This one catches a lot of people! What’s happening is actually pretty simple, see…
Linux ISOs are usually so-called “hybrid” images, meaning the ISO is also a valid disk image. That’s why you can
ddthem straight onto a USB stick and they just work.Windows ISOs are another story, they are not hybrid the way we want them, as they got old-school DVD layouts. Yes, they have both ISO9660 and UDF file system structures also called “hybrid”, but that’s just another type of the hybrid FS adding even more confusion. At the end of the day, if you simply
ddthem, the resulting USB stick will usually boot, but the installer won’t find any drives because the boot media is missing the proper partition table, boot code, and filesystem layout Windows expects from the “real” bootable disk image.
There’s another caveat, and it’s the fact that install.wim file inside newer Windows ISOs is often larger than 4GB in size. FAT32 can’t handle that, so you end up needing NTFS or a split WIM file. Tools like Rufus and WoeUSB handle this automatically, but a straight dd obviously does not…
How to do it right? Good question!
Linux
WoeUSB
https://github.com/WoeUSB/WoeUSB-ng
sudo woeusb --target-filesystem NTFS --device Win10.iso /dev/sdX
Ventoy
https://www.ventoy.net
You install Ventoy on the USB stick once, then just copy/paste ISOs to it, and no more re-flashing every time you want a different version. I’d personally go with Ventoy, but it’s just lazy me.
Windows
Rufus is kinda “de facto” standard here. You pick your ISO, you select that USB stick, click “Start”, and it does all the voodoo behind the screen. Rufus handles all the quirks automatically, no questions asked.
Bottom line is, dd works great for Linux ISOs, but not for Windows ones. Use WoeUSB, Ventoy, or Rufus, depending on what OS you run, and you’ll have an installer that boots cleanly and sees your disks, which is exactly what you want!
This is for all my fellow Linux users who removed windows but now are struggling because there is no way to create a Win11 Bootable USB .
https://nixaid.com/bootable-usb-windows-linux/
The Only way that worked after trying woeusb , 4 usb writes , dd command , Fedora writer , unpacking and copying the iso and ventoy.
Have Fun
[RESOLVED] How to make a bootable Windows 11 USB flash drive from linux - Linux - Framework Community
Boot Linux Mint from USB on Windows 11
How to create a bootable Windows 11 USB in Linux (Ubuntu) - NovaCustom Community
making a bootable windows usb from linux.
Videos
This one catches a lot of people! What’s happening is actually pretty simple, see…
Linux ISOs are usually so-called “hybrid” images, meaning the ISO is also a valid disk image. That’s why you can
ddthem straight onto a USB stick and they just work.Windows ISOs are another story, they are not hybrid the way we want them, as they got old-school DVD layouts. Yes, they have both ISO9660 and UDF file system structures also called “hybrid”, but that’s just another type of the hybrid FS adding even more confusion. At the end of the day, if you simply
ddthem, the resulting USB stick will usually boot, but the installer won’t find any drives because the boot media is missing the proper partition table, boot code, and filesystem layout Windows expects from the “real” bootable disk image.
There’s another caveat, and it’s the fact that install.wim file inside newer Windows ISOs is often larger than 4GB in size. FAT32 can’t handle that, so you end up needing NTFS or a split WIM file. Tools like Rufus and WoeUSB handle this automatically, but a straight dd obviously does not…
How to do it right? Good question!
Linux
WoeUSB
https://github.com/WoeUSB/WoeUSB-ng
sudo woeusb --target-filesystem NTFS --device Win10.iso /dev/sdX
Ventoy
https://www.ventoy.net
You install Ventoy on the USB stick once, then just copy/paste ISOs to it, and no more re-flashing every time you want a different version. I’d personally go with Ventoy, but it’s just lazy me.
Windows
Rufus is kinda “de facto” standard here. You pick your ISO, you select that USB stick, click “Start”, and it does all the voodoo behind the screen. Rufus handles all the quirks automatically, no questions asked.
