USB Windows 7 Installation Key Drive - Create

How to Create a Bootable Windows 7 Installation USB Flash Drive​

   Information

This will show you how to create a USB flash key drive that you can boot from to install Windows 7 with.

   Tip

If the USB flash drive is of sufficient capacity, say 8GB, then after copying the Windows 7 installation DVD onto it, you can create a new folder (ex: Device Drivers) in the USB key and place all of your latest driver installation files in it. This way you will have them handy to manually install the drivers after installing Windows 7 from the USB key.

   Note

If you booted from the USB drive to install Windows 7, then you may need to change the hard drive back to being listed before the USB key in the boot order in BIOS after the computer restarts during installation to prevent the computer from booting right back into the USB key starting the installation process over and over.

   Warning

• The USB key needs to be at least 4 GB in size.
• This will delete everything on the USB key. Be sure to save anything that you do not want to lose on it somewhere else.
• Before installing Windows 7 from the USB key, you will need to:
  • Enable Legacy USB storage detect in the BIOS.
• When ready to install Windows 7 from the USB key:
  • Connect the USB key.
  • Restart the computer, and keep tapping the F key (see screenshot below) responsible to open the Boot Menu screen for the brand and model of your motherboard or computer until it does.
    • 
      
  • Select the USB key to boot from.
  • Start installing Windows 7.

CONTENTS:

• Option One: Use "Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool" to Create Bootable Windows 7 Installation USB
• Option Two: Use "Rufus" to Create Bootable Windows 7 Installation USB
• Option Three: Manually Create Bootable Windows 7 Installation USB Flash Drive

OPTION ONE

Use "Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool" to Create Bootable Windows 7 Installation USB

   Tip

If you do not have a Windows 7 ISO file, then you can either download the latest ISO version at the links below.

:ar: Microsoft Software Recovery

:ar: Microsoft: Windows 7 Direct Download Links

You could also use a free program like ImgBurn or ISODisk to create a ISO from your Windows 7 installation DVD.

1. For how, see the Part 2 section here: Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool.

OPTION TWO

Use "Rufus" to Create Bootable Windows 7 Installation USB

1. Download the latest version of Rufus at the link below, and save it's .exe file to your desktop.
:ar: Rufus - Create bootable USB drives the easy way

   Note

This is a standalone exe file that doesn't install anything to your PC.

For Rufus FAQs, see: https://github.com/pbatard/rufus/wiki/FAQ

2. Connect your USB flash drive if you have not already.

3. Run the rufus_v###.exe file, and click/tap on Yes if prompted by UAC.
NOTE: ### = latest version number.

4. Set Rufus with the settings below: (see screenshot below step 5)

• [Under Device, select the USB flash drive you want to format and use.
• Under Format Options, check Create a bootable disk using, click/tap on the browse icon to navigate to and select your 64-bit Windows 7 ISO file.
• Under Partition scheme and target system type, select MBR partition scheme for BIOS or UEFI computers.
• Under File system, select NTFS.
• Under Cluster size, select the (Default) (ex: 16 kilobytes or 4096 bytes) it has listed.
• Under Format Options, check Quick format.
• Under Format Options, check Create extended label and icon files.
• Under New volume label, you can enter any name you like for the USB flash drive, or leave the default name.

5. When ready, click/tap on Start. (see screenshot below)

6. Click/tap on OK to confirm. (see screenshot below)

7. Rufus will now start creating the bootable UEFI USB flash drive. (see screenshot below)

8. When Rufus is "DONE", you can close Rufus. (see screenshot below)
NOTE: It could take a little while to finish.

9. You are now ready to installWindows 7 with your bootable USB flash drive.

OPTION THREE

Manually Create Bootable Windows 7 Installation USB Flash Drive

   Warning

Using this method:

• You will only be able to create a 64-bit Windows 7 bootable USB flash drive if your current Windows 7 installation is also 64-bit.
• You will be able to create a 32-bit Windows 7 bootable USB flash drive if your current Windows 7 installation is 32-bit or 64-bit.

64-bit installation + 64-bit ISO = 64-bit flash drive
64-bit installation + 32-bit ISO = 32-bit flash drive
32-bit installation + 32-bit ISO = 32-bit flash drive
32-bit installation + 64-bit ISO = unable to create

1. Plug the USB key in.

2. If AutoPlay opens a pop-up for the USB key, then just close it.
NOTE: Make note of what the drive size is for the USB key for use in step 6 below. You can also open Computer (step 19) to see what the drive size is to. For example, mine is 3920 MB. (See screenshot below)

3. Open an elevated command prompt.

4. In the elevated command prompt, type diskpart and press Enter. (See screenshot below)

5. In the elevated command prompt, type list disk and press Enter. (See screenshot below)
NOTE: Make note of what disk # your USB key is listed as to use in step 6 below. You can also look for the drive size (step 2) of the USB key to help ID the disk number. For example, mine is listed as Disk 1 here for the 3920 MB disk.

