Explore some of the best bootable USB software that simplifies the creation of reliable recovery drives, OS installers, and diagnostic tools for both Windows and Linux systems. Whether you’re setting up a new operating system, running live Linux from a flash drive, or preparing a backup and recovery solution, these tools provide fast, flexible, and portable options for all your USB booting needs. From effortlessly creating a bootable Windows installer to configuring advanced system repair utilities, this category features essential free software tailored for users of all levels.
UUI – Universal USB Installer for Windows is a powerful and free tool that helps you create bootable USB drives for Linux, Windows, and system tools. With just a few clicks, you can load any supported ISO file, format your flash drive, and build a Live USB system — no complex setup or technical skills required.
Balena Etcher is a software utility you can easily write an ISO to USB or clone USB drives. Aside from USB Cloning, this simple and intuitive free tool can also be used to flash OS images to an SD card. Resulting in a bootable USB that can be run from any computer that supports BIOS or UEFI booting from the removable device.
UNetbootin (short for Universal Netboot Installer) is a popular and lightweight bootable USB creation tool that enables users to create Live USB drives for various Linux distributions. Whether you’re trying Linux for the first time, installing it on multiple systems, or running a rescue utility, UNetbootin makes the process simple, fast, and portable.
YUMI (Your Universal Multiboot Installer), is a Multiboot Live USB bootable Windows media creation tool or MultiBoot ISOs utility. This software can also be used to create a USB Installer for Windows or Linux. It helps automate the process of building custom Live bootable Linux USB sticks containing multiple ISO files of your choosing.
USBImager is an open source ISO to USB imaging tool. A GUI application designed for writing compressed disk images to USB drives. It can also be used for creating backup images of USB flash drives. This free portable image ISO to USB utility is available for Windows, MacOS, and Linux requiring no installation to the computer.
Use Win32 Disk Imager to write images to USB drives. This USB Imaging utility uses low-level raw read and write functions to directly copy data to or from a device. For example, it can be used to copy an ISO or IMG file to a USB flash drive or create a backup image of a device.
XBOOT is a powerful, Windows based Multiboot USB ISO Creator utility. Designed for creating bootable flash drives and ISO files, it allows users to consolidate multiple live CD or DVD ISO files into a single bootable USB drive or multiboot ISO image. Whether you're a technician, system administrator, or an enthusiast wanting a compact set of recovery tools on the go, this is a practical solution.
ImageUSB is a powerful and completely free USB image tool designed for creating and cloning exact images of USB drives quickly and reliably. Similar in function to using Linux dd to create a bootable USB, this utility performs bit level copying to produce perfectly cloned duplicates of USB drives including flash drives, SD cards, and other portable storage devices.
Ventoy is another neat and intuitive bootable USB creation software tool. It enables users to quickly create a Multiboot flash drive via a simple drag and drop interface. This tool supports both BIOS and UEFI boot. It can also Run ISO files in Live Mode or as Installation media.
Install Windows from USB using WinToFlash. This tool can be used to copy your existing Windows XP, 2003, 2008, WinPE, or Windows 7 CD/DVD Install Disk to a USB flash drive. Upon completion, you should be able to Install Windows XP, 2003, 2008, Vista, or 7 using a USB drive (Windows Live USB Installer). Very useful if you own a Netbook or Notebook PC that can boot from USB but does not have an optical drive.
SARDU (Shardana Antivirus Rescue Disk Utility) is a MultiBoot Builder. It could be used to create a Live MultiBoot USB, CD, or DVD containing Antivirus Tools, Live Linux Distros, Diagnostics Tools, Windows PE, Windows Vista, Windows 7, and even Windows XP Installers.
LiLi - Linux Live USB Creator is another nice and simple live ISO to USB builder. Similar to UUI, this app can be used to make a Live Linux bootable USB flash drive from an ISO file of your favorite Linux distribution. You can then boot and run the portable operating system from the removable device, instead of using a CD or DVD.