I'm trying to flash a Windows ISO to a removable drive because I'm working with an Intel Optane drive that seems to be failing. I booted into a Fedora live session, but it doesn't recognize the drive and I really need to boot into Windows without risking data loss. I heard Balena Etcher is a good option, but then I was told to use WoeUSB, which hasn't seen updates in a while. I've also heard some buzz about Ventoy being a suitable alternative, primarily for booting multiple images from one drive. Can anyone help clarify the best option for me? I'm keen to stick with Linux but I'm not very experienced with it yet.
4 Answers
Ventoy or Rufus are great choices! I’d lean more towards Ventoy since it simplifies the process and allows for multiple images. It’s pretty reliable.
In my experience, WoeUSB-NG works perfectly for creating Windows USBs on Linux. I use it all the time when switching back to Windows from any distro.
WoeUSB is actually replaced by WoeUSB-NG now, but development on it seems a bit stagnant. If you have an Optane/RST drive, make sure it's set to AHCI mode in the firmware, or Linux won't see it. Be cautious though, BalenaEtcher isn’t the best for creating a bootable Windows USB; it typically fails on many systems. The best approach is to use a Windows machine with the official Microsoft Media Creation Tool if possible. However, Ventoy can definitely boot a Windows ISO from a USB and allows you to have multiple ISOs on one drive, so that might be a great solution for you!
I’ve been using Ventoy exclusively, and it works well with Windows ISOs. You just prepare a USB stick, copy your ISOs to it, and you can choose which one to boot when you start up. If the original Windows ISO doesn't suit your needs, there are other WinPE-based live distros you can try, like the one from Sergei Strelec.
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