How can I make a portable Win 7

[jchoelgaard]

I have a preinstalled Windows 7 32 bit on my Laptop.

I do not have a CD or DVD drive.

I do not have an ISO image for installation and
can not download one from Microsoft and can not
get it from VAIO support even though I have a valid key
and all other info. Also I dont want to buy a new Win 7.

1) Is it possible to create an installation "disk" (iso file)
from the files in my Windows directory. I am not talking
about a recovery disk or a system disk, which I understand
are not the same as what I need.

2) Can I somehow format and partition a USB stick and make it
bootable so as to "mimic" the harddisk and then just copy
the whole Windows directory to the USB as well as the Registry
files. If I then change the boot order in the BIOS and power up,
is there any chance the USB will run my Win 7 ?

3) If I did have a valid iso of Win 7, I know this could be used to
install Win 7 on a USB, which then could be used to run
Win 7 directly, but since I dont have the iso, I am lost if neither
1) nor 2) are possible.

Any suggestions?

 

[Paul Black]

Hi jchoelgaard, welcome to Seven Forums,

Are you talking about creating a Bootable Win 7 SP1 USB ISO in which to re-install your OS?

You will need your Product Key for the version of Windows that you are creating an ISO for. This is the ONLY version that you will be able to activate. On a laptop, it will either be on a sticker on the bottom, or in the battery compartment. If the sticker is too worn to read, or there isn't one, then you can retrieve it by either using Belarc Advisor or Magic Jelly Bean. Write this Product Key down and keep it in a safe place.

To create a Win 7 SP1 ISO you can download the latest and last Windows [Final] > Windows 7 SP1 [build 7601] > Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 ISO [build 6.1.7601 - July 2009] file from TechBench [make sure you select the correct language and bit type]. It is recommended that you download the Win 7 Ultimate SP1 ISO because all versions of Win 7 can be made available from it. This is achieved by creating a folder on the desktop and then unzipping the ISO into it using 7-Zip, and then delete the ei.cfg file in the sources folder. Alternatively, you can run the eicfg_removal_utility against the downloaded ISO. If the version of Windows you are installing is Windows 7 SP1 Ultimate, then there is NO need to remove the ei.cfg file as instructed above.

The light blue text are links to the relevant websites and programs, just click them!

I hope this helps!

 

[Snick]

After obtaining the ISO as Paul recommends you can make a bootable Windows 7 USB with
Hasleo WinToUSB
use
Dism++
for installing Windows Updates

 

[SIW2]

If the sticker is too worn to read, or there isn't one, then you can retrieve it by either using Belarc Advisor or Magic Jelly Bean. Write this Product Key down and keep it in a safe place.

If the OS was preinstalled at the factory, the key in the registry is no use by itself. In that case, either the coa sticker, or ActiveBackup > such as that done by dism++here <

 

[Paul Black]

Hi Snick,

Hasleo WinToUSB

Nice that it can make a mostly portable USB Win 7 OS. The down side however, is there could possibly be some issues with Win 7 with regard to drivers when booting on different computers, and of course, it will need a USB 2.0 port!

Thanks.

 

[Snick]

Works with Windows 10/8.1/8/7/Vista/2016/2012/2010/2008. Haven't had an issue with drivers on other computers, but haven't tried different manufacturers. ASUS is probably one that you would encounter driver issues (haven't tested that though).

Well, just installed Win7x64 Ultimate on USB stick, no internet connection Ethernet or WiFi. So, Paul, you are correct regarding the drivers.

 

[Paul Black]

Works with Windows 10/8.1/8/7/Vista/2016/2012/2010/2008. Haven't had an issue with drivers on other computers, but haven't tried different manufacturers. ASUS is probably one that you would encounter driver issues (haven't tested that though).
USB 3.0 port will work as they are backwards compatible.

Thanks . I will give it a go at the weekend!

 

[Snick]

Paul, depending on your AVs, you might want to disable them temporarily while running WintoUSB to expedite the install process. If you have WintoUSB stuck installing at 95% for quite some time, that is usually the resolution. The install will complete with your AVs running, it just takes longer.

