Making a Windows 10 bootable thumbdrive using a Mac
January 27, 2018 11:38 PM Subscribe
Help step me through the process of taking a Win10 iso image I downloaded from Microsoft (via) onto my Macbook (running OS 10.13.2 High Sierra), slapping it onto a thumb drive, and making it work as a bootable disk on a Dell Optiplex 7010 when I select "USB" as the boot option via the BIOS menu.
Backstory: One day last week, my PC on startup began booting right into Win10's native diagnostic-and-reinstallation sequence. However, when it runs, it quickly gives up and asks to restart or try some advanced options (all of which fail very quickly). MicroCenter's tech support poked it with their computer sticks and figured out that the partition containing the native diagnostic-and-reinstallation tools was itself corrupt. They offered to charge me $100 to reinstall the OS, but I decided instead to take a crack at it myself, first. [Note: the warranty does not cover reinstallation of an OS. I consider that bullshit. That aside...]
I've tried lots of things, usually involving, on the Dell, F2'ing into settings or F12'ing into BIOS and tinkering with settings, running complete diagnostics from there (everything checks out okay; and I've reverted the BIOS back to its default settings); or, copying the iso file onto the thumb drive eight different ways using two different iMacs running different OS's, per instructions from a couple of apple support pages which I think are a bit outdated. So far, all attempts have resulted in a "Boot file not found, press any key to restart" message.
My next idea, as yet incomplete: I've installed Win10 successfully onto a partition on my MacBook (using Boot Camp Assistant), and it's running verrry smoothly. I'm gonna try formatting the thumb drive from within the Win10-on-the-MacBook OS, and then placing the iso file on the thumb drive, also while still in Win10-on-the-MacBook. I have no idea if this is going to solve anything, and I'm feeling like I am missing something very obvious, and it's all put me in a bit of a foul mood when I find that I've spent so much time wasted on this. (Spending the $100 would almost be worth it at this point. But that aside...)
...Any suggestions are welcome, and I'll try to clarify things if necessary. Thanks!!
Backstory: One day last week, my PC on startup began booting right into Win10's native diagnostic-and-reinstallation sequence. However, when it runs, it quickly gives up and asks to restart or try some advanced options (all of which fail very quickly). MicroCenter's tech support poked it with their computer sticks and figured out that the partition containing the native diagnostic-and-reinstallation tools was itself corrupt. They offered to charge me $100 to reinstall the OS, but I decided instead to take a crack at it myself, first. [Note: the warranty does not cover reinstallation of an OS. I consider that bullshit. That aside...]
I've tried lots of things, usually involving, on the Dell, F2'ing into settings or F12'ing into BIOS and tinkering with settings, running complete diagnostics from there (everything checks out okay; and I've reverted the BIOS back to its default settings); or, copying the iso file onto the thumb drive eight different ways using two different iMacs running different OS's, per instructions from a couple of apple support pages which I think are a bit outdated. So far, all attempts have resulted in a "Boot file not found, press any key to restart" message.
My next idea, as yet incomplete: I've installed Win10 successfully onto a partition on my MacBook (using Boot Camp Assistant), and it's running verrry smoothly. I'm gonna try formatting the thumb drive from within the Win10-on-the-MacBook OS, and then placing the iso file on the thumb drive, also while still in Win10-on-the-MacBook. I have no idea if this is going to solve anything, and I'm feeling like I am missing something very obvious, and it's all put me in a bit of a foul mood when I find that I've spent so much time wasted on this. (Spending the $100 would almost be worth it at this point. But that aside...)
...Any suggestions are welcome, and I'll try to clarify things if necessary. Thanks!!
You don't want to place the iso file on the usb drive. That's just going to be the same .iso file, unrecognisable to the boot process. You need to write all the files that comprise the image to the drive. I'm not a Win10 guy, but if you've got a Mac, I'd use dd.
Decent enough instructions here.
NB There are a couple of options for partition-table formats (GUID (newer) vs MBR). Check your USB drive in Disk Utility (under 'partition'). I can never remember which OS likes what (and dunno Win10), but if the dd'd drive doesn't boot try the other one.
posted by pompomtom at 1:23 AM on January 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
Decent enough instructions here.
NB There are a couple of options for partition-table formats (GUID (newer) vs MBR). Check your USB drive in Disk Utility (under 'partition'). I can never remember which OS likes what (and dunno Win10), but if the dd'd drive doesn't boot try the other one.
posted by pompomtom at 1:23 AM on January 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
As above, you can't just dump the .iso on a stick and boot it. It's simple enough, but I've never done it from a Mac. I googled and found the same instructions as pompomtom links above, or there's this set of instructions which is less command-line intensive - it uses the (built-in, I assume?) boot camp assistant.
posted by quinndexter at 2:57 AM on January 28, 2018
posted by quinndexter at 2:57 AM on January 28, 2018
You can use the Boot Camp Assistant to create install media from the ISO you downloaded, or you can mount the ISO and copy all its files onto a properly formatted USB stick. If you use Boot Camp Assistant the USB stick will definitely be bootable, but it will also include all the Apple drivers needed for Windows on Apple hardware, and you won't need any of that stuff to be installed on the Dell. If you mount the ISO and copy the files, the USB stick will be bootable but only on PCs that support UEFI mode and I don't know if your Dell is one of those.
