Creating Bootable Vista / Windows 7 USB Flash Drive

EDIT 2009/12/11: Microsoft Provides a tool to do this for you – Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool. See the Microsoft Store Help on the ISO-Tool (http://store.microsoft.com/Help/ISO-Tool).

It surprised me to find that there are very few dead-simple guides to creating a bootable USB thumb/pen/flash drive for a Vista and/or Windows 7 installation.  I cobbled together the following from VistaPCGuy and another source I don’t remember right now.

This will walk through the steps to create a bootable USB flash drive for the purpose of installing a Vista or Windows 7 OS.  These instructions assume that you have a computer with Windows Vista installed on it.

Required:

  • USB Flash Drive (4GB+)
  • Microsoft OS Disk (Vista / Windows 7)
  • A computer running Vista / Windows 7

Step 1: Format the Drive
The steps here are to use the command line to format the disk properly using the diskpart utility. [Be warned: this will erase everything on your drive. Be careful.]

  1. Plug in your USB Flash Drive
  2. Open a command prompt as administrator (Right click on Start > All Programs > Accessories > Command Prompt and select “Run as administrator”
  3. Find the drive number of your USB Drive by typing the following into the Command Prompt window:
    diskpart
    list disk
    The number of your USB drive will listed. You’ll need this for the next step.  I’ll assume that the USB flash drive is disk 1.
  4. Format the drive by typing the next instructions into the same window. Replace the number “1” with the number of your disk below.
    select disk 1
    clean
    create partition primary
    select partition 1
    active
    format fs=NTFS
    assign
    exit
    When that is done you’ll have a formatted USB flash drive ready to be made bootable.

Step 2: Make the Drive Bootable
Next we’ll use the bootsect utility that comes on the Vista or Windows 7 disk to make the flash drive bootable.  In the same command window that you were using in Step 1:

  1. Insert your Windows Vista / 7 DVD into your drive.
  2. Change directory to the DVD’s boot directory where bootsect lives:
    d:
    cd d:\boot
  3. Use bootsect to set the USB as a bootable NTFS drive prepared for a Vista/7 image. I’m assuming that your USB flash drive has been labeled disk G:\ by the computer:
    bootsect /nt60 g:
  4. You can now close the command prompt window, we’re done here.

Step 3: Copy the installation DVD to the USB drive
The easiest way is to use Windows explorer to copy all of the files on your DVD on to the formatted flash drive.  After you’ve copied all of the files the disk you are ready to go.

Step 4: Set your BIOS to boot from USB
This is where you’re on your own since every computer is different. Most BIOS’s allow you to hit a key at boot and select a boot option.

I used these instructions to get my new Dell Mini 9 laptop loaded with Windows 7 (the PDC bits).  HTH.

655 thoughts on “Creating Bootable Vista / Windows 7 USB Flash Drive”

  1. THANK YOU THANK YOU, YOU ARE A GENIUS,
    i dont tell many people that, but this info on making the usb drive bootable with running bootsect from the dvd to the usb, then copying all files to usb drive and booting from it was not anywhere else i looked, becuase i was trying to just straight copy all files to usb and boot from it but was getting an error saying remove disks or other media. THANKS AGAIN

    1. I'm glad it was helpful! It took me way too much searching to find this info myself so I thought it would be good to share.

      1. I have a problem on step 2. Step 1 is all ok but when i try to use bootsect it said:
        Target volumes will be updated with BOOTMGR compatible bootcode.

        Could not map drive partitions to the associated volume device objects:

        How to fix that? Drive formatted all ok, i am sure of it

    2. This guide worked great to install Windows 7 onto my Dell mini (using Winxp instead of Vista). What I did was make sure the USB stick was formatted NTFS, then run bootsect, copy the files from the Win7 ISO, then boot off like normal!

  2. I have no idea what to do for an XP installation; I found a lot of information on making bootable XP disks when I was searching for instructions for making Vista-bootable USB keys. Google's your friend here b/c I can't help. :(

  3. this info is good is you got vista already install on it but what about if you got win xp and want to make a bootable flash drive to install vista from scratch. Can someone help.

  4. If you cant get XPs diskpart to find your disk, just format it in FAT32, then use CONVERT in command prompt to convert it to ntfs. After the disk has been converted continue to step 3. Tested it on my machine and worked fine on the first try.

