Install Windows 7 FAST without a DVD or USB device

How to Install Windows 7 FAST without a DVD or USB Device​

   Information

So far we've seen tutorials for installing Windows 7 in quite a few different ways. All of them require boot media like a DVD or USB key. All of them use the Windows 7 installer. All of them require you to upgrade or replace your existing Windows 7 installation. All of them are relatively slow. All of them are using technology designed by Microsoft for clueless end-users.

This method uses technology designed for advanced users; OEMs like Dell, big IT departments and experts like us. It doesn't require extra bootable media and it leaves your existing Windows install intact. It's fast, it's flexible and it's all command line suitable for scripting.

Let's start with the assumption that you've got a single hard disk with one big partition, it's not full, and you're already running some build of Windows 7 or Vista. If you've got more than one partition and can't figure out how to modify the steps in this tutorial to accommodate that please post a comment and I'll add the steps. The same goes for other hard disks. The only hard requirement is that you be running Windows 7 or Vista. We need to make room for the new Windows 7 install so we start by running DISKPART. Open Start, type diskpart and press Enter.

Microsoft DiskPart version 6.1.7100
Copyright (C) 1999-2008 Microsoft Corporation.
On computer: ORION7
 
DISKPART> lis vol
 
  Volume ###  Ltr  Label        Fs     Type        Size     Status     Info
  ----------  ---  -----------  -----  ----------  -------  ---------  --------
  Volume 0     F                       DVD-ROM         0 B  No Media
  Volume 1     E                       DVD-ROM         0 B  No Media
  Volume 2     C   7            NTFS   Partition     16 GB  Healthy    System
  Volume 3     D   Data         NTFS   Partition    263 GB  Healthy
  Volume 4     G                       Removable       0 B  No Media
 
DISKPART> sel vol 3
 
Volume 3 is the selected volume.
 
DISKPART> shr minimum=10240 desired=16384
 
DiskPart successfully shrunk the volume by:   16 GB
 
DISKPART> cre par pri
 
DiskPart succeeded in creating the specified partition.
 
DISKPART> for fs=ntfs quick label="7new"
 
  100 percent completed
 
DiskPart successfully formatted the volume.
 
DISKPART> ass
 
DiskPart successfully assigned the drive letter or mount point.
 
DISKPART> act
 
DiskPart marked the current partition as active.
 
DISKPART> lis vol
 
  Volume ###  Ltr  Label        Fs     Type        Size     Status     Info
  ----------  ---  -----------  -----  ----------  -------  ---------  --------
  Volume 0     F                       DVD-ROM         0 B  No Media
  Volume 1     E                       DVD-ROM         0 B  No Media
  Volume 2     C   7            NTFS   Partition     16 GB  Healthy    System
  Volume 3     D   Data         NTFS   Partition    247 GB  Healthy
  Volume 4     G                       Removable       0 B  No Media
* Volume 5     H   7new         NTFS   Partition     15 GB  Healthy
 
DISKPART> exi

• Select the volume to shrink from the list with "sel vol"
• Specify the minimum and desired volume size in megabytes with "shr"
• Specify your own label for the new volume with "for"
• Make note of the drive letter of the starred volume after "ass"

Now crack open a Windows 7 ISO and extract the file \sources\install.wim. I just mount the file directly with CloneDrive: elby Free Software but your favorite ISO or archive program should be able to do this as well. Download View attachment imagex.zip, extract and open an elevated command prompt there.

D:\Mike\Desktop\work>imagex /apply e:\sources\install.wim 5 h:\
 
ImageX Tool for Windows
Copyright (C) Microsoft Corp. All rights reserved.
 
[ 100% ] Applying progress
 
Successfully applied image.
 
Total elapsed time: 7 min 8 sec
 
 
D:\Mike\Desktop\work>h:\windows\system32\bcdboot h:\windows
 
Boot files successfully created.

