UPloader: Extremlym
Rufus is a small utility that helps format and create bootable USB flash drives, such as USB keys/pendrives, memory sticks, etc.
It can be especially useful for cases where:
you need to create USB installation media from bootable ISOs (Windows, Linux, UEFI, etc.)
you need to work on a system that doesn't have an OS installed
you need to flash a BIOS or other firmware from DOS
you want to run a low-level utility
Despite its small size, Rufus provides everything you need!
Oh, and Rufus is fast. For instance it's about twice as fast as UNetbootin, Universal USB Installer or Windows 7 USB download tool, on the creation of a Windows 7 USB installation drive from an ISO (with honorable mention to WiNToBootic for managing to keep up). It is also marginally faster on the creation of Linux bootable USB from ISOs (1).
A non exhaustive list of Rufus supported ISOs is also provided at the bottom of this page (2).
System Requirements:
Windows XP or later. 32 or 64 bit doesn't matter.
[size=200]Usage[/size]
Download the executable and run it - no installation is necessary.
If elevation is required, you will be prompted for it.
The executable is digitally signed and the signature should state:
"Akeo Consulting" (v1.3.0 or later)
"Pete Batard - Open Source Developer" (v1.2.0 or earlier) |
[size=200]Notes on DOS support:[/size]
If you create a DOS bootable drive and use a non-US keyboard, Rufus will attempt to select a keyboard layout according to the locale of your system. In that case, FreeDOS, which is the default selection, is recommended over MS-DOS, as it supports more keyboard layouts.
Notes on ISO Support:
All versions of Rufus since v1.1.0 allow the creation of a bootable USB from an ISO image (.iso). In a future version, we may add the ability to read files directly from a CD/DVD drive or from a folder...
Creating an ISO image from a physical disc or from a set of files is very easy to do however, through the use of a CD burning application, such as the freely available CDBurnerXP.
Notes on UEFI & GPT support:
Since version 1.3.2, Rufus support UEFI as well as GPT for installation media, meaning that it will allow you to install Windows 7, Windows 8 or Linux in full UEFI/GPT mode.
However, Windows Vista or later is required for full UEFI/GPT support. Because of OS limitations, Windows XP restricts the creation of UEFI bootable drives to MBR mode.
Notes on the Chinese version:
Unfortunately, I don't speak Chinese. The translation is someone else's work, which I wouldn't mind crediting, but they didn't contact me and (as far as I know) they didn't release the modified source (which they should have done to comply with the GPLv3 license).
This is very much WORK IN PROGRESS. No, I don't know when it will be completed. No, I'm not ready to accept translations for other languages or all the messages that haven't been translated to Chinese yet. If you want more info, please follow what happens with the source repository on github, and especially the localization branch. And yes, I will let everyone know when I am ready to accept more translations. Please just be patient!
UPDATE: The latest version should now properly display Chinese characters on Windows XP and prompt for the update policy in Chinese. If you picked a version before 2013.07.24, please download it again. |
[size=200]Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)[/size]
A Rufus FAQ is available HERE.
There is no usage guide yet, as I prefer concentrating on adding features...
How to provide feedback, report a bug or request an enhancement:
Please use the github issue tracker. Or you can send an e-mail.
License
GNU General Public License (GPL) version 3 or later.
You are free to distribute, modify or even sell the software, insofar as you respect the GPLv3 license.
Rufus is produced in a 100% transparent manner, from its public source, using a MinGW32 environment.
Versions
Source Code |
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