I’ve kept a drawer full of USB sticks for several years. These drives have been the primary place I keep my OS installers. Some are for Windows, some for the numerous Linux distros that I use, and others for recovery tools. With them, I could always wipe a drive and start over whenever a new ISO dropped. I used Etcher and Rufus, but they involved a cycle of re‑flashing.
It was with Ventoy that I broke free from that cycle. Instead of turning a USB drive into a single-purpose installer, I was able to use USB drives as normal storage that also happened to boot operating systems. Now, with a single USB drive, I carry all my Windows and Linux installers. It’s a clever way to repurpose an old USB drive.
OS
Windows, Linux
Developer
Hailong Sun
Ventoy is an open-source utility for creating bootable USB drives. It allows you to simply copy ISO, WIM, IMG, VHD(x), or EFI files directly to the drive, eliminating the need to reformat for each new OS installation
Ventoy kills reflashing by changing what a bootable drive is
How virtual disks work with a copy‑paste workflow
Afam Onyimadu / MUO
Ventoy allows your USB drive to act like regular storage; however, it adds an important detail. Without writing an operating system to the USB drive, it installs a small boot system once and leaves the rest of the drive alone. You can copy an installer file onto it, safely eject it, and boot from the USB drive.
Each time you select an ISO, Ventoy ensures nothing is modified, and the ISO remains just as it was downloaded. However, Ventoy creates a temporary view, making the installer believe it’s booting from an actual DVD or USB.
The effect is more pronounced on Windows, where none of my Windows 10 builds, Windows 11 releases, or Windows Server ISOs conflict with each other when stored on the same drive or require special preparation. I simply copy over any new Microsoft releases and delete the old ones if I want. After installing Ventoy, I don’t need flashing tools anymore.
My Ventoy drive is an operating system library, not an installer
Versioned ISOs, side-by-side Windows builds, and long-term reuse
I’ve started thinking differently about installers because of Ventoy: more in collections rather than about “the USB.” The drive is organized meticulously, with Windows builds arranged by year, Linux distributions categorized by purpose, and utilities allocated their own space.
With this arrangement, it’s easy to hang onto old installers if I want. This is crucial because I often return to my older Windows ISOs, especially when the new ones don’t work so well on specific hardware. This applies to Linux as well, since newer kernels aren’t always the right solution.
However, Ventoy doesn’t force any particular organization. The names I use for folders don’t affect booting, and this gives me complete liberty to structure my drive in any way that makes sense to me. I find this organizational freedom invaluable as my lists grow longer. My USB drive improves over time without needing to rebuild it. Ventoy’s ability to manage multiple ISO files from a single USB drive without extracting them makes it an essential diagnostic tool.
Ventoy succeeds where firmware chaos usually wins
Legacy BIOS, modern UEFI, and Secure Boot enrollment
Afam Onyimadu / MUO
It can be messy booting on real hardware. I have machines that still rely on legacy BIOS, some use UEFI, and a few ship with Secure Boot enabled by default.
Ventoy is designed to handle this complexity on a single drive, as it supports both legacy BIOS and the more modern UEFI. I’m not forced to choose either upfront. I find it useful since I still keep a few low-end computers, and Ventoy supports 32-bit and 64-bit firmware variations.
Rufus is often seen as the gold standard for Windows, but it sometimes struggles with Secure Boot when using NTFS; I typically have to disable Secure Boot to get those drives to work.
Ventoy doesn’t have this problem. The first boot may require you to enroll a key, and although the Secure Boot enrollment prompt may feel intimidating, you only do it once per system. This allows me to use the same Ventoy drive on several systems without changing anything.
Persistence images, virtual disks, and Plugson configuration
Afam Onyimadu / MUO
Although Ventoy seems basic out of the box, it’s quite robust. One of its most valuable upgrades is persistence for live Linux systems. This saves you from losing files after a reboot by allowing you to save them onto a separate persistent image.
Since it boots virtual hard disks, I can also carry around full Linux setups and sometimes cloned system images to boot from the USB on different machines.
When I need to manage advanced features, I use VentoyPlugson, which is a small web tool. This utility ensures I don’t need to edit config files by hand to toggle options on; I typically add features gradually. The good part is that because nothing is forced, Ventoy can stay simple if I want it to.
This is why IT pros quietly rely on Ventoy
Ventoy is a reputable go-to for recovery and deployment work. You won’t need extra steps to boot Hiren’s BootCD PE, which is a Swiss army knife for systems that refuse to start. It’s also great for Sergei Strelec. Ventoy allows me to pair an installer with an answer file so that the setup runs on its own. This kind of unattended install gives me the liberty to spend time on other critical tasks.
Integrity is a big part of Ventoy. It allows me to verify installer checksums directly from the boot menu. Hardware solutions like iODD offer similar services; however, they’re pricey and proprietary.
