Best Free 5 Software to Create Bootable USB [Review]

Are you looking for a reliable bootable USB drive creator to create a bootable USB drive for Windows? We have carefully reviewed the bootable USB tools and compiled the top 5 software to create bootable USB drives for you. Read on and find the one that suits you best.

About bootable USB drive

A bootable USB device is a USB device that can be used to start a computer. It is very useful when we need to reinstall or fix the existing problem of Windows operating system. Creating a bootable USB drive has many advantages. It's much faster than using an installation disc and more convenient than having to download an ISO file every time.

A bootable USB drive has many uses and benefits:

• Windows installation: If you want to install Windows from a bootable USB drive, you need a bootable USB drive creator to create the bootable USB drive.
• Boot Windows Image: A bootable USB drive can help boot the entire Windows operating system.
• System repair: If you want to repair your existing Windows installation, you can use a bootable USB drive to boot into the recovery environment and fix the problem.
• Faster speed: Booting from a USB drive is faster than an optical disc.
• Conveniently portable: It is more convenient to carry a USB drive than an optical disc.

How to Choose a Good USB Bootable Software

There are many bootable USB drive creation tools available in the market. Choosing the right product can be quite confusing, especially if you don't know what to look for.

Here are some factors to consider when choosing a USB bootable tool:

• Compatible with your PC: The bootable USB drive creator should be compatible with all versions of Windows. In this case, you don't have to worry about compatibility issues.
• Easy to Use: The bootable USB drive creator should be easy to use. Even if you are not tech-savvy, you can easily get along with it.
• Offer Various Features: The bootable USB drive creator should have all the features you need. For example, if you want to create a bootable USB drive for Windows 10, the bootable USB drive creator should have that option.
• Offer 24/7 technical support: The bootable USB drive creator should have good customer support that will solve any problems for you.

Top 5 Best Bootable USB Drivers

Based on the above criteria, we have tested and rated more than 10 bootable USB drivers based on their compatibility, difficulty in using, features, speed in creating a bootable USB, etc. Finally, we have selected and compiled your top five bootable USB drivers.

1. MyRecover

When faced with a rebootable PC or laptop, the solution is to download a bootable data recovery software. By creating a bootable USB, CD or DVD with a robust data recovery tool, you can initialize the faulty computer from that special media.

After that, the data recovery software will work in that environment, which will make it easier to recover all the files from the failed drive.

Specially designed for this purpose, MyRecover facilitates the creation of a bootable hard drive, thus providing an effective solution to this common problem.

Pros

• Create bootable USB/CD/DVD drives for Windows
• Bootable WinPE disk
• Offer advanced scanning algorithm (Quick Scan & Deep Scan) to meet users' needs.
• Support over 200 types of file formats.
• Support for Windows 11, 10, 8, 7 or Windows Server.
• Be compatible with BTFS, FAT32, exFAT and ReFS file systems.

Cons:

• Cannot support Mac and Linux operating systems.

Here is a step-by-step guide on how to create a Windows 11 bootable USB from ISO using MyRecover.

Step 1. Download and install MyRecover

Launch MyRecover and click "Crashed PC Recovery". Connect a large enough USB device.

Step 2. Choose a path to run

Select the USB device to create the bootable disk according to your needs and click "Execute".

Tip: There are three ways you can create a Windows PE based bootable disk.

• USB boot device: Create a bootable USB.
• Export ISO file: Use this method to create a bootable ISO file. After exporting the ISO, you need to use a third-party burning program to burn it. Or you can use the ISO to boot some virtual machines or burn it to other drives.
• Burn to CD/DVD: Create a bootable CD/DVD.

Step 3. Format the USB drive

When you select the method, an information window will appear. You will be asked to format the USB drive. Click on “Yes” to proceed with creating bootable media as you have already backed up the files earlier.

Step 4. Create a bootable USB drive

It will start creating a Windows 11 bootable USB from ISO. The download time will depend on your operating system and internet speed.

Step 5. Complete the process

Once the process is completed, you will see a success message. You will also be informed about the steps to boot from a bootable media.

2. Rufus

Rufus is one of the most popular Windows boot USB tool creators as it provides a solution without downloading any software. Works on Windows and Linux, automatically detects the USB drive and creates a bootable drive with ISO, MSDOS and DD images. It supports multiple file systems like FAT, FAT32, UDF, NTFS, etc.

But unlike other software, using this tool requires you to have special knowledge about the tool and computer technology. So, it is not that beginner-friendly.

Unfortunately, Rufus is only supported on Windows and the developer has not ported it to Linux yet. If you are looking for an alternative that works on Linux, read on.

3. Balena Etcher

Developed and maintained by the Balena team, Balena Etcher is a free and open-source tool for writing image files like .img and .iso to USB drives and creating live bootable USB sticks and SD cards.

Etcher is a cross-platform tool and can be downloaded on Windows, macOS, and Linux (both 32-bit and 64-bit). It offers a very elegant yet simple user interface that allows for a smooth experience while writing your image files.

4. UUByte ISO Editor

UUByte ISO Editor is another pendrive operating system boot software to create a bootable USB or DVD from a Windows ISO image on Windows 10 and macOS Big Sur. Thanks to its fast writing speed, you can create a bootable Windows USB or DVD in a few minutes. It also comes with an ISO extractor that allows you to extract files from bootable ISO images and burn them to bootable USB drives or DVDs.

5. Ventoy

Ventoy is another tool that allows you to create not only a regular bootable USB media but also a multiboot USB drive with multiple operating system options.

In fact, Ventoy eliminates the need to format your USB drive over and over again. Just copy the ISO file to your pendrive and boot it. You can copy multiple ISO files at once and Ventoy provides a boot menu where you can choose which image to boot from. Ventoy supports over 420 ISO files.

Final Thoughts

For computer technicians and advanced users, creating a bootable USB drive is necessary. It comes in handy when you are installing a new operating system or troubleshooting the current one.

And a great software to create bootable USBcan help you solve this problem with ease. Here is a summary of our findings after testing and comparing the top five tools to create bootable USB drives for Windows.