Did you know there's an incredibly useful tool called Ventoy that can be used like a tech version of an army Swiss knife? Instead of writing a different optical disc image (ISO) to the same USB driver over and over, or having more than a dozen of them in a drawer, you can use Ventoy and a large USB drive to store all the ISO files you could ever possibly require. This makes working on different platforms and PCs a breeze with all your favorite software ready to go with a single boot.
What is Ventoy and why should you use it?
Ventoy is a free tool that acts as a sort of boot manager for the USB driver. You can load up the USB with different ISO files and use Ventoy to choose the corresponding one you wish to use. This way, all you need to do is boot into Ventoy before your favorite OS loads up and you'll be presented with the selection of ISO files loaded on the drive. Working on a Windows PC and need to quickly do something with Proxmox? You no longer need to mess around with multiple bootable USB drives
The best part is how incredibly easy Venoty is to use. All you require is a spare USB drive — with enough space to hold all your ISOs. After a few moments of setting up the drive and testing to make sure Ventoy works, you can attach it to any PC and start copying across all your ISO files. Each ISO is tested and verified by the Ventoy community, so you can quickly check to see which software can boot through Ventoy. It's even supported on ARM systems, so you can create this powerful DIY tool on (almost) any PC.
How to transform your old USB drive with Ventoy
Installing Ventoy on your old USB drive is incredibly easy. Follow these steps and you'll be up and running in no time.
1. Download
Ventoy.
2. Open the
version for your PC.
3. Connect your
USB drive to the PC.
4. Choose the USB drive from the
drop-down menu within Ventoy. (You may need to
enable Secure Boot, which can be achieved by going to
Options >
Secure Boot
Support.)
5. Click
Install.
6. Click
Yes.
7. Click
Yes.
That's all there is to it! The drive should now be detected as normal storage and mounted accordingly. ISO files can be transferred to the USB drive, though I recommend checking the
Ventoy website beforehand to ensure your chosen software is supported. Now when connecting your drive to any system and booting from it, you'll have the option to choose any of the stored ISO files.
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