Bottom line is, dd works great for Linux ISOs, but not for Windows ones. Use WoeUSB, Ventoy, or Rufus, depending on what OS you run, and you’ll have an installer that boots cleanly and sees your disks, which is exactly what you want!
Here the right way to make Windows installer USB flash drive on Linux:
- Using GParted or any other tool make the following on USB flash drive:
1.1. Create GPT partition table.
1.1 Create the first partition ~1Gb with fat32 file system with label "BOOT".
1.2 The second with NTFS file system with label "INSTALL".
Mount Windows ISO file.
Copy the content except "sources" directory from Windows ISO to "BOOT" partition. The size of the content has to fit to the partition.
Create "sources" directory on "BOOT" partition and copy boot.wim file to the "sources" directory.
Copy all content from Windows ISO to "INSTALL" partition.
That's all.
Hi, btc1955. I'm Robinson, and I’m happy to help you today.
The problem is related to how the Bios is configured and not with Windows 11, your bootable Linux Mint USB drive must have been created as a legacy device. As one of the requirements of Windows 11 is to enable the secure boot you will need to create a UEFI-Bootable Linux Mint USB Drive. You can see at this link how to create a UEFI-Bootable Linux Mint USB Drive.
https://www.tips-howto.com/create-uefi-bootable...
Then this UEFI-Bootable Linux Mint USB Drive should be shown as a boot option.
Note: This is a non-Microsoft website. The page appears to be providing accurate, safe information. Watch out for ads on the site that may advertise products frequently classified as a PUP (Potentially Unwanted Products). Thoroughly research any product advertised on the site before you decide to download and install it.
Thanks for your help. I'll try and let you know if it worked.
You might be able to use Hiren’s BootCD PE, which is basically a portable and bootable Windows environment:
Hiren’s BootCD PE (Preinstallation Environment) is a restored edition of Hiren’s BootCD based on Windows 11 PE x64. Given the absence of official updates after November 2012, the PE version is currently under development by the fans of Hiren’s BootCD. It features a curated selection of the best free tools while being tailored for new-age computers, supporting UEFI booting and requiring a minimum of 4 GB RAM.
Equipped with these invaluable tools, you can address various computer-related problems. Notably, it does not include any pirated software; instead, it exclusively contains free and legal software.
If your computer does not support a regular Windows 11 installation, it will likely boot with the Windows 11 PE version, as Windows PE versions have significantly lower hardware requirements. For instance, if your computer boots with the Windows 10 PE version, it is highly probable that it will also boot with the Windows 11 PE version.
Upon booting, the PE version attempts to install drivers for essential components such as graphics, sound, wireless and Ethernet cards for your hardware, facilitating connection to a WIFI or Ethernet network. If your WIFI or Ethernet card is not recognized by the PE version, kindly Contact Us with your hardware model. We will strive to incorporate the necessary drivers in upcoming releases.
Official releases are still available on our old versions page and additional information can be found on the about page.
You will find more bootable Windows PE bootable CDs in the article
5 Bootable Windows PE ISO To Boot, Recover And Repair Windows (geckoandfly.com).
This includes : MediCat USB, Sergei Strelec’s WinPE, All in One – System Rescue Toolkit, Gandalf’s Windows 10PE (donation required).
I had the same exact need and I was able to install Windows to an external USB drive from Linux by running the Widows installation in VirtualBox: Is it possible to flash firmware through a VM?
At that answer I also linked to a tool that can be used to install Windows from Linux without running the Windows installation (deploy-win10-from-linux)
This is kind of an advanced question, but i'm trying to make a bootable use for windows for a friend. I'm using the WoeUSB tool to make a boot usb but it's getting stuck at "Installing i386-pc platform." it's been like this for a while and idk what to do if i should cancel and start again or what. I've already tried looking it up but google voids no results. any help or insight is welcome.
