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Welcome to our writing on can you use Android phone as bootable USB without root. Do you have no USB at hand and urgently need to reset your computer that won’t turn on? Follow this guide to learn more about how to use Android phone as bootable USB without root.
Preparing and using a Windows Bootable USB is pretty easy to do with a computer at hand. In the past, only a third-party application called Rufus could do this, but today Windows has officially offered the way to do this as they put the virtual versions of Windows for sale online. But how do you do this if you don’t have a USB? There are some methods to use your phone to create a Windows image, but these methods come with some risks.
Is it possible to use Android phone as bootable USB without root?
Transforming a device to use Android phone as bootable USB without root is sadly not possible. Although it is doable to do this with a 3rd party application called DriveDroid, your device must be rooted for the application to work. Rooting your device will void your phone’s service or warranty. The manufacturer will charge you for the repairs even when it is in the warranty period. Apart from that rooting your device is not recommended since it might cause security flaws and cause your phone to be bricked.
Since the DriveDroid application is a 3rd party application, it is not considered appropriate to be used by the authorities, but if you already have a rooted Android device, you cannot run your computer, and you are in a situation where you have no other solution than to do this is available for you let’s take a look at how to use Android phone as bootable USB with root.
How to use an Android device as a bootable USB device?
It is possible to do this if you agree to use a 3rd party app called DriveDroid. While 3rd party apps usually ask for access to your phone, they are not considered as official and not available on Google PlayStore.
Having said that we do not recommend using applications that bring many risks with their use and that DriveDroid is an application that requires root, here’s how to convert your Android phone to bootable USB using DriveDroid:
- Download the ISO file you wish to create an image of using your smartphone. You may get the Windows 10 ISO from their official site.
- Run DriveDroid and give the app root access to your phone
- Choose the ISO in the DriveDroid application
- Choose regular USB storage, read-only USB storage, or CD-ROM from the drop-down menus
- Reboot the Android device by connecting it to your computer
- The downloaded operating system will start on your PC if your computer is set up to boot from USB devices
- Install the new OS or recover your PC as you normally do
How to get root access to an Android device?
As we said, we do not recommend rooting your Android device. Users of Android devices can get privileged control over a variety of the device’s subsystems by rooting their device, which is typically a smartphone. Rooting an Android device grants similar access to administrative permissions as on Linux or any other Unix-like operating system, such as FreeBSD or macOS, because Android is based on a modified version of the Linux kernel.
Rooting is frequently done to get around restrictions that some carriers and hardware manufacturers place on certain devices. Thus, rooting enables users to run specialized programs that need administrator-level permissions, change or replace system applications and settings, and carry out other tasks that are normally unavailable to regular Android users. On some devices, rooting can also make it easier to completely remove the operating system and replace it with a more recent version of the one that is already there.
So if you accept every single risk of rooting your device here is how to do it.
How to root your Android device
Both OEM Unlocking and USB Debugging must be enabled. Open Settings on your device to do this. The instructions below will enable Developer Options if you can’t see them near the bottom of the Settings screen:
- Head over to the Settings on your device
- Tap the Build Number seven times to bring up the Developer Options. To enable this, you might need to confirm your security passcode.
- Select Developer Options
- Make sure USB Debugging is enabled
- Make sure OEM Unlocking is enabled
After that, you may root your device by using a 3rd party application again like TWRP or EtchDroid by following their instructions.
Does TWRP support OTG?
Fortunately, TWRP enables the mounting of external storage devices like SD cards and flash drives (using USB OTG). This makes it possible for you to download any rescue ZIP file you might need, move it to your phone, and then start flashing.
And that covers all about the subject of can you use Android phone as bootable USB without root. As we have repeatedly stated in our article, we recommend that you apply these procedures only if you have to. If you had any problems with your NCSI on your freshly flashed Windows, check out our article titled How to manage Network Connectivity Status Indicator (NCSI) on Windows.
