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Installing Windows 11 from an ISO Image with Rufus
Rufus is a popular tool for creating and managing bootable USB drives. It’s widely used by users to install operating systems, including Windows 11, on new computers without needing the original installation media (like a physical CD or DVD). In this article, we’ll guide you through the steps to use Rufus to create a bootable installation USB drive for your Windows 11 download.
Prerequisites
- Rufus software installed on your computer
- A blank USB drive with at least 4GB of free space (minimum 8GB recommended)
- Your downloaded Windows 11 ISO file
Step-by-Step Instructions
- Open Rufus and Connect the USB Drive: Launch Rufus from your computer’s desktop, and click on “Create a bootable disk using” or “Create a bootable USB drive.” Select the blank USB drive as the device where you want to install Windows 11.
- Choose the USB Drive Mode: In the Rufus interface, select the “USB Drive (Normal)” mode, which creates a standard bootable USB drive with a normal file system.
To change the mode, click on the dropdown menu and select “Use this as a bootable USB drive.” The option to use “USB Flash Drive” won’t work if you’ve selected a smaller USB device.
- Select Your Windows 11 ISO: In the Rufus interface, navigate to your downloaded Windows 11 ISO file by clicking on the browse button (or press Ctrl + N) and selecting it from your computer’s file explorer.
- Choose the Partition Scheme: You’ll be presented with several partition schemes options for the USB drive. Select “Quickpartitions” as the default scheme, which creates four primary partitions: one for Windows 11, a C: partition, an E: partition, and a temporary partition. This is suitable for most users.
- Configure Disk Quality: Rufus will now prompt you to configure the disk quality settings. You can adjust the minimum and maximum size of each partition as needed, but be aware that larger partitions consume more storage space.
- Start Creating the USB Drive: Once all settings are configured, click on “Start” to create the bootable USB drive. Rufus will begin creating a Windows 11 installation file from your downloaded ISO and compressing it into a standard format suitable for booting.
Verification and Installation
- Verify the USB Drive: After completion, go back to Rufus and select the created bootable USB drive by clicking on it in the list. You’ll see that the label has changed to “Windows 11 – Rufus”. This confirms that your Windows 11 installation is now on a bootable USB drive.
Installing Windows 11
- Boot from the USB Drive: To install Windows 11, you need to start the computer with the bootable USB drive as the primary boot device. You can do this by going to the Start menu and searching for “Disk” followed by typing in ” Rufus”. Alternatively, use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + R.
Once the Windows 11 installation process starts, follow the on-screen instructions to complete the installation. Select your language, time zone, and other settings as needed, then accept the terms of service agreement.
- Complete Installation: Once the installation is complete, you’ll be prompted to restart your computer. Follow the on-screen instructions to install Windows 11, and when finished, your new PC should now have the latest version of Windows 11 installed.
Congratulations! You’ve successfully installed Windows 11 from an ISO image using Rufus.
