Rufus

About this release

Rufus is one and a half megabytes and does one thing better than anything else does it. Choose a stick, choose an image, press start, and a few minutes later there is bootable media. It does not install, it does not ask for anything, it does not sit in the notification area afterwards, and it has been the default recommendation for this job for so long that most instructions simply name it.

The single window carries more than it appears to. Partition scheme and target system are set explicitly, so media can be built for firmware based booting, for legacy booting or for both, and the filesystem, cluster size and volume label are all exposed. The defaults are correct for almost every image, which is why most people never touch any of it, but the controls are there when a particular machine needs something specific.

For desktop system images it goes further than copying files. An options panel offers to remove the firmware feature requirement checks, to skip the online account requirement during setup, to disable data collection prompts, to preset the regional options from the current machine and to carry a local account across, all written into the media before it is created. That panel saves a considerable amount of clicking on every machine the stick is later used on.

It also builds media from the smaller images: recovery environments, firmware update sticks, memory testers, disk utilities and live systems all work, and it can write a raw disk image directly onto a stick. Bad block checking runs several passes over a suspect stick before use, and the whole thing is fast because it writes directly rather than staging anything.

What it does

Very small and portable

One and a half megabytes, no install required, nothing left behind on the machine.

Explicit boot configuration

Partition scheme, target firmware, filesystem and cluster size all exposed with sensible defaults.

Setup options panel

Skip requirement checks and account requirements and preset regional options into the media itself.

Handles any image type

System images, recovery environments, live systems, firmware updaters and raw disk images.

Bad block checking

Multi pass surface checking on a suspect stick before trusting it with an install.

Fast writing

Writes directly to the device without staging files, so a stick is ready in minutes.

Changed in this version

• Faster writing on high speed USB devices.
• Setup options panel extended with further configuration entries.
• Improved detection of unusual USB storage controllers.
• Added support for further image types on selection.
• Interface scaling corrected on high density displays.

System requirements

Install order

1. Unpack the archive and run the executable as administrator, nothing needs installing.
2. Select the USB device carefully, since everything on it will be erased.
3. Choose the image and leave the partition and filesystem defaults unless a machine needs otherwise.
4. Press start and wait for the completion message before removing the stick.

Worth knowing before you start

File details