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

 

[baarod]

getting something like this....please help me sooooooooooon

You can only have four primary partitions.

 

[bankerrahul]

note the size in the list above is it ment to be klike that?

what ??? sorry, but i didn't get you :S

You can only have four primary partitions.

oh...ok thanks so much

 

[bankerrahul]

imagex not working for me :S
just blinks a black screen once and then nothing happens.. :S
help urgently

 

[sup3rsprt]

imagex not working for me :S
just blinks a black screen once and then nothing happens.. :S
help urgently

start an elevated command prompt and then navigate to the directory that imagex.exe is in. Remember, this tutorial was not intended for novices (no offense).

 

[baarod]

start an elevated command prompt and then navigate to the directory that imagex.exe is in. Remember, this tutorial was not intended for novices (no offense).

Thanks!

 

[sup3rsprt]

Thanks!

you're welcome and thanks to you! +Rep

 

[BFG]

AHH!!!!

I tried doing this with the win 7 professional upgrade I download

when I rebooted I got bootmgr is missing press ctrl+alt+del to restart

it worked fine when I followed these instructions with the enterprise demo download

what can I do now I don't have another computer

looks like I'm hosed

 

[BFG]

After spending hours putting the vista recovery iso on my usb drive so that it was bootable, I'm back up.

it turns out image #1 is the starter edition, so I'm guessing the professional is maybe #4?

 

[BFG]

Alright every time I set my new win7 partition as the active one when I reboot I get the bootmgr is missing.

How do I get the bootmgr to my new partition so I can clean up my old one.

I already edited msconfig so that my new win7 part is the only os listed

Please help thanks

Windows Boot Manager
--------------------
identifier              {bootmgr}
device                  partition=H:
description             Windows Boot Manager
locale                  en-us
inherit                 {globalsettings}
default                 {current}
resumeobject            {9e7349cd-abc0-11de-8460-b63e22d03d77}
displayorder            {9e7349ce-abc0-11de-8460-b63e22d03d77}
                        {current}
toolsdisplayorder       {memdiag}
timeout                 10

Windows Boot Loader
-------------------
identifier              {9e7349ce-abc0-11de-8460-b63e22d03d77}
device                  partition=H:
path                    \windows\system32\winload.exe
description             Windows 7
locale                  en-us
inherit                 {bootloadersettings}
osdevice                partition=H:
systemroot              \windows
resumeobject            {9e7349cd-abc0-11de-8460-b63e22d03d77}
nx                      OptIn
numproc                 2
detecthal               Yes
usefirmwarepcisettings  No

Windows Boot Loader
-------------------
identifier              {current}
device                  partition=C:
path                    \windows\system32\winload.exe
description             Windows 7
locale                  en-US
inherit                 {bootloadersettings}
recoverysequence        {9e7349cb-abc0-11de-8460-b63e22d03d77}
recoveryenabled         Yes
osdevice                partition=C:
systemroot              \windows
resumeobject            {9e7349c9-abc0-11de-8460-b63e22d03d77}
nx                      OptIn
numproc                 2
usefirmwarepcisettings  No

see there the bootmgr remains on my first partion, so if I try to make new partion active the bootmgr is missing

 

[iseeuu]

Alright every time I set my new win7 partition as the active one when I reboot I get the bootmgr is missing.

How do I get the bootmgr to my new partition so I can clean up my old one.

I already edited msconfig so that my new win7 part is the only os listed

Please help thanks

see there the bootmgr remains on my first partion, so if I try to make new partion active the bootmgr is missing

BFG;

I don't see the 100MB partition 7 creates during installation? When that small partition is active, the computer boots to it, shows you the OS menu, and allows you to select which OS to run. If you were to make another partition active, it would also have to have the Bootmgr installed in the partition or you would get the bootmgr missing because it is not there. After the first OS has been installed, you only need to tell the BOOTMANAGER where to find additional OSs and include them in the Bootmanager menu, you do not need to make the other partitions active. Doing so only confuses your computer.

Cheers!
Robert

 

[Codify]

Great Tutorial.

The thing that always makes me laugh a little is that DOS is still useful as a command line language.

installing an most advanced OS using command in DOS is something great!!!

