and install the image. I want to be able to format my disks and install clean without any help from the OS.

Thanks for your reply

I'm a little confused by what you post.

Do you want a bootable USB thumb drive with the Windows 10 installer on it?

I haven't used any of the third party utilities (Rufus).

I've done it by creating a bootable thumb drive using diskpart. (It's easy for the FAT32 version, which is what a UEFI motherboard requires anyway.) Once you've prepared the drive, you can mount the .iso. It shows up as a drive, and you can copy all of its contents to the thumb drive.

You can also do it from the Media Creation Tool, at the cost of another 3GB download.

When you boot from the USB drive, you can format or delete drive partitions, partway through the install process.

BIOS is Basic I/O System. MBR is Master Boot Record. UEFI is Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (a recent replacement for the BIOS). GPT is GUID Partition Table (replacement for MBR). Wikipedia can be your friend.

The P8Z77m is a UEFI/GPT system.

Ztruker said:

Rufus is easier :)

It's probably safer, too. (Careless use of diskpart could do some serious damage.)

Sometimes I like to use the old command line utilities. Makes me feel like an IT person. (I'm not.)

I got Rufus and it solved all my problems although I used the NTFS format but my bios as options for that format under alternative boot order. I'll probably do it again with Fat32 to avoid the extra bios step.

If I want to format my drive are there utilities to do that. Windows doesn't always offer the options to delete partitions and format.

Thanks again for all your quick replies and suggestions.

John

Can't remember the exact steps but you can boot the usb and format or clean with diskpart prior to installing.