The good thing about the market today is that we do have lots of choices to choose from. The hard part is not knowing how to choose the best one among the others. So let me help you get through this. One of Win32DiskImager’s competitor is Etcher (and definitely many more software out there!). If you are not familiar with Etcher, allow me to give you a little bit of information about it so we can compare both software.
Etcher, or also known as Balena Etcher, was built by Balena using the Electron platform. Just like the Win 32 Disk Imager, Etcher is also free to use and it is also an open-source application. So you would say that both of them are pretty much the same so how would you choose between them? Now, let us dive deeper with these two software – Win 32 Disk Imager and Etcher or Balena Etcher. User interface wise, they both run on one window. Which means that it is simple to use and navigate with less complicatedness. Etcher may be more appealing to the eyes but hey, let us not judge the book by its cover. There are still more things to look at other than a pretty face.
How about the user experience? Well since both of them have a simplified window and navigation, you could basically finish the task with no sweat at all. They have pretty similar steps where you choose the image file, choose the drive that you are going to use then write or flash if you were to use Etcher.
Win 32 Disk Imager and Etcher can both create bootable USB flash drives. This really comes in handy, if you want to install or re-install an operating system on to your PC or laptop. Gone are the days where we use the traditional CDs or DVDs to install the operating system on to your PC or laptop. Win 32 DIsk Imager and Etcher can both write image files on to a removable device such as USB flash drives and SD cards. But, don’t stop right there. It may seem like they are too similar, but there’s one thing that might significantly affect your decision-making process in choosing which software to choose from.
Both can almost do the same thing. I get it. But looks like Etcher or Balena Etcher may have some limitations that Win 32 Disk Imager can do. As one of the features that I have talked about, Win 32 Disk Imager can back up and restore your SD cards or other removable devices like USB flash drives. And it seems that Win 32 Disk Imager is considered to be one of the best tools for this! I can’t stress enough the importance of being able to do a backup and restore. This won’t happen too often so most of us may overlook this so I hope you don’t. Who knows, Win 32 Disk Imager might be your life saver!