I’m preparing to clean-install Windows 11 Pro using a USB drive created with Rufus.
After preparing the USB, I noticed that Windows displayed two separate drives in File Explorer: the main Windows installation partition and a smaller partition labeled RUFUS_BOOT, each with its own drive letter. What confused me is that in several YouTube tutorials showing the same process, this behavior wasn’t shown. Only the main USB installation drive appeared in File Explorer, without a separately visible RUFUS_BOOT partition.
This raised a few concerns:
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Is this normal behavior? Should Windows automatically assign a drive letter to RUFUS_BOOT, or is that partition normally supposed to remain hidden?
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Could this happen with other Rufus USB drives? If I connect another bootable USB prepared with Rufus, could Windows also assign a drive letter to its secondary boot partition?
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Could this indicate a problem with Windows? If this behavior isn’t normal, could it mean something is wrong with my current Windows, or is it simply a drive-letter assignment issue?
I’m concerned about proceeding with a clean installation using the USB if my current Windows environment is somehow malfunctioning. Would resetting Windows directly through Windows itself, without using an ISO or bootable USB, accomplish anything before recreating the Rufus installation media? I want to avoid any bad surprises before proceeding.
Any clarification would be greatly appreciated.
