TUTORIAL: Download, install or update Windows 10 from a USB drive

Today we bring you this manual on how to install or update Windows 10 from a USB stick, we will use Microsoft’s own application for it, a system that helps us update our miniPC or tablet with the latest version of Windows in a few simple steps.

As an alternative perhaps we are interested in expanding the disk drive of the system with another disk for which it is interesting to consult our Windows Migration Guide to another disk.

As an orientation you can consult our Guide of the best mini PC models

Table of Contents

PREPARATION AND REQUIREMENTS

Notes about the Windows 10 license

We can do the entire installation of Windows without serial number by omitting it.
The latest version of Windows will always be downloaded with all the existing patches.
Normally the Windows serial number is saved in the BIOS when reinstalling and restarting it will be activated.

Minimum requirements

At least 7 GB of free space on the system disk.
A USB memory drive with a minimum of 8 GB of storage

CREATE USB DRIVE WITH WINDOWS 10

Go to the Microsoft Windows 10 download website and download the installer with “Download the tool now”.
We run the downloaded file, we have two installation options:
– Update this PC now: which will directly install Windows 10 on our current system. This method is not useful for computers with little free disk space (for example miniPC with 32GB of storage) since it generates many temporary files and occupies space, we recommend the following method.
– Create installation media: With this system we can prepare a USB flash memory to install Windows 10 and do not need much free space in our miniPC or tablet, we recommend this system. (RECOMMENDED)
In a new menu we can select several aspects of the installation
– In Edition if you let us select we will use the same version that we had installed, if we did not have any we will use the PRO version during the install process.
– In Architecture we will generally select 64bit since all modern products support it.
– For old models with Intel Atom Z3xxx processor it is mandatory to select 32bit
– We can select both and we will not have problems if we doubt it
Completed the previous window now we can choose the method to prepare our USB flash memory.
– USB flash drive: With this method we will record all the necessary files of Windows 10 directly on our USB memory, all the contents of the USB memory will be lost (RECOMMENDED)
– ISO file: If we select this method, an ISO file will be saved and then we can use it to create the USB flash memory. It is useful because we will always have a copy of the system in a file, at the end of the guide we explain how to use the ISO file.
To update our system once we have created the USB flash memory with Windows 10 we run Setup.exe and install it.
This update method is ideal for updating devices with little storage space, such as those with 32GB.
We can use this USB stick to install Windows 10 in any other PC

Burn ISO file to a USB flash memory

Insert in our PC a flash memory of at least 8GB. It will be completely erased.
Download an install the app Rufus
Execute it and click on SELECT to load the ISO image file
By default when selecting the ISO the program changes the options to the appropriate ones, to record Windows 10 we must have:
– Partition scheme = GPT
– Target system = UEFI
– File system = FAT32
Press Start and Windows 10 will be recorded in our Flash memory

INSTALL WINDOWS 10 FROM ZERO

If our mini PC does not start to recover it, we can use the USB drive with Windows 10 that we created in the previous step. For our device to detect the USB memory we have to connect it to a port and restart the system.

As soon as we go on, we press the key to enter the BIOS, normally ESC, Delete, F1, F2 or Delete, you have to try it.
Once in the BIOS we have to go to the boot menu (BOOT) and put the USB drive as the first boot drive, save and exit. The installation of Windows 10 will start and we will be able to reinstall the system. After installation change the order again.
This procedure is only recommended to use it if we can not update from the previous method, it could cause problems for Wi-Fi card drivers and other devices.