Boot MechanismsĬomputers boot can boot using one or both of the following mechanisms. However, exFAT is not suitable for booting. Less commonly, USB devices are formatted exFAT. Most USB external harddisks are formatted NTFS. This is the native filesystem for Windows XP and later. However, Windows systems will only format FAT systems to a maximum of 32GB and files are limited to 4GB. USB sticks are commonly pre-formatted FAT.

The FAT filesystem is older and compatible with non-Windows operating systems. There are two common filesystems supported by Windows systems Hard disk enabling multiple filesystems to co-exist on the same device. They can be partitioned with the same flexibility as an internal This is the Windows name for a USB attached hard disk or They can only contain one partition this is a Windows limitation. This is the type Windows assigns to USB flash sticks and similar. However, there are a few technical details that can make creating USB boot media more complex than CD media.ĭevice types USB media exist in two types. Image files can be stored on the rescue media.Devices such as tables and some laptops don't include a CD drive, so USB booting is the only option.Introduction USB based rescue media offer some advantages over CD/DVD based media: Note: this article is only relevant to releases newer than v. In this article we will explain how it is possible to simply create a USB flash drive to boot Windows PE.

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