6. In the elevated command prompt, type select disk # (your USB disk #) and press Enter. (See screenshot below)
NOTE: For example, my USB key is listed as Disk 1, so I would type select disk 1 and press Enter.

7. In the elevated command prompt, type clean and press Enter. (See screenshot below)

8. In the elevated command prompt, type create partition primary and press Enter. (See screenshot below)

9. In the elevated command prompt, type select partition 1 and press Enter. (See screenshot below)

10. In the elevated command prompt, type active and press Enter. (See screenshot below)

11. In the elevated command prompt, type in the command below to format the USB as NTFS or FAT32, and press Enter. (See screenshot below)
NOTE: This may take a few moments to finish formatting the USB key.

   Note

You can substitute Windows 7 within quotes in the commands below with whatever name (drive label) you would like to have displayed for the USB drive instead.

See also: Choosing between NTFS, FAT, and FAT32



FAT32 volume labels

• If you have an UEFI instead of BIOS motherboard, then you will need to use FAT32 and not NTFS.
• Volume labels can contain as many as 11 characters and can include spaces but no tabs.
• Volume labels cannot contain the following characters: ? / \ | . , ; : + = [ ] < > "
• Volume labels are stored as uppercase regardless of whether they contain lowercase letters.

NTFS volume labels

• Volume labels can contain as many as 32 characters.

format fs=ntfs label="Windows 7" quick

OR

format fs=fat32 label="Windows 7" quick


12. If AutoPlay opens a pop-up for the USB key, then just close it.

13. In the elevated command prompt, type assign and press Enter. (See screenshot below)
NOTE: This will assign a new drive letter to the USB key. Make note of the new USB drive letter to use in step 22 below. For example, mine is now H.

14. If AutoPlay opens a pop-up for the USB key, then just close it.

15. In the elevated command prompt, type exit and press Enter. (See screenshot below)
NOTE: This will exit you from DiskPart from step 4.

16. Close the elevated command prompt.

17. Insert your Windows 7 installation DVD into the DVD drive.

18. If AutoPlay opens a pop-up for the Windows 7 installation DVD, then just close it.

19. Open the Start Menu, right click on the Computer button, and click on Open.

20. Right click on the DVD drive (ex: E: ) that has the Windows 7 installation DVD in it, and click on Open. (See screenshot below)

21. Highlight all of the contents, right click on the highlighted contents, and click on Copy. (See screenshot below)
NOTE: You will need to copy all of the files and folders on the Windows 7 installation DVD to the USB key.

22. Go back to Computer, right click on the USB key drive (ex: H ), and click on Paste. (See screenshot below)

23. The contents of the Windows 7 installation DVD will now start copying over to the USB key. (See screenshot below)
NOTE: This may take a few moments to complete.

24. When finished, you can close the Computer window and unplug the USB key.

25. You now have a Windows 7 Installation USB key.

   Warning

If you have UEFI instead of BIOS motherboard, then you will need to temporarily disable Secure Boot to use the USB to install Windows. After installation is complete, you can enable Secure Boot again.

That's it,
Shawn

Related Tutorials

---

• How to Create a Windows 7 System Repair Disc
• How to Do an 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 Install Windows 7 FAST without a DVD or USB Device
• 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 Create a Bootable ISO from an Older ISO
• How to Do a Custom Installation of Windows 7
• How to Do a Clean Install with a Upgrade Windows 7 Version
• How to Get and Use the Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool
• How to Make a MS-DOS Bootable Flash Drive
• How to Create a Windows 7 Universal Installation Disc
• How to Install Windows 7 from USB Pen Drive Using Grub4Dos
• How to Slipstream Windows 7 SP1 and Updates to Create a Bootable USB, Installation DVD, or ISO File
• How to Install Windows 7 Using "Unified Extensible Firmware Interface" (UEFI)
• How to Create a Bootable UEFI USB Flash Drive for Installing Windows 7 and Windows 8

 

[SIW2]

Hi Brink - many thanks for responding so quickly. Yes, it was an ISO ripped from my W7 disc using ImgBurn, then transferred to USB as per Method One.

I've looked at all the warnings, and can't see why it should be an issue based on any of those. The only thing I haven't done is set my BIOS to recognize "Legacy USB" - I just move it up in the boot priority and it boots fine (I've installed Linux no problems on the same machine in the past via USB).

My next course of actions is:

1) try ripping the ISO with a different program, i.e. ISODisk
2) try to find a friend with a 64 bit machine, and try Method One on that
3) try Method Two on a 64 bit machine, if all else fails
4) mental breakdown

I'll post back here with my findings...

