• Welcome to TechPowerUp Forums, Guest! Please check out our forum guidelines for info related to our community.

Installing Windows 7 via USB flash drive!

K

kyle2020

Guest
Alright guys, heres a quick, easy way to make your USB thumb / flash drive capable of installing Windows 7, cutting out the need for a disc!

First off, you need a 4GB or higher capacity flash drive - ill be using my 8GB Freecom drive, as its the largest I own.

So, to kick things off, we need to open the command line, or cmd.exe for vista users using the search feature



Then we need to start up DiskPart, simply by typing "diskpart" and hitting enter:



We will the need to find the discs available to be used by DiskPart - to do this we type "list disk"



So now we have a table of available drives - disc 0 in my case is my samsung spinpoint and disc 2 my thumb drive - you will need to figure out which is your USB drive by the size table.

Next, we need to select that disc by typing "select disc #" - the hash being the number of your drive - in my case, I would enter "select disc 2". Then, after the drive is selected, we need to type "clean"



DiskPart will scrub the chosen drive clean for us, ready for the windows install files.

However, before we learn to run we must crawl - to do this we simply type "create partition primary" - this will format the disc, making it usable for our purpose



We then enter "active"



And heres the bit that requires a bit of typing. You will now need to type "format fs=fat32 quick" to format the drive as fat32, making it bootable so that we can install our OS from it



Our second to last step simply involves typing "assign"



And then, finally, no more than 5 minutes down the line, we copy and paste all the OS files - in my case, im copying all the files from my copy of Windows 7 build 7068 (thanks alex :D) to the drive



After setting the primary boot media to your USB drive in your bios, your all set!

Advantages?

1. Faster installation times

2. No use of discs! saves money and reusable time after time!

3. Takes no more than 5 minutes to set up, so time effective in comparison with burning a disc.

4. Silent install. No disc spinning up. No annoyance. Do it whilst your sleeping for all I care :toast:

5. Did I mention there's no cost of discs involved?! :D
 
Last edited by a moderator:

alexp999

Staff
Joined
Jul 28, 2007
Messages
8,012 (1.32/day)
Location
Dorset, UK
System Name Gaming Rig | Uni Laptop
Processor Intel Q6600 G0 (2007) @ 3.6Ghz @ 1.45625v (LLC) / 4 GHz Bench @ 1.63v | AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-62 2 GHz
Motherboard ASUS P5Q Deluxe (Intel P45) | HP 6715b
Cooling Xigmatek Dark Knight w/AC MX2 ~ Case Fans: 2 x 180mm + 1 x 120mm Silverstone Fans
Memory 4GB OCZ Platinum PC2-8000 @ 1000Mhz 5-5-5-15 2.1v | 2 x 1GB DDR2 667 MHz
Video Card(s) XFX GTX 285 1GB, Modded FTW BIOS @ 725/1512/1350 w/Accelero Xtreme GTX 280 + Scythe sinks| ATI X1250
Storage 2x WD6400AAKS 1 TB Raid 0, 140GB Raid 1 & 80GB Maxtor Basics External HDD (storage) | 160GB 2.5"
Display(s) Samsung SyncMaster SM2433BW @ 1920 x 1200 via DVI-D | 15.4" WSXGA+ (1680 x 1050 resolution)
Case Silverstone Fortress FT01B-W ~ Logitech G15 R1 / Microsoft Laser Mouse 6000
Audio Device(s) Soundmax AD2000BX Onboard Sound, via Logitech X-230 2.1 | ADI SoundMAX HD Audio
Power Supply Corsair TX650W | HP 90W
Software Windows 7 Ultimate Build 7100 x64 | Windows 7 Ultimate Build 7100 x64
Benchmark Scores 3DM06: 19519, Vantage: P16170 ~ Win7: -CPU 7.5 -MEM 7.5 -AERO 7.9 -GFX 6.0 -HDD 6.0
Is it that easy?

Does the BIOS just pick up the same Boot image as if it were a CD?

Damn thats simple if it works...
 
K

kyle2020

Guest
Is it that easy?

Does the BIOS just pick up the same Boot image as if it were a CD?

