Would you like to know how to install an operating system from a USB? Do you know that it only takes one program to create a bootable flash drive? With the Universal USB Installer, you can quickly and easily download both Ubuntu Linux as well as Windows with only a few simple steps. You can easily download the program without cost and free of risk from the official webpage.
If you want to do a clean install of macOS Sierra, or you have multiple Macs to install it on, then a bootable flash drive for is your best bet for easy installation. Here’s how to make one.
What is Universal USB Installer?
Installing an operating system through a USB flash drive isn’t as simple as simply moving files around, but it can still be done easily if you follow the correct steps to ensure that the installation is completed successfully. By following the steps closely, you can have an operating system that can be installed without a CD in only a few minutes.
- Using a Mac with at least OS X 10.6.8 installed, access the Mac App Store and download the Lion (10.7) or Mountain Lion (10.8) app installer. Insert the USB drive into the Mac and launch Disk.
- Mac OS X Universal Binary Driver v2.0.0 (PKG file format) For Mac OS High Sierra (version 10.15) - see NOTE below. For Mac OS High Sierra (version 10.14) For Mac OS High Sierra (version 10.13) For Mac OS X Sierra (version 10.12) For Mac OS X El Capitan (version 10.11) For Mac OS X Yosemite (version 10.10) For Mac OS X Mavericks (version 10.9).
- On a Mac that is compatible with El Capitan, open the disk image and run the installer within, named InstallMacOSX.pkg. It installs an app named Install OS X El Capitan into your Applications folder. You will create the bootable installer from this app, not from the disk image or.pkg installer. Use the 'createinstallmedia' command in Terminal.
The Universal USB Installer is a powerful tool that allows you to mount the ISO image of an operating system on a USB flash drive so that it can easily be installed to any machine you plug it into. Both the program and the ISO (Linux or Windows) can be downloaded via the free links below. Once the download is finished, you can use the program to mount the ISO onto your USB flash drive.
What is it for?
The Universal USB Installer allows you to easily install operating systems using dedicated software to create either a USB flash drive for either a backup or a fresh installation.
Easily Install Linux and Windows From Your Flash Drive
Supported Systems
The installer supports practically any operating system, but it’s most compatible with the Windows and Linux distributions highlighted in previous paragraphs due to their ease-of-use.
On one hand, Windows is the most widely-used operating system in the world and is familiar to almost everyone. On the other hand, Linux has almost all of the features of commercial operating systems, and is often completely free, depending on the distribution. Linux software is also free for the most part.
Let’s Look at a List of Compatible Software:
- Ubuntu Desktop
- Xubuntu Desktop
- Kubuntu Desktop
- Lubuntu Desktop
- Edubuntu Desktop
- Ubuntu Studio
- Ubuntu Server Installer
- Ubuntu Alternate
- Mythbuntu Desktop
- Blackbuntu
- Debian Netinst
- Debian Live
- Fedora Desktop
- Fatdog64
- Lighthouse Puppy
- Lucid Puppy
- Precise Puppy
- Puppy Arcade
- Puppy 4.3.1
- Racy Puppy
- Slacko Puppy
- Wary Puppy
- AOMEI (Disk Cloning and Backup Tool)
- Acronis Rescue CD
- Android
- AntiX
- Antergos
- ArchBang
- ArchLinux
- ArtistX
- Aurora
- BackBox
- Baltix Linux
- BCCD
- BlehOS
- Bodhi
- Boot Repair Disk
- Carmedia
- CentOS
- Chakra
- Clonezilla
- Crunchbang
- DBAN 2.2.X
- Deft Linux
- Deepin Linux
- DRBL
- DSL 4.4.10
- Dreamlinux
- Dynebolic
- EASUS Disk Copy
- EasyPeasy
- Elementary OS
- Elementary Unleashed
- Feather Linux
- Finnix
- Fuduntu
- Fusion Linux
- Gamedrift
- Gentoo
- GEEXBOX
- gNewSense
- GRML
- gOS gadgets
- GParted
- Jolicloud
- Kiwi
- KNOPPIX
- Kororaa
- KXStudio
- Leeenux
- Liberte
- LinHES
- Linux XP Like
- LPS
- Macbuntu
- Mandriva One 2011
- Matriux
- MCNLive Toronto
- Meego
- MicroCore
- Netrunner
- Ophcrack
- OSGeo Live
- Pardus
- PartedMagic
- PCLinuxOS
- Pear OS
- Peppermint
- PING
- Pinguy OS
- Plasma active
- PLoP Linux
- Porteus
- Redo Backup
- Rescatux
- RIP Linux
- Runt Linux
- Sabayon Linux
- SalineOS
- Satux
- Simply MEPIS
- SLAX
- SliTaZ
- Sn0wL1nuX
- SolusOS
- System Rescue CD
- Tails
- Terralinux
- TinyCore
- Trisquel
- Uberstudent
- Ultimate Boot CD
- Ultimate Edition
- WifiWay
- WifiSlax
- xPUD
- XBMC
- XBMCbuntu
- StartOS
- wattOS R5
- Zenwalk Live
- Zorin OS
- AOSS (Malware Scanner)
- AVG Rescue CD
- Avira Antivir Rescue Disk
- Bitdefender Rescue CD
- Comodo Rescue Disk
- DrWeb LiveCD
- F-Secure Rescue CD
- G DATA Antivirus
- Kaspersky Rescue Disk
- Panda Safe CD
- Trinity Rescue Kit
- Windows to Go (on VHD)
- Windows Vista Installer
- Windows 7 Installer
- Windows 8 Installer
* Other operating systems will be added over time
Download the Free Program: Official Link
Downloading the Portable Universal USB Installer is a simple process. Due to it being such a well-known free program, it’s available on many websites.
