I’ve been playing with Windows 7 Beta for a the past week or so and after loading it up on multiple machines I’ve learned a few things:
1. I hate waiting for DVDs to burn ISO images.
2. Half of my computers don’t have optical drives and I don’t want to buy an external one.
3. Creating a bootable USB thumb drive with Windows 7 loaded onto it is more complicated than it needs to be, but once it’s done it’s a great tool to have.
There are plenty of great tutorials out there that basically contain the same information as this one, but I thought I’d try to put together a how-to guide that made everything as simple as possible for people who might like the idea of Windows on a thumb drive but aren’t necessarily super comfortable with the actual process.
The only tangible thing you’ll need is a USB thumb drive with at least 4GB of capacity. I found a SanDisk Cruzer Contour worked best, while a Kingston DataTraveler was a bit fidgety at first but worked after a couple of tries.
It’s all pretty easy once you get going, so let’s begin.
Step One: Download Windows 7 Beta
Head over to http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/beta-download.aspx and jump through all the hoops to begin your download. For the sake of this exercise, we’ll assume that you’ll download the ISO file to your desktop. The download might take a while depending on your connection speed – set aside an hour to be on the safe side. Meanwhile, take a break. You’ve earned it!
Step Two: Download and install WinRAR
I hate guides that make me go download a bunch of software just to accomplish a task, so I apologize for making you do the same thing. I promise this will be the only third-party software that you’ll have to download and install, though, and it’s a great program to have on your computer anyway if you don’t already.
Head over to http://rarsoft.com/download.htm and click on the WinRAR 3.80 link to download the software. Once downloaded, install it.
Step Three: Extract the Windows 7 ISO file
Once Windows 7 Beta has finished downloading, you should see a file on your desktop with a bunch of gobbledygook in the name like “7000.0.081212-1400_client_en-us_Ultimate-GB1CULFRE_EN_DVD” or something cryptic like that. Right-click on that file and choose “Extract to [gobbledygook]” as shown in the above picture. When the smoke has cleared, you’ll have a gobbledygook folder on your desktop. I’ll continue to refer to this folder as “the gobbledygook folder” for the rest of this guide.
Step Four: Format a 4GB USB thumb drive
Head into “Computer” or “My Computer” and locate your USB thumb drive. In this instance, we’re dealing with the F: drive. Right click on the drive and choose “Format…” Then, we want to format the drive using the NTFS file system with the default allocation size, so make sure those two things are selected from the dropdown menus. You can check the Quick Format box, too, if it’s not already checked.
Step Five: The tricky BootSect.exe part
Now we’re going to go back to our extracted “7000.0.081212-1400_client_en-us_Ultimate-GB1CULFRE_EN_DVD” gobbledygook folder and open the “boot” folder, inside which we’ll find a file called “bootsect.exe” that we’ll need to use.
If you’re comfortable navigating folders in DOS, then you can skip this particular step. If you don’t like DOS or haven’t used it much, we’re going to copy this bootsect.exe file into an easy-to-access location. Copy the file (CTRL-C) and then open up “Computer” or “My Computer” and double-click your C: drive.
We’re going to paste (CTRL-V) that “bootsect.exe” file right into C: so we can easily access it in a moment. See it there? Fifth file from the bottom, all safe and sound?
Step Six: Do some Ninja-like stuff in DOS
Now we’re going to open the Command Prompt. If you’re using Vista or Windows 7, you’ll have to do the “Run as administrator” thing or we won’t be able to deploy our sweet flanking maneuvers that are coming up. So go into Programs > Accessories and then right-click on Command Prompt and choose “Run as administrator.”
Once we’ve got the Command Prompt up, we’re going to switch to our top-level C: folder by simply typing “cd\” without the quotes and hitting Enter (If you skipped Step Five above, then navigate yourself to the “boot” folder inside the extracted ISO folder on your desktop).
