We all need to start from scratch sometimes and if you're building a new PC, chances are you'll need to learn how to make a bootable USB drive. This will enable you to boot your PC directly from a USB ...

Starting your Surface from a USB drive can be useful if you want to change firmware settings or Windows startup settings or if your Surface device does not turn on, start, boot, or wake from sleep.

PSA: for MOST use cases there is now a much easier solution. If your primary goal is just to download updates faster/not use up your limited data budget, and you have multiple Macs (otherwise why do ...

The process of downloading and installing a fresh copy of Windows 10 is pretty straightforward. But did you know that you also can run Windows right from a USB flash drive? Now it does sound like a ...

Rufus is an open-source program that creates bootable USB sticks for Windows installation and more. Compared to Microsoft’s Media Creation Tool, Rufus offers many more options for configuration setup.

Rufus is a free, portable utility that creates bootable USB flash drives from ISO files. As of 2026, the latest version is Rufus 4.13 — and it’s faster and more capable than ever, with built-in ...

Creating a bootable USB drive is a common task for installing or repairing operating systems, but verifying its bootability without restarting the computer can be challenging. Here are several methods ...

If you have to create a bootable USB media to perform a clean installation or an in-place upgrade of Windows 11, you usually have to use the Microsoft Media Creation Tool. Although the tool works as ...

Booting up your PC using USB drives is useful. It allows you to reinstall your Windows, deal with easy system restores, and more. But what if bootable USB is not detected in Windows 11/10? This can be ...

In last month's column, I described the hurdles that Mac OS X puts in your way when you try to create a bootable disc, especially a custom bootable CD, DVD or flash drive. I offered various solutions ...

While I understand the utility of a USB installer, it should be mentioned that macOS Internet recovery has been around since Lion. You can choose to install latest ...