I’m starting on a series of articles to explain the
process of installing / reinstalling Windows Operating Systems. In order to
install / re-install your Windows OS, you have to have a bootable media, either
a DVD or a USB thumb drive.
This article is written on the assumption that you have access to a legitimate Windows OS ISO to use to create the installation media. An ISO is a file archive that software developers use to distribute their products. An ISO is a single archive file that will normally contain the entire installation package for a particular program. If you’re using a virtual machine in Oracle VirtualBox or VMware, you can simply mount the ISO in the VM’s optical drive; however, to install the OS on a physical computer, you have to extract the package to a bootable CD/DVD or a USB thumb drive.
One of the easiest ways to create a bootable optical disc is to use the Windows Disc Image Burner tool.
This article is written on the assumption that you have access to a legitimate Windows OS ISO to use to create the installation media. An ISO is a file archive that software developers use to distribute their products. An ISO is a single archive file that will normally contain the entire installation package for a particular program. If you’re using a virtual machine in Oracle VirtualBox or VMware, you can simply mount the ISO in the VM’s optical drive; however, to install the OS on a physical computer, you have to extract the package to a bootable CD/DVD or a USB thumb drive.
One of the easiest ways to create a bootable optical disc is to use the Windows Disc Image Burner tool.
- Insert a blank disc into your optical drive.
- Open Windows Explorer and navigate to the folder where the ISO is stored.
- Right click on the ISO file and then click on “Burn disk image”.
- Windows Disc Image Burner should recognize the blank CD/DVD in your optical drive. If not, select the correct drive from the drop down menu.
- Check the box next to “Verify disc after burning”, if you like.
- Click on “Burn” to start the image burning process.
You will be notified of successful (or unsuccessful)
completion.
There are freeware tools like MagicISO and PowerISO that offer additional options, but you may have to pay a nominal fee to access all the features of the licensed version. There are tutorials on the download sites.
Creating a bootable USB thumb drive is more complicated, so I use a tool called Rufus. I’ve been using it for several years and have never run into any issues. Rufus is a single executable file that does not need to be installed. You can download it straight to your Windows desktop and double-click it to run it.
There are freeware tools like MagicISO and PowerISO that offer additional options, but you may have to pay a nominal fee to access all the features of the licensed version. There are tutorials on the download sites.
Creating a bootable USB thumb drive is more complicated, so I use a tool called Rufus. I’ve been using it for several years and have never run into any issues. Rufus is a single executable file that does not need to be installed. You can download it straight to your Windows desktop and double-click it to run it.
- Insert your USB thumb drive.
- Launch Rufus.
- Rufus will see your USB device.
- The drop down menu will list additional devices as appropriate.
- Click on the icon for the optical drive (circled in read).
- Navigate to the location of the stored ISO and select the file.
- The “New volume label” will automatically fill in with the appropriate name.
- You will see the source ISO name at the bottom of the window (highlighted).
- Click “Start” to begin the process.
Rufus will create a bootable thumb drive with the OS installation package and notify you of successful completion (or give you an error message if it fails).
Once your media is ready, you can proceed with the installation.
As always, I'm open to questions and constructive comments. Your feedback is welcome.
