Creating a Windows 2016 Installer on a USB Drive

Windows Server 2016 can be installed in a similar fashion as the last several releases. In this example we will create a bootable USB drive with Windows Server 2016 available to install. The classic method of creating a Windows Installation USB drive is to use the free utility Windows USB/DVD Download Tool.

Download the Utility

Download the latest version of the Windows USB/DVD Download Tool from Codeplex.

Install and run the utility on a Windows desktop system with a USB drive attached.

Load Windows onto the USB

When the Utility is started, a four step wizard begins.

Step one asks for the Windows ISO source file. This will be the Windows distribution that will be copied and installed onto the USB drive.

Select “USB Device”. DVD is also an option for creating bootable DVD disks.

Make sure the correct USB drive is selected. The contents of the USB drive will be destroyed.

Create the USB Drive

Select “Begin Copying” to create the USB bootable drive.

The utility gives you a chance to cancel, otherwise select Erase USB Device.

You are given one more chance to back out. Select Yes.

On Step four, the USB drive is partitioned, formatted and Windows is unloaded, and the USB drive is configured as a bootable device.

And the USB drive is complete. Either exit or create another Windows setup distribution.

To install Windows from the USB, boot a computer from the USB and the Windows Installer OS will initiate the Windows Installation.

Enable .NET 2.0

If during installation the utility displays a message requiring .NET 2.0, open Control Panel and enable the feature .NET 3.5 (and thereby .NET 2.0).