Windows 7: How do you make a USB drive bootable so I can load W7 on a netbook?

Use the tutorial given to load flash stick.

thanks but HP USB storage... it didn't work for me so i tried windows 7 usb/dvd.
it tells me to erase the usb so everything will be gone and i click yes.
then it tells me it's formatting and then stops and gives me: status: we were unable to copy your files..

help please?

Jos

The method above works well, however if you want the long method and works 100% here it is:

Requirements:
• USB Flash Drive (4GB+)
• Microsoft Operating System DVD (Vista / Windows 7)
• A computer with Vista / Windows 7 installed.

Step 1: Format the Drive
WARNGING!: This will erase everything on your USB drive.

1. Insert the USB Drive
2. Open a Command Prompt as Administrator
(Right click on Start > All Programs > Accessories > Command Prompt and select “Run as administrator”)
3. Find the drive number of your USB Drive by typing the following.

diskpart
list dis

The number of your USB Drive will in the list. You will need this for the next step.
Note: I will assume that your USB Drive is disk 1.

4. Format the USB Drive by typing. Replace the number “1” with the number of your USB Drive.

sel dis 1
clean
cre par pri
sel par 1
act
for fs=NTFS quick
or
for fs=FAT32 quick (if you wish to use FAT32)
ass
exit

Note: Do not close the Command Prompt you will need it for more steps.

Step 2: Make the Drive Bootable

Use the bootsect utility from the Vista or Windows 7 DVD to make the USB drive bootable. In the same Command Prompt Window you were using above.

1. Insert your Windows Vista / 7 DVD into your drive.
2. Change directory to the DVD’s boot directory where bootsect is stored.

I will assume your DVD drive is E:

e:
cd e:\boot

3. Use bootsect to set the USB Drive as a bootable NTFS drive. I will assume your USB drive has been labeled P:
bootsect /nt60 P:
xcopy e:\*.* /s /e /f p:\

Note: if you are not comfortable using xcopy you may skip xcopy and use Windows Explorer for Step 3.
4. Close the Command Prompt Window.

Step 3: Copy the entire contents of the Vista or Windows DVD to the USB drive.
Set your Computers BIOS to Boot USB devices: Boot this USB Drive to install Windows or start a system recovery.

what about the windows 7 USB tool?

Microsoft Store: Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool Help

I used it with an 8GB Lexar flash drive and added some IT tools to it as a complete USB tool kit. I added all the FREE software listed elsewhere on this site.

So it has a boot-able install of my windows 7
all my drivers
tools to fix any issues
and a windows transfer file to restore my settings and files.

If MS tool doesn't work try:

USB Windows 7 Installation Key Drive - Create,

Win2Flash http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srOoGhm-jcI

Ultra ISO Bootable tab shown earlier in thread.

These are the simplest and most reliable. One of these will always work, but sometimes it takes trying others first.

When I first got my Kingston Data Traveler tool stick, I could format Primary, copy over install files into stick and it would boot if I spilled the files out of folder into root, even with other tools on it. Now, however, it requires writing it to stick using UltraISO to apply bootsecting. So this is a changeable process.