I have used Rufus a long time and it has all ways worked fine.
Now lately i have got messages that rufus has to download files to make it work with several new distros i wanted to try. (linux-lite-5.0-64bit last i tried).
Earlier with the version i tried, boot did not work i got several error messages.
So i forgot it for a while and then i saw the files in my isofolder that rufus had downloaded ( I thought that rufus would download them on the usb stick, but there was a folder "rufus_files" with folder syslinux 6.04 with idlinux.bss and idlinuks.sys. i copied them on the files on my usb stick and at booting errors: syslinux 6.04 EDD. If i try to use uefi "windows boot" on my asus mobo it errors GNU Grub. After the errors there is no response anymore.
What should i have done with those additional files rufus downloaded?

I also tried to DD my stick with rufus and i got a stick that booted nicely and i could use the litelinux. I then started setup but i did cancel it since i had a similar disk on the computer and removed it, not to install on the wrong disk. After booting it just started Windows (win disk was still attached) so i guess there is nothing on the usb anymore! In windows i did not find any tool that could access the usb stick. Can i still make it alive somehow?

This is normal, Can't mismatch different versions of syslinux so rufus downloads version of syslinux to match version on iso and saves for future use with other iso's that have same syslinux version. Syslinux is used for legacy boot, not uefi boot.

If your talking about making it usable in windows again, I run rufus again and use the default mode, then I can go back and reformat the usb. for my use. There are other ways but for me this is the easiest. Maybe someone else will chime in on this one.

As of recently I also have this problem using rufus in the default mode and have had to start resorting to using rufus DD mode.

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"In windows i did not find any tool that could access the usb stick."

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/win...mands/diskpart would tell you the state and format.

Windows doesn't like to mount a usb partition that isn't the first one.

Also you may have to add in filesystem support to read linux types.

you can use a usb with an iso to just boot up a live OS and some like Mint when you have booted them live also allow to install to a H.D

Regarding different tools of getting an iso onto a usb stick i've played with sa few including Unetbootin, rufus https://rufus.ie/ and etcher https://www.balena.io/etcher/.

For slackware i just use Alien Bobs iso2usb srcipt; but for an alternative backup say Knoppix i've recvently been playing with Ventoy : https://ventoy.net/en/index.html

there are version for both Linux and Windows. One feature of Ventoy is that once you format a usb after that, its jus ta case of drag and drop distro iso onto the first partition which is the only one visible anyway. For useful is the fact that if you have say a 14gig stick you can drag and drop several linux distro iso and have the choice to boot form any. The latest release allows for persistence, but i must say so far i haven't got that to work. I got an error in the CreatePersistentImg.sh script. I then created my own .img file using fallocate -l 1G persistence.img and then used losetup to mount /format still no joy. I think there is a bug, which i hope they will fix on next release/ never the less certainly worth a look and try

Thanks!
I resolved the stick problem by changing to linux (The MX that i put on the stick with DDn and installed on a HD) Linux had no problems finding the stick and formatting it. Rufus did not see it at all so i couldnt burn a new image on it. Disk part did find the stick (it let me select diks 4 that was the stick) but trying to create volumes or partitions diskpart said that there is no media in the stick. Just like it were a cd player with no cd in it.

But the original problem still exist.
When i burn isos on a stick rufus tells me it needs to download files as it does. But rufus does not install the files (idlinux.bss and idlinux.sys) on the stick.
The stick is unable to boot after rufus has copied the iso on the stick.
Should i copy the files in the rufus_files folder on to the stick or should i rerun rufus that now has the needed files in a directory and copies them automatically on the stick?
If i had to do it myself how would i know what to copy since there are syslinux 6.04 and 6.03 in the folder as there is no a grub folder.

Well i got mx installed on the hd and mageija as live on the stick so everything works now for linux testing.

That ventoy seem to be very interesting!

Thanks to all!