How to setup a USB stick to install Windows 10?

Altcademy Team wrote on 7 February 2018

I have a sanDisk USB stick and I have downloaded the Windows 10 iso. I used DD on linux to mount the iso onto the USB stick but when I boot up my PC from the USB stick the Windows installation process doesn't run.

I have windows 7 installed on one of my older MacBooks, don't ask me why, but the following worked for me.

The partition type doesn't have to be GPT. This is the method I use, and it requires no additional software:

Format the drive as FAT32 using Windows. Use quick format and the default allocation unit size.
Mark the partition as Active using diskpart (this only needs to be done once per USB stick and persists through subsequent reformats as long as you don't repartition the stick) 2a) Open Command Prompt with admin rights and type: diskpart 2b) Type: lis vol 2c) Find the drive letter of the USB stick 2d) Type: sel vol [drive letter or corresponding drive ID#] (this selects the corresponding partition...and don't use a colon) 2e) Type: act 2f) Type: exit 2g) Type: exit
Mount the ISO (Windows 8 and 10 and Server 2012 have this feature built in)
Copy the entire contents of the drive to the root of the USB stick (I just use Select All and Send To Removable Disk to do it fast)
Boot from it Every system I've deployed Windows on worked with one of these USB sticks since Windows Vista SP1 (except for the odd bug with Vista SP1 support on UEFI systems where the EFI boot files were not in the proper folders for USB booting and had to be rejiggered manually...this was fixed in later images).