Cheers

any results? i'm having the same problem... i try to create a 64bit Win7 USB from my XP 32bit System and receive this error:
Files copied successfully. However, we were unable to run bootsect to make the USB device bootable. If you need assistance with the bootsect, please click the "Online Help" link.
does anyone have a solution?

you need a copy of 32 bit bootsect.exe

Run it manually from the command line.

If you have Easybcd installed - it's in the Easybcd bin folder.

You can run it from the Easybcd command console.

command is:

bootsect /nt60 /mbr usbdriveletter:

 

[vivek669]

Unable to create a Boot DIsk on my USB

Ok, I am having a series of problems with my pc right now and I am unable to use my USB thumb drive as a boot disk to install Win 7 on my system. To begin with, My DVD- rom drive isn't burning DVDs anymore (needs to be replaced for sure!).

I followed the steps prescribed here with both the options.
Option 1- Use a Program to Create Bootable Windows 7 Installation USB Flash Drive

I, as suggested in the tutorial, downloaded Windows 7 USB/DVD download tool. Ran the program and selected "USB Devices". But soon after that I got the below error message



I also tried running the DVD option, the writer showed the status upto 99% after which it threw me an error message. (expected as I know there are issues with my DVD rom drive)

Then, I followed the 2nd Option

Option 2-Manually Create Bootable Windows 7 Installation USB Flash Drive

The 2nd Option was a bigger failure. As mentioned in the tutorial, I ran the command prompt.
Typed List disk. Enter
Selected my USB Disk by hitting Select DISK 1. Enter
Typed the command "Clean" and got the following error message:

DiskPart has encountered an error: The remote procedure call failed. See the System Event Log for more information.



On further probing I found the following while pulling out the details of the disk.



I am becoming increasingly frustrated because I am unable to use a Bootable disk nor a bootable USB drive for my insanely virus infected PC. Can anyone please help?

I am running a Windows 7 ultimate on my HP dv6900 laptop. The specs are as follows:

Ram size: 3gb RAM
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo T5750@ 2ghz.
Disk Space- 320 gb.

USB cable used- 8gb ram
Win 7 ISO file size- 3.8gb

regards,

Vivek

 

[SIW2]

As you are able to get into win 7 - you could try a system restore , or a repair install.

 

[vivek669]

Unfortunately I haven't saved a system restore point on my system.

 

[Brink]

Hello Vivek,

You might see if you may be able to create the bootable USB on another computer to see if you may be able to boot from it on your computer.

Are you not able to boot from a DVD as well, say a retail Windows 7 installation DVD?

 

[vivek669]

Hi Brink, yes that's exactly what I am trying to do right now. Unfortunately I am unable to get hold of a system to create a boot disk at this moment. But is there an alternative way to make a bootable USB drive?

Viv

 

[Brink]

Viv,

There doesn't appear to be with your system not able to probably due to the virus.

How about the question above with a DVD?

 

[vivek669]

ah ok! well then I think I will have to wait till I get my hands on a computer that does the job for me!

I will keep you posted! Worst case scenario I will get my DVD rom changed to allow me to boot through the DVD.

Thanks Brink!

Viv

 

[Brink]

You're welcome Viv. I look forward to hearing how it went.

 

[Faceofjoe421]

Hi,

Thanks Brink.

yes I will get a USB Stick then, or ask a friend for one, what is the minimum stick size I will need?

 

[Brink]

Hello Joe,

The USB key needs to be at least 4 GB in size.

 

[fluidmotion]

typed clean all,
and
output looks like this?

 

[Golden]

Hi Fluidmotion,

You first need to select a disk. Try this:

list disk

then identify which disk you want to clean, and then type

select disk #

then the clean all command

Regards,
Golden

 

[LM2008]

Can i partition a 15 GB usb flash drive into two partitions so i can transfer one with windows 7 64 bits and in the other with the 32 bits? or is there another way to let me pick one of the version when installing into a hard drive? I already have a usb flash with home premium 64, but i want to have the 32 bits version so i can install it to other machines with valid licenses.

 

[Britton30]

Check here, Stage two http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/85813-windows-7-universal-installation-disc-create.html
Put them all on one partition on a USB drive, or DVD.

 

[thebladeroden]

After running through the steps, I get a message saying "NTLDR is missing Press Ctrl+Alt+Del to restart" after the BIOS splash.

 

[Brink]

Hello thebladeroden,

If you used OPTION TWO with the issues that you are currently having from your other posts, then that may be why it's not working for you.

 

[Infinite]

Would this work for a USB 2 4GB or will I need to do Method 2.

 

[Brink]

Hello Infinite,

Sure, if you have or create a ISO file of Windows 7, you could do Option One if you like.

 

[brightstar]

Hello, I'm new here.
I have a laptop that is HP Pavilion dv5, it has Windows 7 Ultimate 32 bits installed on it, I have the 64 bit installation on a USB drive, can I install the 64 bit on my 32 bit system?

(PS: I have all my important stuff as a backup on my hard drive, and I'm totally ready for a clean installation.)