What is Rufus and how to use it to install Windows 10? [review]

Our Review

Pros

Create bootable, non-bootable and FreeDOS drives

Format USB drives in quick or normal mode

Free for personal and commercial use

Cons

None

Rufus is a lightweight but powerful Windows program you can use to create bootable USB devices. This way, you can plug it into your computer to immediately reinstall your OS, work on a machine that’s not running any OS, flash OS or other firmware from DOS, deploy any low-level tool, and even update your BIOS on Windows 10.

It comes with basic and advanced options to help you format USB flash drives and add bootable or non-bootable media. For instance, you can use this tool to create a Windows 10 UEFI bootable USB drive from ISO.

The boot creator application is also practical if you want to install Windows 10 on a second drive. Before reading our review for this tool, take a look at the system requirements, license, installation, interface, and features.

Rufus system requirements

The boot creator has modest system prerequisites. Here’s what you need:

• Windows 10, 8.1, 8, 7, Vista, XP (either 32-bit or 64-bit)
• A USB flash drive with at least 8 Gb capacity

Rufus free

The USB format tool is completely free to use. It can be used for both personal and commercial purposes. It’s not only freeware but also open source, which means that you can distribute, modify and even integrate Rufus into your own software projects.

How to install Rufus?

Rufus is a portable software product, so it doesn’t require any installation. Therefore, you can run the tool right after download. It only asks for permission to auto-check for software updates online, which you can later modify from the settings area.

Besides the fact that you can add Rufus to your collection of portable applications and fire it up whenever you need to create a bootable USB flash drive, you can keep it stored on an external device to use it on any PC that needs urgent repairs.

Rufus interface

When it comes to the graphical interface, Rufus is incredibly simple. It has only one window that houses all standard options. It can be extended if you also want to display advanced drive properties and format settings.

There are three distinct sections: drive properties, format options, and status. Four buttons on the lower-left side give you the possibility to change the UI language, view product details, configure update settings, as well as view and save logging information.

How to use Rufus to install Windows 10

• Insert a USB drive into your PC and launch Rufus.
• Set Device to your USB drive and click SELECT to select the Windows 10 installation media.
• To format, set the Volume label and leave File system and Cluster size to default.
• Click START and wait until Rufus creates a Windows 10 installation media USB.

What is Rufus?

All aspects considered, Rufus is an excellent boot creator that can be handled by casual and experienced users alike, thanks to the standard and advanced settings it brings.

It rapidly creates bootable USB drives, without putting a strain on the system’s performance. For instance, you can use Rufus to install Windows 10. It also has built-in support for drive formatting, which means that you don’t have to manually do this before launching Rufus.

What’s more, the application is free and requires no setup so that you can copy it onto a portable device and easily launch it on any computer to create bootable drives.

FAQ: Learn more about Rufus

• Is Rufus safe?

Yes, Rufus is 100% safe to use. It’s a legitimate software application that doesn’t contain ads, banners, third-party offers or other types of adware or malware. It’s 100% free to use for personal and commercial purposes. And there are no hidden costs.

• What is the latest version of Rufus?

The latest version of Rufus is 3.10 and was released on April 22, 2020. It doesn’t bring new features but comes with some improvements and bug fixes.

• How to burn ISO to USB with Rufus?

In the main window of Rufus, set Device to your pen drive and Boot Selection to Disk or ISO image. Next, click SELECT, navigate to the ISO image that contains your OS, then click START. Your bootable USB should be quickly created.