Windows 7: Installing W7 to a HDD

I need to install Windows 7 onto a HDD that will be used as the primary HDD for another computer. I have no way to install it using physical means (USB, DVD, etc). I can connect this drive to my current computer (as a slave drive) and I have Windows 7 installation CD, files, etc. How can I install Windows 7 onto this drive (which will be used for another computer)?

You should be able to connect the hdd to your computer, insert and boot the Windows 7 dvd, install it as your normally would. Once you get to the log in portion, just shut down the computer without opening Windows and it'll be fresh for that person.

I'm not sure exactly at what point the installation no longer needs the dvd, but someone should be able to tell you that.

Wouldn't that mess up the bootloader that I already have on this computer? (If that sounds really stupid, it probably is, because I'm not so good with computers. :P)

The easiest way is to remove your drive and stick in the blank drive then install 7. swop drives and that way you won't get the duel boot option, if thats what you want???

I can't do that because this is a laptop and the other computer is a desktop so it has a 3.5 in (I think that's the number) drive. I'll try the other method mentioned above though.

That will only work if your core drivers ... IDE, ACPI, etc. are the same on both machines. What you're likely to end up with is a guided tour of driver hell trying to do it this way.

Can you not set up an install on a flash drive and install it properly on the desktop?
Will the desktop machine boot to flash?
Bigger question... does the desktop machine not have a DVD drive?

You would need to install it with only the target HD plugged on another desktop with the same number of cores. I do this when I cannot get Windows 7 to install and have no more time to troubleshoot, and it has worked every time so far.

If it will start, all of the drivers swap out in quite a show, requesting several restarts. It is not like XP which requires a repair install from boot to start on new hardware, which is good because there is not a repair install from boot in Windows 7!

Have you posted your install failure for troubleshooting to see if you can get it to install first? What is the exact problem with attempting to install to the problem machine, both with DVD and flash stick?

The machine has no DVD drive, and for some reason when I try to boot from flash stick (I followed one of the tutorials), it said something along the lines of "No bootable media found."

Probably because the flash drive wasn't prepared properly...

It's pretty simple really, but you have to do it from a Windows 7 machine...

1) Format the flash drive with fat32

2) Copy the Windows 7 files over to the flash drive
If you're working from DVD must drag and drop the entire DVD content
If you're working from an ISO, you have to extract the files first.

3) Now from the flash drive, make a copy of the BOOT folder on the desktop
This part's easy... just drag it over and drop it.

4) Open this new boot folder in a command shell...
WinKey+R -> CMD -> OK
Now type CD %DESKTOP%\BOOT

5) Type BOOTSECT /NT60 Z: <= supstitute the flash drive's actual letter for the Z

That's it... you should be good to go.

Did you follow the instructions here carefully? In particular, make sure that you mark the partition as active as described in Step 10 of the Tutorial. I have used this Tutorial today to make my own bootable USB keys, and I have formatted them as NTFS without problems. I have tested them, and they are all working.

USB Windows 7 Installation Key Drive - Create