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Sideny_Strouth's avatar
Sideny_Strouth
Bronze Contributor
Jan 21, 2025

How to create fedora bootable usb from Windows 11?

My 15 years old HP laptop is now running very slow with Windows 10 and I already got a new Windows 11 laptop. I'm planning to install Fedora on the old computer and need to create fedora bootable USB...
configuration
device management
Nobel_Baynes's avatar
Nobel_Baynes
Iron Contributor
Jan 21, 2025

If you prefer not to install a full Linux distribution, you can use lightweight tools like dd for Windows or PowerShell scripts. However, using WSL with dd is the most straightforward command-line method.

Step 1: In WSL, Windows drives are typically mounted under /mnt/. For example, if your USB drive is E:, it will be accessible at /mnt/e/.

Step 2:  Place the Fedora ISO in a known location, e.g., C:\Users\YourName\Downloads\Fedora.iso.

Step 3: Before using dd, ensure that the USB drive is not mounted in Windows to prevent file system conflicts.

Step 4: Run the following command to create Fedora bootable USB from Windows 11/10:

sudo dd if=/mnt/c/Users/YourName/Downloads/Fedora.iso of=/dev/sdX bs=4M status=progress && sync

Replace /dev/sdX with your USB device. In WSL, devices are usually named differently. The dd command will take 10 minutes. Do not interrupt the process. After dd completes, ensure all buffers are flushed by running sync.

By following the above steps, you can create a Fedora bootable USB on Windows 11 using entirely free command-line tools. This method leverages built-in Windows utilities and the powerful dd command available through WSL, ensuring a reliable and straightforward process.

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