Damn thats simple if it works...

yes and yes :D

Obviously just set your bios to boot from the drive first.
 

alexp999

Staff
Joined
Jul 28, 2007
Messages
8,012 (1.32/day)
Location
Dorset, UK
System Name Gaming Rig | Uni Laptop
Processor Intel Q6600 G0 (2007) @ 3.6Ghz @ 1.45625v (LLC) / 4 GHz Bench @ 1.63v | AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-62 2 GHz
Motherboard ASUS P5Q Deluxe (Intel P45) | HP 6715b
Cooling Xigmatek Dark Knight w/AC MX2 ~ Case Fans: 2 x 180mm + 1 x 120mm Silverstone Fans
Memory 4GB OCZ Platinum PC2-8000 @ 1000Mhz 5-5-5-15 2.1v | 2 x 1GB DDR2 667 MHz
Video Card(s) XFX GTX 285 1GB, Modded FTW BIOS @ 725/1512/1350 w/Accelero Xtreme GTX 280 + Scythe sinks| ATI X1250
Storage 2x WD6400AAKS 1 TB Raid 0, 140GB Raid 1 & 80GB Maxtor Basics External HDD (storage) | 160GB 2.5"
Display(s) Samsung SyncMaster SM2433BW @ 1920 x 1200 via DVI-D | 15.4" WSXGA+ (1680 x 1050 resolution)
Case Silverstone Fortress FT01B-W ~ Logitech G15 R1 / Microsoft Laser Mouse 6000
Audio Device(s) Soundmax AD2000BX Onboard Sound, via Logitech X-230 2.1 | ADI SoundMAX HD Audio
Power Supply Corsair TX650W | HP 90W
Software Windows 7 Ultimate Build 7100 x64 | Windows 7 Ultimate Build 7100 x64
Benchmark Scores 3DM06: 19519, Vantage: P16170 ~ Win7: -CPU 7.5 -MEM 7.5 -AERO 7.9 -GFX 6.0 -HDD 6.0
Why is it so complictaed to make a bootable USB normally then?

All you are basically doing is formatting to a format the BIOS can read, and shoving all the CD files onto it.

Will have to give it a go when I get the RC of Win 7.

Also would it not be easier to just right click on the drive in my computer, click format, and set the file system to Fat32?
 
Last edited:
K

kyle2020

Guest
Why is it so complictaed to make a bootable USB normally then?

All you are basically doing is formatting to a format the BIOS can read, and shoving all the CD files onto it.

Will have to give it a go when I get the RC of Win 7.

Also would it not be easier to just right click on the drive in my computer, click format, and set the file system to Fat32?

No idea mate, you can probably use that hp drive utility for this, but the command prompt feels so much more genuine, as if its really doing its job, you know?

I dont think you can format drives to fat32 that way, you can select it but I think that the command prompt way makes it so that it acquires the actual bootability (lol, making up words now).

Try it, it honestly works, and no more annoying half a million RPM disc spinning up installing neither. Just silence :D
 
Joined
Apr 2, 2009
Messages
3,505 (0.64/day)
Why is it so complictaed to make a bootable USB normally then?

Well, it is easy now since all recent BIOS supports USB boot option. But this feature was very buggy even a few years ago.

Nowadays, even my mini-ITX boards supports USB booting.
 
K

kyle2020

Guest
All I had to sort it in terms of problems was changing my bios not only to boot from that USB drive, but making it so that the USB drive was set as "Hard disc drive #1" so it looked there straight away.

Had no problems, booted as far as language selection.
 

Polarman

New Member
Joined
Jun 24, 2008
Messages
1,626 (0.28/day)
Location
Rimouski
System Name Polar's Dragon
Processor AMD Phenom II 975BE
Motherboard MSI 890FXA-GD65 (Bios 18.7)
Cooling Zalman CNPS 9700 Led
Memory Gskill 8GB DDR3-1333 (8,8,8,21)
Video Card(s) MSI HD6870 Hawk
Storage WD Raptor 250 - WD RE4 500GB
Display(s) Samsung T240 (1920 X1200)
Case Silverstone Raven 2
Audio Device(s) Realtek ALC892
Power Supply PC Power&Cooling Silencer 750 (Red)
Software Windows 7 Home Premium 64Bit + SP1
I'll try this out during my next Vista install.
 

1Kurgan1

The Knife in your Back
Joined
Dec 8, 2008
Messages
10,421 (1.87/day)
Location
Duluth, Minnesota
System Name My Comp | Fiancees Comp
Processor i7 5820k @ 4.6Ghz 1.285v| i5 2500k
Motherboard MSI x99 SLI Plus | AsRock Z77 Pro 3
Cooling Watercooled
Memory 16GB DDR4 2400 @ 2666 | 12GB DDR3 1600
Video Card(s) AMD R9 290x | MSI 5850 OC
Storage 128gb SSD + 2x 2TB | 2TB
Display(s) Asus 27" LCD | 25" Hanns G
Case CM Storm | CM Elite 430
Audio Device(s) Creative Recon 3D PCIe
Power Supply Enermax Galaxy 1250W | Rosewill 630w
Mouse Logitech G700s | Logitech G100s
Keyboard Logitech G901 | Logitech G105
Software Win 8.1 Ultimate x64 | Win 8.1 Ultimate x64
Benchmark Scores 3D Mark - Fire Strike Extreme - 4403
Thanks for this guide, been trying to figure how to do this. But like you said I think the HP util would work.

