Creating 64bit install USB from 32bit W7 OS

Hey guys,

I'm getting a new Macbook Air without an optical drive in a couple of weeks so I'm trying to create a bootable USB drive so I can install Windows 7 on it on day one (can't live without a bit of Windows 7)

I'm currently running Windows 7 on my Dell XPS M1330 which is a 32 bit install, but I want to create a 64bit bootable USB (the new version of Windows 7 I have is 64 bit and the new computer has 4 gig of ram).

When I try and do this through Microsoft's USB DVD Download tool, though, I get an error:

'Files copied successfully. However, we were unable to run bootsect to make the USB device bootable. If you need assistance with bootsect, please click the "Online Help" link above for more information.'

The online help section didn't even mention bootsect, but I'm pretty sure this is an issue because I'm trying to create a bootable USB install stick of a 64 bit version from a 32 bit version.

Does anybody know a way around this without installing 64bit Windows 7 on my computer? Any help would be greatly appreciated, this is driving me nuts

Thanks

You can make 32bit USB from a 32bit ISO
or
You can make 64bit USB from a 64bit ISO


USB Windows 7 Installation Key Drive - Create

Thanks for your reply - it is a 64bit ISO that I'm using, so I'm not sure that's what the problem is.

Try method two in the tutorial above.

Thanks, I'm giving that a go now. I don't think there's any way to test it until I try to install it - apparently people with my problem get up to 23% before it fails, so I'll give this a go and post back here in a few weeks with my results.

Cheers for that

So what happened, you said you'll post back?

Use this tool which doesn't have to be installed but will write either bit-version installer to flash stick easily just by loading the ISO and choosing Win7 in the dropdown menu: Universal USB Installer – Easy as 1 2 3

Sorry - completely forgot. It worked fine, the method suggested by theog works great.

jonnyweir said:

Sorry - completely forgot. It worked fine, the method suggested by theog works great.

Well done.

You are welcome.

Diskpart from OPTION TWO in the tutorial didn't work because I'm running 32bit XP. Diskpart is different than what's described.

I wound up using the method in this article.
My bootsect obviously didn't work so I googled for a 32 bit version, was easy enough to find. Just ran same command described there.

This looks like this could work too:

gregrocker said:

Use this tool which doesn't have to be installed but will write either bit-version installer to flash stick easily just by loading the ISO and choosing Win7 in the dropdown menu: Universal USB Installer – Easy as 1 2 3

I appreciate all the replies.