How to make an ISO of a bootable USB flash drive?

[antares]

Hi all, I'd like to make an ISO image of a bootable USB flash drive so I can later use it to burn to another USB flash drive that would act as a clone of the 1st one. I tried PowerISO and UltraISO without success. Any ideas? Thanks

 

[RolandJS]

I think one good safe way to duplicate USB sticks are to "clone" them; however, let's see what others may say.

 

[antares]

So how do you clone them?

 

[RolandJS]

Macrium Reflect probably can clone USB stick A onto USB stick B; I use Acronis True Image myself, and it can clone from A to B.
Addendum: Later poster is correct -- ATIH cannot/will not clone to USB sticks.

 

[antares]

Yes, I use Acronis True Image too, but I always thought it can only clone hard drives and SSD's, not USB flash drives. Will give it a try.
UPDATE: I can confirm that Acronis True Image 2015 cannot clone USB flash drives, only SSD's and HD'.s.

 

[CountMike]

How about something like this: Download ImageUSB - MajorGeeks

 

[KYHI]

I assume you have windows 8.1 and you need certain files in your windows\system32 folder that are not present on your current system..

oscdimg is a MS tool for creating ISO's > https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh824847.aspx

And the Command Line is >
Oscdimg -bootdata:2#p0,e,bEtfsboot.com#pEF,e,bEfisys.bin -h -m -o -u1 -udfver102 S:\ T:\name.iso

The last two entires
S:\ = the source directory and/or folder for the iso files
T:\Name.iso = the Target directory and file name and iso extension for the New ISO

 

[Koukol]

What am I missing here?
Wouldn't it be easier to connect the old USB drive and the new one and copy the drive?

 

[antares]

I assume you have windows 8.1 and you need certain files in your windows\system32 folder that are not present on your current system..

oscdimg is a MS tool for creating ISO's > https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh824847.aspx

And the Command Line is >
Oscdimg -bootdata:2#p0,e,bEtfsboot.com#pEF,e,bEfisys.bin -h -m -o -u1 -udfver102 S:\ T:\name.iso

The last two entires
S:\ = the source directory and/or folder for the iso files
T:\Name.iso = the Target directory and file name and iso extension for the New ISO

Thanks KYH, I'll test it!

How about something like this: Download ImageUSB - MajorGeeks

That looks promising, I'll have to test it, thanks.

What am I missing here?
Wouldn't it be easier to connect the old USB drive and the new one and copy the drive?

You mean a copy/paste operation? No, that won't do it, you can't copy the boot sector this way, so the new drive will not be bootable.

 

[arachnaut]

I think if you save a sector-by-sector image backup with Acronis it should work. That's how I backup my bootable flash drives and I have restored them successfully.

You have to be sure that you are saving and restoring the MBR, that's where the ISO boot code resides.

Also, make sure the flash is exFAT or Fat32, not NTFS.

 

[topgundcp]

To answer what you intend to do. The easiest way to make an ISO from the USB stick:

1. Download: PortableAppZ: UltraISO 9.6.2.3059 Multilingual
2. Run Ultra ISO and open the USB stick with file explorer, select all, drag and drop into Ultra ISO then File->Save as ISO.

NOTE: If you can not use drag & Drop, then click on Actions->Add Directory then select the USB

 

[antares]

To answer what you intend to do. The easiest way to make an ISO from the USB stick:

1. Download: PortableAppZ: UltraISO 9.6.2.3059 Multilingual
2. Run Ultra ISO and open the USB stick with file explorer, select all, drag and drop into Ultra ISO then File->Save as ISO.

If the ISO created using the procedure you describe is "burned" back to a USB flash drive (using UltraISO, Rufus, or any other app), will that USB flash drive be bootable? Will it be a clone of the original flash drive?

 

[CountMike]

Iso burned back should be exactly same as it was before making it. Exact copy bit by bit, bootable if it was before.

 

[antares]

Iso burned back should be exactly same as it was before making it. Exact copy bit by bit, bootable if it was before.

Reason I asked is that many times when you create an ISO of a bootable media, and depending on the app used, you need to go into Advanced Options and specify to include the boot sector files, otherwise the ISO created will not be bootable, just a copy of the files.

 

[CountMike]

Program I gave you link to, makes exact copy of whole content of the USB, together with BOOT sector but in .BIN format although it can burn .ISI and .IMG format. There is an option to mage only BOOT sector but I haven't tried that. Another good program is PowerISO but I don't think it's free.

 

[topgundcp]

To answer what you intend to do. The easiest way to make an ISO from the USB stick:

1. Download: PortableAppZ: UltraISO 9.6.2.3059 Multilingual
2. Run Ultra ISO and open the USB stick with file explorer, select all, drag and drop into Ultra ISO then File->Save as ISO.

If the ISO created using the procedure you describe is "burned" back to a USB flash drive (using UltraISO, Rufus, or any other app), will that USB flash drive be bootable? Will it be a clone of the original flash drive?

No problem with that. You can even use Winzip/Winrar to unzip it to the USB drive and it'll boot.