If you set it to format then select the bootfiles option then use that option to drop all the windows folders on there. But I been too lazy to try.
 

DaMulta

My stars went supernova
Joined
Aug 3, 2006
Messages
16,168 (2.51/day)
Location
Oklahoma T-Town
System Name Work in progress
Processor AMD 955---4Ghz
Motherboard MSi GD70
Cooling OcZ Phase/water
Memory Crucial2GB kit (1GBx2), Ballistix 240-pin DIMM, DDR3 PC3-16000
Video Card(s) CrossfireX 2 X HD 4890 1GB OCed to 1000Mhz
Storage SSD 64GB
Display(s) Envision 24'' 1920x1200
Case Using the desk ATM
Audio Device(s) Sucky onboard for now :(
Power Supply 1000W TruePower Quattro

1Kurgan1

The Knife in your Back
Joined
Dec 8, 2008
Messages
10,421 (1.87/day)
Location
Duluth, Minnesota
System Name My Comp | Fiancees Comp
Processor i7 5820k @ 4.6Ghz 1.285v| i5 2500k
Motherboard MSI x99 SLI Plus | AsRock Z77 Pro 3
Cooling Watercooled
Memory 16GB DDR4 2400 @ 2666 | 12GB DDR3 1600
Video Card(s) AMD R9 290x | MSI 5850 OC
Storage 128gb SSD + 2x 2TB | 2TB
Display(s) Asus 27" LCD | 25" Hanns G
Case CM Storm | CM Elite 430
Audio Device(s) Creative Recon 3D PCIe
Power Supply Enermax Galaxy 1250W | Rosewill 630w
Mouse Logitech G700s | Logitech G100s
Keyboard Logitech G901 | Logitech G105
Software Win 8.1 Ultimate x64 | Win 8.1 Ultimate x64
Benchmark Scores 3D Mark - Fire Strike Extreme - 4403
Ok someone want to explain this? I put the USB stick gf's comp restart it and it doesn't find it. It should list it as an HDD, but it doesn't. I restart and try f8 to get the boot options and it doesn't show it.
 

DaMulta

My stars went supernova
Joined
Aug 3, 2006
Messages
16,168 (2.51/day)
Location
Oklahoma T-Town
System Name Work in progress
Processor AMD 955---4Ghz
Motherboard MSi GD70
Cooling OcZ Phase/water
Memory Crucial2GB kit (1GBx2), Ballistix 240-pin DIMM, DDR3 PC3-16000
Video Card(s) CrossfireX 2 X HD 4890 1GB OCed to 1000Mhz
Storage SSD 64GB
Display(s) Envision 24'' 1920x1200
Case Using the desk ATM
Audio Device(s) Sucky onboard for now :(
Power Supply 1000W TruePower Quattro
Do you have it formatted in NTFS, can her machine boot off of USB?
 

1Kurgan1

The Knife in your Back
Joined
Dec 8, 2008
Messages
10,421 (1.87/day)
Location
Duluth, Minnesota
System Name My Comp | Fiancees Comp
Processor i7 5820k @ 4.6Ghz 1.285v| i5 2500k
Motherboard MSI x99 SLI Plus | AsRock Z77 Pro 3
Cooling Watercooled
Memory 16GB DDR4 2400 @ 2666 | 12GB DDR3 1600
Video Card(s) AMD R9 290x | MSI 5850 OC
Storage 128gb SSD + 2x 2TB | 2TB
Display(s) Asus 27" LCD | 25" Hanns G
Case CM Storm | CM Elite 430
Audio Device(s) Creative Recon 3D PCIe
Power Supply Enermax Galaxy 1250W | Rosewill 630w
Mouse Logitech G700s | Logitech G100s
Keyboard Logitech G901 | Logitech G105
Software Win 8.1 Ultimate x64 | Win 8.1 Ultimate x64
Benchmark Scores 3D Mark - Fire Strike Extreme - 4403
I'm not sure if it can, how would I find out. It's an old AM2 PcChips mobo thats in it right now. I also got a Asus M2V-SE sitting here, but wouldn't think it would be any diff since both cheapo AM2 boards.

