Windows 10 Version 1903 is superseded by Windows 10 Version 1909. The updated guide is available here:
If you need the previous build of Windows 10 or any other previous builds see:
Legacy Guide
Microsoft released Windows 10 Version 1903 to Windows Insiders in March (03) 2019 (19) making 1903 however it was released as a mainstream build in May 2019 and is referred to as the May 2019. The installation media is Build 18362.1.
The Direct Download Links End in V1 as a consequence the ISO is "Windows 10 Version 1903 Version 1". This is slightly confusing naming, Microsoft tend to use Edition/Build and Version interchangably and somewhat inconsistently. However this indicates that this will be a stable build and that Microsoft are planning to release later up to dates ISOs which are Version 1903 but contain Cumulative Updates.
This Installation Media will work for all Windows 7 OEM, Windows 8.x OEM and Windows 10 OEM Licenses for all OEMs Dell/HP/Lenovo…
The Installation Media will work for all Windows 7 Retail, Windows 8.x Retail and Windows 10 Retail Licenses.
Tutorial Video
The Windows 10 Download Page
The Windows 10 Software Download Page is Available Here:
If you access this link on a Windows 7/8/1 or 10 PC you will be given a Download Link to the Media Creation Tool which is an .exe that will download a series of setup files from Microsoft Servers and Create a ISO from them:
The Windows 10 Media Creation Tool creates a Windows 10 ISO which covers all Mainstream Consumer OEM and Retail Editions.
If you access this link on a non-Windows OS such as Ubuntu you will instead get direct download links as these Operating Systems cannot run Windows Applications:
The Direct Download Links creates an ISO that has all the Editions included in the ISO which one will obtain using the Windows 10 Media Creation Tool but has also some specialised Editions for Workstations.
I will go through downloading a Windows 10 ISO using the Media Creation Tool first and then instruct in doing so with the Direct Download links. I will also instruct on obtaining the Direct Download links within Windows 10 which is useful for the rare cases when people have issues with the Media Creation Tool.
The Windows 10 Media Creation Tool
Select Download Tool:
The Windows Media Creation Tool is updated to Windows 10 Version 1903:
You can right click the Media Creation Tool and select Properties:
Then select the Details Tab:
Here you will see it is File Version 10.0.18362.1 meaning the Media it creates is Build 18362.1:
Double click the Media Creation Tool to launch it:
Accept the User Account Control:
The Windows Logo will Show:
Getting a few things ready will show:
Accept the License Agreement:
Getting a Few Things Ready will show again:
You can use the Tool to Create a Bootable USB Directly however I find it more reliable to Download the ISO and then create it with Rufus. This also keeps the ISO handy in case it is required later:
Select Create Installation Media and then select Next:
Getting Things Ready will show again:
By default Microsoft selects the Language, Edition and Architecture in correspondence to your base Windows Install, the options are usually correct however the Language of all Windows 7 English Installs is assumed to be English (US) so you may want to uncheck this and use English (UK) if you have the wrong flavour of English…
Select your Language:
I will select English (United Kingdom):
The selection for Edition is a legacy feature. Following my feedback, Microsoft have made Windows 10 ISOs multi-edition which addressed the multiple Product Activation issues due to inadequate distinctions between Windows 10 Home OEM and Windows 10 Home Single Language OEM licenses for example which resulted in users accidentally installing the wrong Edition and having Product Activation issues. Here "Windows 10" means the Windows 10 Product Family shown below and not just Windows 10 Home.
As you can see there is only a single option in the Media Creation Tool "Windows 10"
By default you should be using 64 Bit architecture as it has been the industrial standard for some time now:
Once you've made your selection, select Next:
Select ISO file and then select Next:
By default Microsoft gives the ISO the name "Windows". This isn't too helpful as it does not contain the Version or Language or Architecture. It would be better if Microsoft Generated a File Name which contained these things by default but they don't:
So I recommend appending the following to the ISO file name and then selecting save:
It will Download Windows 10:
Then the Media Creation Tool will verify all the files it has Downloaded:
Once it is happy, it will generate a ISO file from these files. This ISO file have unique date and location of creation (your computer) and as a consequence any ISO checksum will be unique.
