Installation - Feeling Lost

amelie · Dec 22, 2009

Hi everyone,

So my school burned me an installation DVD of Windows 7. I want to install it on my DVD-drive-less PC. I have a DVD drive & USB drives on my laptop. I scoured the internet for tutorials on how to do the DVD to USB thing, finding out I need a .iso file. My installation DVD has no .iso file. So I attempted the following tutorial:

How to Create a Bootable ISO from Windows 7 Installation Files:
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/32055-bootable-iso-create-installation-files.html

My student DVD has none of the following files:
Windows 7-HP-Retail-en-us-x64.exe
* setup1.box * setup2.box

Though, it does have a setup.exe. Do I follow the aforementioned tutorial with setup.exe instead of Windows 7-HP-Retail-en-us-x64.exe, setup1.box, and setup2.box?

If not, how in the world do I begin to install Windows 7 on my DVD-drive-less PC (other than buying a DVD drive)?

IggyAZ · Dec 22, 2009

amelie said:
Hi everyone,

So my school burned me an installation DVD of Windows 7. I want to install it on my DVD-drive-less PC. I have a DVD drive & USB drives on my laptop. I scoured the internet for tutorials on how to do the DVD to USB thing, finding out I need a .iso file. My installation DVD has no .iso file. So I attempted the following tutorial:

How to Create a Bootable ISO from Windows 7 Installation Files:
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/32055-bootable-iso-create-installation-files.html

My student DVD has none of the following files:
Windows 7-HP-Retail-en-us-x64.exe
* setup1.box * setup2.box

Though, it does have a setup.exe. Do I follow the aforementioned tutorial with setup.exe instead of Windows 7-HP-Retail-en-us-x64.exe, setup1.box, and setup2.box?

If not, how in the world do I begin to install Windows 7 on my DVD-drive-less PC (other than buying a DVD drive)?

Just because you have a copy of Win7 you can not install it without a key.
If it is a retail copy and not a burned duplicate your OK and should have a key to install.

If not you need to buy Win 7 with a key.

Pauly · Dec 22, 2009

Here is the tutorial for creating the bootable usb drive
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/2432-usb-windows-7-installation-key-drive-create.html
method one if you alreay have an iso
method two explains how to do it from an installation dvd

amelie · Dec 22, 2009

Thanks for the quick reply

I bought the copy. They gave me a key.

amelie · Dec 22, 2009

Pauly said:
Here is the tutorial for creating the bootable usb drive
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/2432-usb-windows-7-installation-key-drive-create.html
method one if you alreay have an iso
method two explains how to do it from an installation dvd

Thank you for the help.

Method one: I have no ISO
Method two: The warning says the following:
You can only create a 32-bit Windows 7 USB key from within a 32-bit Vista or Windows 7.
You can only create a 64-bit Windows 7 USB key from within a 64-bit Vista or Windows 7.

I'm doing all of this from Windows XP SP2.

win7clutz · Dec 22, 2009

amelie said:
Thanks for the quick reply

I bought the copy. They gave me a key.

????? :sarc:

amelie · Dec 22, 2009

win7clutz said:
amelie said:

Thanks for the quick reply

I bought the copy. They gave me a key.

Click to expand...

????? :sarc:

I bought the copy for $15. They indirectly gave me a key. They sent me an email to sign up for the following: ODU Computer Science. Through there, I was able to receive my key.

gregrocker · Dec 22, 2009

Try running the Setup File from the Xp desktop using the same bit version. If it will run, choose Custom install and point it at the XP partition.

If not, format your USB stick primary FAT32 and copy the installation files into the root of the stick exactly as they appear on the DVD when you explore it.

Restart the computer and tap the F-key given on first bootup screen for Boot Menu. Flash stick will be listed under Hard drives.

If this fails, create the ISO for the same version as your OS you are working in, then write it to formatted flash stick using UltraISO trial version Bootable tab.

amelie · Dec 22, 2009

Thanks for the help.

This whole thing has been a nightmare for me...

gregrocker said:
Try running the Setup File from the Xp desktop using the same bit version. If it will run, choose Custom install and point it at the XP partition.
.......
.

I attempted running the Setup file from my XP PC, and it wouldn't run. It said something about needing at least SP2.

gregrocker said:
..........

If not, format your USB stick primary FAT32 and copy the installation files into the root of the stick exactly as they appear on the DVD when you explore it.

Restart the computer and tap the F-key given on first bootup screen for Boot Menu. Flash stick will be listed under Hard drives.
...........

I did what I could. Formatted USB FAT32 (is "primary" important? "FAT32" was the only option in the dropdown menu). When I restarted, I hit F12 for the Boot Menu, chose USB Flash Device; following was a blank screen for about 20 seconds.

gregrocker said:
.........

If this fails, create the ISO for the same version as your OS you are working in, then write it to formatted flash stick using UltraISO trial version Bootable tab.