But yeah it's been formatted.

Think I'm gonna do it with the HP util quick see maybe if that works.
 

DaMulta

My stars went supernova
Joined
Aug 3, 2006
Messages
16,168 (2.51/day)
Location
Oklahoma T-Town
System Name Work in progress
Processor AMD 955---4Ghz
Motherboard MSi GD70
Cooling OcZ Phase/water
Memory Crucial2GB kit (1GBx2), Ballistix 240-pin DIMM, DDR3 PC3-16000
Video Card(s) CrossfireX 2 X HD 4890 1GB OCed to 1000Mhz
Storage SSD 64GB
Display(s) Envision 24'' 1920x1200
Case Using the desk ATM
Audio Device(s) Sucky onboard for now :(
Power Supply 1000W TruePower Quattro
In BIOS you should see it as a boot device.
 

1Kurgan1

The Knife in your Back
Joined
Dec 8, 2008
Messages
10,421 (1.87/day)
Location
Duluth, Minnesota
System Name My Comp | Fiancees Comp
Processor i7 5820k @ 4.6Ghz 1.285v| i5 2500k
Motherboard MSI x99 SLI Plus | AsRock Z77 Pro 3
Cooling Watercooled
Memory 16GB DDR4 2400 @ 2666 | 12GB DDR3 1600
Video Card(s) AMD R9 290x | MSI 5850 OC
Storage 128gb SSD + 2x 2TB | 2TB
Display(s) Asus 27" LCD | 25" Hanns G
Case CM Storm | CM Elite 430
Audio Device(s) Creative Recon 3D PCIe
Power Supply Enermax Galaxy 1250W | Rosewill 630w
Mouse Logitech G700s | Logitech G100s
Keyboard Logitech G901 | Logitech G105
Software Win 8.1 Ultimate x64 | Win 8.1 Ultimate x64
Benchmark Scores 3D Mark - Fire Strike Extreme - 4403
Yeah, I wasn't seeing it. Formatting it as NTFS right now and going to try it in a few min.
 

1Kurgan1

The Knife in your Back
Joined
Dec 8, 2008
Messages
10,421 (1.87/day)
Location
Duluth, Minnesota
System Name My Comp | Fiancees Comp
Processor i7 5820k @ 4.6Ghz 1.285v| i5 2500k
Motherboard MSI x99 SLI Plus | AsRock Z77 Pro 3
Cooling Watercooled
Memory 16GB DDR4 2400 @ 2666 | 12GB DDR3 1600
Video Card(s) AMD R9 290x | MSI 5850 OC
Storage 128gb SSD + 2x 2TB | 2TB
Display(s) Asus 27" LCD | 25" Hanns G
Case CM Storm | CM Elite 430
Audio Device(s) Creative Recon 3D PCIe
Power Supply Enermax Galaxy 1250W | Rosewill 630w
Mouse Logitech G700s | Logitech G100s
Keyboard Logitech G901 | Logitech G105
Software Win 8.1 Ultimate x64 | Win 8.1 Ultimate x64
Benchmark Scores 3D Mark - Fire Strike Extreme - 4403
Stuck the Asus Mobo back in, installing win 7 build 7077 as we speak, guess the PcChips couldn't boot off USB.
 
Last edited:

Polarman

New Member
Joined
Jun 24, 2008
Messages
1,626 (0.28/day)
Location
Rimouski
System Name Polar's Dragon
Processor AMD Phenom II 975BE
Motherboard MSI 890FXA-GD65 (Bios 18.7)
Cooling Zalman CNPS 9700 Led
Memory Gskill 8GB DDR3-1333 (8,8,8,21)
Video Card(s) MSI HD6870 Hawk
Storage WD Raptor 250 - WD RE4 500GB
Display(s) Samsung T240 (1920 X1200)
Case Silverstone Raven 2
Audio Device(s) Realtek ALC892
Power Supply PC Power&Cooling Silencer 750 (Red)
Software Windows 7 Home Premium 64Bit + SP1
You should mention that after completing the "ASSIGN" part, you can type "EXIT" to quit Diskpart.
 
