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Free Image Format ConversionWindows 11 is Microsoft's latest operating system (OS), packed with new features and functionalities. Since its release, many computer users have already installed it. However, many are unaware of how to create a Windows 11 system image on a USB. Don't worry. Here's a guide, brought to you by Tool, on how to create a Windows 11 system image on a USB flash drive. Let's dive in and learn together.
| Method | Efficacy | Backup Speed | Difficulty |
|
|
High - Creates system image backups automatically without hassle. |
Fast |
⭐ |
|
|
Moderate - Sometimes unable to create a system image on an external drive. |
Normal |
⭐⭐ |
Related Read: How to Back Up Windows 11 to USB
Why Create a System Image on a USB Flash Drive?
A Windows 11 system image is an extra copy of every file on your computer's partition, including the operating system, installed applications, device drivers, and settings. In case of system failure, restoring from a recovery partition and using a Windows system image are two common options to get your Windows back to its normal state.
One may wonder why many users want to create a system image on an external hard drive like on a USB drive. You can find the answer below:
- Free up system disk space and save more storage.
- Perform emergency recovery when your computer system fails or restore it to a previous stable state.
- A USB drive can be easily connected to your computer and is more affordable than other external drives like HDD or SSD.
- Creating a system image on a USB flash drive helps with reinstalling Windows and prevents data loss caused by computer issues such as black screens, virus attacks, disk failures, etc.
- The portability of creating a system image on an external drive is its biggest advantage compared to making a system restore point. Your system backup image can be saved on a local drive or external storage device.
So, how to create a system image on a USB flash drive? Following this guide, you will learn how to create a Windows 11 system image on a USB flash drive.
How to Create a Windows 11 System Image on a USB Drive
1. Creating a Windows 11 System Image with Built-in Tools
Both Windows 10 and 11 include a built-in utility called "Create a recovery drive," which can be used to create a system image. Here's how to do it:
1. Insert a USB drive with at least 16 GB of free space.
2. Open the Settings app by pressing `Win + I`.
3. Go to "Update & Security" > "Backup."
4. In the left menu, click "More options."
5. In the new window, select "Create a recovery drive."
6. Make sure to check the box for "Back up system files to the recovery drive."
7. Follow the prompts to complete the creation process.
Note: This method doesn't create a standard ISO file directly but instead makes a USB drive with a recovery environment. To create a bootable Windows 11 installation media, use Microsoft's Media Creation Tool.
2. Creating a Windows 11 System Image with Third-Party Software
If you want to create a standard ISO file, you can use third-party tools like Rufus or AOMEI Backupper. Here's how to create an ISO file using Rufus:
1. Download and install Rufus from .
2. Connect a USB drive with at least 16 GB of space.
3. Launch Rufus, and it should automatically detect your USB drive.
4. From the "Boot selection" dropdown, choose "ISO image."
5. Click "Select" and browse to choose your Windows 11 ISO file.
6. Confirm other settings are correct, then click "Start" to create the system image.
7. Wait for the process to finish. Once completed, you'll have a bootable Windows 11 installation USB drive and the corresponding ISO file.
Please note that creating a system image may take some time, depending on your computer's performance and the speed of your USB drive.
There are 2 most common ways to create a Windows system image on a USB flash drive: with professional system image backup software and with the built-in backup tool of Windows. But before we get into details, you need to note the following:
- Important
- 1. USB drive. You can use a USB flash drive or an external USB hard disk to save the system backup image.
2. USB storage space. The USB drive must be empty and have at least as much free space as is used on the system partition. In general, make sure that the target USB drive has enough available space to store the system image.
Method 1: Use Automatic Backup Software
To create a system image, the easiest and most straightforward way is to use professional backup software, which offers more advanced features and fewer limitations. For this, the automatic backup tool Todo Backup for Windows can help.
Todo Backup Home is a user-friendly backup and recovery software for Windows computers running Windows 11/10/8/7. It helps you to automatically back up files to an external hard drive, as well as backup your system, disks, applications, and more. Additionally, it allows you to store backups in multiple locations, including local drives, external drives, USB drives, NAS, secure zones, and the cloud.
Main features of Todo Backup Home:
- One-click backup and restore functionality
- Create full backups, incremental backups, and differential backups
- Clone hard drives and disk images
- Transfer an operating system from one computer to another
- Compress backups to save space with reasonable file sizes
- Offer 250GB of free cloud storage for backing up your computer to the cloud
Regardless of the task you need to accomplish, be it backup, cloning, image creation, encryption, splitting, and more, Todo Backup has got you covered. You can download and use it for free and securely to ensure your data is well-protected.