How do I create the ISO? I attempted copying the DVD as ISO through Nero 7, but I was not allowed the option for some reason.

gregrocker · Dec 22, 2009

Bootable ISO - Create from Installation Files

If XP is telling you that it might be willing to run Win7 Setup except for SP2 being absent, then I would install SP2, better yet SP3 to be up to date:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...A8-5E76-401F-BE08-1E1555D4F3D4&displaylang=en

You can't really expect XP to do much without at least SP2, and SP3 has it rolled in.

amelie · Dec 22, 2009

gregrocker said:
Bootable ISO - Create from Installation Files
.................

Thanks =) Followed to the 'T' and have a bootable ISO USB. I plugged it into my PC with XP and tried to boot expecting an automatic installation. Didn't happen. Restarted again, loaded the Boot Screen, but I'm not seeing an option to boot with the USB Flash Drive (my PC was custom built by someone I don't know, and I've had it for about 6 years. So will this even be possible?)

Is there still a way to install this on my PC through the USB? I've tried searching for the right tutorial, but had a hard time finding one.

gregrocker said:
.........
If XP is telling you that it might be willing to run Win7 Setup except for SP2 being absent, then I would install SP2, better yet SP3 to be up to date:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...A8-5E76-401F-BE08-1E1555D4F3D4&displaylang=en

You can't really expect XP to do much without at least SP2, and SP3 has it rolled in.

Unfortunately, the XP I have installed is a bootleg version so as expected, it won't allow me to upgrade to the latest SP.

gregrocker · Dec 22, 2009

Look for the F-key prompt on the first bootup screen for Boot Menu, normally F10, F12 or ESC. The flash drive will be listed under Hard Drives - you have to expand those listings.

If you cannot access a one-time Boot Menu like this, then use the F-key given to Enter Bios, set Boot Order to boot your Flash Hard Drive first, then your regular Hard Drive. Again, flash is normally listed under Hard drives.

Also while in BIOS setup, look for box to enable USB and make sure it is checked.

Now restart computer and look for prompt to "hit any key to boot from Flash drive."

Do you have any bootable disks at all there, even the XP CD? Perhaps you can use Diskpart to clean/format the HD to force Win7 installer to start since it should autostart if HD is wiped.

amelie · Dec 22, 2009

gregrocker,

In BIOS, I found that USB was indeed enabled (Note for others: it was called "USB Keyboard support." found that out here: How to boot a system from different devices (e.g. a USB device) )

For the Boot Order, I saw no USB listing at all (perhaps because my computer is so old?).

I do have the XP CD. I'll try formatting the entire hard drive, but perhaps that will wait until the morning, and then I'll get back to you... thanks

gregrocker · Dec 22, 2009

On my Boot Menu F-key and BIOS boot order list it never says USB.

when I click on Hard Drives, it lists "Kingston Data traveler 2.0" amongst them which will then boot if I click it.

amelie · Dec 22, 2009

Interesting. I wasn't able to access a Boot Menu from an F-key prompt (strange enough), and my BIOS does not have something similar to yours. What I was looking for under Advanced BIOS Features >> First Boot Device was either USB-ZIP or USB-HDD (based on the following: How to boot a system from different devices (e.g. a USB device) )

DocBrown · Dec 22, 2009

Do you have any friends that could loan you a DVD drive to connect to the PC just to install win7. I have used a portable USB DVD drive to install on some older computers

" Doc "

gregrocker · Dec 22, 2009

I often see USB-HDD in the boot order menu, but that is not where the Flash stick is usually found.

It is usually found in my experience uwhen expanding the Hard drive listings.

But by all means try it and see if it triggers the boot prompt upon restart.

amelie · Dec 22, 2009

gregrocker,
Thank you for your patience lol. I should've said that I tried looking through my BIOS for a Hard drives listing when you first mentioned it. I couldn't find one? I've never entered this Setup before and I'm completely new at this.

DocBrown,
I will try to find out! Hopefully it is so

gregrocker · Dec 22, 2009

The HD should be listed under Master/Slave listings for the way your HD and DVD drive are cabled. Nearby should be the contoller settings for those drives. It should say something like SATA, IDE, RAID, etc.

The HD will have to show up here if it is running XP. The CD drive should also be there if it is working at all.

bigmck · Dec 22, 2009

amelie said:
Pauly said:

Here is the tutorial for creating the bootable usb drive
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/2432-usb-windows-7-installation-key-drive-create.html
method one if you alreay have an iso
method two explains how to do it from an installation dvd

Click to expand...

Thank you for the help.

Method one: I have no ISO
Method two: The warning says the following:
You can only create a 32-bit Windows 7 USB key from within a 32-bit Vista or Windows 7.
You can only create a 64-bit Windows 7 USB key from within a 64-bit Vista or Windows 7.

I'm doing all of this from Windows XP SP2.

If you have an extra $30 laying around, this might be the time to buy a DVD drive. You can then do a clean install from the DVD. Installing it yourself is no problem.

Installation - Feeling Lost

New member

My Computer

A Sr. Senior Member

My Computer

An error has occured

My Computer

New member

My Computer

New member

My Computer

Windows 7 Banger

My Computer

New member

My Computer

New member

New member

My Computer

New member

New member

My Computer

New member

New member

My Computer

New member

New member

My Computer

Crazy Scientific Senior

My Computer

New member

New member

My Computer

New member

Very Senior Member

My Computer