| Windows 7: Trouble formatting a USB as a boot device. (Many many errors) |
04 Apr 2012
|
#1 | | Windows 7 Home Premium x64 Vancouver, WA |
Trouble formatting a USB as a boot device. (Many many errors) My laptop is a Dell Inspiron N5010. I have a copy of a Windows 7 Ultimate x64 ISO file on my desktop. Not just the ISO file. It, supposedly, has everything needed to burn Windows 7 Ultimate x64 on a DVD. Unfortunately, I have no blank DVD's and no money to buy some. I do have a 32 gig flash drive however. So I did some research to see how I can change it to become a bootable device. Hmm where to begin... It didn't work at first, so after a lot of googling I ended up reformatting the USB to NTFS. Then copying the Windows files on the drive. In my laptop's BIOS I changed USB to primary boot device. Plugged it in and, didn't work. I changed my SATA Mode to ATA instead of AHCI, which someone said would fix it. It didn't. Just for an fyi, when I plug in the USB, and just let it load, it says "BOOTMGR is missing". Someone said I didn't format the USB right and gave me a website on how to walk through it. At some point I was in the command prompt, and after selecting the disk my USB is labeled as, and cleaning it out, I tried to make a partition, or something like that, but it said I had insufficient space. Even though I JUST emptied the entire thing. Another person offered a windows-to-USB program that would walk me through the whole process. But when I selected the ISO file from my desktop I got an error message saying "Invalid ISO file, please select a valid ISO file and try again." A computer tech guy said that on my laptop I could pres F11 and it would bring up a system restore menu and it would act like a recovery disk. Nothing pops up. I'm very frustrated at this point, I've wasted a good 12+ hours on this thing, and I've got nothing to show for it. If there's something I'm leaving out, or a question you want to ask for more info feel free to ask. Any help is welcome. :\
Edit: To be clear, my laptop is out of commission, I'm researching and typing this from a desktop. I have the files on this desktop.
Last edited by Raindeux; 04 Apr 2012 at 06:23 PM..
Reason: Typo/clarification
| My System Specs |
| System Manufacturer/Model Number Dell Inspiron N5010 OS Windows 7 Home Premium x64 CPU Intel Core i5 CPU 2.53 GHz Memory 6 gb Hard Drives Toshiba MK6465GSX (640gb) |
04 Apr 2012
|
#2 | | Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit SP1 New Jersey |
You can`t just copy the files, you have to burn them to it. I use PowerISO. There is a tutorial on here on how to do it. I would download the iso from here and use it. Official Windows 7 SP1 ISO from Digital River « My Digital Life | My System Specs | | Computer type PC/Desktop System Manufacturer/Model Number Custom Built by Me ! OS Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit SP1 CPU Intel Core i5 3570k @ 4.0 GHz Motherboard MSI Z77A-G45 Memory 16GB Corsair Vengeance @ 1600 MHz 10-10-10-27 Graphics Card MSI GTX660 Twin Frozr3 OC Sound Card Realtek HD Monitor(s) Displays Dell 19" HP 23" Sony Bravia 40" Screen Resolution 1920 x 1080 Keyboard Fellowes KWD 855 Mouse Microsoft Wireless PSU Corsair HX750 80+Gold Case Corsair Vengeance Series C70 Gun Metal Black Cooling Cooler Master Hyper N520, Arctic Alumina Thermal Compound Hard Drives OCZ Vertex 4 119GB SSD
