Bootable USB flash drives, Windows 10

[opti1]

I’m curious. I have a couple of new Windows 10 installations coming up, one to configure and one to install.

What type of USB flash drives do you all buy and use to create bootable USB drives for creating Windows 10 installation drives, Macrium Reflect rescue drives, etc.?

Any old 8GB or higher drive?

USB 3.0, 3.1? USB-A, USB-C?

Regular stick of gum size or the small thumb nail size drives?

For example, are the cheap Micro Center drives OK? Or do you stick with SanDisk, Samsung, PNY, Kingston, etc.?

Does the creation of the installation or rescue drive automatically format each USB drive appropriately for its use or do I always have to make sure the drive is properly formatted ahead of time?

Thanks!

Reply | Quote

[geekdom]

I’ve found regardless of flash drive brand, these flash drives have a limited shelf life. One day they work; the next day they don’t work. That said, I usually stick with Samsung or Kingston for any flash drive operations. Flash drives are computer confetti; no one expects them to last. I keep used and unused ones in a desk drawer for handy access.

Regarding size for bootable flash drives, I use 16GB as 8GB is required. Go small.

Formatting is done by the “create recovery drive” function prior to placing the operating system on the disk. Anything on that drive is overwritten.

Beta Work {Got backup and coffee}
offline▸ Win10Pro 2004.19041.572 x64 i3-3220 RAM8GB HDD Firefox83.0b3 WindowsDefender TRV=1909 WuMgr
offline▸ Win10Pro 20H2.19042.685 x86 Atom N270 RAM2GB HDD WindowsDefender WuMgr GuineaPigVariant
online▸ Win10Pro 2004.19041.746 x64 i5-9400 RAM16GB HDD Firefox86.0b1 WindowsDefender TRV=2004 WuMgr

• This reply was modified 2 weeks ago by geekdom.
• This reply was modified 2 weeks ago by geekdom.

Reply | Quote

[Author]

Posts