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Windows 11 has a file larger than 4 GB, so creating a bootable USB is not as simple as doing dd. There are tools like WoeUsb, Rufus, etc. that can do it, but they all require trust in third party software.

Is there a pure way of doing it in Ubuntu with simple tools like dd without using any third party software (no PPA, external downloads, etc.)?

BeastOfCaerbannog
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Rafaelo
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    This is basically the same question as the linked one. Please don't repost questions just because they haven't got any good answers. The right way is to post a bounty on it. Even then sometimes there just aren't any good answers. – muru Sep 15 '23 at 15:17
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    "Zero trust" can never be true in this context as you still have to trust some OS and some tools ... It can't be true even in any context I guess :-) maybe. – Raffa Sep 15 '23 at 17:07
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    "but they all require trust in third party software" Rufus has a dedicated page that goes into lengthy details as to why you should be able to trust the software, or, at the very least, formally validate that it's not possible for the software to do something hidden behind your back. – Akeo Sep 16 '23 at 06:15
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    @Akeo Thank you for your efforts on UEFI:NTFS and other software ... Very much appreciated. – Raffa Sep 16 '23 at 07:31

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If what you want is to make a bootable Windows USB (for installation purposes) from the Windows OS ISO file, then that could be easier than you think.

You will need first to prepare the USB disk by formatting it into MBR/DOS disk format first which can be done with e.g. gnome-disks by selecting the USB disk then choosing Format Disk ... from the main menu like so:

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... Then choosing the right format and formatting the disk:

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... then creating an NTFS partition on the disk by clicking the + sign and then clicking Next in the top of the dialog box and then choosing NTFS and formatting by clicking Create like so:

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Now, your USB is ready ... next mount the Windows ISO by right clicking on it and choosing Open with disk image mounter like so:

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... then select the newly created mount point from the left side of the file manager like so:

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... finally copy all those Windows files to the NTFS partition you previously created on the USB disk ... Wait for the copying process to finish and make sure you gracefully eject the USB disk afterwords to avoid any copy/filesystem errors ... Enjoy, computer life can be that easy sometimes :-)

Raffa
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  • Am I understanding correctly that you simply create one NTFS partition? In that case, yes, it works in many computers. But I have some laptops that won't boot from an NTFS partition, but boots (in UEFI mode) from a FAT32 partition. Hence the more complicated 'do it yourself' method described in my answer at this link. - Anyway, let us hope that @Rafaelo can use your method which is simpler than mine. – sudodus Sep 15 '23 at 21:06
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    @sudodus Your linked answer is correct but requires a lot of plumbing :-) … UEFI standards require FAT32 support but don’t require NTFS support … However, manufacturers are increasingly adding NTFS support as well lately … Moreover, even before that most systems ship preconfigured with "UEFI first" firmware setting and not "pure UEFI" mode … Also systems that can only support "pure UEFI" exist, but are not common … That’s why I thought it’s probably the time for embracing simplicity above … At least as a first option with very high success rates that are increasing every day. – Raffa Sep 16 '23 at 05:12
  • Yes, and I upvoted your answer for that reason :-) – sudodus Sep 16 '23 at 07:08
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    @sudodus An upvote from a knowledgeable fellow like you is worth a hundred ... For others who don't know it already: Please see the 4th paragraph here that sums it up ... In other words, the assumption that UEFI can only support FAT32/16/12 was never true and as the firmware dedicated chips increase in size, not only NTFS will be supported, but other filesystems will be supported as well natively. – Raffa Sep 16 '23 at 07:16