How can I create Windows 11 installation media for new PC?

[ChristopherChen]

Hi community experts,

My 10-year old MacBook Pro will be retired soon as it becomes laggy and many apps are not supported. Recently, I heard a lot of good reviews about Windows 11 and now I have the new built PC at my hand. The specs are:

• CPU: Intel i5 12400F
• RAM: Kingston 16GB
• SSD: SANDISK 500GB
• Motherboard: Asus A520M
• Graphics card: 4070Ti

My question is how to create Windows 11 installation media so I can install Windows 11 on my new PC. I am not a tech savvy and don't know how to do this. It could be great if some one point our the right direction.

Thank you

[#2]

Can you borrow a Windows PC as there are many free tools such as Windows 11 Media Creation Tool, the official app developed by Microsoft for creating Windows 10 bootable USB on PC. You can also setup a Windows virtual machine on Mac as a workaround.

[#3]

First off, make sure your PC meets Windows 11's requirements. Old hardware ain't gonna cut it. You'll need a compatible CPU, TPM 2.0, Secure Boot, and at least 4GB of RAM. If you're not sure, Microsoft has a handy tool called the PC Health Check app. Run that bad boy before you dive into the installation media creation.

Microsoft provides a couple of tools for creating Windows 11 installation media — the Windows Media Creation Tool is the go-to. Don't try to download an ISO from random sketchy sites; stick with Microsoft. It keeps things legit and saves you from malware hell.

You'll need enough storage space on your USB drive or external HDD. At least 8GB should do, but format it correctly to FAT32 or NTFS before you start. Seriously, nothing's worse than getting halfway through the process and realizing your drive is out of space. Total bummer!

[#4]

Super

[#5]

@ChristopherChen For an legacy MacBook Pro, the Bootcamp assistant app is still working for creating Windows 11 installation media. Boot Camp is a built-in macOS utility that helps users install and run Microsoft Windows on a Mac alongside macOS. It primarily aids in partitioning your Mac's hard drive and installing Windows, but it also allows you to create a bootable USB drive for Windows installation.

To create Windows 11 installation media (bootable USB), go to Applications > Utilities and open Boot Camp Assistant. In Boot Camp Assistant, you’ll be prompted to select the Windows ISO file. Locate the ISO file you downloaded and select it. The app will create a bootable USB drive with Windows on it, and also copy the necessary drivers and Boot Camp software that will be installed on Windows once the installation is complete.

[#6]

@ChristopherChen 

If you are not familiar with how to create Windows 11 installation media, don't worry, it is actually quite simple, and I have done it myself before. No third-party tools are needed, just use the Media Creation Tool from Microsoft's official website: This is the most official method. You can download Microsoft's Media Creation Tool on your Windows computer, plug in a USB drive, and follow the prompts to create a Windows 11 boot disk. This process is relatively simple, and the tool will automatically help you get it done.

[#7]

@ChristopherChen 

I have used Rufus to create a Windows 11 installation media for a new PC before. It is really convenient. Although it is not a tool provided by Microsoft, it is very simple to operate. The steps are roughly as follows:

1. Download Rufus: First, go to the official website of Rufus to download the software. The entire software is very small and does not need to be installed. Just open it directly.
2. Download Windows 11 ISO file: Download a Windows 11 ISO file from the official website of Microsoft. The file is a bit large and it may take a while to download.
3. Insert USB drive: Find a USB drive of at least 8GB and plug it into the computer. Remember to back up the files in the USB drive in advance, because the writing process will clear the USB drive.
4. Write with Rufus: Open Rufus, select the Windows 11 ISO file you just downloaded, and the USB drive will be automatically recognized. Click "Start" a few times, and Rufus will help you write the ISO to the USB drive. The speed is quite fast.
5. After the installation is complete, you can use the USB drive to start the installation: After creating the boot disk, plug it into your newly installed PC, enter the BIOS to set the boot order, and you can install Windows 11 directly from the USB drive.

The whole process is much simpler than expected, and Rufus is also very fast, and it can be done in a few minutes. If you don't want to toss too much, Rufus is a good choice!

[#8]

It is actually possible to create a installation media for new PC using Windows command line tools, but it is a little more complicated and requires diskpart and xcopy commands. I have tried it myself before, and although it is a bit troublesome, it does not require any third-party tools.

Here are the general steps:

Insert the USB drive: First insert a USB drive of at least 8GB and back up the data in it, because this process will clear the USB drive.

Open the command prompt: Press Win+X and select "Command Prompt (Admin)" or open PowerShell, which is a command line operation anyway.

