Though making USB Flash Drive bootable is simple but there are still few readers who have been asking queries on the same and mostly to know which tool to be used to make the USB Flash drive bootable. Their concerns are mostly because of the virus and malware it contains in such downloaded tools. In first place, we would never require any external tools to make USB Drive bootable until and unless you have access to Windows Command Prompt. I personally use the windows command prompt to make my flash drive bootable and not by any third-party software or tool. To make USB Drive bootable, we will use Windows feature called Diskpart in Command Prompt. The below method will help you to boot any operating system using your USB drive.
However, If you are a kind of lazy person and want this to work just like any software or tool automatically, we have created a script file that will automatically perform the command prompt task to make your Flash Drive Bootable.
Method 1: DiskPart via Command Prompt
1. Press Windows key + R to open Run Dialog box, type “CMD” and press Enter.
2. In Command Prompt, type “Diskpart” and Press Enter (User Account Control dialog will popup, just click on “yes” button to allow)
3. Type “list disk” to see all HDD/USB disk drives that are connected to your system. You should also see your USB drive in the list, make a note of the Disk number for your USB Drive.
For e.g.: In my case, I want to make my USB Drive of 15GB bootable and it is listed as Disk 1.’
4. Type “select disk #”, replace # with your disk number for your USB Drive.
For e.g.: Select Disk 1
5. Type “clean” and press Enter.
6. Type “create partition primary” and press Enter.
7. Type “select partition 1” and once partition 1 is selected, type “active” and press Enter.
8. Now type “format fs=fat32 quick” and press Enter. This will format your USB Drive in FAT32 file system. I prefer using the quick format option instead of waiting for long to get it formatted.
9. On Successfully completing the format, Type “assign” to give your USB drive a letter.
10. Congratulation, now you have a bootable USB Drive; however, it’s not completed yet. You require Operating System in your USB drive to boot. Just copy entire content of OS to your Bootable USB Drive.
You are now all set to boot your OS using your USB Drive.
Method 2: DiskPart via Script
If you are too lazy to go through all those command prompt steps listed above, then try using this USB bootable script. This script will automatically perform above 9 steps to make it USB Bootable.
1. Download and Run USB Bootable Script.
2. Enter the Disk ID for which USB drive needs to be bootable.
3. Once USB Drive becomes bootable, copy the entire content of Operating system files and folder to your Bootable USB Drive.
Now your USB Drive is bootable and can be used to boot any operating systems.