Joined
Sep 22, 2007
Messages
3,527 (0.59/day)
Location
UK
System Name Dream Weaver
Processor Ryzen 5600
Motherboard B450 MSI Gaming Pro Carbon AC
Cooling NH-D14
Memory 16GB Flare X @ 3200MHz CL14
Video Card(s) Sapphire Vega 64 Nitro+
Storage 500GB evo 970 m.2 + 4TB HDDs
Display(s) ASUS 27" 1440p 144hz FreeSync
Case Fractal Design Define R3
Power Supply Corsair 850W
Software Windows 10 x64
Gonna try this method in a min when build 7077 finishes downloading. I remember having issues booting from USB device on this board in the past, i.e. it wasn't showing up in the BIOS at all. Hope this works :D
 
Joined
Apr 23, 2006
Messages
3,558 (0.54/day)
Location
Enschede, The Netherlands
System Name Lian Li Carbon fiber ed.
Processor Intel i5 2500k 4.6Ghz 24/7 Max OC 5Ghz
Motherboard Asrock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3
Cooling Swiftech blocks, 360 Xflow rad, Swiftech 120 rad, Liang with XSPC res/pump top.
Memory 8Gb Mushkin 1600Mhz 8-9-8-24
Video Card(s) Sapphire HD6950 2Gb
Storage OCZ Vertex 4 128 / Western Digital 160
Display(s) ASUS 25,5" wide VW266h
Power Supply Corsair HX620 modular
Software Windows 7 64
I tried this on two Windows 7 builds and it works like a charm. Very fast.
I believe it was something like 15/20 min to install.
 
K

kyle2020

Guest
It is fast, took me roughly 20 minutes from start to desktop.
 
Joined
Sep 22, 2007
Messages
3,527 (0.59/day)
Location
UK
System Name Dream Weaver
Processor Ryzen 5600
Motherboard B450 MSI Gaming Pro Carbon AC
Cooling NH-D14
Memory 16GB Flare X @ 3200MHz CL14
Video Card(s) Sapphire Vega 64 Nitro+
Storage 500GB evo 970 m.2 + 4TB HDDs
Display(s) ASUS 27" 1440p 144hz FreeSync
Case Fractal Design Define R3
Power Supply Corsair 850W
Software Windows 10 x64
Just finished installing 7077 x64 using this method and it worked very well! Bit slow though but that's due to my cheap/old ass 4GB mp3 player :D Well at least I saved a DVD!
 
K

kyle2020

Guest
Just finished installing 7077 x64 using this method and it worked very well! Bit slow though but that's due to my cheap/old ass 4GB mp3 player :D Well at least I saved a DVD!

haha, a DVD lives to be scratched to bits another day :D

Its damn fast on a decent memory stick. That said, I saw an ad in CPC that are selling 16GB Cruzr's for £17 . . .
 
Joined
Apr 21, 2008
Messages
5,250 (0.90/day)
Location
IRAQ-Baghdad
System Name MASTER
Processor Core i7 3930k run at 4.4ghz
Motherboard Asus Rampage IV extreme
Cooling Corsair H100i
Memory 4x4G kingston hyperx beast 2400mhz
Video Card(s) 2X EVGA GTX680
Storage 2X Crusial M4 256g raid0, 1TbWD g, 2x500 WD B
Display(s) Samsung 27' 1080P LED 3D monitior 2ms
Case CoolerMaster Chosmos II
Audio Device(s) Creative sound blaster X-FI Titanum champion,Creative speakers 7.1 T7900
Power Supply Corsair 1200i, Logitch G500 Mouse, headset Corsair vengeance 1500
Software Win7 64bit Ultimate
Benchmark Scores 3d mark 2011: testing
rally useful tread kyle2020
thanx
 
K

kyle2020

Guest
Cheers :toast:

Tried to make it as easy as possible to follow, seems like I achieved that :)
 
Joined
Apr 21, 2008
Messages
5,250 (0.90/day)
Location
IRAQ-Baghdad
System Name MASTER
Processor Core i7 3930k run at 4.4ghz
Motherboard Asus Rampage IV extreme
Cooling Corsair H100i
Memory 4x4G kingston hyperx beast 2400mhz
Video Card(s) 2X EVGA GTX680
Storage 2X Crusial M4 256g raid0, 1TbWD g, 2x500 WD B
Display(s) Samsung 27' 1080P LED 3D monitior 2ms
Case CoolerMaster Chosmos II
Audio Device(s) Creative sound blaster X-FI Titanum champion,Creative speakers 7.1 T7900
Power Supply Corsair 1200i, Logitch G500 Mouse, headset Corsair vengeance 1500
Software Win7 64bit Ultimate
Benchmark Scores 3d mark 2011: testing
Top