USB Flash is currently one of the most popular storage devices around. It has replaced old methods of data traveling like Floppy Disks. Advantages of USB storage disk over floppy disks are numerous and matchless. The storage capacity, data transfer speed, and dimensions of USB Flash Device make it ubiquitous. They have low price and much longer operational life. The plugin port is available on almost every system.
These characteristics attract to use USB storage device as a bootable media for installation of Windows 7. The user will get an easy and durable portable installation medium which is usually not get damaged like DVD. No optical drive is needed to install the operating system. This is really helpful in installing Windows 7 on systems like Netbooks where there is no DVD drive at all. The speed of Windows 7’s installation from USB key is also quicker. This guide illustrates 5 working ways to create a bootable USB and then install Windows 7 from it.
In every method to create a Windows 7 Bootable USB stick, the user must have
- A USB Pen Drive with storage capacity over 4GB
- Windows 7 ISO Image
Creating Bootable Windows 7 USB using Microsoft USB/DVD Download Tool
This is the official method to build a bootable USB for Windows 7 installation. After downloading the tool, it requires installation. When the installation is complete and you launch the toll, it will ask you to identify the location of Windows 7 ISO image
In next step, the user will choose USB device as media type
If there are more than one USB devices inserted then you have to choose the desired USB device. The tool detects the removable media itself and provides a drop down containing the recognized devices.
Now, the format and file transferring setup will start. Sit back because it will take some time in completion.
Note: Once the process is over, a message appears which states “Backup Complete”. According to my experience, this method takes bit longer in creating a Bootable Windows 7 USB but it is reliable and straight one. (Direct Download Link)
Creating Bootable Windows 7 USB using WinToFlash
No doubt, WinToFlash is an awesome utility which allows building Bootable USB keys that can install any of modern Windows releases like 2003/XP/Vista/7. We will utilize this software to create a bootable USB for installation of Windows 7. It is portable and doesn’t require any installation. You need to mount Windows 7 ISO image before moving forward. You can use MagicDisc which is free Virtual CD/DVD-ROM mount tool.
Execute WinToFlash and move to the Task tab. Here you will choose “Transfer Windows Vista/2008/7 setup to USB Drive” form the drop drown menu.
In next move, you will specify the USB drive and location containing Windows 7 setup files. The user can choose the file system which in some cases needs to be changed. There are some advanced options in process steps tabs but will recommend to stick with default.
After you click Run, you will be asked to accept user agreement by Microsoft and also a confirmation is required to format USB drive. Then the final procedure starts which formats the flash disk and copies setup files of Windows 7 USB. Once the process is over, bootable Windows 7 USB is prepared.
Note: In first run, I went with default setting but got a message when plugged the USB on target machine “NTLDR is missing”. After going through official forums, I change the default format file system from FAT32 LBA to FAT16 LBA and it worked. Besides this tweaking, the final process of copying files was faster than Microsoft’s official tool. (Download WinToFlash).
Creating Bootable Windows 7 USB using UnetBootin
This utility is actually made for Linux Live USB creation but it worked also to build a Bootable USB for Windows 7. It extracts data from the specified ISO image and then generates a suitable syslinux configuration file.
The user can launch the utility without any installation. You only need to select the location of Windows 7 ISO image and select appropriate USB drive which is usually auto detected. Remember my thumb drive was already formatted with FAT16 LBS file system.
Then the tool will start preparing a Bootable USB medium for Windows 7 installations.
Note:This method almost took same amount of time as WinToFlash. I expect that this method should also work on FAT32 formatted USB pen drives but was not able to test it. (Download UnetBootin)
Creating Bootable Windows 7 USB using Bootsage
BootSage is a very fresh utility which also claims to prepare a bootable USB for installation of Windows 7. It also requires that Windows 7 ISO image should be mounted using Virtual Drive.
After executing the tool, the user will select the removable drive and location of mounted image. The next process is bit different from other. It will ask you to unplug USB device first and then re insert it. After that, it is pretty much similar to above mentioned tools. (Download Here)
Verdict:I have tried all of these tools on Windows XP to create Bootable USB device for Windows 7 and they have worked. I am sure that they will do the same on Windows Vista/7 because problems have been reported about Windows XP not Vista or 7. It is up to you which one you choose. Enjoy your Windows 7 experience.
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
Thanks for sharing these different solutions for installing Windows 7 with a USB. Using Microsoft’s Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool is an easy way to download Windows 7. Just so you know, this tool is only able to create a bootable Windows 7 Setup on a USB drive from an ISO file so you will have to convert your DVD using MagicISO Maker. But once you have the ISO file, you have an exact copy of the Windows 7 DVD saved on your hard disk, and you can transfer the copy to a USB thumb drive. For details on how to do this, check out this post http://bit.ly/aWxU2Q.
Appreciate your response and letting us know more about the process
A very useful guide, thanks a lot!
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should these all work on Windows XP? I could only get bootsage to work on Windows XP.
I have tested all on XP and they work. Microsoft’s Product and BootSage works straight away. A different file system may be required for remaining two. In my case, FAT file system worked.
this comes very handy. i only used adobe cs3 as my usb application and i have yet to try it with windows
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Thanks for this tip, My DVD Drive not working and it was great headache for me before read your post. but you solved my problem, thanks again.
Great post for newbies to install win 7from usb