We should then have a straight-up C:> prompt. At this point, we’ll type the following (without the quotes):
“bootsect /nt60 f:”
We’re assuming the drive letter of your USB thumb drive is F:, so replace “f:” in the above phrase with whichever letter is assigned to your particular thumb drive. Hit enter and you should see:
Blah, blah, blah your bootcode is something something. This just means that the thumb drive is now ripe to auto-load when you boot up your computer.
Step Seven: Copy the Windows 7 files to the thumb drive
This is it! The final step! Open up your extracted Windows 7 gobbledygook folder and copy the files over to your thumb drive. You should be copying five folders and three files to the thumb drive. That is, don’t drag the gobbledygook folder over; open it up first and drag the stuff inside of it over instead.
It’ll take maybe about ten minutes for everything to copy over. Take another break! You’ve earned it!
When all is said and done, reboot your computer with the thumb drive in place and you should be greeted with the Windows 7 installation menu. If you’re not, you might have to tweak your BIOS settings to allow your computer to recognize a thumb drive as a bootable device.
Questions? Comments? Rage?
I hope this little guide helps. I’ll try to answer any questions left in the comments section.
Also, if any of you out there are programmers, this whole setup is itching for some sort of automation process – something where a user could load up a program, select their thumb drive and Windows 7 ISO file and have the rest done automatically.
You’d be doing the world a great service.
Good guide, but this was simpler for me: http://thelazyadmin.com/blogs/thelazyadmin/archive/2009/01/08/installing-windows-7-via-usb-or-sd-media.aspx
Both work fine but I found the Lazyadmin somewhat easier, I used Power Iso to produce the files as I had run out of blank DVD disks
Any feedback on performance when running from a flash drive?
The thumb drive is just used to load Windows 7 onto the machine initially. Once installed, the operating system runs off the hard drive.
Installation seems a little faster using a thumb drive versus a DVD — maybe 15% or so.
bootsect/nt60 j: is not working
my pend drive letter is j
it is saying that the program is big to fit in the system memory my laptop is dell studio 1555
4gb ram 320 gb hdd 512 ati mobility then also
please help me through mail
thanks in advance
Instead of installing the OS onto the Hard Drive, can you install it onto an 8Gb SDHC card instead?
I don`t think so, because I heard that Windows 7 requires at least 20GB of space for it to download.
Although, you could do this by using a Linux operating system.
Would be great to be able to run it off the flash drive, in place of a Bart PE bootable CD or some such.
I use the Ubuntu Live CD Creator:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubuntu_Live_USB_creator
You don’t actually need to do the bootsect rigamarole. I just formatted a flash drive, copied the dvd contents over, and booted with it.
It’s true that you don’t need to do that kind of stuff but only if you have a bootable iso win7 but if you don’t have, you need to do that.
Major title fail.
It just installs from the flashdrive, it doesn’t boot or run from it, just the installation process does.
Helpful article (for me anyway).
If you don’t want to install WinRAR, there’s an app called Magic ISO that is only an executable — you don’t have to install anything. It will allow you to copy everything out of the ISO image as well and comes in handy for dealing with ISO’s in general.
My favorite, however, is Virtual Clone drive which allows you to mount an ISO image (CD, DVD and Blu-Ray images) and makes windows thinks it’s actually an optical disk in a drive.
Both are free and can be found wih a quick google search.
if you can’t format your flashdrive using NTFS you may want to change its hardware properties. you want it optimized for performance, not for quick removal.
You’re my hero! :P
Thanks man, it works great. I copied the win7 installer to a microSD and I totally rocks. I had some trouble with the ntfs formatting of the microSD (USB connected), but found some info about it in other sites. Now I am playing with win 7 in a machine with no DVD-Rom, he.
hey Nice Method……!
But Plz tell one thing
since i’m using xp now &going to intall win7 ,here i don’t have option for format my flash in NTFS fS: so if i follow ur step formatting flash in fat32 will it work or Not:…..??????????
