Best Bootable USB Software for Windows/Mac
Best Bootable USB Software: Are you someone that installs or…
Best Bootable USB Software: Are you someone that installs or reinstalls operating systems, be it windows or iOS? Gone are the days where if you wish to create a rescue disk or install the operating system, there was no option other than burning the OS into a DVD or CD.
This entire process is now considered time-consuming, inconvenient, and cumbersome. Not just that, most of the manufacturers are now approaching to bury the DVD/CD writer.
Fortunately, we now have USB flash drives that do the job easily. Another advantage of using USB flash drives is that you can reuse it by formatting the drive and store something else, unlike CD/DVD.
To make a USB bootable you will have to use bootable software. To make it easy for you all we will share the top 10 best Bootable USB software for both Windows and Mac.
How to Create a Bootable USB from an ISO file
Installing an OS is now simpler than ever. For this, all you need to do is burn the ISO to a USB Flash drive with the help of bootable software. Next, restart your computer to change the boot order from USB.
After changing the boot order, follow the instructions on your screen and you are good to go. Once your work is completed, you can format the drive and use it as a regular USB flash drive.
Top 10 Best Bootable USB Software for Windows/Mac
Below, we have given a list of top 10 best Bootable USB Software for Windows and Mac in no particular order
1. Rufus (Windows)
Rufus is undoubtedly the best bootable usb software when it comes to creating a bootable USB drive in Windows. No wonder why it is on the top in our list of best bootable USB software. It is free, open-source bootable software and is easy to operate.
Apart from creating a bootable USB for different operating systems, you can also use it to flash a BIOS, firmware from DOS, and run low-level utilities.
In comparison to other bootable software, this is undeniably the fastest in creating a bootable USB drive. When creating a bootable windows drive, you will notice that Rufus provides you with different advanced options such as creating a partition scheme file system and also cluster size.
These options are going to come in handy while creating BIOS firmware or other low-level utility.
Rufus allows you to check the USB flash drive for any bad blocks. For this, all you need to do is select the checkbox.
Next, go to “check device for bad blocks” under the format option. The software might take time depending on the drive speed, size, and number of passes.
If you are looking for a fast and free bootable USB creator, then Rufus is something you need to check out.
Despite its small size, Rufus provides everything you are looking for. The best thing about this bootable software is that it does not require any installations and can run directly from a portable exe file.
Features include:
- Free and open-source
- Multiple OS & BIOS Support
- customizable bootloader options like Bad-block detection, portable variant, etc.
- Supports various languages
2. Windows USB/DVD Tool (Windows)
Windows USB/DVD tool is an official bootable USB software tool for windows by windows. This bootable software allows you to create both bootable USB and also DVD drives.
This tool is easy to use. All you need to do is insert the USB drive first, select the ISO and click the Next option. The software will create the bootable USB flash drive within minutes, after the initial format.
However, it lacks options when it comes to customizing the bootable USB drives, unlike Rufus. For example, you cannot check for bad blocks or change the file/partition scheme or create an extended level. If you are okay with the lack of advanced options, go for this one.
Features include:
- Windows only
- Supports numerous languages
3. Universal USB Installer (Windows)
As its name suggests, Universal USB Installer allows you to create any kind of Bootable USB media.
It is easy to use and can create any type of bootable USB media such as special antivirus rescue drives, Linux and Windows, penetration testing drive or other low-level bootable drives.
The interface is easy to understand. All you have to do is select the operating system from the drop-down menu. Next, select the ISO file, and click on install. It will create bootable media with appropriate settings as per the selection.
Additionally, the software will handle all the processes of the boot partition, making directories, and more.
Another beneficial feature of this software is that it allows creating USB bootable devices with persistence storage.
If you do not know what persistence storage is, it allows you to backup, store and access persistence data like application backups, bookmarks, system settings, etc., directly on your bootable USB media.
You can select the amount of persistence in storage space while creating the bootable USB drive. But, this feature is available for selected Linux distributions only.
Features include:
- Supports multiple operating systems
- customizable bootloader options like persistent storage to view system settings, backup, multi-boot support, bad-blocks check, etc.
4. Etcher (Windows/Mac)
Etcher is probably the newest bootable USB software in our list of best USB bootable software for windows/Mac. Not only that is also one of the easiest in this list.
This tool was mainly built to remove the complexity of selecting multiple options and settings in different operating-systems.
All you need to do is a few clicks to convert our USB drive or SD card into a bootable drive. It supports Windows, Linux based OS and also macOS.
