The Universal USB Installer (UUI) is a free bootable USB creator that lets you create bootable USB drives from ISO files. Use this bootable USB maker to install operating systems, run Linux live USB distributions, build multiboot USB toolkits, create Windows 11 installation media, or carry portable antivirus and recovery tools on a single USB flash drive - with full BIOS and UEFI boot support.
What is Universal USB Installer?
Universal USB Installer (UUI) is a free, open source bootable USB creator for Windows and Linux. Whether you need a multiboot USB toolkit, a Linux live USB maker, a Windows 11 bootable USB creator, or an all-in-one PC diagnostic toolkit, it offers a reliable and flexible solution you can take with you anywhere.
Take your preferred Live Linux distributions, Windows installers, recovery software, backup utilities, and diagnostic tools with you - all bootable from a single USB drive. No more juggling multiple USB sticks or complicated bootloaders; everything is consolidated into one flexible multiboot USB solution.
Use it to install, boot, and run full operating systems like Windows 11 directly from USB.
Who is it for?
Designed for IT technicians, system administrators, developers, students, and anyone who regularly works with operating system installation media or system recovery tools. Beginners can use it to create a Linux live USB and safely explore distributions without modifying their computer, while advanced users can build multiboot USB drives combining Linux live systems, Windows installers, antivirus rescue disks, backup utilities, and diagnostic tools - all on a single drive.
Why Choose UUI?
Unlike DD-style tools that overwrite the entire drive, the installer uses an exFAT storage partition for ISO files and block images alongside a separate hidden secondary FAT boot partition. This design supports both legacy BIOS and modern UEFI boot, allows your device to appear to Windows as a regular exFAT formatted flash drive while remaining fully bootable, and lets you continue using it for traditional file storage.
History of Universal USB Installer
First released in 2008, Universal USB Installer is one of the original Windows-based bootable USB creation tools - developed years before Rufus, Ventoy, or YUMI existed. It originally used syslinux, grub4dos, and grub2 bootloaders and was among the first tools to introduce features like persistent live USB storage. Over time it evolved to support exFAT formatting, multiboot USB configurations, UEFI boot, and a Ventoy-based bootloader, while maintaining the same simple three-step workflow it was built around. It has been downloaded millions of times and remains actively maintained today.
How To Create a Bootable USB from ISO with UUI
What You Need
Important: The tool will show drives detected by Windows as either removable media (USB Drive) or a fixed (Local Disk). See the recommended list of some of the fastest and best USB flash drives to use with this tool.
Hardware:
- 8GB+ USB pendrive (fast SSD solid state USB thumb drive recommended)
- Computer with a BIOS/UEFI that can boot from USB
Software:
- Universal-USB-Installer-2.0.3.7.exe toolkit to make a bootable USB drive
- Windows 11, 10, 8, or 7 operating system (or Linux with WINE)
- A selection of your favorite Windows or Linux ISO files and Live system tools
Creating the Bootable USB
- Select your target flash drive - Choose your USB drive from the list and tick the box to prepare the disk.
- Choose a distribution - Select your operating system or tool from the dropdown list.
- Browse to your ISO - Locate the ISO file on your computer, or choose to download it directly.
- Click Create - The tool will format, prepare, and copy the files to your drive.
Booting from Your UUI USB Drive
- Access BIOS/UEFI Settings - Restart your computer and access BIOS during system POST by pressing a hotkey such as F2, F12, Delete, or Esc. Refer to your device's manual for the correct key.
- Set USB as First Boot Device - In the Boot section, set the USB drive as the first boot option, then save your changes (usually F10) and exit.
- Select an OS from the Boot Menu - Your computer will boot from the USB drive into the boot menu. Select the operating system or tool you wish to run and press Enter.
Download Universal USB Installer
System Requirements: Windows 11, 10, 8, or 7. Also should run on Linux via WINE.
File Size Limit: None in practice. Using exFAT (the default), individual ISO files can exceed 4GB with no upper limit beyond the physical capacity of your USB drive - so large Windows 11 ISOs, full desktop Linux distributions, and multi gigabyte recovery tools should all work without issue.
⚠️ WARNING Backup Data: You must backup any data you wish to keep before using this tool on any Disk. When choosing the "Prepare this Device" option, all volumes and partitions on the selected (Disk #), even if hidden, will be wiped clean.