Good guide. I followed the guide but when I boot another machine from the USB to install Windows 7 I get “Non-System disk or disk error”. Any tips on what the problem migth be? I use a 32 GB Crosair USB and have a HP nc4010.
This is not what i was looking for. I want to RUN windows 7 off of my 16GB Sandisk thumb drive not install from it. It is much easier to just use Magic ISO’s Magic disk to virtually mount the .iso file and install from it or just burn it to a dvd. What I want to do is find a way to INSTALL windows 7 to my flash drive so that I can plug it into my comp and boot from it while still keeping all of my original files and hard drive just the way it is. How hard could it be? I am currently working on installing windows 7 to one of my external hard drives because it shows up in the windows installation list because it is a local disk and not “removable” like my flash drive. I do not want to install over my current Vista set up because this windows 7 Beta copy I have, along with everyone elses, will quit working after August 2009…
don’t any body want to answer cmrogy777, it’s completly useless for most users to install win7 from a usb drive, ijust want to try it without messing up my pc with a propable bad OS, i just want to run it from usb without harming my pc.
PLSSSSSSSSS HELPPPPPPPPPPPP
You do need help.
Very useful. I enjoyed that you’re as frustrated as I am with some overly complicated tutorials
Very helpful! Thanks much for your time spent posting this. I ran into the “No CD/DVD drivers found” issue with an IDE DVD drive so this solves the problem for me. (Enter effusive praise here)
i get an issue.. invalid or damaged boot sector..help
[quote]i get an issue.. invalid or damaged boot sector..help[/quote]
use a different usb device. I got that using several micro sd cards for some reason? Im using my ipod nano 4g now and it seems to work.
If I write a program, I’ll send doug a copy to post here since i enjoyed his humor : )
So i’m having two problems. Not only does the windows 7 installer not start up automatically, but when I try to access it through the boot menu, it tells me the BOOTMGR is missing, even though its right in the folder, I even put it in the boot folder, and it doesn’t even recognize it. What’s going on?
I’m having the same problem with the “BOOTMGR is missing” error, even though I can see the bootmgr file on the flash drive. Did anyone find the solution to this?
I agree that the article title is major fail. This is a bootable *SETUP*, but the title leads many to believe it’s a bootable *install*
Good article, but… Lousy title :(
I’ve followed the instruction described on the web. However when I boot using my thumbdrive the win 7 installation fail to work and I got an error “missing operating system”. Please advice
i get an error when i try to install from pen drive saying something like – no bootable partition in table
please HELP!!!
Is there anyway to put multiple operating systems on 1 thumb drive. I have a cruzer 8gb with plenty of room for more. :-)
I followed the guide to the tee and i have a 8gb cruzer. All i get is a blinking cursor on top left part of the screen.
Ok got a step further now i get missing operating system…. Any help or is this topic dead?
Merci pour votre explication j’ai bien compris
sadly this didn’t work for me… when it tries to boot from the usb drive it says “No bootable partition in table”…
I got the “missing operating system” on a thinkpad t400. I tried disabling all the other drives and just leaving the usb drive as the only bootable device in the bios. Also tried all usb ports just in case… still the same.
-Chapo
I tried it in my netbook and it worked perfect :) thanks!. now i still can’t get it to work on the ThinkPad but i’ll just have to burn an iso dvd for that one.. no biggie.. thanks for the info.
Thank for the help. I might end up throwing together a little script for this, since you mentioned it. I actually spend most of my time in the OS X and FreeBSD worlds, but I think 7 is a nice OS, and I’m glad to have it up and running on my HP 2140.
here you are NON fail title instal
http://dotnetwizard.net/hacks/how-to-bootinstall-vista-from-a-usb-flash-drive/
Hello,Please help !!!
Here what I have done:
1.Download Windows 7 iso file,which I put it in isoBuster and extracted.