You will be given a note on Burning a DVD because Microsoft have an inbuilt DVD burner and do not fully have an inbuilt Bootable USB Creator. DVDs should not be used with Windows 10 Installation Media as they are obsolete and not part of most systems. There are also far more installation issues due to incorrectly burnt DVDs. Select Finish:
We will use Rufus to make a Bootable USB on Windows.
Direct Download Links
Windows 10 can also be Downloaded using the Direct Download Links. To get these to show on a Windows Computer press [F12] if in Google Chrome. This will open up Developer Tools:
Once the Developer Tools are open, refresh the page.
The layout should now change and you may now close the sidebar with the Developer Tools:
This will give you the Direct Download Links on Windows:
Microsoft give the first Option of "Edition"… Here they should use "Version" as you can select either Version 1903 (May 2019 Update) or Windows 1809 (October 2018 Update) and both of these are multi-Edition ISOs.
Note there is a problem with the Version 1809 ISO and Version 1803 ISO because the install.wim exceeds 4 GB and hence is over the limit of FAT32 which is the partition scheme required for Windows 10 Bootable USB Media to pass Secure Boot. Microsoft have followed my feedback on this and made sure that the Windows 10 Version 1903 ISOs install.wim is smaller than 4 GB.
Under "Edition" select the Version Windows 10 1903 (May 2019 Update):
Select Confirm:
It will validate your request:
Next select your Language:
Note the two Languages English and English International. English is English (USA) and English International is English (UK):
I will select English International (UK):
Select confirm:
It will validate your request again:
You will have a 64 Bit and 32 Bit Download Link:
You can copy and paste the Download Link into your Browser:
To the left hand side of the link you will see the location of the download:
To the right hand side you will see a 24 hour time limited token. You will need to go on Microsoft's website to regenerate this link after 24 hours:
Creating a Bootable USB
I will now go through creating a Bootable USB in both Windows and Linux.
Creating a Bootable USB in Windows with Rufus
Rufus can be downloaded here:
Scroll down:
Select Rufus 3.5:
Double click Rufus to launch it:
Accept the User Account Control Prompt:
Select "Select":
Select the ISO you Downloaded, either the Direct Download Links or the ISO Downloaded with the Media Creation Tool and then select Open:
The name of the ISO should be listed at the bottom:
Checking ISO Checksums
If you are using a Direct Download Link you should check the ISO installation checksums. You should then check to see if they match the ones below (English (UK) and English (US)) or if Google finds them for a non-English ISO. If they match then your downloaded ISO is complete, if they do not match it is corrupt.
Note the ISOs created by the Media Creation Tool have a unique date and location of creation so are unique and thus have a unique checksum so there is no point in checking the ISO checksums for these ISOs.
To check the checksums select the Checksum Button:
Rufus will then take some time to compute the Checksums:
It will list three values, a MD5, SHA1 or SHA256:
| Windows 10 ISO | Checksums |
| Win10_1903_V1_EnglishInternational_x64 | 89bb55da144709a3e1446026fa139b6d 10972d3072ee715a6c8e2001754220c9147ef78b 7da05ba67c642cd489fcede5e09522deeae6995b01c434239c255a4e3025bde2 |
| Win10_1903_V1_EnglishInternational_x32 | 0d34450acd5c2843a61cb6fb815e3e67 ff6fb948a01cd810d628e72d08a94ed28fa72822 b4487c2fa8f5a63d67bad4725674c8966e10747d7cec1b319bea32e5beac3187 |
| Win10_1903_V1_English_x64 | 8ba0e81b276d9052e8538deb0cf6c7d0 344ca92459c23663d5f857c72a7c030f85f19be8 9846dfbdd7c39eb8d025e0f28e180c6f4084ecf87ecd11805cd19c205f7a3b4e |
| Win10_1903_V1_English_x32 | 5520dad27b89fa7ddd9168c58378a948 e9e187ce83a662619ed05b5b783c12f861e18682 3b23e7e8797b01e6409f2793920ea52aa4dd901dd5b0585cb5085c0ea28d7446 |
You will need a 16 GB USB Flash Drive, it should show under Device:
ALL DATA ON YOUR USB FLASH DRIVE WILL BE REMOVED WHEN YOU CREATE YOUR BOOTABLE USB.
