Windows Boot Creator

A native macOS application that creates bootable Windows 10/11 USB installation drives from ISO files. Built with SwiftUI, it provides a guided wizard interface that handles the complexities of formatting, file transfer, and large file splitting automatically.

Features

• Guided Wizard Interface — Step-by-step process with clear progress indicators
• Automatic Large File Handling — Splits WIM/ESD files larger than 4GB for FAT32 compatibility
• Real-time Progress Tracking — Live updates showing file transfer progress and byte counts
• Smart Validation — Validates ISO files, checks USB drive capacity (8GB minimum), and verifies Windows installation files
• Dependency Management — Automatically detects and offers to install wimlib via Homebrew
• Safe Operations — Only shows external drives, requires confirmation before formatting

Requirements

• macOS 13.0 (Ventura) or later
• Homebrew (for installing wimlib)
• A Windows 10 or 11 ISO file
• USB drive with at least 8GB capacity

Installation

Building from Source

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/yourusername/windows-boot-creator.git
cd windows-boot-creator

# Build the application
./build.sh release

# Run the application
./build.sh run-release

Build Commands

Command	Description
./build.sh debug	Build debug version (default)
./build.sh release	Build optimized release version
./build.sh run	Build and run debug version
./build.sh run-release	Build and run release version
./build.sh clean	Remove build artifacts
./build.sh test	Run integration tests

Usage

1. Launch the application and wait for dependency check
2. Select your Windows ISO file using the file picker
3. Choose your USB drive from the list of available external drives
4. Review and confirm your selections
5. Wait for completion — the app will format, copy files, and handle large file splitting
6. Eject the drive when finished

Note: The application requires administrator privileges to format drives and copy system files.

How It Works

Windows Boot Creator automates the process of creating a bootable Windows USB:

1. Formats the USB drive as FAT32 with MBR partition scheme (required for UEFI boot)
2. Mounts the Windows ISO using macOS hdiutil
3. Copies all files from the ISO to the USB drive using rsync
4. Splits large files — Windows install images (install.wim/esd) often exceed FAT32's 4GB file limit; the app uses wimlib to split these automatically
5. Cleans up by unmounting the ISO and optionally ejecting the USB

Project Structure

windows-boot-creator/
├── WindowsBootCreator/
│   ├── Models/          # Data structures (WizardStep, USBDrive, CreationProgress)
│   ├── ViewModels/      # State management (BootCreatorViewModel)
│   ├── Views/           # SwiftUI screens for each wizard step
│   ├── Services/        # Business logic (Disk, ISO, WIM, FileTransfer)
│   └── Utilities/       # Shell execution and disk parsing
├── Package.swift        # Swift Package Manager configuration
├── build.sh            # Build automation script
└── sandbox/tests/      # Integration test suites

Technologies

• Swift 5.9+ with modern async/await concurrency
• SwiftUI for the user interface
• Swift Package Manager for building
• Actor pattern for thread-safe service operations

External Tools Used

• diskutil — macOS disk management
• hdiutil — ISO mounting/unmounting
• rsync — File copying with progress
• wimlib-imagex — WIM file splitting (installed via Homebrew)

Testing

Run the integration test suite:

./build.sh test

Tests cover all core services:

• ShellExecutor
• DependencyService
• DiskService
• ISOService
• WimService
• FileTransferService

License

MIT License — See LICENSE for details.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.