Create a Windows Bootable USB on macOS

Prerequisites

1. Install Tuxera NTFS for Mac (15-day trial is enough).

   • macOS Disk Utility can’t format NTFS drives, so we need third-party tools.
   • NTFS volumes mount read-only by default; Tuxera enables read/write.

2. Format the USB/external drive

   • Back up data first, then format as Microsoft NTFS.
   • Avoid FAT (4 GB file size limit) and exFAT (doesn’t boot reliably for Windows 10 ISOs).

3. Download the Windows ISO

   • https://www.microsoft.com/zh-cn/software-download/windows10ISO (Chinese site; use the English version if preferred).

4. Mount the ISO on macOS

   • Double-click the ISO to mount it under /Volumes.

5. Copy ISO contents to the USB drive

   cp -rp /Volumes/CCCOMA_X64FRE_ZH-CN_DV9/* /Volumes/THINK_DISK
   

   Replace the source/destination paths with those on your system.

Once the copy finishes, the USB installer is ready.

Reinstall Windows on a ThinkPad

1. Power on and repeatedly tap F12 to open the boot menu.
2. Select the USB drive and press Enter.
3. Follow the on-screen Windows installer steps.

Notes

• Press F1 during boot to enter BIOS/UEFI settings if needed.
• On Windows machines, tools like Laomaotao provide a simpler free GUI workflow for creating bootable media.