It is recommended to change the Volume Label to something more recognisable:
For instance Win1903x64:
Partition Scheme
If your computer was manufactured in 2012 or later it should have a UEFI BIOS with Secure Boot. Rufus should be setup to use the GPT Partition Scheme and the File System should be FAT32 as a requirement to pass Secure Boot.
Systems manufactured in 2010 will have a Legacy BIOS, for the Bootable USB to Boot on these older systems one must use the MBR Partition Scheme and the ile System will be NTFS.
If you are unsure, press [Windows] and [ r ] and type in msinfo32 in the box and then press OK:
Check your SMBIOS Version.
As a rule of thumb:
| SMBIOS | Technologies | For 64 Bit Windows 10 Use |
| 2.7 or Higher | UEFI + Secure Boot | GPT FAT32 |
| 2.6 | UEFI without Secure Boot (Business Models) Legacy BIOS Only (Home Models) | MBR NTFS |
| 2.4 to 2.5 | Legacy BIOS Only | MBR NTFS |
| 2.3 or Lower | Greater than 10 Years Old and Below System Requirements to Run Windows 10. |
Settings for a UEFI BIOS and Windows 10 64 Bit:
Settings for a Legacy BIOS and Windows 10 64 Bit or 32 Bit:
When you have the correct settings, select Start:
You will get a warning that you will delete all data on your USB Flash Drive. Select OK:
Wait for the Bootable USB to be Created:
When done, Rufus will say Ready and you can click Close to Close the program:
You should now be ready to perform a clean install of Windows 10.
Creating a Bootable USB in Ubuntu using Unetbootin
The first thing you will want to do is attach your USB Flash Drive to your Linux PC:
Go to activities and then search for Disk:
To the left hand side look for your USB Flash Drive:
Select it:
Look at the Device, as you see this USB is Device /dev/sdb1
It should be FAT32 formatted, as you see this USB Flash Drive is NTFS formatted.
To amend this, select the partition and then select the settings crank:
Select Format Partition:
Type in a Volume Name for Example USB and ensure that you use FAT:
Select Format:
It will Create a File System:
The Device is now FAT (32 Bit):
Instructions for installing Unetbootin are here: https://unetbootin.github.io/linux_download.html
Essentially we need to open a Terminal and Copy/Paste the following three Commands:
Copying the first line:
Going to Activities and opening up the Terminal:
Pasting the contents into the Terminal:
Press [Enter]:
You will need to type in your Ubuntu password and then press [Enter] again:
Now copy the second line and paste it into the terminal:
Copy and paste the third line:
You will be asked to Continue using Y or n, ensure you type in Y (note it is capitalised):
You should in theory, now be able to launch Unetbootin, by going to activities and searching for it:
You'll need to input your password to run it:
Unfortunately in my case it gives a blank grey screen:
If you get a grey box, close it.
Closing it down:
We can instead copy and Paste the following in the Terminal and it should launch properly:
It now launches as it should:
Select Disc Image and Load the ISO:
Select your Downloads Folder:
Load your Windows 10 Version 1903 ISO and select Open:
Ensure your device matches to earlier in my case /dev/sdb1
Select OK:
Unetbootin will now create your Windows 10 Bootable USB:
When its done, select Exit:
You should now be ready to perform a clean install of Windows 10. You should test your Bootable USB to ensure you can Boot from it.
Note my Bootable USB listed two Boot Entries in the Boot Menu, the first entry Booted and the Second one failed to Pass Secure Boot.
