How can I create a Windows bootable USB stick using Ubuntu?
If using rufus:
- Make sure partition scheme is MBR (for BIOS or UEFI)
- NTFS file sytem
Like as shown below
- Probably the better to create a Windows (7) bootable disk, is using the tool from Microsoft - Windows USB/DVD Download Tool
or directly from codeplex: Windows USB/DVD Download Tool
The second option has no hassle as the setup is straightforward needing no extra configurations as with rufus.
Although you don't have Windows 7 installed yet, you can also create a bootable USB flash drive for installing Windows 7 from Ubuntu using a USB flash drive. WoeUSB is a tool for creating a bootable USB flash drive used for installing Windows. Native UEFI booting is supported for Windows 7 and later images. WoeUSB is an updated fork of the WinUSB project.
Some third-party installers feature Windows installation images (/sources/install.wim) greater than 4GB making FAT32 as target filesystem impossible. NTFS filesystem support has been added to WoeUSB 3.0.0 and later.
Installation
To install WoeUSB (GUI+CLI) in Ubuntu 14.04/16.04/17.10-20.04:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:nilarimogard/webupd8
sudo apt update
sudo apt install woeusb
This will install the WoeUSB graphical interface and the WoeUSB command line tool. WoeUSB supports both UEFI and BIOS for FAT32/NTFS/ExFAT USB flash drives.
To install the WoeUSB command line tool snap package in all currently supported versions of Ubuntu open the terminal and type:
sudo snap install --edge woe-usb
sudo snap connect woe-usb:removable-media
To launch the woe-usb snap package command line tool run the following command:
/snap/bin/woe-usb.woeusb
If you get a permission denied error click the Permissions button on the woe-usb screen in Ubuntu Software and toggle the permissions options from OFF to ON as shown in the below screenshot.
The WoeUSB GUI is easier to use than the WoeUSB command line tool. Click the radio button to the left of where it says From a disk image (iso), browse to the location of the Windows .iso file, under Target device select a USB flash drive, open Disks application and check that the Device name in Disks matches the Target device in WoeUSB (it should be something like /dev/sdX where X is a letter of the alphabet), and click the Install button to install to create a bootable Windows installation media on the USB flash drive.
Windows USB drive from Ubuntu failing repeatedly
WoeUSB Issues