Introduction
If you need to write an ISO to a USB flash drive, this guide will show you how to use Etcher. Because most modern computers lack internal optical drives, booting from a USB drive is the fastest and most practical way to install or run an operating system.
While this guide was written with Linux in mind, it works for any modern bootable ISO.
TL;DR: Buy a 64GB+ drive (USB 5Gbps, often listed as USB 3.0/3.1 or 3.2 Gen 1) preferred; USB 2.0 is slower but serviceable). IF BUDGET IS AN ISSUE, ERASE AND REUSE A PROVEN 16-32GB BRANDED DRIVE RATHER THAN BUYING NO-NAME JUNK!
Note on 8GB/16GB Drives: For mainstream OS installs, 8GB drives are effectively obsolete. While they remain viable for "minimalist" use—such as Arch Linux, Puppy Linux, or Debian NetInst images—they lack the capacity for the "standard" desktop installers most people need as they do not have the margins for formatting, drivers, packages and Linux firmware. Unless you are specifically building a lightweight tool, consider them too small for modern use. 16GB drives will still be viable for a few more years, but will eventually hit the same limits. 32GB drives are fine for now, but verify your source and test any "grey market" purchases.
AMAZON/eBay WARNING: If you buy the drive for this on Amazon or eBay and it has issues out of the box, it is probably counterfeit - get rid of it and buy another one in person. Test these with a tool like ValiDrive (GRC) or h2testw before you rely on these drives and send it back if it has problems.
Guide notes
- Important: OSes without explicit USB boot support are not guaranteed to work. While the risk is low with the right tools, there are no guarantees. You are on your own if there are unforeseen issues with ancient operating systems.
- Used drives should ideally be erased before using Etcher - this generally is not an issue if skipped as Etcher handles this.
- You cannot select the formatting like in Rufus—however, Rufus is highly intolerant of lower-grade drive controllers and will often fail. Etcher uses raw block-level writing, making it much more resilient on budget drives. I successfully tested this with a cheaper 32GB Onn drive on both a legacy Latitude E6510 and a modern EliteBook 645 G11 using a legacy Linux ISO (Parted Magic 2020). There was also no issues with the same E6510 on a SanDisk Ultra Dual Drive Go 128GB.
What you need
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Download a copy of Etcher here: Balena Etcher and open it where you keep it your downloads. This is commonly located in Downloads in Windows and MacOS, with Linux varying per distro.
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Open Etcher from the folder it is located in.
Ask FixBot
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Click on Flash from File and select the image you want to flash - this will bring up your system's file explorer (not shown).
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Click on Select target and select the USB drive you want to write to.
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Click on Select X (X=drives selected) and click Flash.
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Once Etcher is complete, it will verify the drive. Let this finish as it makes sure the drive is bootable and ready to use.
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If the write was successful, the drive will say Flash Completed!. This is good. The drive is ready to use.
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To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.
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