  5. That's a good question; I haven't looked at how to do that yet since I don't have any XP boxes. If you find a good way, please let me know.

    1. Why cant you use the bootsect from a windows 7 disc and then just copy the XP files onto the drive and load it.. Im certainly going to try that right now.
      already loaded 7 like this yesterday.

  6. Tomorrow Jan 9 will be the first time I will try to download the W7 ISO. When you talk about the "Microsoft OS Disk (Vista / Windows 7) " are we talking about the ISO disk I can burn from the ISO file or do I have to slipstream something with my Vista disk and the ISO file? I have only a Vista recovery disk that I burnt from the recovery partition.

    1. You can do everything here with the Windows 7ISO that you'll download from Microsoft. Probably the easiest thing to do is mount the ISO and use it as a disk, or just burn it to physical media. You won't need a Vista disk as the Windows 7 disk will have everything you need.

  7. Thanks for the answer. That makes it really easy. If it works, you have done all of us a real favor.

  8. I got thru step 1 with one small problem – in "create partition primary" you have to add size=3800 (which would be 3.8GB) or whatever is right for your stick. Without "size" you get an error. But step 2 does not work at all. The cd command does not seem to do anything, at least there is no reaction. The bootsect or bootsect.exe produces an error "'bootsect.exe' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file." I am puzzled because this is a completely legal command. So I am stuck. Any push would be appreciated.

    1. remember that in windows command prompt to change from one drive to another you cant use cd, you just put in the drive letter. So to change from C: to E: just put "E:" without quotes, then from there you can use "cd boot" and that should get you to bootsect.exe

    2. That's interesting: I wonder what it is that causes you to have to specify the size when creating a partition? I've never had to do that before.

      You're right that my directions should have explicitly stated that you have to change to the drive first by typing in the drive letter. I'll get that updated.

      1. I ran into the same issue, the solution i found, was i didnt do a step you mentioned, once i did that it worked. Not sure why but what that option does made it happen.

        at step #4

        select disk 1
        clean

        " i didnt do the clean step then i got the boot size error, on my fat32 partioned flash drive.

        I re-ran "clean" started over those steps then it did not ask me for any size or anything and workd as yours listed did.

        What does "clean" actually do, im not sure i havent read up details for it, but that made the next step work with no added details of any size issues or putting in any numbers an such for it.

  10. Another satisfied customer. I had been roaming around google piecing something together. I had the files on my USB drive but it wouldn't boot. Tried the bootsect command you listed and it executed, but still couldn't boot. The difference was that my USB drive was formatted in FAT32 instead of NTFS. So it is important to format your drive as NTFS.

    Thanks again for the guide.

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  12. Adam, there are some threads that suggest that Fat32 also works. In fact, they explicitely format the USB in Fat32. I myself have not tried that though.
    For the second step (loading the ISO on the USB) i have used a slightly different approach. I unzipped the ISO file with WinRar and just moved the files over to the USB. That worked perfectly. And then there is always this command: xcopy x:*.* /s/e/f y:

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  14. hi how do i create a boot partition on my 4gb pendrive so i can install vista , typing list disk in command prompt only shows my internal sata drives and external usb drives and not my pen drive. in disk management it is showing as drive 7 . but drive 7 is not listed in cmd? what am i doing wrong??

    1. I ran into the same issue on both of my XP systems. I did a "list volume" instead and got a listing of all of my system drives. Anyone know why this may be the case for some of us?

    2. I think you need to head into Device Manager and configure your removable drive for Optimize For Performance instead of Optimize for Quick Removal. I had to do this myself before I could format the drive as NTFS.

  15. In command prompt, first type DISKPART and hit Enter, then type LIST DISK and hit Enter, then take the number it shows you there for your USB If you have several USBs in the system, you can only make the correlation by the size. If necessary, you may have to unplug other drives that have the same size. Onc you have the number, you use this for the SELECT DISK command.

  17. Well this works for 32 bit os if i am using a 32 bit os already … can anyone tell me how to do it to a 64 bit os from a 32 bit?

    As in my case I am running a 32 bit Vista.I want to install 64 bit Win 7 to another hdd.But the bootsect is not possible to be executed from within my 32 bit OS.Any ideas?

