How to Install Windows 11 from USB?

Have you decided to install Windows 11 on your Laptop/PC but you don’t have a CD / DVD drive in which to insert the operating system installation disk or, even worse, you don’t have the relevant support and you don’t know how to get it? Well, under the circumstances, We would say that the best thing to do is to create a USB drive with Windows 11 and use it to install the operating system. How? We will explain it to you shortly.

Before we explain how to install Windows 11 operating system from USB, there are some preliminary operations that we suggest you do, to make sure that no hitches occur (Read Windows 11 FAQ).

• Back up your data: Before going to install Windows 11 from USB, first of all, we suggest you back up the data currently on the hard drive of the computer on which you intend to act.
• Partition of the disk: If you want to install Windows 11 without losing the data that is currently saved on your computer and you don’t want (or can’t) use an external hard drive, you can consider partitioning the PC disk by then creating a partition specifically intended for the new copy of the OS.
• Configure the BIOS: Another operation that we recommend you to perform before installing Windows 11 from USB is to configure the BIOS correctly, changing the boot order of the computer, to ensure that the pen drive is started first and then the OS, then first the USB port where the key is inserted and then the PC hard disk.

Install Windows 11 from USB with Media Creation Tool

To copy Windows 11 ISO to a USB drive, you first need to run Microsoft Media Creation Tool. It allows you to download the Windows 11 ISO image and create installation media for the operating system using any version of Windows.

Once Windows 11 Media creation is available, go to the Microsoft site and download the tool. Open the .exe file and in the window that appears on the desktop, click the Yes and Accept buttons.

At this point, select the option Create installation media (USB flash drive, DVD or ISO file) for another PC and click the Next button again (twice consecutively).

Next, connect the USB flash drive you want to use to one of the USB ports on your computer, choose the USB flash drive option in the Media Creation Tool screen, click the Next button again, select the pen drive from the list displayed and press the Next button again.

Then wait for the download of Windows 11 from the Internet, for the USB key to be formatted and set as the boot drive, then click on the Finish button.

Now, boot the USB drive with Windows 11, wait for the screen to start the installation of the operating system and select the language, time format and currency and keyboard layout, using the appropriate drop-down menus, then click on the Next and Install buttons.

Then choose whether to enter the Windows product key immediately or later, specify the edition of the OS you want to install (if required), click on the Next button, accept the terms of use, check the appropriate box, and press again on the Next button.

Next, you must follow the instructions given to you on the screen to be able to carry out the chosen procedure and wait for the installation of the operating system to be started and completed.

Install Windows 11 from USB with Rufus

You can also consider installing Windows 11 from USB with the Rufus tool.

To download it to your computer, go to the relevant website and click on the Rufus Portable link that you find in the Download section.

When the download is complete, open the .exe file obtained and, in the window you see appear on the desktop, click on the Yes button. Subsequently, consent to the search for any available updates, by clicking the Yes button again, connect the pen drive you intend to use to install Windows 11 to one of the USB ports on your PC and make sure that this is selected in the Device/drive drop-down menu at the top of Rufus’ screen.

Select the Download option from the drop-down menu next to the checkmark and click on it. In the new window that is shown to you, make sure that Windows 11 is selected from the drop-down menu and click on the Continue button.

At this point, served the additional drop-down menus you see displayed to select the release, the version Exact operating system to download and the language of the same, from time to time by clicking on the button Continue. Then select the architecture and click the Download button.

Once the procedure for downloading the Windows 11 ISO file is complete, choose the Disc image or ISO (select) option from the drop-down menu under the Boot Selection item and click on the Select adjacent button, in order to select the Windows 11 image file to be copied to the key.

To conclude, check that the Standard Windows installation option is set in correspondence with the wording Image options, press the Start and OK buttons and wait for the bootable pen drive with Windows 11 to be created.

Proceed with the installation of the operating system on your computer or on a different PC, following the instructions we gave you in the previous step on Media Creation Tool, absolutely nothing changes.