Now reboot and a few minutes (less than 5 on my box) later you'll be prompted for locale info and to create a user. Welcome to your new Windows 7 installation.

To toggle back and forth between this new installation and the original one use diskpart.

Microsoft DiskPart version 6.1.7100
Copyright (C) 1999-2008 Microsoft Corporation.
On computer: ORION7
 
DISKPART> lis vol
 
  Volume ###  Ltr  Label        Fs     Type        Size     Status     Info
  ----------  ---  -----------  -----  ----------  -------  ---------  --------
  Volume 0     F                       DVD-ROM         0 B  No Media
  Volume 1     E   GRC1CULFRER  UDF    DVD-ROM     2413 MB  Healthy
  Volume 2     C   7            NTFS   Partition     16 GB  Healthy    System
  Volume 3     D   Data         NTFS   Partition    247 GB  Healthy
  Volume 4     H                NTFS   Partition     15 GB  Healthy
  Volume 5     G                       Removable       0 B  No Media
 
DISKPART> sel vol 2
 
Volume 2 is the selected volume.
 
DISKPART> act
 
DiskPart marked the current partition as active.
 
 
 
 

DISKPART> exi

• Select the volume containing the Windows installation you want to start from the list with "sel vol"

Please post issues, questions or other feedback here.

Related Tutorials

---

• How to Setup Windows 7 to Boot from a VHD (Virtual Hard Disk)
• How to Create a Windows 7 VHD at Boot to Start with from Boot
• How to Do a Upgrade Installation with Windows 7
• How to Do a Clean Installation with Windows 7
• How to Do a Repair Install to Fix Windows 7
• How to Create a Windows 7 Installation USB Key
• How to Setup a Dual Boot Installation with Windows 7 and Vista
• How to Setup a Dual Boot Installation with Windows 7 and XP
• Install Windows 7 Without Using Any External Device
• How to Use Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor
• How to Do a Custom Installation of Windows 7

 

[alonan100]

I tried to install Vista this way but it didn`t boot corrently because of missing Storage Drivers

 

[barfield2256]

Faster install from USB 2.0?

I'm getting average install times of 37 minutes from a 16 GB PNY flash drive on multiple makes of laptops.

If I booted from a flash drive into Windows PE (v3.0) and then ran a batch file with the steps posted above, is it reasonable to think install time would be even shorter? I would have the batch file and 'install.wim' in the root of the flash drive - not inside the boot.wim of WinPE.

I found this page while looking for a way to install Windows 7 from an 'install.win' that was already 'expanded'. It does seem that the 'Expanding files...' stage of Win 7 install is the most time consuming.

Thanks for the article!
-Drew

 

[Neophile]

This is very a interesting tutorial.

I would like to know what will happen if instead of installing install.wim on a new partition it is done on top of an existing installation of the same version.

 

[dynamind]

Bump!

If it's right, you helped me install windows7 on an exFAT STRIPE (RAID0)
partition!

thanks for your awesome guide

I'll soon reboot and tell you if it works : )

update: does not work, I guess bcd or winload is not able to boot from exFAT

 

[Project 2501]

Hi people, nice tut'.

Just wanted to say couple of words to guys that could not made Easy BCD to work in Xp.

As I understand Easy BCD in process of executing checks for necessary small set of boot environment files, that bcdboot.exe copies from Windows Image, which also makes BCD store on system partition with new boot entry so we could boot into apllied Windows Image.
So before step from tut' that requires you to boot from win 7 dvd and run bcdboot command, ofcourse make partition active (and reports with succes), I was not able to start Easy BCD in XP. Just rebooting afther that and will work like charm.

Hope this can be useful info. Cheers.

 

[Black Water]

thanks bro.

but the first part(code) , we can use the graphical User interface to shrink and extend HDD and not need to use Dos window and type so many words we could forget anytime , what is the advantage of this part ?


already ,, I did all your first steps that i typed comment about , But I failed in the second part

and every time I type the code in cmd , I see this message "The system cannot find the path specified."

what is the problem ? and how to fix it


thank again
​

 

[Brink]

Hello Black Water,

The first part was just his preference, but you could just as easily do it in Disk Management as well like you did.

