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.]
- Plug in your USB Flash Drive
- Open a command prompt as administrator (Right click on Start > All Programs > Accessories > Command Prompt and select “Run as administrator”
- 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. - 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:
- Insert your Windows Vista / 7 DVD into your drive.
- Change directory to the DVD’s boot directory where bootsect lives:
d:
cd d:\boot - 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: - 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.
THANKYOU SO MUCH YOU ARE A TRUE GENIUS
Great Guide, my thanks, easy and fast, the way people want it. :D
Thanks for you guide, this has helped me alot in installing windows 7 via a usb stick.
done with boot part. Getting windows 7 ISO. I have vista home premium, from the HP laptop provider, which is crashing day in day out. So moving to windows 7. Also my dvd writer of the laptop is not working, so no option to installing through the dvds for now. If it works then fine, else I will get the dvds burned from somewhere.
Can i do the sam for installing xp from usb (while running vista)?
Very useful! – Thanks
at last step of executing bootsect.exe / nt60 g: it state error that cannot create sectors. how can i overcome that?
Broke a laptop on the road and had to re-install onto a bulgarian Dell. You rock!
instructions worked like a charm. brings back memories of the good old MS-DOS days and Windows 3.11 on diskettes. thanks for sharing your expertise at what seems to be a dying art.
Anyone noticed that formatting in the command screen takes fuckin ages? Pretty weird, cus when u format in windows or when installing a windows, it only takes seconds.
It's because it's doing a full format; there might be ways to do a quick format here, I just never explored it. :)
Wow, thanks!!! This is something really useful…
If you get an access denied msg with disk part or bootsect, open cmd prompt as admin. I put a shortcut on desktop form cmd and right clicked it. The menu will have an option for run as administrator
En español: muchas gracias;
Thanks very much;
This was the fastest way to do and with the minimum programs required. Worked fine for me. Thank you !
This guide was great!
However, as I have windows Xp and I could not find the number of my usb stick, I needed to download the hp usb storage format tool found at http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file/fid,64963-o… to format the usb stick.
If you are having the same problem. Format your disk with the hp tool which works with any computer instead and then carry on with the guide.
e:boot>bootsect /nt60 f:
This version of e:bootbootsect.exe is not compatible with the version of Windo
ws you're running. Check your computer's system information to see whether you n
eed a x86 (32-bit) or x64 (64-bit) version of the program, and then contact the
software publisher.
Thanks!!! Nice post!
it says I was successful in creating the bootable USB drive but if I open my USB drive there is nothing there. Is there supposed to be the boot files on there? I didn't copy the DVD to this USB drive yet as I wanted to know about this?
YOU ROCK!!!! thanx
Awesome Post. Just installing Windows 7 now. Thanks heaps for the help, saved me many headaches
Thank you so much! I was stuck with a blinking cursor when attempting to boot from my USB drive but I guess the USB drive just wasn't bootable. That is until I found this post. Thanks again!
Does this usb need to be created on the same box that is being upgraded?
Nope.
Thanks so much.
you are a gentleman and a scholar, Thanks from Bruce & Mike
hey shall i copy all the files means even the boot files from the os dvd to the usb and does boot file of every os is same or different
hey…i have win 7 installed on my pc. n now i want to get vista back from the recovery partition.i do have the recovery discs but dey dont work since my dvd drive aint working.
is dere ny way???
plzz help…
Yours is nice.. I did this and then i came to know about this tool.
http://www.mydigitallife.info/2009/10/26/windows-…
worked great! thanks! installed win7 on dell Mini 10.
Hi, are there any additional steps for performing this with Win 7 installation that has been purchased and downloaded from the Microsoft store, instead of coming from DVD?
Is Step 1 mainly creating a partition on the flash drive and formatting it to NTFS?
By The Way: AMAZING, THIS IS!! A Bootable Windows 7 and/or Vista!!
When I have diskpart list the disks, it lists my two hard drives, but makes no reference to the USB key. The USB key is listed as a volume, however.
when i'm done diskpart and after that list disk ,,i cann't find my disk drivein the list???.Although i had formated as fat32?????why??.thanks4 help
For those wondering how to format your stick with the quick option, the command is as follows:
format fs=ntfs quick
Thanks alot for the guide!
Is the point of this to temporarily boot off the USB as opposed to the Hard drive? If so, I suppose that would be a good way to give Windows 7 a test drive :)
No. The point is to install from a USB disk to a HD on a machine that doesn't have a DVD drive.
Would this work as-is for Windows XP Home Edition SP3 for Ultra Low Cost PCs?
Worked like a charm! Thank you for the nice tips!
succesfully boot from the usb but there's a message : operating system not found
any idea?
Thanks very much for this quick, easy, handy procedure!
Very clear instructions and very well explained. Thank you very much for the info.
Any way to make it a quick format instead of having to wait all that time for it to do a full format on the usb stick?
"list disk" displays my three hard drives. It does not list my USB drive.
YOUR A GENIUS
Really Silly question: Can I have a single 8GB USB bootable stick for both Windows 7 and Windows 2008 installations? Appreciate your help.
Shane