Hiren’s Boot includes tools that allow us to make backup copies of the storage units of the computer where we have run them, create and modify partitions, tools to recover lost files without forgetting the BIOS, so we can also use it to check the integrity RAM memory, hard drive, graphics card and network.
The first thing we should know regarding Hiren’s Boot is that it is an application that allows us to start repairing any computer managed by Windows that is available completely free of charge. All the applications included in this software are open source, so we will not have to buy any additional licenses to use them.
This software runs a Restored Edition of Windows 10 PE, a version of Windows that hasn’t been officially supported for several years but, thanks to the large community, is periodically updated every year to adapt to new technologies and requires a minimum of 2 GB of RAM memory.
When we run Hiren’s Boot on a computer, once the graphical interface has been loaded, the system will install the necessary controls to take advantage of the graphic, network and sound card, to be able to access the internet if we need to consult any information related to the components of our team, for example.
Yes, our equipment is very old, we can download some of the older versions of this appversions that are available from their website through the following link. These versions are also intended to create a rescue CD that allows us to access the entire system in general using a menu interface, nothing from the Windows interface, hence it is compatible with practically any computer.
How to create a portable USB with Hiren’s Boot
Although this application is designed to create a bootable CD, taking into account that very few computers currently include an optical drive reader, in this article we are going to focus on showing you all the steps to follow to create a usb drivea unit that we can use in any team and that, in addition, we can comfortably always carry with us (we never know when we are going to need it).
What do we need
To create a Hiren’s Boot portable USB we only need two elements: a 4GB USB drive and download the ISO image directly from its website, which we can access by clicking on the following link.
The website of this project should be the only source that we should use to download this software. No using torrents or download pages that include bloatware that will install apps in the installation process.
installation
So that the installation process on a USB is very simple and that we do not have to use applications like Rufus or similar (applications that allow us to create bootable USB drives from images in ISO format), the community behind Hiren’s Bot has created an application that performs the process almost automatically.
The first thing we must do, to use this tool that will help us create a Hiren’s Boot bootable USB, is download the application ISO2USB.exe from this link in addition to the ISO that contains all the files necessary to create the boot drive from this other link.
If our version of Windows states that it cannot check the security of the file as it is an executable, we select the option Keep on device to prevent you from deleting it as a precaution.
Next, we run the file with administrator permissions, using the right mouse menu and selecting the Run as administrator option and insert the USB drive that we want to use to install this set of applications.
Next, we select the USB drive that we want to use as the boot drive, that is, where we want to install Hiren’s Boot. In the New Drive Label option, we can leave the one that is shown, which is nothing more than the abbreviation for Hiren’s Boot CD (HBCD). Finally, we select the directory where we have downloaded the ISO version of this application.
the box Format Selected USB Deviceit means that it will format the USB drive that we are going to use, so previously we must make sure that it does not contain any type of file that we want to talk regarding, since, by formatting it and turning it into a bootable drive, all the content will be lost without possibility of recovery.
the box Copy ISO content to USB Device, is checked by default, like the previous one, since it allows you to copy the ISO content to the USB. Finally, we click on Process for the process to begin and wait for it to finish.
The percentage of the creation progress of this unit is shown at the bottom of that window, a process that can last on average, regarding 15 or 20 minutes if the computer has an SSD drive, more if it is a hard drive.
check it works
Once we have carried out the installation process, we must ensure that it works correctly before trying it on other computers. To check if the process has been carried out correctly, we must access the BIOS of our computer and modify boot options so that, instead of starting with the main storage unit, it does so using the USB port where we connect it.
If the USB successfully loads Windows PE and we can interact with all the included applications, then the drive is ready to start fixing computers that can boot with whatever operating system you have installed, be it Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 10 or Windows 10. eleven.
For use on equipment with versions prior to Windows 7it is recommended to use an older version whose hardware requirements (2 GB of RAM), are not so high.