BRANCH: CENTRE FOR e-INNOVATION

CHIEF DIRECTORATE: DGITO

Oliver.cloete@westerncape.gov.za
tel: +27 21 900 7122
Schools IT Evaluation Unit, Room F1, Block C
WCED Building, New Nooiensfontein Rd, Kuils River, 7580

Creating a USB Windows Installation flash drive

To create a bootable USB installation key for your installation do the following:

1. Login to your machine as an Administrator or have administrator access when running Rufus
2. Download rufus-3.5.exe to your machine
3. Make sure that a 8GB minimum size USB Key that can be formatted is connected to your machine.
a. Run Rufus by double clicking on the downloaded file. Rufus requires an account with admin
access in order to make the necessary changes to hardware. The inserted memory stick will
detect the drive almost immediately. Since Rufus can handle various partition schemes and file
structures, ensure that the correct settings are set that match the bootable drive you're going to
build

b. Click the optical drive button next to the Create a bootable disk using checkbox, and you'll be
prompted to search for the ISO image to use.

c. When using ISO images, Rufus will automatically modify the settings to best match it.
i. Note: for Machines procured prior to 2015 use the “MBR Partition Scheme…” under the
“Partition Scheme and Target system Type”. Make sure your BIOS is set to LEGACY Boot,
otherwise the installation will not work. For machines procured post 2015, use the “GPT
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 Partition Scheme” and make sure the machine BIOS is set to UEFI booting, otherwise the
USB key will not work. Please also note that for GPT partition schemes the “File System”
option must be set to FAT32 and not NTFS after the image to create has been selected.
d. Once everything is set correctly, click the Start button to begin the process. You'll be prompted
with a warning that all data on the UFD will be destroyed. Click OK to proceed with the creation
process.

e. Depending on the ISO image size, the process may take several minutes to complete. For the
log readout of each step in the process, click the Log button to open a side window and save
the output details.

f. The longest part of the entire process is the file copy portion. This is typically the last step and
varies depending on file size/number of files to copy
g. When complete, double-check the external drive to verify the files were copied over

With the process completed, simply eject the UFD, insert it into the device you wish to install the OS on, and
boot as you normally would.

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