Create your own bootable USB pen drive in 4 steps

There are a number of ways in which to create your own bootable pen drive but we are going to show you the easiest way. To begin with you will need a PC with a CD/DVD ROM drive, the Windows CD/DVD, and a 2GB pen drive if you are creating a Windows XP bootable USB or a 4GB pen drive if the requirement is for Windows Vista/7.

BY MAYUR KHOKHAR

Create your own bootable USB pen drive in just four easy steps.

By Sandeep Balachandran

Netbooks have made their mark in the PC segment and are here to stay. What makes them worth the buy is the unquestionable portability that they offer over their laptop counterparts. They are small, light and are definitely easy to lug around. They might not have the processing power to execute intensive tasks but will easily handle office applications. Moreover some of them are even capable of playing high definition video which makes them decent all rounders. That said, these little entertainment boxes have one major drawback in them: the exclusion of an optical drive. No doubt that files can be transferred via pen drives but what if the need arises to reinstall the Operating System in case of a system crash or if the requirement is to install the new Windows 7? What then? Would you spend money on a new external DVD-RW or would you prefer upgrading or re-installing via a pen drive? Well, for most of us the obvious choice would be the pen drive.

There are a number of ways in which to create your own bootable pen drive but we are going to show you the easiest way. To begin with you will need a PC with a CD/DVD ROM drive, the Windows CD/DVD, and a 2GB pen drive if you are creating a Windows XP bootable USB or a 4GB pen drive if the requirement is for Windows Vista/7. To start with, download and extract the program �WinToFlash�. Once extracted execute the file called �WinToFlash� and follow these simple steps.

Step 1: Click the 'Windows Setup transfer wizard' and select 'Next'.

Step 2: Here you will need to define two paths where the 'Windows File Path' points to the location of the Windows installation disk and the 'USB Drive' specifies the location of pen drive that hat will be used for creating the bootable installation routine. Click on 'Select' and choose an appropriate path for both.

Step 3: Accept the 'Windows License Agreement' and click on continue.

Step 4: Don�t panic! The 'Warning' is just to remind you that the pen drive will be formatted before proceeding. Click 'OK' to proceed or 'Cancel' in case you inserted the wrong pen drive or want to check it.

That�s all that needs to be done to be able to create a bootable Windows installation pen drive. To be able to boot from the pendrive you will need to access the BIOS and change the boot priority to 'Removable disk'. If the settings are right you will be able to boot and proceed with the installation of Windows. 

Create Bootable USB Pen Drive for Windows 7

Create Bootable USB Pen Drive for Windows 7 

BY MAYUR KHOKHAR

Installing Windows from a USB flash drive has several advantages : First of all, the overall speed of the installation process will increase significantly, carrying a USB stick is much more convenient than a DVD, and finally it becomes possible to install the OS even on those systems that do not have a DVD drive, such as a netbook.

 

In this post, I will show you how to load the Windows installation on to your USB flash drive and make it bootable just like the DVD.

There are Two Options:

1. Windows 7 USB-DVD Download Tool.

2. Basic Option.

1. Windows 7 USB-DVD Download Tool:

Just Download this Tool and Installed in your Desired PC then follow some easy Steps:-

Click to Download 

or 

Click to Download

2. Basic Option:

Tools Required:

1. USB flash drive with a minimum capacity of 4 GB.

2. Windows 7 Setup DVD.

Step 1 : Plug-in your USB flash drive.

Step 2 : Open the PowerShell (OR Command Prompt if PowerShell Not Exist). If you are using Windows 7/Vista then open it with administrator rights*.
* Goto Start -> All Programs -> Accessories ->Windows PowerShell ->  Right-click on “Windows PowerShell” and select “Run as Administrator”.
Step 3: In the PowerShell, type

DISKPART

This will start the Microsoft DiskPart utility as shown below:

Now issue the following command:
LIST DISK

This will show you a list of  available disks on your system. Disk 0 is usually the hard disk. In my case, Disk 1 is the USB drive (this can be a different one in your case). Now issue the command as shown below:

 SELECT DISK 1

above command, 1 is the USB drive number on my system. If you have a different number on your system, then you need to replace 1 with that number.
Step-4: Now issue the following list of commands one by one as shown below:

CLEAN
CREATE PARTITION PRIMARY
SELECT PARTITION 1
ACTIVE
FORMAT FS=NTFS QUICK
ASSIGN
EXIT

Close Power Shell and proceed to the next step.
Step 5: Insert the Windows 7/Vista installation disc and note down the “drive letter” of your DVD drive. In my case, it is “H:”.

Open the command prompt. If you are using Windows 7/Vista then open it with administrator rights*.
* Goto Start -> All Programs -> Accessories -> Right-click on “Command Prompt” and select “Run as Administrator”.

Now type the following list of commands as shown below:
H:
CD BOOT
BOOTSECT.EXE /NT60 G:(NOTE:
G: is your USB drive letter)

EXIT

Step-6: Copy the contents of your Windows 7/Vista installation disk into the USB flash drive.
Directly Copy-Paste All DVD file into Usb Stick Then…

Your USB stick is now ready to boot and install the OS for you. Don’t forget to enable the “USB Boot” option and change the “Boot priority to USB device from hard disk” in your BIOS settings.