I'm running into a frustrating issue where I need to create a Windows 10 bootable USB for my Macbook Pro 2023, but every attempt to use Boot Camp Assistant has ended in errors. This has left me in a bit of a bind, as I'm keen to find an alternative method that bypasses Boot Camp altogether. The goal is to successfully prepare a USB drive with Windows 10 installation files, which I plan to use on a PC. If anyone knows how to do this directly on macOS, avoiding Boot Camp issues, I'd really appreciate a simplified guide or tool suggestions to get this done.
There are many ways and tools can be used to make Windows 10 bootable USB installer on Mac, like rufus, WonderISO or Unetbootin. But for me, I used to installed windows 10 in a VM (vmware i think is what I used) on Mac and then created the USB drive from there. I wish that you had known about this method.
Bootcamp assistant app is removed from Apple Silicon on Mac so you can't create Windows 10 bootable USB on Mac with Bootcamp app. I am using WonderISO on my Apple Silicon Mac running the latest macOS Sonoma and it only takes 3 clicks to create a Windows 10 bootable USB on my Mac.
Parallels Desktop, a popular virtualization software for Mac, allows you to run Windows and other operating systems within macOS without needing to reboot. So you can create Windows 10 bootable USB on Mac in a Windows virtual machine.
Firstly, you need to have a copy of the Windows 10 ISO file. Microsoft provides this file for free on their website, intended for users who need to install or reinstall Windows. Download this file to your Mac before proceeding to the next steps.
With the Windows 10 ISO file downloaded, the next crucial step is to obtain a USB drive with sufficient storage space. Typically, a drive with at least 8GB of space is recommended. This ensures that there is enough room for the Windows installation files and any additional updates or drivers you might need to include in the bootable media.
Once Parallels Desktop is installed, you can use it to create a new virtual machine using the Windows 10 ISO file. During the setup process, Parallels will ask where you want to install Windows. At this stage, instead of installing it on a virtual disk, you'll choose your USB drive as the installation destination. This process effectively turns your USB drive into bootable Windows 10 installation media.
However, it's important to note that directly creating Windows 10 bootable USB on Mac through Parallels Desktop might not be as straightforward as using dedicated software for making bootable drives. It takes more time and storage space on your Mac.
If you want to create windows 10 bootable USB on Mac without bootcamp, you can try using a different tool called Etcher. Etcher is a free and open-source tool that allows you to create bootable USB drives from ISO files. Here are the steps to create a Windows 10 bootable USB on Mac using Etcher:
It becomes much challenging to create Windows 10 bootable USB on Mac as Bootcamp is not available on Apple Silicon Mac. Instead, you can borrow another Intel Mac and use Bootcamp to make a bootable Windows 10 USB on Mac.
Step 1: Open the Boot Camp Assistant in the Utilities folder within your Applications folder. Alternatively, use Spotlight search (Cmd + Space) and type "Boot Camp Assistant" to find and open it.
I found a way to install Windows on system without Mac OS system. You will need a USB with a Mac OS system on it. Reason why you will need to format the HD of the mac. With the system off. Turn on the mac. Access the boot up Options menu. Select the USB with the mac os. You will not be loading the Mac Os system. Don't worry. It will load to install the Mac OS system. You click the desktop and select Disk Utility. Choose the hard drive. Select Partition. Select one Partition. Under the Partition window Select Master Boot Record. This will allow you to format the hard drive that is not GUID partition that is for Mac. Once that is done. You are golden. Make sure you have a bootable USB with Windows on it. I used a bootable CD with Windows 7. When selecting the bootable media, it will load windows. You may receive error that unable to use the hard drive. No worries. Select the hard drive, delete and format. and Try again. This should allow you use the hard drive and install windows. No boot camp and no Mac OS on the system. If you need to get drivers. Try using IOBIT Driver Booster. It is free. Or you can view the devices in Device manager to locate the kind of devices that maybe needed to be updated.
@Delaney_Justin Tried this today. My commands seemed to have worked. Files were created on my USB Flash Drive, but still doesn't seem to be recognized by my new PC. Do you have ideas on how to verify that the correct files were created? Maybe I messed up the path part?
