There are dozens of different tools like Rufus that can take a bootable Windows ISO image file and then can create a bootable USB drive using this ISO image. These bootable USB drives are faster and are very helpful in installing Windows to notebook computers that do not come with any DVD drive. But what if you want to do the reverse? If you have a bootable USB drive with Windows installation files on it and you want to save it in form of bootable ISO image, then there are almost no tools available on the internet for this.
We are providing you step by step instructions on how can make a bootable ISO image using a bootable USB drive (with Windows installation files on it):
- Install PowerISO in your Windows PC. PowerISO comes with some unwanted programs (PUP) but you can simply turn off the internet in your PC (switch off WiFi or Ethernet) before installing PowerISO and it will skip the installation of the PUP.
- Launch PowerISO and open any bootable Windows ISO image (Windows 7, Windows 8.x, Windows 10) in it that you already have somewhere in your PC. In PowerISO, select Action → Boot → Save boot information and then save the BIF file somewhere in your PC. If you do not have any Windows ISO images, then you can download the “efsboot.com” file from http://androidhost.org/6qm8v and change the file extension to BIF.
- Close PowerISO and relaunch it. Drag-n-drop all the files and folders from your bootable USB drive to the PowerISO window. You may have to change the disk type to DVD to change the capacity of the image. In PowerISO, select Action → Boot → Add boot information.
- Select the BIF file that you saved in step 2 above and click on the OK button.
- Choose File → Save As and then save the image as an ISO image in your PC. This is your bootable Windows ISO image created from the bootable USB drive.
The same method can be used to create bootable ISO image using the Windows installation files located elsewhere on your PC or on some external drive.