If you’d like to install Windows but don’t have a DVD drive, it’s easy enough to create a bootable USB flash drive with the right installation media. Here’s how to get it done for Windows 10, 8, or 7.
In this guide, we’ll be making a simple USB drive that acts just like an installation DVD, and lets you install one version of Windows. If you’d like to create a USB drive from which you can install multiple versions of Windows, you’ll want to follow these instructions instead.
Install Windows 10 from USB drive. Step 1: Connect your USB drive to Windows 7 or Windows 8 PC and move all important data to a safe location as the drive will be erased during the process. We also suggest you un-plug any other external hard drive connected to avoid selecting a wrong drive during the drive selection. Now you can use this USB stick to boot and install Windows 10 on any computer that supports booting from USB. In fact, once you make the USB drive bootable by writing the boot sector, as long as you don't format the drive, you can simply erase all the files on it and copy newer files from an updated ISO to the same flash drive, and it will still boot.
Step One: Create or Download an ISO for the Windows Installation Media
Before you can create your USB installation drive, you’ll need to have your Windows installation media available as an ISO file. If you already have an installation DVD, you can use it to create an ISO file using ImgBurn, a handy little free utility that’s been around forever. If you don’t have Windows installation DVD, you can download ISO files for Windows 10, 8, or 7 directly from Microsoft.
You’ll also need a minimum of a 4GB flash drive to create your installer. Be sure to copy anything you want off of it, because this process will erase it. Once you have both your ISO and flash drive in hand, you’re ready to continue.
Step Two: Create Your Installation USB Drive with the Windows USB/DVD Download Tool
With your ISO file saved to your computer, your next step is to download and install the Windows USB/DVD Download Tool. The description on that page, on the actual download page, and on the tool itself talk a lot about Windows 7 and even XP. Don’t let that worry you. The tool works just fine for Windows 7, 8, and even 10.
Windows loader v2.2.2 windows 7. Once you’ve got the tool installed, creating your USB installation drive is a pretty straightforward process. Run the tool and give it permission to make changes to your PC. Free blackjack card counting software. Click “Browse” to locate your Windows ISO file and then click “Next.”
On the next page, click “USB device.” The tool can also burn the ISO to a DVD if you need that option.
Use the drop-down menu to choose the USB flash drive you want to use. If you haven’t inserted it yet, do that now, and then click the Refresh button. Once you’ve got the right drive selected, click “Begin copying.”
If your USB drive has anything already on it, you’ll next see a warning that it will be formatted and you’ll lose any data stored on the drive. Go ahead and click “Erase USB Device.” If you started with a newly-formatted USB drive, you won’t see this warning.
Now you just have to wait for the process to complete, which usually takes 15-20 minutes. The drive will be formatted and files copied to the flash drive.
When the process is finished, you can close the download tool.
If you take a look at the flash drive in File Explorer, you’ll be able to see the same files that you would if you opened the installation DVD.
And now that you have your installation USB drive, you can use it to start the computer on which you want to install Windows. You may have to fiddle with the BIOS on the computer to allow it to boot from USB or to change the boot order so that it will boot from the USB first. You may even be able to use the disk on computers that don’t support booting from USB, but you’ll need to take additional steps to create a bootable CD.
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Windows 10 On Usb Stick
1 Yes, once you've bought the licence you can make an installation USB if you have some temporary access to another Windows 7 / Vista / XP-SP2 PC to do the USB creation task:
1.1To make an installation DVD or USB, first download the correct ISO from Official Windows 7 SP1 ISO from Digital River then transfer it to a 4GB USB using the Windows 7 USB-DVD download toolThe download tool can run on Windows 7, Vista & XP SP2 but XP users need additional components that are listed, & linked to, on its download page.
Install Windows 10 From Usb Drive
1.2You can only run a successful installation of the version of Windows [Home Premium & so on] that is identified on your Certificate of Authenticity [CoA].If the PC is only specified as being capable of running 32 bit Windows 7 [“x86” but often referred to as x32], then only a 32 bit [x86] installation will succeed.If the PC is specified as being capable of running 64 bit Windows 7 [“x64”] then a x64 installation would normally be chosen.
1.3 Install the USB-DVD Download Tool using an admin-level account then run it with the ISO file stored anywhere on the system [except the target USB drive, I discovered, although others say that it can be on the target drive].The result is a Windows 7 SP1 installation USB.
2Insert the Windows 7 Installation USB in the system you want to install Windows 7 on & start it up.
3As soon as it starts, set the system to boot from the USB drive by pressing repeatedly on the Boot options key or the BIOS key identified in your motherboard manual.
4Once the system boots from the disk, onscreen instructions will guide you through the installation procedure. You have probably already decided on a disk / partition arrangement, Windows 7 really needs at least 70GB for its system & applications drive but the rest can usefully be partioned off as a data file drive to minimise the size [& time needed] of the System images you'll be making as part of your backup plan.
5As part of the reinstallation, you will activate Windows 7 using the Product Key from your CoA.To confirm that this has been completed correctly, you can go to Genuine Microsoft Software Validation afterwards to validate the activation if you wish.
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