That is, you don’t need to actually download the ISO file in order to prepare the bootable USB. In addition to downloading ISO image files, Windows Installation Media Creation Tool can be used to prepare the bootable USB of your Windows 8.1 as well. The time required to download the ISO image will depend on your internet connection speed and load on Microsoft servers. After running the executable, you need to select your language, edition of Windows 8.1, and then the architecture type. To run Windows Installation Media Creation Tool on Windows 7, simply download the utility by visiting this page of Microsoft and then run the downloaded executable.

Since the tool doesn’t prompt you to enter the license key in order to initiate the download, it’s much easier to download the official ISO. This is helpful when you’re unable to boot into Windows 8.1 and want to perform a clean install of Windows 8.1 by downloading Windows 8.1 ISO on a PC running Windows 7. Those of you wondering if the Windows Installation Media Creation Tool can be run on Windows 7 will be glad to know that it’s possible to run Windows Installation Media Creation Tool on Windows 7 to download Windows 8.1 ISO image files right from Microsoft without having to enter the product license key. But the beta of version 3.19 will also remove the Microsoft account requirement for new installs, making it easy to set up a new Windows PC with a traditional local account.Installation Media Creation Tool on Windows 7 Rufus has already offered some flags to remove Windows 11's system requirement checks from the installer, removing the need for clunky Windows Registry edits and other workarounds. And that's too bad, because the 22H2 update corrects a few of Windows 11's original shortcomings while adding some nice quality-of-life improvements.Īn easy workaround for this requirement is the Rufus USB formatting tool, which can create USB install media for Windows and all kinds of other operating systems.

One of the new 'features' coming to the Windows 11 22H2 update is a Microsoft account requirement for all new installs, regardless of whether you are using the Home or Pro version of the operating system.

Update, : The final, non-beta version of Rufus 3.19 is available for download from the app's website. Further Reading You’ll need a Microsoft account to set up future versions of Windows 11 Pro

Media tool windows 11