Because Rufus is popular, malicious actors often create fake download pages. Follow this guide for a secure download.
Yes—provided you download it from the official GitHub repository. The source code for all Rufus versions, including betas, is open-source and auditable. No known malware or backdoors exist.
However, because it’s a beta, you may encounter minor bugs (e.g., rare detection failures for certain USB 3.0 drives). It is not recommended for production environments handling sensitive data. For critical recovery drives, use the latest stable release of Rufus instead. Rufus 3.16 Beta 2 Download
For Linux live USBs (e.g., Ubuntu or Kali), Rufus 3.16 Beta 2 offered more reliable persistent storage creation, allowing users to save files and settings across reboots on the same USB.
| Feature | Description | |---------|-------------| | Windows 11 support | Bypasses TPM 2.0 / Secure Boot / RAM requirements (optional) when creating Windows 11 bootable USB | | ISO → USB writing | Supports Windows, Linux (Ubuntu, Fedora, Arch, etc.), UEFI bootloaders | | Partition scheme | MBR (BIOS/UEFI-CSM) or GPT (native UEFI) | | File system | FAT32, NTFS, exFAT, UDF | | Persistent storage | For live Linux distros (Ubuntu, Mint, etc.) | | Bad block checks | Scans USB for defects before writing | | DD image writing | Raw write for hybrid ISOs or disk images | Because Rufus is popular, malicious actors often create
Version 3.16 Beta 2 was one of the first builds to fully automate the removal of Windows 11’s TPM 2.0, Secure Boot, and 4GB+ RAM requirements. This allowed users to install Windows 11 on older, unsupported hardware—a lifeline for many during the initial Windows 11 rollout.
Before clicking any download link, understand the trade-offs of using beta software. For Linux live USBs (e
After downloading, check the SHA-256 hash (provided on the GitHub release page) using PowerShell (Windows):
Get-FileHash .\rufus-3.16p.exe
Compare the output hash with the one posted on GitHub.
Rufus is portable—no installation required. Here’s how to get it running:
Note: Rufus 3.16 Beta 2 is only for Windows 7, 8, 8.1, 10, and early builds of Windows 11. It is not native to ARM64 or Linux (though it works via Wine).