However, you can find a direct download for free through the following link:
Latest Official Version (Virus-Free)
Once you have it, the only thing you’ll need is the ISO images before you can create the portable installation drive.
Downloading the ISOs
Just as downloading the program to create the USB installer was simple, so too is downloading the ISO images you need for the operating systems themselves. It’s easy to obtain either Windows or Linux online due to their massive popularity.
Ubuntu and Other Linux Distributions
In regards to Linux, it’s possible that you may not even need to download them, since the repository may be included with the universal USB installer already. However, we’ll still give you the official download link for the latest version of Ubuntu:
Windows
Since Windows isn’t free, it likely isn’t available on the installer by default. However, it’s still easy to download, either by purchasing it through Microsoft or by other means. In any case, the process is often easy and quick, and you can get Windows through the following link:
Download link for the latest version of Windows 10. You can also find Windows 7 and Windows Vista. With this image and the installer software, you only need to follow a few more steps before your portable installer is ready.
How to Use the Universal USB Installer: Step by Step
Assuming you already have the program and your desired ISO image ready for mounting to the USB, the next steps are relatively simple, and can be summed up by the following:
- Open the installer.
- Select a Linux distribution or other operating system from the list.
- Choose the flash drive where you’d like to mount the image to create a bootable USB drive or a USB installer.
Technical Requirements
The initial requirements aren’t very far-fetched for most people. In addition to the program itself, you only need few things:
- At least 2GB of empty space on the USB flash drive.
- Microsoft Windows XP or a later version of Windows.
- A total of at least 5GB of space on the flash drive.
How to Install the Operating System
The process to install the OS is relatively simple. The most complicated part of the whole process is booting the USB drive with the OS that we want.
Here we have several options, depending on whether we want to install the operating system on a fresh and clean PC, create a new partition along-side a current operating system, or just use the new operating system without having to modify the computer itself. The most common method is to install the OS from scratch, either as an update to an older OS or as a fresh install on a PC without one.
How to Install Windows From USB
Installing a Windows operating system from a USB drive is as easy as selecting it in BIOS or from the computer’s boot screen, where the USB flash drive will appear as an option if it’s been detected properly.
All you have to do is select the flash drive and wait for your PC to complete the operation on its own. The process should be very simple, and quite fast. Errors should be sparse if all of your hardware and firmware is compatible.
This process is the same for Windows 7 or 10, as well as most other versions of Windows.
How to Install Ubuntu From USB
Installing Ubuntu or other distributions of Linux is also extremely easy via USB. All you need to do is restart the computer when the default USB memory isn’t detected. Once you’ve done this, the standard installation window should open, and you should be able to start the process instantly. You’ll be guided through the entire process, so the chances of failure are minimal.
Common Issues
While it’s true that problems are unlikely if all requirements are met, unexpected errors can always crop up. If an error does occur, it’s most likely to occur at the end of your installation. If this happens, it’s advisable to try again with a different ISO image.
Learning how to create a bootable macOS installation disk can be helpful in a variety of situations. Rather than download and install a new OS from Apple's servers each time, it can be used for multiple installations on different machines. It can also help in situations where the operating system is corrupted or installation from app store shows errors.
To create a bootable macOS installation disk, you have to burn the DMG file to a USB drive as CD/DVD is not available for Mac computers. Here's how to do it from text commands and using a purpose-built software called WizDMG. You will first need to download the DMG file for the macOS version you wish to install. For example, if you want to create a bootable macOS Mojave installer, you will need the DMG file for macOS Mojave. Once the file has been downloaded to your PC, you can proceed with one of the bootable disk creation methods shown below.
