Two Ways to Make SanDisk USB Flash Drive Bootable
Why make SanDisk USB bootable?
Thanks to digital technology, you can now say goodbye to installing operating systems from DVDs and optical drives. With the increasing convenience and larger disk capacity of USB drives, it's easy to move them around and many users prefer to back up their computers or crucial files to them using USB automatic backup freeware. While only the Enterprise edition of Windows 10/8 allows for bootable USB drives, it's actually possible to create bootable USB drives in non-Enterprise editions of these operating systems, as well as in other Windows operating systems, offering several advantages.
First of all, The feature allows you to save your personalized Windows OS and use it on any compatible device, keeping your personal settings and files along with you. This is particularly useful for separating work and home entertainment on the same PC, as well as for company employees who use their own devices (BYOD), making it easier to boot up a work-ready OS on their personal device.
How to make SanDisk USB bootable?
You can make a SanDisk USB drive bootable using either the Windows built-in Diskpart or the SanDisk bootable USB software Qiling Disk Master. The latter is a more user-friendly option that allows you to create a bootable USB drive with a simple interface and features like Windows To Go Creator, making the process easy and straightforward. This software is not limited to SanDisk drives, and can be used to make any brand of USB drive bootable, as long as it has enough space to hold your setup files. Alternatively, you can use Diskpart, but this method is more complicated and irreversible, making it more suitable for advanced users.
Make SanDisk Cruzer USB bootable using Partition Assistant
Step1. Insert the SanDisk USB and ensure it can be detected by Windows. Next, install and launch Qiling Disk Master, then click on Windows To Go Creator under Tools.
Step 2. In the pop-up windows, choose Create Windows To Go with system disc/ISO and click Next.
Step2. In the pop-up window, select the Windows 8 installation file (install.wim or install.esd) by clicking the "Browse" button, or click "Refresh" if it's not detected automatically, and then click "OK" to continue.
Step3. The program will inform you about something important. If there are important data in your SanDisk USB drive, you might as well back up them in advance. Then click "Yes", creating Windows 8 bootable USB drive will begin.
Create bootable SanDisk USB drive with Diskpart
Tips: You need to press Enter key each time after you type the command order.
Step1. To start the process, insert the SanDisk USB drive into a running computer. Next, open a Command Prompt window as an administrator and type "diskpart" to initiate the formatting process.
Step2. To format your SanDisk USB flash drive, follow these steps: list disk to find the disk number, then select disk X (where X is the USB drive's number), followed by clean, create partition primary, select partition 1, assign letter=N, select partition N, format fs=ntfs quick (or fs=fat32 quick if it supports UEFI), active, and finally exit.
Step3. Save your prepared custom image to the root of the USB flash drive.
Qiling Disk Master allows you to make SanDisk USB bootable in a few clicks, eliminating the need to manually backup your computer. This free tool also enables you to resize system or data partition, reformat hard drive to FAT32, merge partitions/volumes, and transfer OS to a new hard drive, making it a great alternative to EZ Gig IV and Gptgen.
Qiling Disk Master Professional is the advanced edition of Qiling Disk Master, a freeware. It allows users to manage dynamic discs, such as converting between dynamic and basic disks, if needed.
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