5 Best Software to Create Multiboot USB Flash Drives in 2023
Find what tool to use and how to create a multiboot USB
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Key notes
- Multiboot USB creators are great for installing multiple bootable operating systems on the same USB drive.
- It’s a solution for power users who run a dual-boot configuration and don’t have a separate pen drive for each OS.
- All multiboot USB creators on this list are free, with the exception of Sardu which also has a premium version. You can install not only various Windows editions but also Linux distributions.
Creating a bootable drive is simple, but what if you want to put multiple operating systems on a single drive? If that’s the case, you must use multiboot USB drive software.
Fortunately, multiple freeware software tools allow you to do this with just a couple of clicks.
In this article, we take a look at the best software to create a multiboot USB flash drive to have an all-in-one USB boot drive ready with multiple operating systems in your pocket all the time.
What is the top software to create multiboot USB drives?
YUMI – Simplest to use
YUMI is one of the highly recommended multiboot utilities, and it is also the lightest of the lot. The options on YUMI are straightforward. Furthermore, it is a portable application and doesn’t require any installation.
However, with YUMI, you can only install one operating system at a time. So, to install multiple OS into your multiboot USB drive, you need to repeat the process again and again.
It has an intuitive user interface and supports FAT32 and NTFS file systems. The software is useful for creating multiboot USB drives, and you can use it for disc cloning, installation of portable software, Live CD creation, etc.
The software will store bootable files in the Multiboot directory, which means you can still use your drive to transfer files. Overall, it’s a great tool and worth checking out.
Other great features:
- Portable
- Has the ability to download ISO files
- Easy to use
- Allows you to use the drive for file storage
⇒ Get YUMI
Ventoy – The most popular option
Probably the most popular software to create multiboot drives is Ventoy. Using this software, you can create a bootable USB drive for ISO, WIM, IMG, VHD, and EFI files.
The software is incredibly simple to use, you just need to copy the desired file to it, and you’ll be able to boot from it. Of course, you can have multiple ISO files and choose which one you want to boot.
With Ventoy, you can also browse ISO and other supported files on your PC or boot them. Even if you install Ventoy, you can use your USB for data storage and file transfer without issues.
Overall, it’s a great and incredibly simple tool, so if you want to test multiple operating systems, this is the right tool.
Other great features:
- Works with ISO/WIM/IMG/VHD(x)/EFI files.
- Ability to browse and boot files on local disk.
- Works with most operating systems
- Password protection
- Allows you to use your flash drive for file transfer
Easy2Boot – Has 3 multiboot systems
If you need versatile software to create multiboot USB drives, Easy2Boot might be what you need. The application supports 3 different multiboot menu systems. These systems are based on grub4dos, grubfm, and Ventoy.
Regarding the supported storage devices, Easy2Boot works with USB flash drives, USB hard drives, and SSDs. In addition to booting ISO files, you can boot Windows or Linux VHD from a flash drive.
Of course, the software is fully compatible with Legacy and UEFI boot. Lastly, with this software, you can use your USB drive for other files, just like a regular flash drive.
Overall, this is a versatile tool, and if you wish to use multiple operating systems, be sure to try it.
Other great features:
- 3 multi-boot menu systems
- Works with flash drives, SSDs, and hard drives
- Can boot ISO, WIM, EFI, IMA, IMG, VHD, VHDx, HFS
- Ability to use your drive for file storage or transfer
Sardu – Supports antivirus boot creation
Sardu is another multiboot USB drive creator for Windows. It is available in two versions free and premium. The premium version comes with some advanced features, including remote automatic update, links to download ISO, the ability to create multiple USB installers with different versions of Windows, and more.
However, the free version is fully capable of creating a multiboot USB drive on a Windows computer and installing both Linux and Windows OS on the USB drive.
Sardu only supports the FAT32 file system. So, if you have an NTFS formatted USB drive, make sure you reformat it to FAT32.
The software allows you to install various utilities apart from Linux and Windows OS. You can install Antivirus, Utility tools, Linux distro, Windows OS, and other extras.
Other great features:
- Simple to use
- Works with most Windows and Linux ISOs
- Supports the creation of antivirus boot disks
- Supports multi-boot
AIO Boot – Supports various bootloaders
If you’re looking for simple software that can create multiboot flash drives, then this is the right tool for you. The software supports UEFI and Legacy boot, so it will work on any type of PC.
In UEFI mode, you can use Grub2, Clover, and rEFInd. As for legacy mode, there’s support for Grub2, Grub4Dos, Clover, Enoch Chameleon, and Syslinux.
The application works with hard drives, external drives, flash drives, and SD cards. Secure Boot support is there thanks to the Shim and MokManager.
Although this software allows you to have multiple operating systems, it seems to have been recently discontinued, and therefore it takes the last spot on our list.
Other great features:
- Works with Legacy and UEFI boot
- Supports booting WinPE and VHD
- Allows you to boot multiple operating systems
- Works with ISO, WIM, VHD, IMG, and IMA files
This multiboot USB drive software allows you to create multiple instances of the bootable OS on a single USB drive. You can also use your external HDD or SDD for this task, although some workaround might be required to get it working successfully.
Multiboot USB drives are not just for installing operating systems but can also be used to create a rescue USB drive to repair your system in case of system failure.
While you can use any bootable USB creator software, Multiboot Creators provide the flexibility of adding all kinds of tools on a single USB drive.
Some important tools in a multiboot USB drive include an antivirus program, partition manager, Linux, and Windows OS, network diagnosis tools and rescue disk, etc.
To learn more about these tools, visit our guide the best bootable pendrive software.
Have you tried any other multiboot USB creator not mentioned in this list? Do let us know in the comments below.
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