Microsoft has streamlined the way we download and set up media with Windows 10, which may actually be confusing for some people. Since modern systems use the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) instead of the Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) – a replacement for the standard BIOS – the Windows USB/DVD Download Tool is becoming redundant.
When you attempt to install Windows 10 using bootable media, you may encounter issues where the system does not recognize the new media or returns errors such as ‘Installation failed due to GUID Partition Table.’
Here are two simple ways to create bootable media on Windows 10.
Using the Microsoft Media Creation Tool.
You can use the official Microsoft method to install Windows; head over to this website (here). Once you are on the website, click on the “Download Tool Now” option. You don’t have to worry about the versions here, as it will download the latest version of Windows for you automatically. After the download is complete, go ahead and open the downloaded file. It should take a while to download the latest available Windows version, but then you can safely proceed to install Windows without any problems. Just make sure that you have a minimum of 8GB of USB storage to create the media. This method is official and doesn’t provide much freedom over the Windows version you have downloaded. However, you can use the method shown below by using Rufus to flash the Windows 10 image file to a flash drive and then using that to install Windows.
Using Rufus to Install Windows.
Now, with this method, you will need to prepare some things first. Since this is a third-party tool, it won’t download the ISO file for you. You will need to obtain it manually by following the steps below. You don’t have to worry about the ISO file, as it is going to be 100% official.
First of all, head over to this website (here). Now, once you are on that website, you will have to press the following set of keys: “CTRL + SHIFT + I.” Once you do that, it should open the Inspect Element tool. Now, click on the Mobile option to emulate the mobile version of this website, and then reload the page.
Once the page reloads, the website should display the mobile version. Now, simply select ‘Windows 10’, then choose your language and click ‘Confirm‘. The next page should load, asking you which architecture of Windows you would like to download. Simply select the appropriate one for your needs and begin downloading the ISO.
Note: The links should only be valid for 24 hours, so make sure to download the ISO before they expire.
Now, you will have to load this ISO file onto your flash drive. You will need a program called Rufus, which is a small utility that creates bootable media for MBR and GPT partitions. You can obtain Rufus from this link (here).
- After Rufus and the ISO have been downloaded, open Rufus and select the device (USB) that should be used as your bootable media.
- Then, choose the GPT partition scheme for UEFI, leave the File System & Cluster Size at default settings, and label the drive.
- Check ‘Create a bootable disk’ and ensure that the ‘ISO Image’ is selected from the drop-down menu. Use the small drive icon to locate and choose the image.
- Next, choose “Start” and wait for Rufus to properly load the ISO onto your USB flash drive.