    1. Really, the only problem you've got is that you can't run the 64-bit version of 'bootsect' which is on your Windows 7 installation media from your current 32-bit OS.

      If it were me, I'd download a 32-bit copy of Windows 7 just to get the 32-bit version of 'bootsect' and you'll be able to party on from there. Or find a friend who's got a 32-bit Vista disk you can borrow. :)

    2. Actually, you don't need the bootsect part, it will boot anyway. I have used this method a couple of times without bootsect so i can vouch for that.

  18. Dark Prince, I would suggest you run the 64bit in a virtual partition. Install VirtualBox (I found this to be the best performing) on your Vista. You can install W7 directly from the downloaded ISO file – takes 35 minutes (no need for a DVD or USB). Performance is very good (I allocated 1.4GB of my 3GBRAM to the virtual partition) and you can switch between W7 and Vista with 1 click. You just have to give Superfetch a few minutes to reorder it's files for Vista after you started VirtualBox. That's why I keep the virtual partition running all day because once the system settles down, performance is good on both sides (host and guest).

  19. This is great info, but does anyone know how to make it to where you can install the OS itself on the flash drive then boot into it like you would with your main OS? It's fairly easy with XP and extremely easy with many flavors of Linux but I can't find anything for 7. Any tips?

    1. Tony

      You have stated that it is easy to install Win XP in Pen Drive.

      I am using Win XP and interested in installing Win XP in Pen Drive.

      Please send the details.

      Thanks in advance

      Bhasker Raj
      India

  20. Pingback: Creating a Bootable USB Flash Drive » Mark Harrison 2009

  21. Re: Install on Dell Mini9… Did you have any problems with any of the drivers? Like for wireless?

  23. Any idea when I do this, I get to the part to bootsect /nt60 g: and I get this error
    Target volumes will be updated with BOOTMGR

    then it says
    Could not map drive partitions to the associated volume device objects:
    Access is denied

    1. You're running bootsect from the usb stick itself. Don't. Run the bootsec on the CD image which should be a different drive from the usb disk.

    3. type cmd in the vista run box and then hold down ctrl and shift before hitting enter, you will now run a command prompt in administrator mode. It then worked for me.

      1. For anyone having difficulties running cmd as administrator (even when using control shift enter) you can click on Start -> All Programs -> Accessories and RIGHT click on the Command Prompt and select Run as Administrator. You will then get the aforementioned box to allow the program to run at administrator level. The commant prompt will come up with C:Windowssystem32 to run as an administrator instead of using your personal account path as it would when not running under Administrator.

        Even with the control + shift + enter it was simply opening the command prompt outside of administrator level. Yes what was suggested is supposed to be a shortcut but it seems to not work for many like myself as I found in other forums. But take this slightly longer way and it should work for you.

        2. Thanks cristopher… it's work. still wonder why control + shift + enter did't work !!! it waste a lot of time

    5. You have to find command.com, right-click it and select "run as administrator" then it will work fine.

  25. Hey nice tutorial but sadly it only works if your using Vista to do all this, I tried it on my desktop that has Xp 64-bit and it wouldn't show my USB as a disk when I typed 'list disk', so I took it to my laptop which has Ultimate and it worked like a charm :D. Thanks!

    1. Yep WIn xp or Windows Server 2003 won't display USB disks as disks in the diskpart utility.

      You rock kevin.

  26. George – make sure you are running the CMD prompt as Administrator, as per these wonderful instructions.

  27. A truly excellent guide, saved my arse when my CD drive stopped working on the day I had to reinstall vista on my system.

    Much appreciated,
    Zhou.

  28. Hi
    I am right now installing Vista on my MSI Wind U100.
    It came with XP, than I installed Windows 7 Ultimate, it cracked, and now I am installing Vista Ultimate using an USB flash drive.

    Thank you for tip.

    1. Fantastic instructions! I'm installing from USB right now and loving it!! THANK YOU!

  29. Thanks for putting this together. I had attempted four other solutons, all of which failed. Very glad I found yours before i lost my mind.

  30. Thanks for making this awesome guide. I had tried multiple times to burn this to a DVD but it wouldn't boot for the life of me.. Thanks again, and keep on making this stuff….

