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Best way to create a bootable flash drive, please

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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 :)
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  • debitcardmayhem
    debitcardmayhem Posts: 12,664 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    edited 11 February 2020 at 9:05PM
    4.8kWp 12x400W Longhi 9.6 kWh battery Giv-hy 5.0 Inverter, WSW facing Essex . Aint no sunshine ☀️ Octopus gas fixed dec 24 @ 5.74 tracker again+ Octopus Intelligent Flux leccy
  • 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
    ih8stress Posts: 2,041 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper I've been Money Tipped!
    edited 12 February 2020 at 3:03PM
    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 :smiley:  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
    esuhl Posts: 9,409 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    edited 12 February 2020 at 3:11PM
    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.

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

    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.:

    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.

  • a
    a Posts: 241 Forumite
    Fifth Anniversary 100 Posts Name Dropper
    edited 12 February 2020 at 5:00PM
    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
    webjaved Posts: 618 Forumite
    Sixth Anniversary 500 Posts Name Dropper
    Rufus & Hirens has served me well in the past. :smile:

    Save £12k in 2019 #154 - £14,826.60/£12k
    Save £12k in 2020 #128 - £4,155.62/£10k
  • GunJack
    GunJack Posts: 11,827 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    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 :)
    ......Gettin' There, Wherever There is......

    I have a dodgy "i" key, so ignore spelling errors due to "i" issues, ...I blame Apple :D
  • How would they help with lost password?
    4.8kWp 12x400W Longhi 9.6 kWh battery Giv-hy 5.0 Inverter, WSW facing Essex . Aint no sunshine ☀️ Octopus gas fixed dec 24 @ 5.74 tracker again+ Octopus Intelligent Flux leccy
  • 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).
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