Win32 Disk Imager is a program used to write a raw disk image, which is usually an Operating System such as Windows, Linux, and in some cases macOS. Just like other bootable USB creator software, Win32 Disk imager’s main use is to make your USB drive bootable, and ready to install a new operating system. The software is only 44 MB so it is considered lightweight. On top of that Win32 Disk imager is easy to use and it requires only a few clicks to complete the process of creating a bootable drive or a disk.
There aren’t exact system requirements for this program but developers reported that you can use it on Windows 7,8.1 and 10. These three operating systems are the most common and we don’t doubt that you will be able to use Win32 Disk Imager on them without any issues. On the other hand, there isn’t any information regarding using Win32 Disk Imager on Linux, which is, along with the Windows OS, one of the most common operating systems. There have been reports of Win32 Disk Imager working properly on Windows Server 2008, 2012, and 2016 but developers didn’t officially say that.
For those using older Windows such as Windows XP and Windows Vista, there is an older version of this program that supports them. The latest Win32 Disk Imager versions don’t support older Windows OS since fewer people are using them. The great advantage of Win32 Disk Imager is that it’s open-source so that the developers with extra time can play around with it and improve it or change it. Win32 Disk Imager isn’t the most suitable software when it comes to flashing big projects, and it certainly doesn’t support flashing multiple drives at once, but it can be used to flash Raspbian and ARM-Based operating systems.
The process from installing to flashing a drive of the Win32 Disk Imager won’t take more than a few minutes and it’s not required for you to be knowledgeable about computers to use it. The installation wizard can be finished in a minute or two, and the whole process is very straightforward as you will only need to select where you want the program to be installed, and to accept terms of service. After the installation is complete, you can check the box that will instantly run Win32 Disk Imager, or you can read the Readme file which includes important, legal disclaimers, a list of features, patch notes, known issues, etc.
On top of being able to flash your drives and disks, it can be used to do a backup of your SD Cards. Because of this awesome feature, there is no need for installing extra programs for doing backups, as you can use Win32 Disk Imager for both things.
Overall, Win32 Disk Imager is an older software that wasn’t updated in around four years, it’s widely outclassed by other players in this category, but it’s still very useful when it comes to creating a bootable USBs.
