Install Windows from a USB Drive

While dealing with computers, there will be time when a DVD drive will burn out. This is especially bad if it’s on a laptop. Many netbooks these days do not even carry DVD drives. So, how are you to install an Operating System? The solution is to install your OS from a USB Drive. As USB drives are reaching 16 – 23 gigs of storage space, they make perfect tools to install your OS.

The Tools

You need the following tools to install your OS to your USB Drive. We will use a tool to install Windows to a USB Drive, however others exist to install Ubuntu, etc. Almost any OS now can be installed from a USB Drive. Note: Make sure the computer you wish to install your OS can boot from a USB Drive, or this will be meaningless.

1. USB Drive – 4 gigs (For Windows Vista or Windows 7), 2 gigs for Windows XP
2. The Operating System Installation Disk.
3. A Windows Based PC
4. WintoFlash (Free Software to Install the OS to your USB Drive).
5. 15-20 Minutes of Time.

The Process

1. Insert the USB Into your Windows Based PC. Make sure you backup your data from the USB Drive, as it will be formatted.

2. Put in your Operating System Disk into the CD Rom Drive of your computer.

3. Download WintoFlash, and install it using default settings. Do Note: The file is a .zip file, meaning you will need to extract the contents. A good program for that is 7Zip.

4. Run WintoFlash. You will see the following window:

Click the Advanced Mode Tab, and choose the OS you wish to install. For my purposes, I was installing Windows 7.

Now, Click the Run button on the lower right side of the window. Now, under the Vista setup files path, choose the drive leter of the DVD drive where you put the Windows Installation disk. Under USB Drive, choose the drive letter of the USB Drive you wish to use.

A Windows License Agreement box will pop up, choose to accept. A Format Warning window will then appear, hit the Ok Button, and your USB Drive will begin to format. Depending on the speed of your computer, and the OS, this could take 10-20 minutes.

5. Put the USB Drive in the computer you wish to format. Make sure in the BIOS you choose to boot from USB, or it will try to boot from the harddrive or the CD Drive, if present.

The OS should install quicker, as a USB Drive will be much faster to read then a CD or DVD. This is just one of the advantages of using a USB Stick.

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Tags: Installation, OS, USB, Windows

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 8th, 2010 at 6:33 PM and is filed under Computers, Windows. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.