WD Black 500, Blue 500, Caviar SE 320 x2 Internet Speed Download 25.81 Mbps Upload 5.07 Mbps Antivirus MSE MBAM Browser Chromium Other Info Boston BA745 2.1 Speaker System, Lightscribe Dual Layer DVD Burner |
04 Apr 2012
|
#3 | | Windows 7 Home Premium x64 Vancouver, WA |
I have to buy PowerISO in order to burn the files to my USB? Are there any free programs I could use to do that? | My System Specs | | System Manufacturer/Model Number Dell Inspiron N5010 OS Windows 7 Home Premium x64 CPU Intel Core i5 CPU 2.53 GHz Memory 6 gb Hard Drives Toshiba MK6465GSX (640gb) |
04 Apr 2012
|
#4 | | Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 (x64) South Australia |
Hi,
You don't need to pay anything - use this, its free: Microsoft Store Online
Regards,
Golden | My System Specs | | Computer type PC/Desktop System Manufacturer/Model Number Golden Mk. I.3 OS Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 (x64) CPU Intel i7 860 @ 2.80 GHz Motherboard Gigabyte P55A-UD3R Rev.1. Award BIOS F13 Memory 16GB Corsair Vengance DDR3 @ 661 MHz Dual Channel (9-9-9-24) Graphics Card EVGA NVidia GTX 560 1024MB Sound Card Realtek Integrated Monitor(s) Displays Dual Samsung SyncMaster 2494HS Screen Resolution 1920*1080 and 1920*1080 Keyboard Logitech G110 Mouse Logitech MX518 PSU Thermaltake ToughPower QFan 750W Case Thermaltake Element S VK60001W2Z Cooling Corsair H60 Water Cooling, 2*230mm and 2*80mm case fans Hard Drives 1*OCZ Vertex 2 60GB SSD;
2*Samsung F3 SpinPoint 1TB in RAID0;
3*Samsung F1 SpinPoint 1TB in RAID5;
1*Western Digital 500GB External USB 3.0
1*Seagate 500GB External USB 2.0 Internet Speed Not fast enough!!! Antivirus MSE and Malwarebytes Pro Browser Chrome Version 25 Other Info Laptop: ASUS X54C, Intel Core i3-2330M @ 2.0Ghz, 4GB RAM, Intel HD on-board graphics, Windows 7 Professional SP1 (x64), LinuxMint 14 (x64), PepperMint 3 (x86) |
04 Apr 2012
|
#5 | | Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit SP1 New Jersey |
| My System Specs | | Computer type PC/Desktop System Manufacturer/Model Number Custom Built by Me ! OS Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit SP1 CPU Intel Core i5 3570k @ 4.0 GHz Motherboard MSI Z77A-G45 Memory 16GB Corsair Vengeance @ 1600 MHz 10-10-10-27 Graphics Card MSI GTX660 Twin Frozr3 OC Sound Card Realtek HD Monitor(s) Displays Dell 19" HP 23" Sony Bravia 40" Screen Resolution 1920 x 1080 Keyboard Fellowes KWD 855 Mouse Microsoft Wireless PSU Corsair HX750 80+Gold Case Corsair Vengeance Series C70 Gun Metal Black Cooling Cooler Master Hyper N520, Arctic Alumina Thermal Compound Hard Drives OCZ Vertex 4 119GB SSD
WD Black 500, Blue 500, Caviar SE 320 x2 Internet Speed Download 25.81 Mbps Upload 5.07 Mbps Antivirus MSE MBAM Browser Chromium Other Info Boston BA745 2.1 Speaker System, Lightscribe Dual Layer DVD Burner |
04 Apr 2012
|
#6 | | Windows 7 Pro x86; Pro x64; Home Prem x64; and others.... |
Is the partition marked "Active"?
Open a command prompt as administrator >
Type: diskpart > enter list disk > enter select disk * > enter (*= USB drive} clean > enter create partition primary > enter select partition 1 > enter active > enter format > enter assign > enter exit > enter Extract the files from the .ISO to the USB device.
Should be bootable (works for me).
Breezy
Last edited by joodoo; 05 Apr 2012 at 06:41 AM..