Here's how to create a system image using the Todo Backup tool after inserting your USB drive into your computer.
Step 1: Launch Todo Backup on your computer and click “Create Backup” from the homepage, then hit the big question mark to choose what you want to back up.
Step 2: Click "OS" to start backing up your Windows operating system.
Step 3: The system will automatically select the Windows operating system and all system-related files and partitions, so you don't need to make any choices here. Next, click on the illustrated area to choose where you want to save your system image backup.
Step 4: The backup location can be another local drive on your computer, an external hard drive, a network, the cloud, or a NAS. Typically, we recommend using an external physical drive or the cloud to store your system image files.
Step 5: If you want, customize your settings by clicking on Options, where you can schedule daily, weekly, or monthly backups, trigger backups on events, and perform differential and incremental backups. Click "Backup Now" and the Windows Backup will commence. Completed tasks will be displayed as cards on the left.
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Backup Windows 11 to External Hard Drive [3-Minute Guide]
This article offers three options for backing up Windows 11 to an external hard drive: Windows Backup and Restore, reliable backup software, and File History. Keep reading to learn how to protect your Windows 11 computer.
Method 2: Use Backup and Restore (Windows 7)
Using the built-in Windows Backup program - Backup and Restore (Windows 7) - is another way to create a Windows system image on a USB flash drive. It can help you create a system image backup on an external drive, back up data from local and external hard drives, and create a recovery drive.
However, you may encounter the “Drive is not a valid backup location” error when using it to create a system image on an external USB drive, thus preventing you from performing a system image backup.
Here's how to create a Windows 11 system image on a USB drive using Backup and Restore.
Step 1: Connect the USB drive to your computer.
Plug the USB device into your computer.
Step 2. Press Windows Key + R to open the Run dialog box. Type control panel and hit Enter.
Step 3: Click “Backup and Restore” (Windows 7).
Click "Backup and Restore" (Windows 7) 
Step 4: Click “Create system image.”
Step 5: Choose your external USB drive as the location to save the system image backup, and click “Next.”
Step 6: Select the hard drive you want to back up. (By default, Backup and Restore will select the system partition.) Then click Next.
Select the disk to be backed up 
Step 7: Review your backup settings. If everything looks good, click “Start Backup” to begin creating the system image.
When it's done, your Windows 11 system image will be stored on the USB flash drive.
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Resolution: Why can't I create a system image on a USB device?
If you can't create a Windows 11 system image on a USB flash drive, or Windows doesn't let you save the system image backup to your destination USB, try the following solutions.
This device cannot be used to save a system image.
If you receive the error "This device can't be used to save a system image because it's not formatted using NTFS," you can directly use the tool Todo Backup to make a system image as shown in method 1 in the system image backup section. Otherwise, you'll need to format your USB drive to resolve this issue. Here's how.
Step 1: Connect the USB device to your computer and open File Explorer.
Step two: Find your USB drive, right-click on it, and choose “Format.”
Third, format the file system as NTFS, and proceed with the installation.
When it's done, you can recreate the Windows system image on your USB drive by repeating the manual process from Method 2.
In short
That's all about how to create a Windows 11 ISO on USB. After reading, you can easily put a Windows ISO on a USB drive with the two methods in this article. But using the Windows backup software – Todo Backup is the most efficient and simplest way to achieve this goal.
You can use professional backup software, like Todo Backup, to easily create a system image. It will automatically finish the job with just a few steps. This way, you can conveniently make a system backup and restore it when needed. What are you waiting for? Download it now and give it a try!
Frequently Asked Questions About Creating a Windows 11 System Image on a USB Drive
1. Can I create a system image on a flash drive?
Yes, you can create a Windows system image on a USB flash drive using the built-in backup tools in Windows, such as Backup and Restore (Windows 7) and professional backup utilities like Todo Backup.
2. Can I boot a Windows image?
A system-image backup created with third-party software is bootable, because it contains partition metadata. Indeed, what good is a C: disk image if it won't boot? There's no need to reinstall anything or use a recovery drive.
3. Why Can't I Boot Windows 11 from USB?
Make sure the USB drive is your first boot device. You can restart your computer and press a key (such as F2, F11, or ESC) to enter the BIOS, find the "Boot Options" or similar section, and set the USB drive as the boot priority. If you don't see a USB boot option, it might mean that your computer doesn't support this feature.