Rufus is a special program for writing boot disks and flash drives. It is noteworthy in that it has a Russian language interface and is completely free. If you do not want to understand the functionality of complex utilities for recording, and you only need to create bootable media, then this option will be a great solution. We will figure out how to use the Rufus program, and consider in detail all the functionality.
Description and features
This utility is one small window in which all the configuration steps are performed before recording. The user needs to sequentially select the parameters and connect the external drive to the USB port. After that, the recording procedure is started by pressing one button. The speed of creating a boot disk depends on the version of the USB port to which the drive is connected, as well as on the flash drive itself. Using Rufus is quite easy - pre-configuration takes no more than a couple of minutes, and recording takes 5-7 minutes on average. The utility allows you to create a drive of the following types:
- Operating system installer. An ISO image is written to the disk, after which the USB flash drive is used as a boot drive when you turn on the computer. The following is the standard Windows installation procedure.
- Full OS on a flash drive. This feature is called Windows to Go. The option cannot be used in Rufus 1.4.9 or later, since it appeared only in version 2.0.
Now we move on to a detailed analysis of all the steps before starting the recording. We will use the most modern version of this utility.
Drive properties
To get started, you need to connect a USB drive to your computer so that it appears in Rufus. If you have several flash drives connected at once, then select the one you need from the "Device" menu.
Now you need to specify the boot method. If you are doing an OS installer, then select "Disk or ISO Image." After that, click on the "Select" button and specify the path to the folder in which the ISO image is located.
Now we pass to more detailed parameters. In the "Partition Scheme" menu, you must choose between MBR and GPT. The first option is used if your computer has an old Windows operating system that uses the usual BIOS to boot. The second option is created for systems with UFEI - that is, a graphical interface when you turn on the computer.
It is not recommended to enter the advanced properties of a disk if you are an inexperienced user. It is best to leave all options as default.
Formatting options
Before any recording procedure, the drive must be formatted, even if you performed this procedure earlier. After the flash drive is formatted, it will receive the parameters that you specified. In this settings section you need to enter the name (volume label), specify the type of file system and cluster size. If you are not confident in your knowledge in this area, then it is best to leave the default options.
In hidden settings, you can enable quick formatting. This option is suitable if the flash drive is empty. If a large amount of information is recorded on it, then quick formatting may not cope with a complete deletion. It is also recommended to enable the option of checking for bad blocks (you can leave it for 1 cycle).
Start recording
After you have set all the parameters and settings, you can start recording. If everything is done correctly, then in the "Status" section will be written "Ready". To start the procedure, click the "Start" button. A warning window will appear on the screen, which indicates the need to destroy all data on the disk. We need to agree.
Now in the field "Status" will appear the names of the stages that the flash drive is currently running. First, the drive will be erased, then a new file system will be created according to the specified parameters, and then the file recording will begin. As you can see, using Rufus 1.4.7 and above is quite simple. And in the current version of the application, the interface has changed a bit and has become even more convenient.
Check
After completing the recording procedure, the word "Ready" will again appear in the "Status" field, but already on a green background. This indicates that the process was successful, and you can close the Rufus program. You can use the finished flash drive immediately after recording. If you created a bootable drive, then restart the computer and open the BIOS settings. Here, select this USB flash drive as the boot device and restart the PC. Next time you turn on, the operating system installation menu appears.