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To install Ventoy on Windows, download and extract its Windows package, run Ventoy2Disk.exe, select the USB drive you intend to use, and click Install. This erases the selected drive, so copy off any files you need first. After installation, copy a Windows ISO to Ventoy’s large first partition, boot the target PC from the USB, and select the ISO in Ventoy’s menu.
Before installing Ventoy
- Back up the USB drive. Ventoy formats the selected drive and deletes its existing data.
- Get the current Windows package. Download the Ventoy Windows ZIP from the official Ventoy download page and extract it. The package filename includes a release number, so use the current download rather than relying on a particular version.
- Have a Windows ISO ready. You will copy the ISO onto the drive after Ventoy is installed.
Install Ventoy on the USB drive
- Connect the USB drive to the Windows PC and open the extracted Ventoy folder.
- Run
Ventoy2Disk.exe. If Windows asks for permission to make changes, confirm only if you launched the program from the Ventoy package you downloaded. - Check the device shown in Ventoy2Disk and make sure it is the USB drive you intend to erase. Windows normally lists USB devices by default. Enabling Show all devices can reveal other disks, so take particular care if you use that option.
- Click Install and confirm the prompts. Wait for the operation to finish before removing the drive.
Ventoy’s Get Start guide describes the ongoing process as installing Ventoy once, then copying ISO files to the USB. You do not need to reinstall Ventoy each time you add another image.
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Copy the Windows ISO and start Setup
- Open the large first partition on the Ventoy USB drive in File Explorer.
- Copy the Windows ISO file onto that partition. It can be in a folder or subfolder; Ventoy scans for image files and displays them in its boot menu.
- Safely eject the USB drive, connect it to the PC where you want to install or repair Windows, then restart that PC.
- Open the computer’s firmware boot menu and choose the USB device. The firmware determines whether the computer starts it in legacy BIOS or UEFI mode; Ventoy does not force one mode.
- In Ventoy’s menu, select the Windows ISO and press Enter. Follow the prompts in Windows Setup.
Choose between normal mode and WIMBOOT
Start with Ventoy’s normal mode. It boots an ISO by emulating it as a CD-ROM. If an official Windows ISO has trouble starting in that mode, Ventoy documents WIMBOOT as an alternative for official Windows ISOs and some WinPE images.
At Ventoy’s boot menu, press W to switch to WIMBOOT mode; press W again to return to normal mode. WIMBOOT is a fallback to try when normal mode fails, not a required step for every Windows installation. See Ventoy’s WIMBOOT documentation for its current details.
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Secure Boot prompts and firmware settings
Ventoy documents Secure Boot support, but the steps depend on the computer’s firmware. Some systems require enabling Allow Microsoft 3rd Party UEFI CA. The first Ventoy boot may also show a key-enrollment prompt; Ventoy says this enrollment procedure is performed once per computer.
Ventoy’s Secure Boot instructions also address new key enrollment related to the UEFI CA 2023 issue in Ventoy 1.1.13 and later. Because firmware menus and release behavior vary, follow the current Secure Boot guide for the specific screens and requirements. If the Secure Boot flow will not work on a particular computer, Ventoy documents turning off its Secure Boot option and disabling Secure Boot in firmware as a fallback.
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Fix common Windows boot and setup problems
The ISO does not appear in Ventoy’s menu
Confirm that the ISO file is on the large first partition, not on the smaller Ventoy partition or another drive. Ventoy can find images in subfolders, so moving an ISO into a folder is fine. If it still does not appear or boot, check whether the image file is corrupted; Ventoy’s FAQ recommends checking image integrity when booting fails.
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Windows Setup says no installation media was found
For Windows 7 installation images, Ventoy’s FAQ identifies a missing USB 3.0 driver in the ISO as a likely cause of the installer not finding installation media. That diagnosis is specific to the Windows 7 case; it should not be assumed to explain every Windows Setup error.
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The PC boots in the wrong mode or skips the USB
Use the firmware boot menu to select the USB device and check the firmware’s boot configuration. Whether Ventoy starts in legacy BIOS or UEFI mode is determined by the computer’s firmware selection.
Optional: use Windows 11 setup controls
Ventoy’s global control plugin documentation describes optional settings for standard Windows 11 ISOs that bypass hardware checks and the online-account requirement. These are configuration options, not requirements for installing Ventoy. The documentation says the online-account option requires temporarily disconnecting or disabling the network for local account creation to be offered. These behaviors do not replace checking the Windows installation requirements that apply to the PC.
Rank #4
- Transfer speeds up to 10x faster than standard USB 2.0 drives (4MB/s); up to 130MB/s read speed; USB 3.0 port required. Based on internal testing; performance may be lower depending upon host device. 1MB=1,000,000 bytes
- Backward compatible with USB 2.0
- Secure file encryption and password protection(2)
When to use Ventoy’s command line
Most people can install Ventoy through Ventoy2Disk’s graphical interface. The documented Windows command-line form is Ventoy2Disk.exe VTOYCLI CMD DISK [Options], with commands for installation or update and disk selection by drive letter or physical drive number.
The command-line guide allows GPT selection during installation and says that choice is ignored during an update. It also says the USB-type check is enabled by default as a safety measure. Use the Ventoy command-line documentation for the current command syntax and options before automating disk operations.
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