 

[Paul Black]

Hi Snick,

Paul, depending on your AVs, you might want to disable them temporarily while running WintoUSB to expedite the install process. If you have WintoUSB stuck installing at 95% for quite some time, that is usually the resolution. The install will complete with your AVs running, it just takes longer.

Thanks for the warning and advice, it is appreciated .

 

[Vineet Garg]

Hi All,
Greets,
Sir(s),

1. Simply great stuff!

2. I think one should use the fastest USB 3.0 pen drive with as much capacity as possible & should be inserted in the advanced USB 3.0 port. That will avoid any type of performance issues.

3. As for drivers, i think there would be only teething problems with the drivers. Once a driver installed, it would simply appear/disappear according to the PC & use. The critical drivers can be USB 3.0 drivers because win 7 doesn't support USB 3.0 out of the box. One can integrate USB 3.0 drivers in the iso. Sir SIW2 can help with that! The only other critical drivers can be chipset drivers.

4. I have security concerns for portable windows. (a) It will be always vulnerable to attacks being run from different PCs. (b) Once i was going through Kaspersky's basic requirements & there was a mention that it doesn't support Windows To Go. I don't know whether Kaspersky would be able to recognize it as Windows To Go or the Hasleo tool fools it smartly. Probably Windows To Go would hit their interests. Didn't look deeply in other anti-virus programs' specifications.

5. jchoelgaard : Sir, Activations !

(i). If you have a valid retail key, you should type & confirm/verify it here :
https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/software-download/windows7

(ii) Every key can be used only with one edition of win 7 but it can be used between 32 or 64 bit. For eg. Ultimate key can activate Ultimate 32 bit or Ultimate 64 bit.

(iii) Normally, One can use a retail key only on one system. As you say that you have a branded pc pre-installed with windows 7, there are good chances that you are having an OEM license activated on it. So, you are actually having two licenses if you care for!
Let the pc be activated with OEM license. You can backup the oem activation & use it indefinitely to activate the same edition on the same pc. And use the retail key to activate the same edition on any other pc or ways.

(iv) To backup an activation, i would prefer : Advanced Tokens Manager
3 Tools to Backup and Restore Windows 7 and Vista OEM Activation License • Raymond.CC
Additionally, I would suggest activation backup with DISM++ as said by sir SIW2.

(v) Though when you back up the activation with Advanced Tokens Manager, it will tell you about the activated type of license. But to make sure that you have an oem license activated on your pc, You can run this small utility & look into it.
https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/produkey.zip

Look for the windows product key. If the product key is not the same as retail key you tested above, you are having an OEM license on your pc. Back it up right now or it may become too late, its worth!

Never ever share your retail key with anyone .

EDITS/ADDITIONS :

6. I checked with Bitdefender customer care & saw a ray of hope in the communication. But they were not sure!
I think the free Antivirus versions should not have any problems/ hit of interests with Windows To Go concept(s).

7. As the Windows To Go can be run from different PCs, the concern(s) of missing critical drivers ( Chipset & Storage ) doesn't seem to end with Win 7.
I am able to see only a few fool proof workouts for win 7:

(i) Be sure about the PCs you are going to run portable windows from! Make sure that you can run win7 on them & slipstream the required drivers accordingly.

(ii) Slipstream DriverPack, etc. driver packages for critical drivers directly in the iso & check whether you can run win7 on those pcs. Make sure that the drivers are from relevant sources.

( I don't think we should consider the storage drivers for Internal HDDs/SSDs/CD-DVD Drives as critical drivers as we are booting from a USB 3.0 here! The migration from RAID to AHCI was not straight forward but they were in the root of boot then !? )

(Normally, critical drivers are slip streamed in both wims i.e. Install Wim(s) & Boot Wim)

Let us know.

Thanks & Regards. ...

Extras : If one wants to use activation backups, he should not enter a product key during the installation & should not Check the box Automatically Activate Online.