Bootable USB - Rufus, Ventoy and Balena Etcher

PCVGS

Bootable USB's. Easy to do and mandatory for installing an operating system or running a live environment in order to fix any issues with your system. This thread is to go over the 3 main methods of creating a bootable USB in order to load .iso files.

Rufus
Balena Etcher
Ventoy

Let's go over them.

PCVGS

Method 1: Rufus

Rufus is quite popular. This one is the standard in making a bootable ISO for your USB. It also has some pretty strong features built in; for instance it can remove the network account and create a local account for you on a Windows 11 image. Even remove a lot of the telemetry stuff within Windows 11. As well, it gives you the option to make partition scheme either GPT or MBR which allows you to push Windows 11 for more legacy systems if in MBR mode.

Steps:

open up a browser and go to Rufus.ie
Scroll down page till you get to Download
Choose which one you will want (portable or standard is fine)
Open up application
Verify the USB you are gonna use. Choose under "Device".

NOTE: You will end up wiping the drive entirely. So make sure nothing important is on that USB.

Then go to Select button and choose the ISO you will use
Verify the rest of the data like Partition scheme and Target System.
Hit Start
- There will be some message pop ups, for Windows 11 will ask about local account rather than online and removal of telemetry data stuff. Select which ones you want to apply or use.
Start it
Once finished, check "This PC" under File Explorer to verify the drive

PCVGS

Method 2: Balena Etcher

While I do not use this program as much, its rather easy to use. Some distros in Linux (GameOS by Playtron for instance) will only work with Balena Etcher.

Steps:

Download Balena Etcher (If on Linux, check your Package manager. Octopi for CachyOS/Arch)

https://etcher.balena.io/

Run it
Select ISO you want to make bootable USB of
Select USB (If on Linux, you will have to click mount first before use)
Start it and let it do its job.
Once complete, verify USB drive if files are there.

PCVGS

Method 3: Ventoy

This is by far the best method. You can easily swap ISO files around and have multiple images on the drive so if you need to install different OS' or even run something like Hirens Boot CD to diagnose someones PC, this is by far the best method.

Steps:

Go to ventoy.net in you web browser
Downloads tab > select either Windows zip file or the tar.gz if you are on Linux

PCVGS

For Windows Users:

Before starting, be aware that installing Ventoy will delete all data from the USB drive you select [00:59].

Download Ventoy:

Go to the Ventoy website and find the Downloads section [01:13].

Locate and download the Windows zip file (e.g., ventoy-x.x.xx-windows.zip) [01:49].

Run the Installer:

Extract the contents of the downloaded zip file [02:13].

Find and run the file named Ventoy2Disk [02:26].

Select Drive and Install:

In the application window, ensure the correct USB drive is selected under the "Device" dropdown [02:30].

Click Install [02:41].

Confirm twice that you are sure you want to proceed and that you understand all data on the drive will be lost [02:46].

Once finished, Ventoy will have created two partitions on the USB drive: one with the Ventoy bootloader and an empty partition for your ISO files [02:59].

PCVGS

For Linux Users:

The video provides a detailed, step-by-step guide on how to install the Ventoy USB multiboot tool on a Linux system using its graphical user interface (GUI). The process is essentially the same across the different distributions shown (Linux Mint, Arch Linux, Ubuntu, Fedora, and Debian).

Here is the general procedure broken down into steps:

Step 1: Download the Ventoy Linux Package
Search for "Ventoy" in your browser.

Navigate to the official Ventoy download page.

Download the Linux version (a compressed .tar.gz file) to your computer.

Step 2: Extract and Prepare the Files
Create a new folder (e.g., ventoy or software) in your Documents folder.

Move the downloaded Ventoy .tar.gz file into this new folder.

Extract the contents of the file in the new folder.

Step 3: Run the Ventoy GUI Installer
Open the extracted Ventoy folder.

Find the executable file named ventoy_gui_x86_x64.

Open this file. You will be prompted for your root password as administrative privileges are required to modify a USB drive.

Step 4: Install Ventoy to the USB Drive
Once the Ventoy graphical user interface (GUI) opens, insert the USB drive you want to use.

If the drive doesn't appear, press the Refresh button.

Select your USB drive from the menu.

Check any desired settings, and then press Install.

Confirm the installation.

Warning: This process will delete all existing data on the USB drive.

After installation, your USB drive will have two partitions, the primary one being labeled ventoy.

Step 5: Copy Your ISO Images
If needed, search for and download the desired ISO file(s) (e.g., an Arch Linux or Ubuntu ISO).

Copy the ISO image file(s) directly onto the main ventoy partition of your USB drive (you can use drag-and-drop or copy-paste).

Step 6: Test the Multiboot Drive
Restart your computer.

Access your computer's boot menu (BIOS/UEFI) and select the Ventoy USB drive to boot from it.

The Ventoy menu will appear, listing all the ISO files you copied.

Select the desired operating system to start its live environment or installation process.