  31. All I want to do is boot vista32 on a flash drive. Not install. Would these instructions allow me to just boot up on vista with a different config than is on my PC currently?
    What I really want is to be able to book two different configurations (not 2 different Operating systems). I created a new boot BCD, but couldn't see how to make two different configs. So, I looked at booting from a flash drive. Any help would be appreciated.

    1. I think google is going to be your friend here. I don’t really know anything about booting Windows off of disk or flash media, let alone booting it with different ‘configurations’.  I’m honestly not even sure what you mean there.  I just wrote up these instructions because it was hard for me to figure out how to create bootable installation flash drives.

  32. Following you instructions, I was able to successfully make my 32gb Flash drive bootable. But I want to run Windows7 from my Flash drive. When I get to the “Where do you want to install Windows” screen, it doesn’t see the flash drive. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

    1. I know nothing about installing Windows to removable media. It might be possible but it's not something I've ever researched.

  34. Dude this is awesome, it even worked on a bit older pc that didn't have USB-HDD as an option, only FDD and ZIP, after following your steps my stick showed up as an ordinary HD and booted without problems :D
    Thanks a lot :D

  35. HELP!!
    I goofed up, now when I try to open my flash drive in windows explorer it says that I need to format it, when I try to format it it gives me an error. The format window doesn't list the size either.

    Please help, I don't really know what I am doing, I'm just trying to follow instructions exactly to get it to work.

  36. Dude…. I think I love you…

    :)

    Great blog, its rare to come across usefull information on the internet now adays :P

  37. i have a xp live cd i think is called bart PE cd is there a way to transfer that to usb bootable
    many thanks

  38. How do I restore the USB back to normal now? I'm trying to create a USB Boot for Ubuntu now and it won't boot.

    1. for linux to see the usb stick you have to format it to fat32, linux cant read ntfs very well

    2. use unetbootin for linux it will take your iso and auto matically make your usb the media for installation of ubuntu

  39. when i'm booting, i've got this error: missing operating system

    Can't understand.. i had my iso on microsoft site.
    i someone can try to help me it would be greatfull

      1. same here. for some reason, it works perfectly on my laptop.
        I only get the message when i try to boot from my desktop.

        any help would be appreciated.

  40. Thanks a lot, i'm testing a lot of builts and now there is no need to burn them into DVDs or wait for 10-20mins. A fast memory card does the trick nicely.

  41. I want to put both Win7 plus all my other apps and files on a Data Traveler 100 USB stick for travel. In this case would I format a bootable partition for Win7 and a separate partition for my apps/files? Can I use Disk Management utility to do the partition/format, then follow above steps to make the Win7 partiton bootable? I am told that multiple O.S. can be stored and booted from same USB with a boot manager, but I don't think I need that since I just want Win7 plus my apps/files so two partitions should be fine – one bootable, one not. NTFS format both?

    1. You dont have to make two partitions, everything can go on one partition on the usb stick.

  42. I want to put both Win7 plus all my other apps and files on a Data Traveler 100 USB stick for travel. In this case would I format a bootable partition for Win7 and a separate partition for my apps/files? Can I use Disk Management utility to do the partition/format, then follow above steps to make the Win7 partiton bootable? I am told that multiple O.S. can be stored and booted from same USB with a boot manager, but I don't think I need that since I just want Win7 plus my apps/files so two partitions should be fine – one bootable, one not. NTFS format both?

  43. This is a great write up, however the title is misleading. It reads like we can create, install and boot Vista/Windows 7 from a flash drive, rather than the hard drive. My only option is to install to the hard drive, but I can boot to the flash drive as if it were the DVD in the drive, and install it on the laptop's hard drive (in my case, my Mini 9)

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  47. @Tony: I seek the same information, but all this stuff about bootable installers is diluting the useful information =/

  49. Yo
    I`m now installing Windows 7 Ultimate to my MSI Wind u100 with my 4G USB.
    Thanks a lot man :D

  50. Argh, i'm so frustrated.

    I've tried this a few times and i just get 'a disk read error occured. Press Ctrl+Alt+Del to restart'

    any idea's?

    1. I am getting the same thing on one p.c. that is real old and won't accept it's BIOS upgrade. I think it is the machine. Try it on another computer with updated BIOS and you might be surprised. I have used this method to install to 4 p.c.s and laptops.

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