How to Create a windows bootable pendrive on Linux

If you need to burn a Windows ISO image to create a windows bootable pendrive for that system, a good tool for that is WoeUSB/WinUSB. Get to know a little more about the program and see how to install and use it on Linux.

WinUSB or WoeUSB was a small and simple graphical tool for Linux that made it possible to easily create a bootable (bootable) USB stick for Windows operating systems from ISO or CD/DVD images of that system.

How to Create a windows bootable pendrive on Linux
How to Create a windows bootable pendrive on Linux

This tool currently supports Windows Vista, 7 and 8 9 (and now Windows 10) operating systems.

The app has been a bit derelict, with the latest version being from 2013. Now, a GitHub user (slacka) has forked the program and renamed it WoeUSB. It fixed most of its bugs, and updated the program to support wxWidgets 2 and 3.

Although creating a bootable Windows flash drive on Linux may seem counterintuitive, many times those who use Windows cannot access the system. At this point, creating a bootable Windows flash drive (on Linux) may be the only solution, although there are other possibilities.

How to create a windows bootable pendrive on Linux

To create a windows bootable pendrive, you must first install WinUSB/WoeUSB, following the procedure below.

How to install WinUSB/WoeUSB on Ubuntu and derived systems

To install WinUSB/WoeUSB on Ubuntu and still be able to automatically receive future updates from it, you must do the following:

Step 1. Open a terminal (use CTRL + ALT + T keys);
Step 2. If you don’t already have it, add the program repository with this command or use this tutorial;

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:nilarimogard/webupd8 -y

Step 3. Update the package manager with the command:

sudo apt-get update

Step 4. Now use the command below to install the program;

sudo apt-get install woeusb

Step 5. If you still prefer to use the old version of the program, install WinUSB with the command below;

sudo apt-get install winusb

How to install WinUSB/WoeUSB manually or in other distros

For those who couldn’t install with the above procedure, don’t want to add the repository, or want to try installing on another Debian-based distribution, do the following:

Step 1. Open a terminal;
Step 2. Check if your system is 32-bit or 64-bit, for that, use the following command in the terminal:

uname -m

Step 3. If your system is 32-bit and you want to install woeusb, use the command below to download the program. If the link is out of date, go to this page, download the latest version and save it as wusb.deb:

wget https://launchpad.net/~nilarimogard/+archive/ubuntu/webupd8/+files/woeusb_3.3.1-1~webupd8~xenial0_i386.deb -O wusb.deb
Step 4. If your system is 64bit and you want to install woeusb, use the command below to download the program. If the link is out of date, go to this page, download the latest version and save it as wusb.deb:
wget https://launchpad.net/~nilarimogard/+archive/ubuntu/webupd8/+files/woeusb_3.3.1-1~webupd8~xenial0_amd64.deb -O wusb.deb
Step 5. If your system is 32-bit and you want to install woeusb, use the command below to download the program. If the link is out of date, go to this page, download the latest version and save it as wusb.deb:
wget https://launchpad.net/~nilarimogard/+archive/ubuntu/webupd8/+files/winusb_1.0.11.1+git20161204-1~webupd8~zesty0_i386.deb -O wusb.deb

Step 6. If your system is 64bit and you want to install woeusb, use the command below to download the program. If the link is out of date, go to this page, download the latest version and save it as wusb.deb:

wget https://launchpad.net/~nilarimogard/+archive/ubuntu/webupd8/+files/winusb_1.0.11.1+git20161204-1~webupd8~zesty0_amd64.deb -O wusb.deb

Step 7. Now install the program with the commands below:

sudo dpkg -i wusb.deb
sudo apt-get install -f

Step 8. If you prefer, use the command below to install the program;

sudo apt install ./wusb.deb

Step 9. Then, if you need to uninstall the program, use this command:

sudo apt-get remove program*

But remember! If you opt for this type of installation, you will not receive any program updates.

Checking if the ISO image is corrupt

Before burning the ISO image you downloaded, check it for corruption using the tutorial below:
How to check if an ISO image is corrupt

How to create a bootable Windows USB stick on Linux using WoeUSB

To create a bootable Windows USB stick on Linux using WoeUSB, do the following:

Step 1. Plug in the flash drive;
Step 2. Start the program by typing woeusbgui in the Dash (or in a terminal, followed by the TAB key);
Step 3. On the program screen, inform where the Windows ISO image is (1) and select the USB flash drive (2). Then click on the "Install" button (3);

How to create a bootable Windows USB stick on Linux

Step 4. If you have any errors when recording, try to unmount (without ejecting) the pendrive using the command below and try again, replace the x with the pendrive letter);

umount /dev/sdx

According to the HC user, formatting the flash drive in NTFS before starting also helps to avoid the error that occurs when recording.

How to create a windows bootable pendrive on Linux using WoeUSB in terminal

If you have a problem with the graphical version of the program and want to create a windows bootable pendrive on Linux with WoeUSB from the command line, do the following:

Step 1. Open a terminal (in Unity use the CTRL + ALT + T keys);
Step 2. Find out which physical drive will be used, using this command;

lsblk

Step 3. To create a windows bootable pendrive on Linux using WinUSB in the terminal, the command has this syntax;

sudo woeusb --format /path/to/windows.iso device

Step 4. Putting it into practice, it would look like this (set win10.iso to the Windows image name and /dev/hdc to the address identified in step 2);

sudo woeusb --format /home/edivaldo/Downloads/win10.iso /dev/sdc

Uninstalling WinUSB/WoeUSB

To uninstall WinUSB/WoeUSB, do the following:

Step 1. Open a terminal;
Step 2. Uninstall the program, using the commands below;

sudo apt-get remove woeusb
sudo apt-get remove winusb --auto-remove

How to burn an ISO image in Linux

But if you just need to burn a random ISO image, you can use these blog tutorials:
How to burn an ISO image using the Terminal
How to burn an ISO image Using Nautilus
How to create a pendrive installation
How to create a pendrive bootable with GNOME Disks
How to create a bootable USB stick with Etcher in Linux

Sobre o Edivaldo Brito

Edivaldo Brito é analista de sistemas, gestor de TI, blogueiro e também um grande fã de sistemas operacionais, banco de dados, software livre, redes, programação, dispositivos móveis e tudo mais que envolve tecnologia.