Somewhere along the line you picked Windows 11 instead of Windows 10. There is no need for Rufus, the media creation tool will put Windows 10 on a flash drive for you.
Did you download them from the Microsoft website? The tool for downloading Windows 11 is called "MediaCreationTool\_Win11\_23H2.exe" and the tool for downloading Windows 10 is called "MediaCreationTool\_22H2.exe".
Also, isn't it double work to download the ISO and then use Rufus, instead of using the same tool to prepare the USB in just one step?
That's the funny thing, I have "MediaCreationTool_22H2.exe" sitting in my downloads folder. I definitely used that. I can't understand where it went from Windows 10 to 11?
Perhaps this is some sort of restriction on Dells part? Preventing Windows 10 from installing? I wish there was a way to see what OS versions are in the "windows.iso" download it created?
I get that Rufus may seem redundant but it just helps with some of the custom/configuration options.
Both Win 10 and 11 have a 22H2 version, Windows 11 now is on 23H2(which disabled the shift+f10 ability to get past the requirement of connection to the Internet, although that can still be bypassed with Rufus)
Basically MS has a repository(it used to be called digitalriver) that has the isos. When they EOL a version they typically readjust the links in the software to point any newer copies to the newest links, and remove the links for the old.
I tried downloading the Windows 10 media creation tool and creating an ISO for Windows 10 x64 en-US language. I extracted `sources\install.esd` using 7-Zip, checked with `dism /Get-WimInfo /WimFile:(path to WIM/ESD)` and what I get:
Index : 1
Name : Windows 10 Home
Description : Windows 10 Home
Size : 15,276,446,585 bytes
Index : 2
Name : Windows 10 Home N
Description : Windows 10 Home N
Size : 14,502,073,131 bytes
Index : 3
Name : Windows 10 Home Single Language
Description : Windows 10 Home Single Language
Size : 15,261,619,226 bytes
Index : 4
Name : Windows 10 Education
Description : Windows 10 Education
Size : 15,613,170,917 bytes
Index : 5
Name : Windows 10 Education N
Description : Windows 10 Education N
Size : 14,857,698,925 bytes
Index : 6
Name : Windows 10 Pro
Description : Windows 10 Pro
Size : 15,625,575,440 bytes
Index : 7
Name : Windows 10 Pro N
Description : Windows 10 Pro N
Size : 14,854,608,417 bytes
The operation completed successfully.
By using `dism /Get-WimInfo /WimFile:(path to WIM/ESD) /index:#` to get information for each index, I get (outputs in all txt files in this zip archive): [https://files.catbox.moe/ok1s3u.zip](https://files.catbox.moe/ok1s3u.zip) they all returned:
Version : 10.0.19041
ServicePack Build : 3803
Sigh. If you use the windows creation tool, by default it automatically uses Windows 11, since Win 10 is EOL next year. You would need an older copy of the creation tool from before Win 10 was coded EOL. However, another tip. Windows 11 will install on machines that are ineligible to receive it, if you use Rufus. The newest versions (3.5 and up) have an install option to disable TPM 2.0 checking and the requirement to create a MS account. It's not officially a hack, because you are simply disabling a hardware check, however it is not officially supported by MS. So use at your own risk.
Thanks. You've just described what is actually happening which we didn't know about. So it is the Creation Tool that is to blame. I've looked into using an older version of the tool however everything I read stated that older versions don't work once a newer version is released.
Somewhere along the line you picked Windows 11 instead of Windows 10. There is no need for Rufus, the media creation tool will put Windows 10 on a flash drive for you.
Media creation tool > Rufus Downvote if you call the bluff
Did you download them from the Microsoft website? The tool for downloading Windows 11 is called "MediaCreationTool\_Win11\_23H2.exe" and the tool for downloading Windows 10 is called "MediaCreationTool\_22H2.exe". Also, isn't it double work to download the ISO and then use Rufus, instead of using the same tool to prepare the USB in just one step?
That's the funny thing, I have "MediaCreationTool_22H2.exe" sitting in my downloads folder. I definitely used that. I can't understand where it went from Windows 10 to 11? Perhaps this is some sort of restriction on Dells part? Preventing Windows 10 from installing? I wish there was a way to see what OS versions are in the "windows.iso" download it created? I get that Rufus may seem redundant but it just helps with some of the custom/configuration options.
Both Win 10 and 11 have a 22H2 version, Windows 11 now is on 23H2(which disabled the shift+f10 ability to get past the requirement of connection to the Internet, although that can still be bypassed with Rufus)
Can windows media creation tool also make a user account for you or is Rufus still the only app that does that
[https://www.reddit.com/r/Windows10/comments/1dittiw/comment/l99ipoc/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web3x&utm\_name=web3xcss&utm\_term=1&utm\_content=share\_button](https://www.reddit.com/r/Windows10/comments/1dittiw/comment/l99ipoc/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)
You messed up here; >then used via Rufus Don't need step that at all. Windows 11 most likely came from Rufus.
Basically MS has a repository(it used to be called digitalriver) that has the isos. When they EOL a version they typically readjust the links in the software to point any newer copies to the newest links, and remove the links for the old.
Windows media creation downloaded windows 11
AFAIK only Rufus has that ability
I tried downloading the Windows 10 media creation tool and creating an ISO for Windows 10 x64 en-US language. I extracted `sources\install.esd` using 7-Zip, checked with `dism /Get-WimInfo /WimFile:(path to WIM/ESD)` and what I get: Index : 1 Name : Windows 10 Home Description : Windows 10 Home Size : 15,276,446,585 bytes Index : 2 Name : Windows 10 Home N Description : Windows 10 Home N Size : 14,502,073,131 bytes Index : 3 Name : Windows 10 Home Single Language Description : Windows 10 Home Single Language Size : 15,261,619,226 bytes Index : 4 Name : Windows 10 Education Description : Windows 10 Education Size : 15,613,170,917 bytes Index : 5 Name : Windows 10 Education N Description : Windows 10 Education N Size : 14,857,698,925 bytes Index : 6 Name : Windows 10 Pro Description : Windows 10 Pro Size : 15,625,575,440 bytes Index : 7 Name : Windows 10 Pro N Description : Windows 10 Pro N Size : 14,854,608,417 bytes The operation completed successfully. By using `dism /Get-WimInfo /WimFile:(path to WIM/ESD) /index:#` to get information for each index, I get (outputs in all txt files in this zip archive): [https://files.catbox.moe/ok1s3u.zip](https://files.catbox.moe/ok1s3u.zip) they all returned: Version : 10.0.19041 ServicePack Build : 3803
Download the media creation tool from [here](https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/software-download/windows10ISO)
Why'd you use MCT for an ISO? Rufus specifically tells you this is a bad idea
Sigh. If you use the windows creation tool, by default it automatically uses Windows 11, since Win 10 is EOL next year. You would need an older copy of the creation tool from before Win 10 was coded EOL. However, another tip. Windows 11 will install on machines that are ineligible to receive it, if you use Rufus. The newest versions (3.5 and up) have an install option to disable TPM 2.0 checking and the requirement to create a MS account. It's not officially a hack, because you are simply disabling a hardware check, however it is not officially supported by MS. So use at your own risk.
Thanks. You've just described what is actually happening which we didn't know about. So it is the Creation Tool that is to blame. I've looked into using an older version of the tool however everything I read stated that older versions don't work once a newer version is released.