Reason: corrected typo
| My System Specs | | System Manufacturer/Model Number Old (2004) Gateway laptop OS Windows 7 Pro x86; Pro x64; Home Prem x64; and others.... CPU Pentium 4 @ 3.4 Motherboard Gateway Memory 2GB Graphics Card ATI Mobility Radeon 9700 Sound Card SigmaTel C-Major Audio Monitor(s) Displays Element 19 in. LCD HD TV Screen Resolution 1360x768 Mouse MS TouchMouse Arc & Mouse PSU HP monitor PSU - Spliced;lol Cooling Coolingpad Hard Drives Intel SSD 3200 80GB; Seagate Momentus XT (Hybrid) 500GB |
04 Apr 2012
|
#8 | | Windows 7 Home Premium x64 Vancouver, WA |

Quote: Originally Posted by Golden Hi,
You don't need to pay anything - use this, its free: Microsoft Store Online
Regards,
Golden Thank you. I'll use that! 
Quote: Originally Posted by joodoo Is the partition marked "Active"?
Open a command prompt as administrator >
Type: diskpart > enter list disk > enter select disk * > enter (*= USB drive} clean > enter format > enter create partition primary > enter select partition 1 > enter active > enter assign > enter exit > enter Extract the files from the .ISO to the USB device.
Should be bootable (works for me).
Breezy Everything there worked except the format stage, which is odd. First time I tried it I got an error on the create partition primary step, now it does that after it fails to format... When I entered format I got a message saying "There is no volume selected. Please select a volume and try again." Then after that I went ahead and entered create partition primary anyways, and it said "Diskpart succeeded in created the specified partition. And do I extract the files from the file location to the USB, or do I burn them? Im confused on that part. 
Quote: Originally Posted by AddRAM Yes, that 2nd link is what someone recommended to me, and on step one it said invalid ISO file, please select a valid ISO file. :\ 
Quote: Originally Posted by gregrocker Wait that wont swipe THIS machine will it? It just downloads the files or what?
Edit: Now I've got a new problem. After trying this, My USB isn't formatted. And when I right clikc the USb drive in Computer and select format, I select NTFS, and after 20 minutes it says its unable to complete the formatting.... | My System Specs | | System Manufacturer/Model Number Dell Inspiron N5010 OS Windows 7 Home Premium x64 CPU Intel Core i5 CPU 2.53 GHz Memory 6 gb Hard Drives Toshiba MK6465GSX (640gb) |
04 Apr 2012
|
#9 | | Win7 x 6 PC's California, Florida, Boston |
What do you mean by Quote: Wait that wont swipe THIS machine will it? You use the steps given to do a booted Clean Reinstall on the machine you want.
The tutorial shows you how to reinstall Windows 7 perfectly on factory preinstalled OEM - but the steps can be used for retail as well.
If the Windows 7 download tool doesn't format the stick correctly, then use Universal USB Installer with Windows 7 in dropdown menu - it never fails. | My System Specs | | |
04 Apr 2012
|
#10 | | Windows 7 Home Premium x64 Vancouver, WA |

Quote: Originally Posted by gregrocker What do you mean by Quote: Wait that wont swipe THIS machine will it? You use the steps given to do a booted Clean Reinstall on the machine you want.
The tutorial shows you how to reinstall Windows 7 perfectly on factory preinstalled OEM - but the steps can be used for retail as well.
If the Windows 7 download tool doesn't format the stick correctly, then use Universal USB Installer with Windows 7 in dropdown menu - it never fails. But now my USB isn't even formatted, and it fails to format every time I try :\
Doing that command prompt screwed something up.
And I mean Im typing this from my desktop, with the ISO files on it. I want to put it on a USB so I can use it on my Laptop which is broken. Downloading those files isnt gooing to mess with my desktop will it? | My System Specs | | System Manufacturer/Model Number Dell Inspiron N5010 OS Windows 7 Home Premium x64 CPU Intel Core i5 CPU 2.53 GHz Memory 6 gb Hard Drives Toshiba MK6465GSX (640gb) Trouble formatting a USB as a boot device. (Many many errors) problems? All times are GMT -5. The time now is 11:06 AM. | |