Etcher is also available with a Pro variant and is targeted towards enterprises where 100+ drives require to be flashed simultaneously.
The is an open-source app. For any further information, you can head to GitHub repo. Plans of Etcher include support for persistent storage allowing live SD or USB flash drive to be used as a hard drive.
Features include:
- Supports multiple OS
- Multi-write support
- Easy to use
5. RMPrepUSB (Windows)
RMPrepUSB is one of the best bootable USB software available. If you want a highly personalized and feature-rich bootable USB creator, then RMPrepUSB is what you are looking for.
You can create almost any type of bootable media with it. there are options for testing, partition, support and multiple image formats, customize bootloader, file system, quick format, and QEMU Emulator.
With the help of this bootable software, you can quickly boot into a bootable USB flash drive using QEMU Emulator right on your Windows without rebooting the system.
It comes in handy at times when you want to check if the bootable USB has been created accurately.
Moreover, you can install various bootloaders such as grub4dos, syslinux, bootmbr, WEE and more.
As good as this feature-rich tool may sound, it is not easy to use in comparison to the other mentioned tools.
It has a steep learning curve and is designed for advanced users. The good news is the official website offer a ton of detailed and handy guidelines for your assistance.
Features include:
- Supports multiple operating systems
- multi-boot drives
- personalized bootloader options, file system options, and QEMU Emulator.
6. YUMI – Multiboot USB Creator (Windows)
YUMI is developed by the creators of the Universal USB Installer. Universal USB Installer is developed to create regular bootable drives. On the other hand, YUMI is designed to create multiboot USB drives.
Multiboot USB drives, as in, you can install multiple operating systems, antivirus tools, firmware, and other utilities in a single USB flash drive limited only by the size of your USB drive.
You can create persistence storage similar to the Universal USB installer to back up necessary files between reboots.
Features include:
- Supports multiple OS & Firmware
- multi-boot support
- customizable bootloader options, persistent storage to view system settings, backup, etc.
7. WinSetUpFromUSB (Windows)
WinSetUpFromUSB is yet another Windows-only feature-rich bootable media creator. The tool is specially developed to create bootable Windows drive. But, you can also create bootable Linux distributions using SysLinux or IsoLinux.
WinSetUpFromUSB is capable of creating bootable media for WinBuilder, BartPE, UBCD4Win, WinPE, etc.
Despite its simple user interface, this bootable media creator has advanced options. Furthermore, it can also test bootable media in QEMU emulator along with several other useful tools like RMPrepUSB, Bootice, 7-Zip, and more.
Features include:
- Supports multiple OS & Firmware
- multi-boot support
- customizable bootloader options, live-boot in QEMU emulator, etc.
8. UNetBootin (Windows/Mac)
UNetBootin is yet another free Bootable USB Software that has a stack of predefined distributions and system utilities. It is available for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux with a separate file for each operating system.
This tool is specifically developed to create bootable Live USB drives for Fedora, Ubuntu, and other Linux distributions.
UNetBootin allows you to create bootable media by using the ISO file. It also allows you to download the Linux distribution directly from its user interface.
This USB bootable software is perfect for users who do not require any advanced options. If you are looking for an easy to use tool, then this is the best USB bootable software for you.
Features include:
- Bootable media for Ubuntu
- can download ISO within the app.
9. DiskMaker X (Mac)
Diskmaker formerly known as lion disk maker is built with AppleScript. It can be used with several versions of OS X/macOS to build a bootable USB drive from the OS X/macOS installer program.
Right after you launch the application, it tries to find the install program with spotlight and proposes to build a bootable install disk.
You can build an OS X/Mac OS installer in just a few clicks easily. You can install or fully re-install the OS on the freshly formatted drive.
You can also install in multiple macs without having to re-download the entire installer program.
10. EaseUS (Windows/Mac)
EaseUS is bootable USB software that integrates all the bootable USB and ISO images allowing its users to create portable Windows 7/8/10.
You do not have to be worrisome in case of any accidental failures, crashes and any other similar disasters that cause a complete shutdown as it will keep your mind at ease.
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Conclusion
We hope this article has been helpful to you. In this article, we have gathered a list of some of the Best Bootable USB software for Windows/Mac that will help you create a bootable USB drive. If you are a beginner, then Etcher is a good option.
If you are a windows user, then go for Rufus or Windows USB/DVD tool without any second thoughts. YUMI or Universal USB Installer is a good option for other OS.
If you have any queries regarding this article, let us know in the comment section. If you know other better USB bootable software that we have missed out on, let us know in the comment box.
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