Why would anyone need an "Edition Specific" FAT32?
Format as NTFS, and it works for both .ESD and .WIM.
FAT32 can cause boot issues.
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/tro...sb-flash-drive
I'd like to meet these "some computers"...
You can boot a UEFI GPT partitioned drive (UEFI:NTFS bootloader is GPLv3) that's formatted as NTFS...if Secure Boot is turned off.
If you have an example of any Windows computer that can't boot from a formatted NTFS flash drive, post it.
That's like a fancy Etch-A-Sketch.
Okay...one.
With reference to NTFS booting, let's see what @NavyLCDR said below:
How to make active@boot disk bootable on uefi/gpt?
I'm looking at what Rufus already does, which is described in post #610.
Most UEFI computers will not boot from NTFS in UEFI mode. They will only boot from NTFS in CSM (legacy BIOS mode). That's because the UEFI specification 2.8 does not require UEFI to support NTFS. Pages 498-504 (and later pages as well):
https://uefi.org/sites/default/files..._2_8_final.pdf
Microsoft's Media Creation Tool will create an installation USB that is FAT32 formatted. When Windows installs via the standard installation method of booting from an installation media (USB flash drive or DVD) in UEFI mode, it creates an ESP (EFI System Partition) on the target disk that is formatted FAT32. Microsoft does this in order to maintain compatibility with UEFI computers that only meet the minimum requirement of the UEFI specification which is booting from FAT filesystem.
A handful of motherboard manufacturers have included NTFS support in their UEFI firmwares but the vast majority have not. In order to boot from NTFS on most UEFI computers, CSM mode (Compatibility Support Module) must be used. This is an emulation of legacy BIOS which will only boot from an MBR partitioned disk with a system partition marked as active. CSM mode also does not support secure booting.
The issue of the install.wim file contained in some Windows 10 ISO files being >4 GB must be handled in some way in order to maintain the ability to boot from a FAT32 partition, especially on USB flash drives, if you want to maintain compatibility with most computers booting in UEFI mode.
Microsoft has further complicated the issue by only setting up the target disk to match the boot method the installation media was booted in. If your USB flash drive is formatted as NTFS, and your UEFI computer requires you to boot it in CSM mode, then normal Windows installation will partition the target disk as MBR with an NTFS system partition marked as active, which would require you to also boot the resulting installation in CSM mode. The way to get around that would be to use Shift + F10 to open a command prompt (after booting from the USB flash drive or DVD). At the command prompt you could use diskpart to partition the target disk using GPT. Create a FAT32 system partition and an NTFS boot partition on it. Use dism /apply-image command to apply the Windows image to the boot partition and use the bcdboot command to write the BCD to the FAT32 system partition.
And one last note: GPT is NOT required to boot in UEFI mode, as some people may mistakenly believe.
I just tested. My Dell Inspiron 7773 laptop will not even show an NTFS USB flash drive in the list of available devices to boot in UEFI mode. It will boot it in CSM mode.
So is my laptop. A 17" fancy Etch-A-Sketch because I can fold the screen completely to the backside of the keyboard and use it as a tablet.
It took me less than 3 minutes to run the diskpart commands to clean the USB flash drive, create a primary partition, format quick as NTFS, mount the ISO file and copy and paste the contents of the ISO to the flash drive.
Last edited by NavyLCDR; 25 Nov 2020 at 10:04.
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