In the second part below, did substitute your actual paths with the example ones in the command below?

D:\Mike\Desktop\work = path to imagex.exe file

e:\sources\install.wim = path to mounted install.wim file from extracted Windows 7 ISO file

h = drive letter that you want Windows 7 to install to

[COLOR=red][B]D:\Mike\Desktop\work[/B][/COLOR]>imagex /apply [COLOR=red][B]e:\sources\install.wim[/B][/COLOR] 5 [B][COLOR=red]h[/COLOR][/B]:\
 
ImageX Tool for Windows
Copyright (C) Microsoft Corp. All rights reserved.
 
[ 100% ] Applying progress
 
Successfully applied image.
 
Total elapsed time: 7 min 8 sec
 
 
D:\Mike\Desktop\work>h:\windows\system32\bcdboot h:\windows
 
Boot files successfully created.

Hope this helps,
Shawn

 

[signedin]

I want to install windows 7 on my PC. I am running on vista now. I don't want a dual boot or whatsoever. I want windows 7 as if I ran it from a bootable DVD. Can I still use this method? What additional steps must I include?

 

[BrutalElite]

I'm stuck

I know this fourm is a little old but i still hope i get a reply soon. i make it to the last steps of useing the install.wim but everytime i enter in the directory it says wim information then tells me the different commands. i just want to install this 64bit over my 32 bc 32 is only using 3.2gigs of my 12gigs of ram and im a HC gamer battlefeild 3 to be on point. please help me!!

 

[zigzag3143]

I know this fourm is a little old but i still hope i get a reply soon. i make it to the last steps of useing the install.wim but everytime i enter in the directory it says wim information then tells me the different commands. i just want to install this 64bit over my 32 bc 32 is only using 3.2gigs of my 12gigs of ram and im a HC gamer battlefeild 3 to be on point. please help me!!

You cant install 64 bit "over" 32. It has to be a clean install.

Which of course means you have to re-install all your games/apps.

 

[BrutalElite]

I understand that part

Im trying to put it on my extra internal HDD its only 40gigs and i want to put this on it my 32 bit is on my 60gig hdd but i cant get the instalazition to start bc cmd is being a pos to me.

 

[zigzag3143]

Im trying to put it on my extra internal HDD its only 40gigs and i want to put this on it my 32 bit is on my 60gig hdd but i cant get the instalazition to start bc cmd is being a pos to me.

I am still not understanding. If you dont have a dvd or flash drive where would you be installing from?

 

[arneo]

Thanks for the post about pre installing windows with imagex.exe,
my current experiences with installing it on a fresh new drive are below.
(I won't put the output here to keep it short ;P)

The other thing I tried was to mount(Junction) C:\Users to another physical drive, and it worked :]].

DISKPART> list disk
DISKPART> list volume

DISKPART> select disk 2
DISKPART> create partition primary size=100
DISKPART> create partition primary 
DISKPART> for fs=ntfs quick label="7new"
DISKPART> assign
DISKPART> active

DISKPART> list volume
  Volume ###  Ltr  Label        Fs     Type        Size     Status     Info
  ----------  ---  -----------  -----  ----------  -------  ---------  --------
  Volume 0     O                       DVD-ROM         0 B  No Media
  Volume 1         System Rese  NTFS   Partition    100 MB  Healthy
  Volume 2     C   W7current    NTFS   Partition     59 GB  Healthy    System
  Volume 3     E   Users        NTFS   Partition    500 GB  Healthy    
  Volume 4         System Rese  NTFS   Partition    100 MB  Healthy
* Volume 5     D   7new         NTFS   Partition    120 GB  Healthy


DISKPART> exit
You could also use the graphical program diskmgmt.msc :]

When I rebooted I got bootmgr is missing press ctrl+alt+del to restart (of course a feature).
After installing you might (always) need to boot from DVD and
go to "Repair your computer" (at the bottom), select "Repair and restart" (and reboot,
again from DVD), select "Use recovery .... click [Next]" and
start "Start-up Repair" (at the top).
This worked for me in multiple times (I disconnected my old system drives).

