Technologies9: How to Create a Bootable USB drive and Install Windows 10 on Your System

Create a Bootable USB drive:

To create a bootable USB drive manually, we will use the Command Prompt as a Windows default program. Here are step by step to create a bootable USB drive as the Windows installation media.  To create a bootable USB drive as a Windows installation media, we require at least 4 GB for minimum capacity. Larger capacity is better.

Step 1: Using DISKPART command

Create a Bootable USB drive

1. Insert your USB flash drive to your running computer. As the first step, we need to run Command Prompt as administrator. To do this, we need to find cmd by typing 'cmd' in the search box on Windows Start Menu. After search result for 'cmd' appears, right click on it and select "Run as administrator".
2. Type 'diskpart' on Command Prompt (without quotes) and hit Enter. Wait for a while until the DISKPART program run.
3. Type 'list disk' to view active disks on your computer and hit Enter. There would be seen that the active disks shown as Disk 0 for hard drive and Disk 1 for your USB flashdrive with its total capacity.
4. Type 'select disk 1' to determine that disk 1 would be processed in the next step then hit Enter.
5. Type 'clean' and hit Enter to remove all of data in the drive.
6. Type 'create partition primary' and hit Enter. Creating a primary partition and further recognized by Windows as 'partition 1'.
7. Type 'select partition 1' an hit Enter. Choosing the 'partition 1' for setting up it as an active partition.
8. Type 'active' and hit Enter. Activating current partition.
9. Type 'format fs=ntfs quick' and hit Enter. Formatting current partition as NTFS file system quickly.
10. Type 'exit' and hit Enter. Leaving DISKPART program but don't close the Command Prompt instead. We would still need it for next process.

Create a Bootable USB drive

Install Windows 10 on your System

Step 1: Using your primary computer download the Windows 10 Technical review. You'll need to click through the handful of "Get Started" and "Join Now" screens until you land at the download page, then scroll down and choose the appropriate language and version (32- or 64-bit).

Step 2: While that ISO file is downloading, grab the aforementioned Rufus utility. It's portable, meaning it doesn't require installation.

Step 3: Run Rufus, then insert your flash drive, making sure it doesn't contain any important data. (It's about to get wiped.) Rufus should automatically detect the drive and list it in the Device field.

Step 4: Notice the check box marked, "Create a bootable disk using." Click the drive icon at the far right, then navigate to wherever you saved the Windows 10 ISO file. Select it, and then click Start. (All the other default settings in Rufus should be fine.)

Step 5: This will take some time, perhaps as long as 20-30 minutes. Don't be alarmed (or confused) if an Explorer window appears for the flash drive; just leave it alone until Rufus reports "DONE." Then you can close the program and drive window and remove the drive.

Step 6: Now it's time for the old PC. Plug the flash drive into a USB port, then power up the system. Most likely, it won't be configured to boot from an external drive by default, so you may need to jump into a startup menu or the BIOS during the POST. Ultimately, you need to force the machine to boot from the flash drive. Once you've done that, reboot, then follow the Windows installation instructions.

Create a Bootable USB drive