Modern-day laptops and systems do not have CD or DVD writers and you need a bootable USB drive to load or install operating systems. There are a lot of tools out there to create bootable USB drives from ISO files. Some tools allow you to create a single OS USB drive while some others are multi-boot drive creators. These bootable drives are easy to carry and offer faster writing speeds. Here are the 10 best-tested software to make bootable drives.

1. Rufus

In order to create a bootable USB drive for Mac, you need download Mac OS installer. Open App Store on your Mac and search for the latest macOS version. Remember, App Store will only have the latest version which is macOS Mojave at this point when we write this article.

Rufus is one of the lightest of all the software tools. Rufus offered a portable version that you can use without having to install it. The tool automatically detects the USB drive and offers to create a bootable drive using MSDOS, ISO, and DD images.

Create Bootable USB Installer for Mac OSX Using TransMac. To create bootable USB installer for Mac to Install Mac OS X El Capitan on Windows, on Mac or VirtualBox, you have to create bootable USB flash drive. Let’s get started on how to do it. First, you have to download TransMac software for Windows and install it on your computer. Create a WinPE drive. After preparing your USB drive, you need to take some needed measures to create a WinPE drive. To create a USB bootable drive with Windows PE, follow these steps: 1. To start with, launch the Windows Deployment and Imaging Tools Environment that you have already downloaded. Make sure that you run it via administrator. Is there any way to create a bootable Ubuntu USB flash drive from the terminal without using any third-party applications like YUMI, Unetbootin, Startup Disk Creator, etc. If we must look for text mode tools that are already installed in Ubuntu, I am afraid that there are no safe tools available. UNetbootin is a free, open source utility that allows you to create bootable USB drives on Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X. If you’ve downloaded Windows 10 ISO image, here is how you can create a bootable Windows installer USB on Mac using UNetbootin. Plug a USB drive into your Mac and open Disk Utility.

Key Features

• Fastest software
• No installation required
• Supports multiple file system that includes FAT, FAT32, NTFS, UDF, and ExFAT
• Can create a bootable drive for all versions of windows and Linux distributions.
• Option to detect bad sectors in the drive before writing files to a USB
• Easy Interface.

Download Rufus

2. RMPrepUSB

Unlike Rufus, this software requires you to run the setup in order to install it. The installation process is quick and automatically creates a shortcut on the desktop. The best part of this tool is that it is updated regularly. Now let’s peep into its other specifications.

Key Features

• The interface is complex and cluttered.
• Can create multiple partitions on a bootable USB drive
• Capable to create both Windows and Linux bootable drives.
• Read and Write Speed Test of USB drive
• Supports four file systems that include FAT16, FAT32, NTFS, and exFAT
• Option to create an ISO file from Bootable Drive
• Recommended for Advanced users

3. Universal USB Installer

This tool is offered by Pendrivelinux.com and can be used to create both Linux and Windows bootable USB disks. It is a 3-step process that involves selecting a pre-defined Linux distro or Windows version, browsing ISO file, and finally selecting the USB drive.

Key Features

• Supports FAT32 and NTFS file systems.
• Source files include ISO ZIP or DD types
• Easy installation
• User-friendly Interface
• Option to create Anti-Virus rescue disks
• The tool is free to use and Open source
• Regular updates

Download UUI

4. WinToBootic

This is a free tool and does not require any installation. But you need to have a .NET Framework installed in order to run this software. You can create only a windows bootable USB drive with this tool and does not support Linux.

Key Features

• No need for installation
• Fast conversion
• Supports Windows 7,8, Vista, 2008 and 2012
• Source file types include ISO, DVD, and Folder
• Can create both removable(USB) as well as fixed bootable drive.
• Can drag and drop the source files on the interface.
• Simple Interface.

5. YUMI

YUMI aka Your Universal Multi-Boot Installer is also offered by Pendrivelinux.com. This tool is used to create a bootable USB disk for multiple operating systems, antivirus scanners, and other system tools. It is a free and open-source tool.

Key Features

• Quick installation
• Option to download ISO file online
• A large collection of predefined OS, Anti-virus, and other diagnostic tools.
• Option to view and un-install a particular OS from a bootable drive
• Supports NTFS and FAT32 file systems.
• Supports both 32-bit and 64-bit operating systems
• Can make an Android Bootable disk

Download YUMI

Create A Bootable Usb Drive Mac Lion

6. Linux Live USB Creator (LiLi)

This is an open-source and free software to create a Live USB drive. As the name suggests, it is used to create only a Linux bootable drive. This tool also tells you if the ISO file is clean or corrupted.

Key Features

• No need to reboot after completion
• Can select from a large number of Linux distros.
• Attractive colorful Interface
• The persistence feature allows you to save and install your own software.
• Source files include ISO, ZIP, and IMG
• Translation to thirty-two different languages
• Option to download source file online
• Software tool cab installed on all versions of windows.

Download LiLi

7. WinSetUp From USB

Originally developed to create a bootable drive for Windows (XP) operating systems, this tool is updated to create a bootable disk for multiple operating systems including Windows and Linux.

Key Features

• No need for installation.
• Can create both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of windows
• Automatically formats and creates partitions in disk
• Can create a bootable disk along with an antivirus rescue disk on a single USB drive
• Being an open-source tool, it is updated on regular basis by community members.
• Simple and clear Interface

Download tool

8. UNetBootin

This is another free tool for bootable Live USB creation. It has a collection of pre-defined distributions and system utilities similar to the Universal USB installer but the size of the collection is much small compared to UUI. You can download the software for Windows, Linux, and Mac. (separate files for each OS).

