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There can be several reasons why you may encounter issues when trying to load your operating system from a USB drive. In this article, we’ll explore some of the most common causes and offer potential solutions.
What is a Bootable USB?
A bootable USB is a USB drive that has been configured to contain a bootable operating system. The process of creating a bootable USB drive is typically referred to as "burning" the operating system image to the USB drive. You can use it to install operating system on a target device.
Why “Error Loading Operating System” Happens When Booting from a USB?
One common cause of this issue is that the USB drive is not formatted correctly. Most operating systems require a specific file system in order to be able to read from and write to the USB drive.
Another common cause is that the BIOS is not configured to boot from USB. This is often the case with older computers that do not have built-in support for booting from USB.
How to Fix “Error Loading Operating System from USB“
To resolve the issue, you will need to check ISO image, find the proper ISO burning program, format the USB drive using the correct file system and configure the BIOS to boot from USB.
1. Download ISO image from official website
If the ISO file is broken or damaged, then the operating system installation wizard won’t show up when booting from USB drive. Double click the ISO file and check it can be opened correctly. We suggest downloading the ISO image from the official website, such as Microsoft.com.
2. Use the right ISO burning program
No all ISO burning programs are capable of creating bootable USB. Make sure you are using the right apps for doing this. Our recommendation is Microsoft Media Creation Tool, UUByte ISO Editor, Rufus and Etcher. They are reputed tools for creating bootable USB from ISO file.
3. Format USB drive
The next step is to format the USB drive using the correct file system. For most operating systems, this will be FAT32.
To format the USB drive, you will need to use a tool that supports the FAT32 file system. One popular tool is the Windows tool Diskpart. To use Diskpart, follow these steps:
Step 1. Plug in the USB drive to your computer.
Step 2. Open a command prompt and type the following to open diskpart utility:
diskpart
Step 3. Now, display all the disks connected to the computer:
list disk
Step 4. Find the USB drive in the list of disks and note the disk number.
Step 5. At the Diskpart prompt, type the following command to choose the right device:
select disk
Step 6. Once the disk is chosen, you need to delete all content from it:
clean
Step 7. After formatting, please make a new primary partition for this device:
create partition primary
Step 8. Choose the newly created partition on this disk:
select partition 1
Step 9. Write boot information and active the disk with this command:
active
Step 10. At the Diskpart prompt, type the following to quickly format the disk with FAT32 file system:
format fs=fat32 quick
Step 11. Finally, set a new disk number for this USB drive: assign
Your USB drive should now be formatted and you can create a bootable USB without any issue.
4. Configure the BIOS
The last step is to configure the BIOS to boot from USB. This will vary depending on the make and model of your computer.
Typically, you will need to press a key during boot up to enter the BIOS setup utility. This key is often displayed on the screen at startup.
Once in the BIOS setup utility, you will need to find the option to boot from USB. This option is typically located under the "Boot" or "Advanced" settings.
Once you have found the option to boot from USB, make sure it is enabled and then save your changes. Your computer should now boot from the USB drive.
For newer computers, please choose UEFI. And for old computers, please use Legacy BIOS instead.
5. Select the right boot device
If you are choosing the wrong device to boot from, then error loading operating system will appears for sure. You can get to the Boot menu on your PC to choose the right device to boot.
There are a few different ways to open the boot menu on a PC. The most common way is to press the F8 key while the computer is booting up. This will bring up a menu with a number of different options. Another way to open the boot menu is to press the Esc key while the computer is booting up. This will also bring up a menu with a number of different options.
6. Rebuild Master Boot Record (MBR)
Step 1. Boot from your Windows installation disc
Step 2. At the "Welcome to Setup" screen, press the "R" key to start the Recovery Console
Step 3. At the "Select the Windows installation you want to log into" screen, select the Windows installation you want to repair, and then press "Enter"
Step 4. At the "Recovery Console" prompt, type the following commands:
bootrec /fixmbr
bootrec /fixboot
bootrec /scanos
bootrec /rebuildbcd
Step 5. Press "Enter" after each command.
Step 6. Reboot your computer.
Summary
This error can be caused by a variety of issues, including a corrupt or missing operating system file, a corrupt boot partition, or a hardware issue.
If you see this error, it is important to take action immediately to try to fix the problem. Depending on the cause, you may be able to fix the issue yourself, or you may need to seek professional help.