How to Create Qiling Bootable USB, CD/DVD, and ISO Image with Qiling Backup

PAGE CONTENT:

Part 1. How to Make a Bootable USB/CD/DVD/ISO with Qiling (3 Ways)
Part 2. Create WinPE Bootable Disk with Windows ADK

Why Need to Create a WinPE Bootable Disc or Qiling Bootable USB

When the operating system can't boot, or migrate the system from backup image to another HDD/SSD, we maybe need WinPE bootable Disc. Under the Pre-installation Environment, we can run Qiling Backup without system boot partitions, and recover system/data from the backup. Qiling Backup supports two ways to create the rescue CD or bootable DVD: Linux based bootable disk and WinPE based bootable disk. However, most of the functions are not available under Linux based bootable CD, so we recommend you to create the WinPE bootable CD first.

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Part 1. How to Make a Bootable USB/CD/DVD/ISO with Qiling

The latest version of Qiling Backup has better compatibility with Windows XP/Vista/7/8/8.1/10 and UEFI when creating WinPE bootable media. Meanwhile, it saves the time of downloading AIK/WAIK.

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1 - How to Create Qiling Bootable USB

Qiling Backup provides a bootable disk function based on both Linux and WinPE to boot into your PC in case of a system disaster. All you need to do is download this software and install it on your computer. Then, follow these steps to create an emergency bootable USB for your PC now.

Step 1. Prepare a USB drive with enough space which can be written and read. Connect the USB drive to your PC.

Step 2. Open the tool and click "Tools" > "Create bootable media".

Step 3. Select a bootable media type: here we choose USB drive.

Check the add Driver option to add the desired driver for your bootable disk. You are suggested to add disk, RAID and network card driver to avoid Qiling backup have a trouble to recognize your hard disk or network drive in WinPE environment.

Step 4. Click "Proceed" to create a bootable disk.

To boot from the bootable USB drive, follow these steps:

Connect your USB drive to your computer.
Start your computer and press F2/DEL to enter the BIOS.
Choose to boot from "Removable Devices" and press "F10" to save and exit.

If you are a single user, you can create a bootable USB with the Qiling Backup Home version.

2 - How to Create the Bootable CD/DVD

The CD/DVD bootable creation is similar to the bootable USB creation, just replace USB with CD/DVD. And in the BIOS setting, set CD-ROM as the first boot device. That's OK.

3 - How to Create the Bootable ISO Image with Qiling

Step 1. Launch Qiling Backup, click "Tools" > "Create bootable media".

Step 2. Select "Create ISO", browser the specific location to save ISO files. Click "Proceed".

Step 3. After making the ISO image, burn it to CD/DVD with Nero.

Load up Nero Burning ROM, select "Recorder > Burn Image > image.iso".
In the Burn option, select "Determine maximum speed" and "Write". Then, click "Burn > Done".

Part 2. Create WinPE Bootable Disk with Windows ADK

You can also create a WinPE bootable disk with the help of ADK. The Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (Windows ADK) has the tools you need to customize Windows images for large-scale deployment, and to test the quality and performance of your system, its added components, and the applications running on it. Follow these steps to create a bootable USB with ADK.

Step 1. Download the Windows ADK (Assessment and Deployment Kit). It contains the CopyPE and MakeWinPEMedia command-line utilities.

Step 2. Launch the ADK tool, select the "Install the Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit-Windows 10 to this computer" and click "Next". On the subsequent page, click "Next" and "Accept".

Step 3. Choose the "Deployment Tools" and "Windows Preinstallation Environment (Windows PE)" options and click "Install".

Step 4. Close the installation process when it's finished. Open the Start menu and go to "Windows Kits". Right-click "Deployment and Imaging Tools Environment" and head to "More" > "Run as administrator".

Step 5. When it runs, execute the command: copype amd64 G:\WinPEx64 (replace G:\ with your drive letter).

Step 6. Then execute the command: MakeWinPEMedia /ISO G:\WinPEx64 G:\WinPEx64\WPE64.iso. When you see "100% complete" and "Success", it means you've successfully created WinPE files. Navigate to the G drive or where you created the WinPE files. There you will see a WinPE iso file.

Then, you can connect the target disk to the computer, and burn ISO files to it to make it bootable. For this task, you can use Windows To Go (an available feature in Windows 10 Education/Enterprise/Pro and Windows 8/8.1 Enterprise).

Step 7. Type "Windows To Go" in the search box to launch this tool.

Step 8. It will automatically search for all inserted USB drives. Choose the destination USB drive and then "Next" to continue. Click "Add search location" to search for the Windows installation ISO file and choose the mounted ISO file.

Step 9. On the next window, you can set a BitLocker password to encrypt your Windows To Go workplace.

Conclusion

If you want to create a bootable USB drive for business usage, you can download and install Qiling Backup Server version. If you are a single user, you can download and install Qiling Backup Home version. If you are looking for a free bootable USB creation tool,install Windows ADK.

Qiling Bootable USB Frequently Asked Questions

If you still have bootable USB drive related questions, you can read these questions and answers below.

Why is my bootable USB not booting?

If the USB isn't booting, you need to make sure that the USB is bootable. You can either select the USB from the Boot Device list or configure BIOS/UEFI to always boot from a USB drive and then from the hard disk.

How do I force BIOS to boot from USB?

Press the Power button for your computer.
During the initial startup screen, press ESC, F1, F2, F8, or F10.
When you choose to enter the BIOS Setup, the setup utility page will appear.
Using the arrow keys on your keyboard, select the BOOT tab.
Move USB to be first in the boot sequence. Press F10 to save and exit.

How do I make an Qiling bootable USB?

To make a bootable USB

Connect your USB to your computer.
Run Qiling Backup, and click Tools > Create Emergency Disk.
Select Create WinPE emergency disk and select USB to create the rescue media.
Click Proceed to create a bootable USB drive.

Can I burn ISO to USB or DVD?

Yes, you can. To burn an ISO:

Find the location where the ISO file is saved
Right-click the ISO file > select Properties > click General > Change > select Windows Explorer for the program you would like to use to open ISO files and select Apply.
Right-click the ISO file and select Burn disc image.