@Tonyhu2255
I got me a hand me down iMac 27" late 2015 from work and just used Ventoy to boot into HirenBootcd. From this Windows recovery environment I started an installation for W11 with the bypass method for the requirement check. I had to manually look up all the drivers and the only one that gave me trouble was the audio which I managed to fix after tons of possible options on the sound driver end.
So now I don't use bootcamp and can install all the regular Windows drivers for the hardware. It runs like a charm and I'm surprised as to how capable of a machine it is this way. It runs some emulators and games pretty good as well.
o, for the M1 chip, Boot Camp should work just fine without any additional software like Parallels. However, if you have an older model with an Intel processor (M2/M3), then using Parallels is necessary in order to run Windows alongside macOS seamlessly on your machine. As for obtaining genuine Windows keys from Microsoft Partner Hypest-key
Before you get started, make sure you've backed up your computer. Although the dual-boot setup process is not very involved, accidents can still happen. So take the time to back up your important files in case chaos theory comes into play. In addition to backing up your files, consider taking an image backup of the disk as well, though that's not required and can be a more advanced process.
I recommend installing Windows and Ubuntu via flash drives since they're faster than DVDs. It probably goes without saying, but creating bootable media erases everything on the flash drive. Therefore, make sure the flash drives are empty or contain data you don't care about losing.
If your machine doesn't support booting from USB, you can create DVD media instead. Unfortunately, because no two computers seem to have the same DVD-burning software, I can't walk you through that process. However, if your DVD-burning application has an option to burn from an ISO image, that's the option you need.
If Windows 10 came with your PC, the license will be built into the computer, so you don't need to worry about entering it during installation. If you bought the retail edition, you should have a product key, which you will need to enter during the installation process.
Download and launch the Windows 10 Media Creation Tool. Once you launch the tool, it will walk you through the steps required to create the Windows media on a USB or DVD-R. Note: Even if you already have Windows 10 installed, it's a good idea to create bootable media anyway, just in case something goes wrong and you need to reinstall it.
For creating bootable media for any Linux distribution, I recommend Etcher. Etcher works on all three major operating systems (Linux, MacOS, and Windows) and is careful not to let you overwrite your current operating system partition.
Once you have downloaded and launched Etcher, click Select image, and point it to the Ubuntu ISO you downloaded in step 4. Next, click Select drive to choose your flash drive, and click Flash! to start the process of turning a flash drive into an Ubuntu installer. (If you're using a DVD-R, use your computer's DVD-burning software instead.)
There are two ways of going about the installation. First, if you already have Windows 10 installed, you can have the Ubuntu installer resize the partition, and the installation will proceed in the empty space. Or, if you haven't installed Windows 10, install it on a smaller partition you can set up during the installation process. (I'll describe how to do that below.) The second way is preferred and less error-prone. There's a good chance you won't have any issues either way, but installing Windows manually and giving it a smaller partition, then installing Ubuntu, is the easiest way to go.
Insert the Windows installation media you created into your computer and boot from it. How you do this depends on your computer, but most have a key you can press to initiate the boot menu. On a Dell PC for example, that key is F12. If the flash drive doesn't show up as an option, you may need to restart the computer. Sometimes it will show up only if you've inserted the media before turning on the computer. If you see a message like, "press any key to boot from the installation media," press a key. You should see the following screen. Select your language and keyboard style and click Next.
On the next screen, it asks for your product key. If you don't have one because Windows 10 came with your PC, select "I don't have a product key." It should automatically activate after the installation once it catches up with updates. If you do have a product key, type that in and click Next.
Select which version of Windows you want to install. If you have a retail copy, the label will tell you what version you have. Otherwise, it is typically located with the documentation that came with your computer. In most cases, it's going to be either Windows 10 Home or Windows 10 Pro. Most PCs that come with the Home edition have a label that simply reads "Windows 10," while Pro is clearly marked.
Your results will probably look different than mine. I have never used this hard disk before, so it's completely unallocated. You will probably see one or more partitions for your current operating system. Highlight each partition and remove it.
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