1. Use the diskpart command to clean and format the USB drive:
2. Type diskpart and press Enter.
3. Type list disk to display all disks and find your USB drive (based on size).
4. Type select disk X (X is the number of the USB drive).
5. Type clean to clear all partitions on the USB drive.
6. Type create partition primary to create a new primary partition.
7. Type format fs=fat32 quick to quickly format the USB drive to FAT32.
8. Type active to set the partition to active.
9. Finally, type assign to assign a drive letter to the USB drive.
10. Mount Windows 11 ISO: Find the Windows 11 ISO file you downloaded, right-click it, and select "Mount". The system will automatically assign a virtual CD drive.

Copy files with the xcopy command:

Write down the mounted virtual CD drive letter (such as D:) and the drive letter of the USB drive (such as E:).

Type xcopy D:\*.* E:\ /E /F /H in the command prompt to copy the mounted ISO file to the USB drive.
Once completed, you can boot from the USB drive: After copying the files, unplug the USB drive, plug it into your new PC, set it to boot from the USB drive, and you can start installing Windows 11.

Although this process is a bit cumbersome, it feels pretty cool to use command line tools without installing other software and rely purely on the system's own tools to get it done.

[#9]

@WilliamsDavis 

I have used the Media Creation Tool on Microsoft's official website to create a Windows 11 installation media before. To be honest, although it is an official method, it is not always smooth. The most common problem is that it suddenly reports an error halfway through the download, or the tool cannot recognize my USB drive at all. Sometimes I will encounter some inexplicable error codes, such as 0x80072f8f - 0x20000, which makes people very headache.

And once I was almost done downloading, but the tool crashed and I had to start all over again, wasting all my time. Although this method is simple in theory, it often goes wrong in practice. If you are lucky, this tool can still be used, but I am afraid that you are like me, often stuck in the middle and fail.

[#10]

@ChristopherChen After making a Windows 11 installation media, please follow the steps in below to install Windows 11 on your PC.

1. Insert the USB drive into your PC.
2. Restart your PC and enter the BIOS/UEFI by pressing the key specific to your system (commonly F2, F10, Delete, or Esc).
3. In the BIOS, go to the Boot Menu and set the USB drive as the primary boot device
4. Save the changes and exit the BIOS. Your PC will reboot from the USB drive.
5. When your PC boots from the USB drive, you’ll see the Windows Setup screen. Choose your language, time, and keyboard preferences, then click Next.
6. Click Install Now.
7. Windows will begin the installation process, which may take some time. Your PC will restart multiple times.
8. Once Windows 11 is installed, you’ll be prompted to set up region, keyboard layout, and other preferences.

[#11]

Rufus is great, but since it's not an official Microsoft tool, there might be some hiccups. For example, certain hardware configurations or updates in Windows 11 could lead to problems. Sometimes, if you're using the latest version of Windows 11 or have some specific hardware, Rufus might not support some of the newer features, which could leave you hanging.

With Rufus to create your Windows 11 installation media, you get a lot of flexibility, but creating a USB installer specifically tailored for BIOS or UEFI can be a bit tricky. I remember one time I ended up with a USB that just wouldn't boot on my UEFI system, even after following all the right steps. If you aren't careful, you might end up with a setup that doesn't work for your system.

[#12]

@ChristopherChen For Mac users, another possible to create Windows 11 installation media is using the built-in Terminal app. Download the Windows 11 ISO from Microsoft. Insert a USB drive into your Mac. Format the USB drive in Disk Utility: Open Disk Utility. Select your USB drive, click Erase, and choose ExFAT or MS-DOS (FAT) as the file system. Name it as needed.

In Finder, right-click the Windows 11 ISO and select Open With > DiskImageMounter. This will mount the ISO as a drive. Open Terminal and enter the following command to copy the contents of the ISO to the USB drive:

cp -rp /Volumes/ISO_NAME/* /Volumes/USB_NAME/

Replace ISO_NAME with the name of the mounted ISO and USB_NAME with the name of your USB drive.

This is free and simple solution to create Windows 11 installation media on Mac. Please let me know if you need further assistance.

[#13]

I have used Rufus to create a Windows 11 installation disk before. It is indeed very convenient, but I encountered a little trouble when using it once. At that time, all the steps were operated normally and the files were selected. As a result, after clicking "Start", an error message suddenly appeared, saying "Device write failed". I restarted the software and tried again, but it still didn't work.

Later I found that there was a problem with my USB drive, and I solved it by changing to a new 8GB USB drive. However, this incident made me feel that although Rufus is easy to use, it is also annoying to encounter some minor glitches. But overall, it was quickly solved after changing the USB drive, and the process was actually quite smooth.