The popular bootable USB creation tool Rufus released the official version 4.14 update today, after the version entered the testing phase last month. This update brings a number of important improvements to Windows users, including silent installation functionality, pre-installed application removal options, Windows To Go fixes, and local account issue fixes.
The new version introduces an unattended "silent" installation mode that allows Windows systems to automatically deploy to the first detected disk without requiring any user input. This feature is mainly aimed at advanced users and experienced players, enabling a faster, manual-intervention-free system installation process. At the same time, the update also adds the option to disable specific Microsoft pre-installed applications during the installation process, including Teams, Outlook, and Copilot. For users who don't need these apps, the update can speed up computer startup, which is especially helpful for users running Windows 11 on low-end hardware.
The update also improves clarity during Windows installations by enhancing UEFI:NTFS partition labels. UEFI:NTFS is a lightweight bootloader that allows UEFI systems to boot from NTFS or exFAT partitions, even if the firmware only supports the FAT32 format. It bypasses typical file size and file system limitations by loading the NTFS driver from a small FAT partition and then transferring control to the boot file on the NTFS partition.
The update also resolves a Windows To Go media creation error in Windows 11 version 25H2 caused by the new version of BCDBoot. Windows To Go is a legacy feature that allows running a Windows system from a USB device, while BCDBoot is a command line utility that can be used to configure boot files or boot configuration data. In addition, this update also fixes a bug that caused problems when creating local accounts that started or ended with space characters.
In addition to improvements for Windows, Rufus 4.14 adds tooltips to all dialog options, improves error messages when users try to use images located on the target drive, and adds limited support for El-Torito UEFI image extraction, primarily for use with Dell BIOS update ISO files. The update also improves detection and exclusion of hidden virtual hard drives in newer versions of Bitdefender, as previous versions were unable to filter these files properly.
Download address:
https://github.com/pbatard/rufus/releases/tag/v4.14
https://rufus.ie/downloads/