How to Create a Bootable Multi-ISO USB Drive Using Ventoy

Every IT technician, system administrator, and home PC enthusiast has experienced the tedious ritual of formatting and flashing a USB drive with Rufus or balenaEtcher every single time they need to install an operating system or run a rescue utility. Need to install Windows 11? Flash a drive. Need to run Clonezilla or MemTest86? Wipe the drive and flash again. Ventoy permanently eradicates this frustration by transforming any standard USB flash drive into a powerful, multi-boot powerhouse.

The Ventoy Breakthrough: Drag-and-Drop ISO Booting

Unlike traditional flashing utilities that extract ISO image contents and overwrite partition tables, Ventoy installs a lightweight bootloader onto a hidden partition of your USB drive, leaving the primary storage partition formatted with standard exFAT.

• To add a bootable operating system, simply copy and paste the raw .iso, .wim, or .vhd file directly onto the USB drive using standard File Explorer.
• When you boot your computer from the USB drive, Ventoy presents an interactive graphical menu listing every ISO file stored on the drive. Select any system and it boots directly into memory.
• The USB drive continues to function as a normal storage drive for personal files alongside your bootable ISOs!

Step 1: Installing Ventoy to Your Flash Drive

Warning: Installing Ventoy for the first time will format the target flash drive. Back up any existing data on the USB drive prior to installation.

1. Download the latest Ventoy release from the official GitHub repository.
2. Extract the archive and launch Ventoy2Disk.exe on Windows (or use the web GUI on Linux).
3. Under the Option menu, ensure Partition Style is set to GPT (recommended for all modern UEFI systems) and enable Secure Boot Support.
4. Select your USB flash drive from the device dropdown list and click Install.

Step 2: Loading Essential Diagnostic and OS ISOs

Once installation finishes, your USB drive appears in File Explorer as an empty volume labeled “Ventoy”. Simply drag and drop your collection of operating system and rescue ISOs onto the drive:

• Windows_11_24H2_English_x64.iso (Official Windows installation)
• ubuntu-24.04-desktop-amd64.iso (Linux live desktop and installer)
• rescuezilla-2.5-64bit.iso (Bare-metal drive imaging and cloning)
• memtest86-usb.iso (RAM diagnostic tester)
• hirens-bootcd-pe-x64.iso (Windows Preinstallation Environment with diagnostic tools)

Booting and Managing Images

Plug your Ventoy USB drive into any PC, access the motherboard boot menu (F12, F11, or Del), and select the UEFI USB drive. Ventoy’s menu renders instantly, allowing you to launch any operating system or rescue disk effortlessly.