The imagex installation number ?!
As there are different ISO's (install.wim) types the index number is not always the same that you want.
If you run "imagex.exe /info O:\sources\install.wim" you get a bunch of xml code,
in here is index number an what installation of windows that goes with it.
The starting tag is: <IMAGE INDEX="1"> (The index number we need) and yust above
is the closing tag </IMAGE> is the <DISPLAYDESCRIPTION>Windows 7 Home Basic...
I guess that's an easy one

Mounting the C:\Users to another drive
Before starting the "imagex" process I've mounted another drive to the D:\ (7New) drive
and changed the security-rights on the folder "D:\Users" and drive-user-drive (E:\).
I looked up the folder rights (C:\Users) on the currently active windows
and changed the "D:\Users" folder and "E:\" drive security-rights accordingly.
And mounted it to the folder D:\Users (use mountvol.exe or the GUI diskmgmt.msc tool).
After this I started the "imagex" process, surprisingly it work for pre installation of the windows.
After reboot the post installation of windows started and completed successfully
I can't say what it will do in the long run, I've also tried it with "C:\Programdata",
"Program Files.." these gave errors, properly because of junctions
that are required to be on the same drive.

Thx all, and good luck installing.

 

[Zynpol]

How do I know how much to shrink by?
I have two partitions, Volume 1 with windows on is 415 GB
and the second with nothing on is 516 GB?

 

[stupot65]

So if I delete my old windows 7 partition, will my new one still work? Because if I want a fresh install of windows 7 I could use this but I would then want to delete my old installation. Would that work?

 

[Brink]

So if I delete my old windows 7 partition, will my new one still work? Because if I want a fresh install of windows 7 I could use this but I would then want to delete my old installation. Would that work?

Hello Stupot,

If this is for your Toshiba Satellite listed in your system specs, then you would want to do a factory recovery to reinstall your Windows instead. The link below from Toshiba can help show you how to if needed.

How to recover a Toshiba notebook with the HDD recovery procedure

Hope this helps,
Shawn

 

[stupot65]

Uhh, no it's for a computer without a built in recovery tool

 

[Brink]

In that case, you could but it probably be easier to just do a normal clean install.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/1649-clean-install-windows-7-a.html

 

[trembuzz]

This looks interesting. I'd like to create a dual boot with Vista x64 and Windows 7 x64 capable of accessing files on an external HDD from both OS's. The original files (video of various formats) were created with Vista. I can take ownership within Windows 7 but this will mean ownership issues every time I switch OS's. I'm not a "novice" but can't think of a work around for this to work sans the ownership issues.

Any thoughts on this subject would be appreciated.

 

[Alejandro85]

Didn't knew that this was possible at all, nice trick, thanks!
Quick question, is it possible to use this method to install a second instance of Windows within the same partition as the existing one? Or when deploying the image it overwrites everything previously on the target drive? Otherwise, I would have to continue doing so with the normal installer.

This looks interesting. I'd like to create a dual boot with Vista x64 and Windows 7 x64 capable of accessing files on an external HDD from both OS's. The original files (video of various formats) were created with Vista. I can take ownership within Windows 7 but this will mean ownership issues every time I switch OS's. I'm not a "novice" but can't think of a work around for this to work sans the ownership issues.

Any thoughts on this subject would be appreciated.

You may give ownership and permissions to a built-in security entity, like the administrators group or the "everyone" group. Those have standard, predefined SIDs shared among every Windows instance and will be recognized right away, without needing both systems steal permissions from each other every time.