Booting a computer from a USB or any other external bootable media is no longer a tedious task as long as your Windows 10 is able to start normally.
Depending on the type of task you wish to perform, your bootable USB stick can be a Windows Repair Disk or an installation media in case you want to do a clean install.
Regardless of its nature, here’s how you can boot your Windows 10 computer using a USB stick:
Step 1
Prepare your computer
Obtain and connect a bootable USB stick to your desktop or laptop computer. This initiates a notification informing you that an external USB device has been connected. At this moment, you can use File Explorer to view or add/remove contents of your USB stick (not recommended for bootable disks).
Step 2
Get to the Update & Security window
Click Start, click Settings, and click the Update & Security tile from the Windows Settings window. This opens the Update & Security window. From here you can manage the security settings of your Windows 10, and can also configure how and when the operating systems receives updates.
Step 3
Initiate advanced startup
Click Recovery from the left pane, and click Restart now from the Advanced startup section in the right. This reboots your computer to the Choose an option screen. From here you can choose your preferred option to begin troubleshooting your Windows 10, shut down your PC if you plan to continue later, etc.
Step 4
Boot from USB
Click Use a device from the Choose an option window, and follow the on-screen instructions from there. This boots your computer from the USB. Depending on the type of bootable media it is, you can use the on-screen prompts to continue with the troubleshooting or installation process.
Note: If Windows cannot start properly, you can always use the traditional method of setting first boot device as USB in BIOS or UEFI, and then boot your PC with the USB.
Depending on the type of task you wish to perform, your bootable USB stick can be a Windows Repair Disk or an installation media in case you want to do a clean install.
Regardless of its nature, here’s how you can boot your Windows 10 computer using a USB stick:
Step 1
Prepare your computer
Obtain and connect a bootable USB stick to your desktop or laptop computer. This initiates a notification informing you that an external USB device has been connected. At this moment, you can use File Explorer to view or add/remove contents of your USB stick (not recommended for bootable disks).
Step 2
Get to the Update & Security window
Click Start, click Settings, and click the Update & Security tile from the Windows Settings window. This opens the Update & Security window. From here you can manage the security settings of your Windows 10, and can also configure how and when the operating systems receives updates.
Step 3
Initiate advanced startup
Click Recovery from the left pane, and click Restart now from the Advanced startup section in the right. This reboots your computer to the Choose an option screen. From here you can choose your preferred option to begin troubleshooting your Windows 10, shut down your PC if you plan to continue later, etc.
Step 4
Boot from USB
Click Use a device from the Choose an option window, and follow the on-screen instructions from there. This boots your computer from the USB. Depending on the type of bootable media it is, you can use the on-screen prompts to continue with the troubleshooting or installation process.
Note: If Windows cannot start properly, you can always use the traditional method of setting first boot device as USB in BIOS or UEFI, and then boot your PC with the USB.