How to make bootable truecrypt / veracrypt USB drive

[Sethioz]

I keep forgetting that this process isn't as straight forward as copying .iso onto USB. i keep forgetting that rufus doesn't work either.
so here's a method that works for truecrypt and veracrypt.

Download VeraCrypt tool for rescue disk: https://sourceforge.net/projects/veracrypt/files/Contributions/VeraCryptUsbRescueDisk.zip

1. Insert your USB drive.
2. Format USB to FAT32:
3. Start usb_format.exe (run as admin)
4. Select your USB drive in the Device list
5. Choose FAT filesystem > check "Quick Format" > click start
6. Start grubinst_gui.exe.
7. Check "Disk" and select your USB drive from dropdown menu
8. Click on "refresh" behind "part list" dropdown menu and then choose "Whole disk (MBR)". Leave everything else as is and click "Install"
9. cmd window pops up saying "The MBR/BS has been successfully installed. Press <ENTER> to continue ..."
10. press enter to close cmd (or close with X if it doesn't close with enter), exit Grub4Dos installer tool aswell.
11. copy "grldr" and "menu.lst" files from downloaded .zip file to your USB drive's root (root means just open USB and don't go into any folders).
12. copy your truecrypt / veracrypt rescue ISO into USB root aswell
13. name .iso to "veracrypt.iso" or alternatively you can edit menu.lst and rename it in there to whatever your .iso is, but it's easier to just call it veracrypt.iso (even if you're doing this for truecrypt, it doesn't matter, it's just filename).

THATS IT! now you have bootable truecrypt / veracrypt resuce disk, but before removing USB stick, make sure windows is not reading/writing, it's best to click on the icon in taskbar and safely remove the stick, if it has LED on it and it's not blinking, then it's safe to remove.
I say this, cuz something when removing removeable drives too fast, they might lose small amount of data and in this case it would become corrupt and not work. i've had it happen very few times in my entire life, but it's a possibility.

Otherwise just remove your USB stick and put it into PC where you need it. if you're doing this backup just in case so you can later use it on your PC if something goes wrong, then i STRONGLY recommend keeping that .iso in every possible place (not just on one usb drive), put it on your backup drives, upload to cloud, put it on your phone, EVERYWHERE! remember that rescue disk holds no sensivite info, it's just to restore the bootloader or decrypt the drive, but you still need to enter your password, so it's totally useless to anyone else.

if you want to just verify the rescue disk, then use windows' default "mount" option. right click on .iso and mount, then in truecrypt / veracrypt use the "verify rescue disk" option. this is how you know rescue disk is valid, then it's safe to store that .iso as file and you don't have to make a bootable USB, just keep .iso in multiple safe places, only go thru the above process if you need to use the rescue disk.