How to create a bootable Windows USB on Macbook Pro (that has a Bootcamp partition)

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How to create a bootable Windows USB on Macbook Pro (that has a Bootcamp partition)

HI,

I have a MacBook Pro 2015 with Retina Display which is booted via Bootcamp (there are MacOS partition and Windows Partition) and it's working well. Now I need to be able to boot Windows from a USB drive (not related to the already present Bootcamp's Windows partition) but the USB is not recognized during boot.

What I've tried was:

1) format the USB drive into one of the following (tried all):

a) MBR with FAT

b) MBR with exFAT

c) GPT with FAT

d) GPT with exFAT

2) download an iso of the Windows installation and copy its content into the USB drive.

3) restart and press the option key (but can't see the USB drive during boot).

I also tried using Microsoft's Media Creation Tool which automatically creates the USB content but it didn't work either.

Side Note: I can't use third party tools for this (based on what I've read that's not required anyway) so basically would welcome solutions with built-in MacOS (eg: diskutil) or Windows (eg: diskpart) tools.

What am I missing? Why the USB doesn't show during boot (I wonder if it's related to the fact that Bootcamp is enabled)?

Posted on Dec 30, 2020 11:06 AM

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Answer 1

chenshak Author

Level 1

12 points

Dec 31, 2020 11:41 AM in response to chenshak

Update (Solved):

I've used a 32-bit Windows iso (which contains an efi\boot\bootia32.efi file) and because MacBook Pro 2015 has a 64-bit UEFI system it couldn't boot from it. Using a 64-bit Windows iso (which contains an efi\boot\bootx64.efi file) allows the system to boot from that partition and hence the USB is recognized during boot.

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Answer 2

chenshak Author

Level 1

12 points

Dec 30, 2020 11:37 AM in response to leroydouglas

@BobTheFisherman

That's incorrect, there are many tutorials of running Windows 10 on USB, for example this one.

The problem is that the USB is not recognized during boot (whether it contains Windows, Linux or MacOS isn't even the problem here).

@leroydouglas

This website seems to be unsafe (when trying to enter the UNetbootin website - 'uBlock Origin' chrome plugin blocks it with 'uBlock filters – Badware risks').

I need to do this without 3rd party tools (from tutorials I've read I understand this should be possible).

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Answer 3

Dec 30, 2020 11:10 AM in response to chenshak

Neither Boot Camp nor Microsoft support installing Windows 10 on an external drive.

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Answer 4

leroydouglas

Level 10

199,452 points

Dec 30, 2020 11:14 AM in response to chenshak

chenshak wrote:

HI,

I have a MacBook Pro 2015 with Retina Display which is booted via Bootcamp (there are MacOS partition and Windows Partition) and it's working well. Now I need to be able to boot Windows from a USB drive (not related to the already present Bootcamp's Windows partition) but the USB is not recognized during boot.

What I've tried was:

1) format the USB drive into one of the following (tried all):

a) MBR with FAT

b) MBR with exFAT

c) GPT with FAT

d) GPT with exFAT

2) download an iso of the Windows installation and copy its content into the USB drive.

3) restart and press the option key (but can't see the USB drive during boot).

I also tried using Microsoft's Media Creation Tool which automatically creates the USB content but it didn't work either.

Side Note: I can't use third party tools for this (based on what I've read that's not required anyway) so basically would welcome solutions with built-in MacOS (eg: diskutil) or Windows (eg: diskpart) tools.

What am I missing? Why the USB doesn't show during boot (I wonder if it's related to the fact that Bootcamp is enabled)?

UNetbootin : Create bootable Live USB drives for Windows and MacOS

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How to create a bootable Windows USB on Macbook Pro (that has a Bootcamp partition)

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