Mac Os X Download
Method 1: How to Create Bootable USB Installer for Mac via Commands
macOS (formly named Mac OS X) is just a variant of popular Unix based operating system. This means a lot of daily and advanced tasks on Mac can be done via text commands such as creating bootable USB installer for Mac. However, this could be a lot of challenges if you had no clue about commands and I suggest taking a look at the other solutions in this post to avoid messing up the computer with the wrong commands.
Universal Usb Installer For Windows
Step 1. Search macOS name in app store (Mojave, High Serria, EI Capitai). Click 'Get' button to download the installer image on your Mac. The downloaded file will be located in Application folder.
Step 2. When the download is completed, the installation windows opens automatically, just close the window and go to Application folder. You will find a file started Install, such as Install macOS Majave.
Step 3. Now connect an external flash drive with more than 16G free space. And backup the data in that USB drive as the installer erase all content from it. Open Disk Utility app and format the USB drive with APFS or Mac OS Extended.
Step 4. Open the Terminal app and copy-and-past the following commands to make a booatble USB installer from macOS image:
For Majove: sudo /Applications/Install macOS Mojave.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/MyVolume
For High Serria: sudo /Applications/Install macOS High Sierra.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/MyVolume
For EI Capitan: sudo /Applications/Install OS X El Capitan.app/Contents/Resources/createinstallmedia --volume /Volumes/MyVolume --applicationpath /Applications/Install OS X El Capitan.app
Step 5. Input the admin password when being prompted. And wait for the booatable disk being created. When it is done successfully, you will receive a message shown in above screenshot.
Unconfortable with text commadns and prefer doing it in a simple way? The second suggestion is more user friendly!
Method 2: How to Make Bootable USB from macOS with WizDMG
WizDMG fills a huge gap in Windows not supporting DMG files. It is a desktop utility supporting Windows and Mac. It allows you to directly burn DMG files to disk in order to create a bootable macOS Mojave installer or a boot disk for any macOS version.
WizDMG offers an intuitive interface with no clutter and full functionality to handle DMG files. Apart from burning such disk image files to DVD/CD or USB, it also gives you edit options where you can add and remove files from within the DMG file, rename DMG files and even create DMGs from files and folders on your desktop. This software application has been created for novice users as well as experts. It is easy to use, has a very high burn success rate and will help you create a bootable macOS installer in no time. Follow the instructions below:
Step 1Install WizDMG
Download WizDMG from the official website and install it on your PC. Launch the program and select the 'Burn' option in the main interface.
Step 2Create Bootable USB from macOS Install Image
Click on Load DMG to import the macOS installation file into the application. Insert a USB (16G free space) and click on the 'Burn' button next to the appropriate media type.
The important thing to remember here is that you now know how to create a macOS installer in Windows. There aren't a lot of options out there because of the compatibility issues between Mac and Windows environments. That means converting DMG to ISO and back again to DMG leaves the door open for corrupted files and incorrectly burned bootable media, which defeats the whole purpose because it might not even work in the end.
Method 3: Create macOS High Serria/Mojave Bootable USB on Windows 10/7
Another way to create macoS bootable disk on Windows is using a tool called DMG2IMG along with Windows command prompt. It requires a bit of a workaround, but even novice users can learn to burn a DMG file to a disk to create bootable media for a macOS installation. Just make sure you follow the instructions below carefully.
Step 1. Download DMG2IMG and install it in your Windows PC. Open File Explorer and go to the folder containing the DMG2IMG program, then right-click and select 'Open command windows here.'
Step 2. Type the following command and hit Enter: dmg2img [sourcefile.dmg] [destinationfile.iso]
Step 3. Now that the DMG file has been converted to ISO format, you can use the following command to burn it to a disk. Before that, insert a disk into the optical drive: isoburn.exe /Q E: 'C:UsersUsernameDesktopdestinationfile.iso'
Step 4. This command utilizes the Windows native disk image burner to burn the ISO to the disk in your optical drive. The ISO file can't be used directly in macOS, but it can be mounted as a virtual drive. Once you do this, you can convert it back to DMG using Disk Utility in Mac. You can then use this as your bootable macOS installer.
As you can see, this is a bit of a workaround because DMG files aren't natively supported in Windows. Likewise, ISO files aren't fully supported in macOS. However, you can use this method to create a macOS installation disk in Windows. If you want a much simpler solution, then review the next method shown here.
Summary
If you ask us how to create a bootable macOS installation disk, this is the method we recommend. There's no confusing command line work involved, you don't need a bunch of additional software utilities to get the job done, and the high accuracy of the application ensures that you won't be wasting disk after disk trying to burn the installation media for macOS onto a disk. Use WizDMG as a quick and painless way to create a macOS installation disk in a very short time.