Universal USB Installer Changelog
- 06/11/2026 - Universal-USB-Installer-2.0.3.7: Expanded the distro and tool catalog with additional popular Linux ISO entries. Updated several distro homepage and download links, including Ubuntu Unity, Garuda Linux, Arch Linux, Fedora, Manjaro, and SystemRescue. Fixed: ISOs added via drag and drop (or manually copied to the drive) are now listed in the removal dropdown alongside normally installed distros.
- 06/08/2026 - Universal-USB-Installer-2.0.3.6: Fixed volume label never being set after disk preparation. Fixed selected disk not being restored when returning to the drive selection page after preparation.
- 05/01/2026 - Universal-USB-Installer-2.0.3.5: Updated to use Ventoy 1.1.12 bootloader, addressing the following upstream issues:
- Ubuntu 24.04.4 install failure.
- VirtualBox UEFI display issue when booting Windows.
- UEFI boot Windows/WinPE resolution issue.
- Oracle Linux 6.9 install issue.
- 04/09/2026 - Universal-USB-Installer-2.0.3.4: Updated to use Ventoy 1.1.11 bootloader, addressing the display issue when UEFI booting Windows/WinPE ISO. Note: This version was found to be broken/corrupted (would hang at "Now Preparing and Installing...") and was reuploaded and fixed on 05/01/2026.
- 03/19/2026 - Universal-USB-Installer-2.0.3.3: Fixed broken 32G persistence file for Debian.
- 02/08/2026 - Universal-USB-Installer-2.0.3.2: Added preparation menu with options for reserving unformatted space at the end of the device and selecting the storage filesystem type.
- 02/04/2026 - Universal-USB-Installer-2.0.3.1: Fixed Debian Persistence feature. Disabled automatic update detection at runtime.
- 01/07/2026 - Universal-USB-Installer-2.0.3.0: Added an entry for AerynOS. Updated to use Ventoy 1.1.10 bootloader, addressing the following upstream issues:
- Fixed LinuxGUI program crash issue in Wayland environment.
- Fixed boot issue with Kylin Server V11.
- Fixed Windows boot issue in F2 mode.
- Fixed the vhd.vtoy file boot issue in ext4 file system.
Drive Preparation Options
UUI includes built-in drive preparation controls, giving you more flexibility over how your USB device is formatted and configured before installation. While most users can simply click Confirm and Format using the defaults, advanced users can customize the setup to better match their system requirements.
Available Options
- Use GPT Partition Style - Prepares the USB using the GUID Partition Table instead of traditional MBR. GPT may be required for certain modern UEFI based systems.
- Disable Secure Boot Support - Installs the device without Secure Boot compatibility components. Useful on older systems or environments where Secure Boot is not required.
- Non Destructive Install - Attempts to preserve existing data on the device while adding the boot structure. (Currently greyed out and not yet functional.)
- Storage Filesystem Selection (NTFS, exFAT, FAT32) - Choose how the main ISO storage partition is formatted. exFAT is selected by default for broad compatibility and large file support.
- Reserve Space at End of Disk (MB) - Allocates unused space at the end of the drive for future partitioning. Set to 0 to let UUI use the full device capacity.
Note: Some advanced options may currently appear greyed out as they are not yet implemented.
Key Features
Beyond basic ISO-to-USB creation, Universal USB Installer includes several features that make it a more capable and flexible bootable USB maker for both everyday and advanced use cases.
Persistent Live USB Storage Support
This persistence feature allows you to save changes and restore them on subsequent boots. Ubuntu based Casper persistence works with FAT32, NTFS, or exFAT formatted drives. Starting with version 2.0.1.6, the USB drive is formatted with an exFAT filesystem, making it possible to use a larger than 4GB casper-rw or live-rw persistent block file. Currently supporting up to 40GB persistence.
Recent Debian Live releases changed how persistence is detected and mounted at boot. As of version 2.0.3.1, Debian Live persistence works correctly using a persistence file labeled persistence containing a valid persistence.conf configuration. For a complete walkthrough covering Debian Live persistence setup, larger persistence files, partition based persistence, and troubleshooting, see: How to Create a Debian Live USB with Persistence.
Drag and Drop ISO Files onto USB
Instead of relaunching UUI to add more distributions, you can drag additional ISO, IMG, WIM, VHD(x), VDI.vtoy, and EFI files from any folder on your computer and drop them onto any folder under the UUI folder on your flash drive. You can also create your own folders within the UUI folder for storage. During bootup, the system will automatically populate the menu entries for newly discovered items.