2.Because I have listen it is better to make clean installation,I bought new WD external HDD- Passport Studio 500Gb and put it all information from my PC to HDD (around 90Gb very important data + windows 7 of course)
I didn`t format my External Western Digital disk !I didn`t convert from fat to ntfs or things like that,just I have done this:
3.I run “cmd” and get in DOS – “diskpart” – “list disk” (Because there were nothing,not disk 1,2,3-i just select disk 1-don`t ask me why,because I don`t know for myself,because i am stupid!!!)
- select disk 1
- clean…
After i wrote “clean”,I disconnect usb cable,because I afraid-what does “clean” means!!?? For god sake-i have all informations from last 6 years on my external hard disk and just there and nowhere else – not on my internal HDD,cd,dvd,blu-ray disk… all my data on WD external disk. Now,my WD doesn`t work,everything is ok in “drive manager”,when i connect usb cable(no matter short one or longer one or firewire cable) there is the external usb hard drive showed up on the Safely Remove Hardware list right down,but I can not enter into the disk-inside and I am so afraid and desperate and don`t know what to do…
My PC has partition C: D: E: and for my DVD player and burner F: and G: Before the problem- my WD had letter H: and now there is no any letter for external WD :(
How you can see,I am beginner,but please tell me what is the best solution for me to do now and to don`t lose my data on WD (if i already didn`t lost :(
I DON`T CARE ABOUT PC-IT IS EMPTY NOW,AND I DON`T CARE ABOUT XP,OR WINDOWS 7,JUST WD IS IMPORTANT NOW AND HOW TO OPEN DATA AND IS DATA THERE ON IT?!
Please,please help-with days I don`t know what to do…. My e-mail is via_makedonia yahoo dot com please write me there.
What I have tried: connecting my WD with 3 deferent cables – usb and firewire in deferent ports.
installing drivers from wd site
When I check Device Manager it shows that the device is installed and working properly but it will not show in “my computer” and I can’t access it. before the problem,my HDD appeared as drive H:
I wouldn’t be half as frustrated if it hadn’t been working properly before this.Plus-ALL data is on my HDD,and I don`t even know if it is still there :(
I also done this: 2 Step Solution for XP users: Part 1: Go to Control panel -> Performance and Maintenance (cannot be in classic view to see this link) -> Administrator Tools -> Services -> Universal Plug and Play If Universal Plug and Play is set to manual switch to automatic. Part 2 Double Click Safely Remove icon on the bottom right-> Select device->click Properties -> click Volumes -> click Populate -> hit OK -> if nothing shows it may need to be formatted
Also i was in DISK MANAGEMENT,but except formating disk,I don`t see solution :( And formating will erase all data on the disk,isn`t it?! (if i have it,of course). again nothing :( :(
It will be everything ok if I re-install Windows xp ?!(I have bootable XP disk)
Or if I repair Windows XP through installation process?
Do I have problem with MBR ?
Should I format my WD ?
Common,I am sure that there must be way to solve the problem with my external disk to open my data or if the disk is empty to return/recover the data somehow!
Thanks in advance !!!!!!
Wow, you need serious help and probably shouldn’t have a computer at all. Who does that??? Anyways, you’ll have to pay to get your data back. Dude, here is a free tip, go to a professional before you try anything like this again. Also, never admit that you really did that to anybody you know.
I mean really. . .
“nobody” – ebi se,idiotu!
“Step Six: Do some Ninja-like stuff in DOS”, “Blah, blah, blah your bootcode is something something.”
LOL! That is awesome. I laughed and learned something as well. Thanks.
Another FAILtitle. As others have noted, this article should be called “Seven steps to a bootable Windows 7 INSTALLATION thumb drive.”
Micro$oft has software that will do all this for you now. Why do I need to follow a complicated checklist when I can use an app? Time to update your post, guy! Sheesh…
I just found this tool which automates the whole process of creating a bootable Windows 7 or WinPE flash disk. And runs under Windows XP unlike most workaroundsl. Check it out… http://firesage.com/bootsage
It works perfect! Thanks!