Best way to create a bootable flash drive, please 11 February at 7:13PM in Techie Stuff 17 replies 241 views

ih8stress

Hi

As title suggests I am going to create a bootable flash drive as my niece has forgotten her pc log-in password and that seems to be the method to use.

Seen a few (old) threads that mention Linux, ubuntu and others.  Just wondering what the best one is these days and also where to (safely) get it from?  I understand that I will need to 'burn' the iso image using imgburn or Rufus (again, best place to get these from).

Thanks

debitcardmayhem

https://rufus.ie/ Evening

http://www.system-rescue-cd.org/Installing-SystemRescueCd-on-a-USB-stick/

hirens

https://www.hirensbootcd.org/howtos/

obsidianfox

I agree with @debitcardmayhem 's ideas rufus or unetbootin are able to create bootable USBs from ISOs - Hirensboot CD is a good all around combination of utilities. Here's the snag. You can use Hirens to enable the built in Admin account on any Windows PC and set a blank password but if you created and logged in to Windows 10 with a Microsoft Account then you can't reset it offline with one of these utilities. If you have an MS account go online and search for reset Microsoft account password and do that, then when you have changed the password you can login with it. If its a local account, then the above HBCD has a utility to reset local account passwords. If you just want the files from the computer, use a Linux ISO like xubuntu and launch a live session. Linux ignores the NTFS file permissions so you can access data without a password unless the folder is encrypted.

ih8stress

Thanks, @debitcardmayhem (once again, friend)  for the links and also @obsidianfox for your useful advice.

For info purposes, the systemrescuecd link does not have an https alternative (according to https everywhere).

She wants it to retrieve photos etc and then back them up and I believe it is a Windows 7 as not upgraded to Win10 yet.

I need to get a usb stick first but will probably go with the Hirens and Rufus options, thanks.  I don't think she will have a MS account set up.

Bet you are busy with all the 'new forum' queries DCM   How come you are not 'part of the furniture' too?  (not sure I like the description to be honest).  At least you are still 'photogenic', ha ha!

esuhl

To create bootable flash media, I always use Balena Etcher.  It's available for both Linux and Windows, and I've never had any problems with it.  It's reliable and dead easy to use.

https://www.balena.io/etcher/

Slax is a bootable GNU/Linux distro.  It's a really quick and simple distro with all everything pre-installed and ready to go.

https://www.slax.org/

I've never liked Ubuntu much -- I prefer Arch Linux.  But there are so many distros available that it's worth looking around to see which one best suits your requirements.  In any case, the best place to download is the project's own website, e.g.:

https://ubuntu.com/

https://www.archlinux.org/

BitTorrent is another good (often faster) way to download Linux distros.  Use the PGP signatures from the project's website to make sure the download hasn't been tampered with.  qTorrent is a nice, lightweight BitTorrent client, that's available for both Linux and Windows.

https://www.linuxbabe.com/security/verify-pgp-signature-software-downloads-linux

https://www.qbittorrent.org/

a

esuhl, try easy2boot, but it does not work well with hiren.

take a 128gb stick, install easy2boot on it, download the linux, windows, clonezilla, and recovery disks iso. copy all the iso's to the stick - housekeeping wise it is easier to keep the windows ones in the windows folders etc. Boot off the stick, go to the windows or linux etc selection, select the iso and it will start to install.

Better than yummi or sardu.

webjaved

Rufus & Hirens has served me well in the past.

GunJack

If all she's done is forget her password, use Hiren's BootCD and use the NTPassword Editor on it to just remove the windows password. It looks a bit scary as it's all DOS-based text, but it's effective. 

I had to wield my Hiren's for the first time in ages to do just this for someone a couple of weeks ago

murphydavid

Each to his own. I have found you can't beat either of these.
https://www.easeus.com/datarecoverywizard/free-data-recovery-software.htm
https://www.macrium.com/reflectfree

debitcardmayhem

murphydavid said:

Each to his own. I have found you can't beat either of these.
https://www.easeus.com/datarecoverywizard/free-data-recovery-software.htm
https://www.macrium.com/reflectfree

How would they help with lost password?

obsidianfox

debitcardmayhem said:

murphydavid said:

Each to his own. I have found you can't beat either of these.
https://www.easeus.com/datarecoverywizard/free-data-recovery-software.htm
https://www.macrium.com/reflectfree

How would they help with lost password?

Some data recovery programs are going to bypass NTFS security so you can copy data to another drive. Its why I suggested Linux as it ignores the permissions/security. The above links will not reset passwords and like I said Windows now often uses a Microsoft Account which is 'online' so to reset the password you would need to go to your Microsoft Account on another computer and follow the password reset instructions. For 'offline' accounts that are local to the PC you can use Hirens Boot CD it has a utility to reset local passwords and enable the built in administrator account (not recommended to enable admin account).