Drag and drop is supported so long as you don't need persistence and do not need the tool to track your installs for possible removal later.
Secure Boot Support
Yes, Secure Boot is supported. Simply select "VTOYEFI" and then the option to "Enroll_This_Key_In_MokManager.cer" during startup.
ISO Boot Options Explained
When starting an ISO from a bootable USB drive made with Universal USB Installer, you may see more than one way to boot it. This is normal. Different computers and ISO files sometimes need different startup methods. If one option doesn't work, simply reboot and try another.
Standard Boot (Default): This is the normal way an ISO is started. It uses the ISO's own built-in startup instructions, just like booting from a CD or DVD. For most systems and ISOs, this option works right away and should always be tried first. If it fails, the problem is usually related to firmware compatibility (BIOS or UEFI), not the USB drive itself.
GRUB2 Boot Mode: Use this option when Standard Boot does not work. Instead of relying on the ISO's startup code, this mode uses the GRUB2 bootloader to launch the system. This option is especially useful when a Linux ISO shows a blank screen, the system reboots unexpectedly, or you need access to advanced boot menus.
MEMDISK Boot Mode: This option loads the ISO completely into system memory (RAM) before starting it. It works best for small Linux live systems, rescue and recovery tools, and WinPE and lightweight utility ISOs. Because everything runs from memory, the USB flash drive does not need to stay inserted after startup and can be used to boot multiple systems simultaneously.
Helpful Tip: If an ISO refuses to boot using one method, that doesn't mean it's broken. Different PCs behave differently. Trying another boot option usually solves the problem.
Supported ISO Files and Distributions
This bootable USB maker supports a wide range of ISO files - from Linux live USB distributions and multiboot USB toolkits to Windows 11 installers and antivirus rescue environments. Almost any Live ISO file can be made to boot from USB. Note that this list is not all inclusive.
More Live ISOs, USB Windows Installers, portable Linux distributions, and system tools will be added as time permits. Let me know about any unlisted Live Linux distributions that should be included or version revisions, and I will do my best to update the tool to support them.
FAQ and Troubleshooting
Excluding a Drive from Detection
To exclude drives from being detected, simply create a blank text file named excludedrive.txt and place it at the root of the drive.
Persistent Block and File Storage Support
The persistence feature works with most Arch Linux, Fedora, Ubuntu, and Debian based distributions like Kali Linux that utilize a Debian persistent block file and label named persistence, and hold a persistence.conf file containing / Union.
Forcing Undetected ISO Files
If an ISO filename does not appear when browsing for a selected distribution, you can try to force the selection of that ISO file. This is useful in situations where, for example, you know that a distribution like Cinnamon is Ubuntu-based, but an installable entry for it does not exist yet.
- Select Ubuntu for the distribution to install.
- When browsing to the ISO file, begin to type ubuntucinnamon into the file name: box.
- Select the filename from the dropdown as its name is auto-populated.
- Click Open to override and force the selection.
Is Universal USB Installer Safe?
Yes. Universal USB Installer has been downloaded millions of times and has been actively maintained since 2008 - predating Rufus, Ventoy, and YUMI. It was created to be useful and free of viruses, malware, or anything intentionally malicious. Being open source, the full source code is made available for each release and can be found next to the download link for anyone to review.
Which is Better: Rufus or Universal USB Installer?
Both tools are excellent for creating bootable USB drives, but the better choice depends on your needs.
The modern version supports exFAT storage (a feature that originated with Rufus), along with multiboot functionality originally adopted from YUMI, which currently uses a Ventoy based bootloader. This makes it ideal for running multiple ISO files from a single USB.
Universal USB Installer was also the first Windows based bootable USB creation tool to include features like persistence. It was developed years before Rufus, Ventoy, and YUMI, originally using syslinux, grub4dos, and grub2 bootloaders, and has continued evolving over time.
Rufus started as a simple tool to boot DOS from USB and has since evolved into an advanced single-boot USB creator, integrating many of those original features and introducing FAT16/32 boot partitions with separate NTFS or exFAT storage. Thanks to Pete Batard's work, these methods are now widely used across Ventoy, YUMI, and Universal USB Installer.
Bottom line: Rufus is great for simplicity and advanced single-boot setups. Universal USB Installer is the better bootable USB maker for easy multiboot USB creation from ISO files.