Using Windows to write a Raspbian image to an SD card

In this recipe, you will take a Raspbian image file (.img) and write it directly to an SD card using the free and easy Win32 Disk Imager utility.

How to do it...

On a Windows machine, the Win32 Disk Imager (https://sourceforge.net/projects/win32diskimager/ ) is an easy-to-use open source project for taking image files and writing them to your SD card. Insert your SD card, and select the unzipped image file you downloaded from the Raspberry Pi site:

Win32 Disk Imager for Windows

Once you have verified that you've selected the right .img file and the correct drive letter associated with your SD card, click on Write and wait for the process to finish. Once it completes successfully, eject the card and it will be ready to start your Raspberry Pi Zero.