It's not actually DOS

 

[sarzu]

thanx a lotttt.

 

[Flava0ne]

Right after I did a fresh install of my copy of Windows 7, I activated it then I immediately created a Backup Disk Image and saved it on my Backup Drive. Wouldn't this be like the same thing except maybe take a little longer?

 

[astrajingga]

How about file in there, when Volume 3 Data get shrunk to be new partition (volume 5)? is there any file or Vol 3 already empty before we shrunk?

 

[MdM]

Can I use a partition manager program to create a primary 16GB partition and make it active and then go with the Imagex and bcdboot part? Not that I don't know how to use diskpart but in these cases I always prefer having a graphic view of what I'm doing so I'm sure no mistakes are made.

Another question is : I actually have a Windows 7 x64 running on a AHCI drive but it's giving me a lot of troubles and I want to do a clean install but setting my boot partition back to native IDE. Now, if I create this windows installation currently running AHCI, reboot, change to native IDE, will I have problems with the Windows Installation I created or it doesn't matter?

Thanks

 

[zrtom]

I've revisited this tutorial for a project I was doing prepping several hard drives for quick W7 installations. One of them would not boot; no way, no how. Spent most of today on that one.

Turns out I needed to rebuild the MBR, which Partition Wizard did in a couple seconds. Then everything worked perfect.

So, I thought I would throw that tidbit on here, in case someone else runs into a similar no-boot problem.

During my experiments, I was able to do this procedure and create the 100MB System Reserved Partition. That was for a case where I will need BitLocker. I first created the 100MB partition and used the remainder of the HDD for the OS. bcdboot would not copy the appropriate files doing it from my bench computer but it did by running the command from the install disc with the HDD in the target computer.
Tom

 

[blockie]

Win 7 Clean install on a XP machine

Can I do a clean install on an XP machine. I have an OEM disk that will boot but stops just before the text message that says "loading Temp files". I can go into the DVD with explorer and click on "setup" and the installation begins. Will this method be OK?

I also have another internal HD that I can put the installation files on (in a folder) and do the same thing. It appears that this will work. Aty least I can click on the "setup" file and the installion begins. I don't wantto go throufg the entire setup until I purchase license key. Is that OK?

I will be installing Win 7 Pro to a machine that has WXP SP3 on it.

 

[Hanziness]

I need some help

Hi everyone, I tried this one (on a Virtual PC with 256 MB RAM), it worked until ImageX, it "installed" Windows 7 to an other drive (G:\) but I can't boot it up, bcdboot didn't work, I made boot files with EasyBCD but always just XP starts and the boot manager doesn't change. If I set Windows 7 to default, just XP starts.

Please help me!

 

[zrtom]

Hi everyone, I tried this one (on a Virtual PC with 256 MB RAM), it worked until ImageX, it "installed" Windows 7 to an other drive (G:\) but I can't boot it up, bcdboot didn't work, I made boot files with EasyBCD but always just XP starts and the boot manager doesn't change. If I set Windows 7 to default, just XP starts.

Please help me!

Did you put the boot files (bootmgr and \Boot\ folder) in the Windows 7 partition and is that partition marked active?

 

[Hanziness]

Hi everyone, I tried this one (on a Virtual PC with 256 MB RAM), it worked until ImageX, it "installed" Windows 7 to an other drive (G:\) but I can't boot it up, bcdboot didn't work, I made boot files with EasyBCD but always just XP starts and the boot manager doesn't change. If I set Windows 7 to default, just XP starts.

Please help me!

Did you put the boot files (bootmgr and \Boot\ folder) in the Windows 7 partition and is that partition marked active?

There is a boot folder in the "G:\WINDOWS" folder (G:\Windows\Boot) but there isn't any "G:\Boot" folder.

How can I solve this problem?
I'm going to mark that partition as active.

EDIT: Okay, I marked that partition as active!

Additional information: If I change the First Boot Device to the second hard drive, when it starts I get this error:

NTLDR is missing
Press Ctrl+Alt+Del to restart

EDIT #2: Ok, Windows 7's recovery tools solved the problem, anyway, thank you