Key Features

• The option of selecting a distribution from their database (online download) and upload the ISO file from the local
• Creation of only Linux and related distributions.
• No need for the installation of software
• Easy and Simple to understand Interface.
• Option to create a bootable fixed hard disk and removable USB disk

Download UNetbootIn

9. XBoot

This is yet another multi-boot USB drive creator and can also be used to create a multi-boot ISO file. It is a lightweight application and does not require installation. Presently, it is available to run only on Windows operating system.

Key Features

• Drag and Drop facility for uploading ISO files
• Installation not required
• Simple and easy Interface
• Option to edit the bootloader
• Supports a number of Linux distros
• Free tool

Download XBoot

10. Passcape ISO Burner

This is one of the best ISO burners to burn ISO imaged on CD/DVD/USB-Drive/SD cards/ZIP drives. The program is portable and does not copy any files on the hard disk. Although it is free to use the software, it provides lifetime tech support.

Key Features

• Supports WinXP to Windows 10
• Simple interface for Beginners
• Option to extract ISO file on local disk
• Lightweight Software
• Need Administrative rights to use all the features.
• Supports most of the DVD-writers and USB drives.

Download PIB

11.Etcher

BalenaEtcher is an open-source utility used to burn files on the hard disk from operating systems such as .iso and .img files to make it a live SD card or USB flash drive. It is considered the best bootable USB creator.

To install an OS on your PC or operate an operating system, you can use these live SD cards or USB drives. If you are into operating systems and penetration testing, BalenaEtcher has made it easier for you.

Key Features

The user-interface it has is the primary aspect that makes Etcher one of the best and most commonly used live USB creators. It has one of the most straightforward user interfaces one can expect from Balena Etcher. No complicated setup or other command-line code you need to enter. Within a couple of taps, the command will be executed. Burning every file on your chosen Operating System takes only three taps.

This command-line interface feature is still under development for those who choose to do this from the command-line interface.

Create a Bootable USB Drive Faster Now

Create A Bootable Usb Drive Mac Os X

In the year 2017 the sleek Ultrabooks are preferred over heavy laptops and desktop computers, CD drives are vanishing from the hardware. Installation of Windows or Linux is now being done from portable devices like USB or SD cards. Creation of such bootable drives is made easy with these free tools. Which software are you using to create bootable drives? If you are using a tool that is not listed here, share it in the comments section.

How can I make a bootable Windows installation USB on Mac OS X? After upgrading to macOS Mojave, you may find that Boot Camp Assistant is no longer supported and thus creating a bootable USB turns out to be a little bit challenging. In this tutorial we’ll show you how to create Windows 10 bootable USB from ISO on Mac, by using the Terminal or third-party software like UNetbottin.

Method 1: Create Windows 10 Bootable USB on Mac Using UNetbottin

UNetbootin is a free, open source utility that allows you to create bootable USB drives on Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X. If you’ve downloaded Windows 10 ISO image, here is how you can create a bootable Windows installer USB on Mac using UNetbootin.

1. Plug a USB drive into your Mac and open Disk Utility. Select your USB drive from the left panel and click on Info button. Note down the device name since we will need that later.
2. Next, download and launch the UNetbottin utility. Select the “Diskimage” radio button, click “…” to select a bootable ISO image.
3. After locating your Windows 10 ISO file, click on Open.
4. Choose Type as USB Drive and select the device name of your USB drive (you probably would’ve noted it down earlier, so refer to that). Click OK to start installing to the USB drive.
5. This process takes several minutes or longer, depending on the size of your selected ISO image.

Method 2: Create Windows 10 Bootable USB on Mac Using Terminal

Of course, if you prefer not to use third-party software, you can still use the excellent Terminal app, which is a little bit more involved, but no additional software needs to be installed. Follow these steps:

1. After connecting a USB drive to your Mac, open a Terminal window and type diskutil list to display all the disks attached to your machine. You have to figure out the disk identifier of the USB drive you need to format. In my example, my USB drive is mounted as “disk2” and it’s about 32GB.
2. Next, run the following command to format your USB drive and name it “WIN10“, where # is a placeholder for the disk identifier of your USB drive.
   diskutil eraseDisk MS-DOS 'WIN10' GPT disk#
3. Now, mount your Windows 10 ISO image with the command below, assuming it’s saved the Downloads folder. In my case, it is mounted as a volume named “ESD-ISO“.
   hdiutil mount ~/Downloads/your_windows_10_image.iso
4. Finally, run the following command to copy all the files from the mounted ISO to your USB drive.
   cp -rp /Volumes/ESD-ISO/* /Volumes/WIN10/

   This command will take a while, and once it finishes, you can disconnect the mounted ISO with this command:
   hdiutil unmount /Volumes/ESD-ISO

5. Now you should be able to boot from the USB to install Windows 10 on your Mac or Windows machine.

Conclusion

These should be the easiest ways to create a Windows 10 bootable USB from ISO on Mac, without using Boot Camp Assistant. No matter which method you prefer, be sure that you backup any important data on your USB drive, as the procedure of creating bootable USB will delete everything on it.