How to Create Windows 10 Legacy or UEFI Boot USB（2 Ways）

Why Create Windows 10 Bootable USB?

If your computer encounters boot failure, the bootable USB that contains an factory image of the operating system can be very useful. You can use it to recover your computer to factory or perform the clean install.

A USB flash drive can read and write much faster than a CD. Therefore, it allows faster boot and OS installation. The bootable USB is very convenient if you want to reinstall your system. And you can read on to learn how to create Windows 10 USB boot UEFI or Legacy.

How to Create Windows 10 Legacy or UEFI Boot USB

Next, you can learn 2 ways to create Windows 10 Legacy or UEFI boot USB, both Windows 10 media creation tool and free third-party software can help you. You can choose either method according to your own needs. The stepwise tutorial will be included in each method. Please read on.

Create Windows 10 Legacy or UEFI Boot USB via Media Creation Tool

The first method is to use Windows 10 Media Creation Tool to create a bootable USB. You can get this tool from Microsoft’s official site, and click the relevant Download tool now button and open it. Then you can follow the steps below.

Step 1. When you open Media Creation Tool, choose Create installation media (USB flash drive, DVD, or ISO file) for another PC. Then click Next.

Step 2. Set Language, Windows Edition, and Architecture. Then click Next. You can accept the recommended options or make your own choice.

Step 3. Choose USB flash drive and click Next.

Step 4. Select the removable drive from the list, and click Next to continue.

Step 5. It will start downloading Windows 10 as well as any available updates to the USB drive and make it bootable.

Step 6. When you see Your USB flash drive is ready message, it means the process is successful. Then click Finish to exit.

Media Creation Tool meets the needs of many users to create a Windows 10 bootable USB, but this USB won’t work on different systems. In other words, you cannot use a Windows 10 bootable USB created in this way on another computer. For example, you cannot use a Windows 10 bootable disk to restore Windows 11, nor use this USB made by Windows 10 64-bit to boot a 32-bit computer.

Create Windows 10 Legacy or UEFI Boot USB via Third-party Tool (Easier)

If you are looking for a simpler and more efficient way, you can choose the free and reliable third-party software AOMEI Backupper Standard to help you. This software allows you to easily create Windows 10 Legacy or UEFI boot USB and it supports the USB working properly on different systems. It also has the advantages below.

• 2 bootable disc types: It supports both Windows PE and Linux. The first one is more flexible, customizable, and compatible, which allows you to add custom drivers, download Windows PE environment automatically over the Internet, and use all the features built-in this software. While for Linux, you can only use it to perform restore and clone operations.
• 3 bootable media: It provides 3 bootable media, namely CD/DVD, USB and ISO file.
• 2 boot modes: It supports both UEFI and Legacy BIOS boot mode. So, if your computer only supports traditional Legacy mode, you can easily make Windows 10 USB boot in Legacy BIOS.
• Powerful compatibility: This software is compatible with all the Windows systems (Windows 11/10/8/7/XP/Vista) as well as multiple computer brands(Lenovo, WD, ASUS, HP, etc).

Then, you can follow the graphic tutorial below to create Windows 10 Legacy or UEFI boot USB. If you want to restore your system with the bootable USB, you need to backup the system to the USB first.

Step 1. Download AOMEI Backupper Standard, install and open it. Click Tools > Create Bootable Media.

Step 2. Select Windows PE and created disc will support booting from both legacy/MBR and UEFI/GPT. Then click Next.

Tip:

Tick the Download WinPE creating environment from internet box and then the bootable USB can be used on both UEFI and Legacy BIOS computers.

Step 3. Select USB Boot Device and click Next.

When the process is complete, you will get a bootable USB flash drive and you can use it to boot Windows 10 in both UEFI or Legacy mode. You can also use this USB to repair other versions of Windows 10 or other Windows systems if you need.

Summary

This article shows you 2 ways to create Windows 10 Legacy or UEFI boot USB. You can choose to use Windows 10 Media Creation Tool, but it only supports you using the USB on the same system version. Or you can choose an easier method that is to use the free third-party software AOMEI Backupper Standard to help you.

It supports you to use USB to restore the system or reinstall on different systems and different versions of the same system. And it supports both Legacy and UEFI boot modes.

In addition, it is also a professional restore software, you can restore your system backup easily. If you want to restore your system to a computer with different hardware, its Universal Restore function can help you achieve the goal. And if you are a Windows Server user, you can pick AOMEI Backupper Server.