I am currently trying to download qubes on my thinkpad it has already downloaded but every video and place I see it says you need to have a usb and Rufus. Is this a usb version of qubes or is this going to overwrite windows? I’m trying to use qubes as a base os without windows if that’s possible
The mentioned USB device is the installation media, not the installation target. You prepare it as in the instructrions, and you can isntall Qubes OS from it either to your internal HDD/SSD or to another USB stick, as you wish.
It will suggest to wipe your previous OS, too.
I just got the laptop yesterday google isnt even downloaded how would I download is straight from the laptop instead of usb? And if I did that would I still wipe windows 10 even though I’m using the software I downloaded from windows 10
Sorry I’m new to this
I hope you know Qubes OS enough before jumping all in and removing your original OS. Qubes would require to learn a lot before it’s really useful, be prepared for that. You can always ask for help here, of course. See also: What’s the first things you should do when getting qubes.
Now, to your question. You should download the current stable version of Qubes OS using your Internet browser, verify it (ideally), and write it to a USB stick using e.g. Etcher or Rufus. Then, you reboot your PC and boot it from this USB stick. It will start the installation process and replace your Windows with Qubes OS.