If you have a working Windows instance on the MacBook, though, you really should just use the Media Creation Tool (which is what curse said). You could also use Dell's recovery tools, but that might be limited to the OS that the computer shipped with. The advantage of the Dell tool is it will have all the specific drivers you'd need. You could still do that first and then upgrade to Windows 10 in place, but that's extra work.
posted by fedward at 10:18 AM on January 28, 2018
If you have a working Windows instance on the MacBook, though, you really should just use the Media Creation Tool (which is what curse said). You could also use Dell's recovery tools, but that might be limited to the OS that the computer shipped with. The advantage of the Dell tool is it will have all the specific drivers you'd need. You could still do that first and then upgrade to Windows 10 in place, but that's extra work.
posted by fedward at 10:18 AM on January 28, 2018
Best answer: Ugh, my answer could be more clearly written. You have two best choices, since you have a working Windows (via Boot Camp) and several inferior choices. Each of the two best choices has pros and cons, though.
Microsoft's Media Creation Tool: go straight to Windows 10, Fall Creator's Update. Latest build, latest updates, only like a half dozen system updates to be run after that. It may be missing a few drivers for specific devices in your system, so you may need to download a Dell support package after installation (using the service tag number on the machine, embedded in your link). Windows 10 is pretty good for both support in the base install and for downloading vendor-specific driver updates, but it's hard to know for sure how good the setup will be out of the box. The other major drawback to doing things this way is that it will not create or repair the system recovery partition on your hard drive, which you have found out is currently damaged.
Dell's windows recovery tool: this will give you one download with the best drivers for an OS, just maybe not Windows 10. It will also repair or recreate the system recovery partition, which will make any future repair or recovery easier. Potential drawback: if Dell hasn't made a Windows 10 image available for your system, you'd have to install the OS the computer shipped with (Windows 7) or maybe Windows 8, and then use Microsoft's tools to update that to Windows 10. You'd have all the right drivers in place already and the upgrade should be pretty straightforward, but it's still a time consuming step.
It's still possible to create a bootable USB drive via macOS, but honestly since you have a working Windows I think one of those two choices is much better than trying that.
posted by fedward at 10:40 AM on January 28, 2018
Microsoft's Media Creation Tool: go straight to Windows 10, Fall Creator's Update. Latest build, latest updates, only like a half dozen system updates to be run after that. It may be missing a few drivers for specific devices in your system, so you may need to download a Dell support package after installation (using the service tag number on the machine, embedded in your link). Windows 10 is pretty good for both support in the base install and for downloading vendor-specific driver updates, but it's hard to know for sure how good the setup will be out of the box. The other major drawback to doing things this way is that it will not create or repair the system recovery partition on your hard drive, which you have found out is currently damaged.
Dell's windows recovery tool: this will give you one download with the best drivers for an OS, just maybe not Windows 10. It will also repair or recreate the system recovery partition, which will make any future repair or recovery easier. Potential drawback: if Dell hasn't made a Windows 10 image available for your system, you'd have to install the OS the computer shipped with (Windows 7) or maybe Windows 8, and then use Microsoft's tools to update that to Windows 10. You'd have all the right drivers in place already and the upgrade should be pretty straightforward, but it's still a time consuming step.
It's still possible to create a bootable USB drive via macOS, but honestly since you have a working Windows I think one of those two choices is much better than trying that.
posted by fedward at 10:40 AM on January 28, 2018
Response by poster: Thanks – basically, after reading through the answers here, my final idea panned out, and after a few rounds of googling error messages and taking educated guesses, I went from making a bootable thumbdrive from the Media Creation Tool on the Win10-on-the-Mac, all the way to cracking through the wall on the Dell of assigning a partition that it agreed to install onto. When, after so many tries, the Win10 actual setup screen came up, the weight was lifted off my shoulders. When my son started to play some Steam games and it still held up and I didn't see any smoke trickling from the back of the tower, I knew I could put it out of my mind. Now I can speak softly and carry Win10 on a stick.
Problem fixed; thanks for your ideas!
posted by not_on_display at 9:44 PM on January 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
Problem fixed; thanks for your ideas!
posted by not_on_display at 9:44 PM on January 28, 2018 [1 favorite]
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posted by curse at 12:00 AM on January 28, 2018