Create a bootable USB Key from NTLite saved files

R

Rik

New Member
Hi,

I am used to Rufus and I discovered NtLite (and buy it), but I am not able to create a simple USB Key to install Windows on a test computer.
I hope the answer is not to process the generated setup with Rufus to create a bootable USB :-(

  1. I downloaded Win11 ISO from MS.
  2. I generated a new setup after some changes in the settings to do a simple test.
  3. NtLite generated all the files in the cache directory.
  4. I formated a 32 Gb key (NTFS) and copy the files (5.52 Gb) to this USB key.
  5. The USB is not recognized as a bootable drive by my computer.
Somebody has a quick way to prepare the USB Key from NtLite output or better, directly from NTLite.

Thank you

Erik
 
Normally, you use Rufus or Ventoy to create a bootable USB drive from the ISO file. The usual problem is not picking the right BIOS boot type, which can be UEFI or legacy MBR. You don't directly copy files from NTLite's folder, but export a completed ISO for them.
 
garlin said:
Normally, you use Rufus or Ventoy to create a bootable USB drive from the ISO file. The usual problem is not picking the right BIOS boot type, which can be UEFI or legacy MBR. You don't directly copy files from NTLite's folder, but export a completed ISO for them.
Click to expand...
Thank you for your reply.

  • If I use Rufus, should I set the RAM / TPM / etc. bypass options in NTLite, Rufus or both ?
  • I like the account creation option in Rufus. May I have a problem to set this option in Rufus on a NTLite created ISO ?

Thank you.

Erik
 
If you're using licensed NTLite, you don't need Rufus to manage the BypassTPM or BypassRNO features. They both do the same job.

Rufus doesn't modify the Window ISO content, it uses Unattended files to script adding the BypassTPM & BypassRNO keys during install time. NTLite directly modifies the install image's reg keys. Obviously if you're using free edition, Rufus is the way to go.
 
I created a NTLite ISO, copied to a USB drive formatted NTFS, the USB and ISO file can be seen in Windows 10 but on restart and going to BIOS the USB is not recognized. Am I doing something wrong in NTLite when I create the ISO?
 
You can't just copy the finished ISO to a mounted USB drive. Usually, you run Rufus or Ventoy to prepare the USB drive, which make the drive bootable and extract the ISO to a folder distribution.
 
chazcon said:
I created a NTLite ISO, copied to a USB drive formatted NTFS, the USB and ISO file can be seen in Windows 10 but on restart and going to BIOS the USB is not recognized. Am I doing something wrong in NTLite when I create the ISO?
Click to expand...
You can't just copy the finished ISO to a mounted USB drive. Usually, you run Rufus or Ventoy to prepare the USB drive, which makes the drive bootable and locally extracts the ISO content.
 
Ahh I thought NTLite included this functionality in the paid version, per your 11/3 post above.
 
So I run Rufus on the 'mother' computer to prepare the USB drive, then I can use it to install my custom NTLite ISO on other computers?
 
Rufus takes any ISO image (Windows, Linux, etc.) and prepares the drive by:

- formatting it NTFS or FAT32 (most newer PC's will boot NTFS from UEFI)
- adding boot files for either UEFI or MBR
- copying the ISO contents

Now you should be able to boot and perform a clean install. If it doesn't work, usually you didn't pick the correct GPT or MBR option.
 
Yes thanks got this far, created bootable USB with Rufus, but it's not unattended like when I install ISO on VM, I must be missing a setting in Rufus. Will keep playing with it.
 
There should be an autounattend.xml in the USB drive's root folder..
If not, check if your NTLite staging folder had one to begin with. When you create an ISO, everything in the staging folder gets swept up.
 
Hmm so the install is partially unattended... the user has to click a few things, then it takes off by itself for a bit, needs a user interaction, goes back to unattended. Strange.
 
When Unattended mode leaves out specific items, Windows installation will stop and ask the user to provide the missing details.
That's by design, you can have an entirely hands-free install, or partial automation.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top