install win 7 on usb maximum

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w To: Install Windows 7 from a USB Key! | Maximum PC http://www.maximumpc.com/article/howtos/how_to_install_windows_..

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11 3/23/2014 3:10 PM

Time = 1 hourWhat you need:

4GB USB key

$10, www.newegg.com

WinRAR

Free Evaluation Copy, www.rarlab.com

Windows 7

$99 (OEM)

119 Comments Print

HowTo: InstallWindows 7 from a USB Key!Posted 10/22/2009 at 6:00am| by Norman Chan

So after reading our review of Windows 7, youre ready to take the plunge and upgrade to

Microsofts new OS. Youveread our upgrade guide, decided whether you want32- or 64-bit

indows 7, and bought your retail box. But what if you want to install Windows 7 on a netbook or

other computer without an optical drive? Fortunately, youre not out of luck, because Windows 7

(and Vista, for that matter) can be installed from a USB storage key. Not only does installing from a

USB key remove the need for a DVD drive, the install time is also greatly reduced we shaved off

minutes from the total install time. Our step-by-step guide will have you rocking the new version of

indows in no time!

Note: This guide will only work within Windows Vista or 7.

1. Format Your USB KeyPlug in your USB key and back up any existing data stored on it. Youll need to format the key befor

you can make it a bootable device.


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supercourierFebruary 04, 2014 at 5:25pm

This was a great tip for the longest time. It no longer works with a 4gb USB key as its 424mb shortwith all updates rolled in as of January 2014.

Just a heads up for those "saving time."

MAXIMUM-PC.comOctober 24, 2013 at 9:10am

Watch this video for

install windows 7-8 from usb & selected file is NOT A VALID ISO file

http://youtu.be/6kBcyS36EEs

knossos9July 31, 2013 at 11:38pm

Thanks for the informative How to guide it works great!!! Props to the author!!!

aniyanmon1July 09, 2013 at 11:47am

Hi there

First of all thank you for the easy steps to install win 7 from USB drive.

My issue here is after installing windows 7, I tried formating the USB drive but says WRITEPROTECTED.

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11 3/23/2014 3:10 PM

Please hep me to solve this issue. I was able to delete the windows 7 inatallation files from the usb bui not able to either format it or copy new files.

Thankyou in [email protected]

takingmytimeJanuary 04, 2012 at 2:04am

Im getting stuck at the boot/bootsect part.

My command line will be like

C:\Users\Brit\Desktop\Win7

but when I type cd boot it says The system cannot find the path specificed"

If I just leave it at c:\Windows\System32 then CD boot will work but the whole bootsect stuff wontwork.

Mendryz

February 08, 2012 at 10:16am

I got the same thing did you find a fix ?

hoop11December 04, 2011 at 8:16pm

At the step where I had to copy the files from the disc over, it prompted me to keep the auto run on thusb, use the auto run from the disc, or use both.

I guess somewhere during the guide i made an auto run file on the USB drive i didnt knowabout...which one should i have used?

hamzuzNovember 30, 2011 at 1:20am

Did every thing you said but couldnt get it to work.

after searching found a web site that i had to translate from hebrew.

Its a computer hardware web site called www.pcpc.co.il

Go to the laptop section and look for theguide called "Win 7 To USB - 3 Easy Steps & Less Than 2Min".

Good Luck !!

silent_sentinelNovember 14, 2011 at 12:27am

Barely fits on my 4GB USB drive

Microsoft must use one hell of a compressing program to fit ~20GB of OS onto 4GB of DVD

Mesh24November 02, 2011 at 11:15am

My attempt also failed. It got pretty much to the end when it gave me "invalid license key" so I had toreformat and do it over with just the disc... then it was ok. I guess you cannot use an OEM disc, it hasto be files from the downloaded ISO image.

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potOctober 27, 2011 at 3:11am

Thank you for the leading information.

aspergersAugust 23, 2011 at 10:44am

Hey everyone,I followed those instructions to a T and had no issues until I plugged in the usb stick. I get this error:

Intel UNDI, PXE-2.1 (build 082)

Copyright 1997-2000 Intel Corporation

This Product is covered by one or more of the following patents:

US5,307,459, etc

For Realtek RTL8101E/8102E(L)/8103E(L) PCI-E Ethernet Controller v1.13 (081016)

PXE-E61: Media test failure, check cable

PXE-M0F: Exiting PXE ROM.

Im trying to load from a Corsair 64gb Survivor GTR (yep its big) to a Toshiba NB205-N310BN-G(NetBook).

We have a corporate license for 32bit Windows 7 and just cant get it to boot properly from the USBas that message is the first thing that comes up as it attempts to boot.

Any help is greatly appreciated!

potOctober 27, 2011 at 3:13am

Hi.This site is nice.Nice to meet you!

http://musyuuseiadarutdouga.blog104.fc2.com/

rainhardJune 27, 2011 at 1:08pm

The simpler way to install Windows 7/Vista/XP from USB is FlashBoot utility.It automates everything.http://www.prime-expert.com/flashboot/

david77May 30, 2011 at 3:42am

The maximum pc is the magazine that every computer nerd, pc gamer or content creator must

read.Thanks for sharing the informative post. Regards. david77-double memory foam mattresses

cartzarMay 17, 2011 at 2:22pm

it doesnt work!!! i followed all the steps, it even showed on the cmd prompt it said that bootcode wassuccessfully updated on all targeted volumes. and i plugged it into the my desktop and it saysBOOTMGR IS MISSING. SOMEONE PLEASE HELP!!!! my old hard drive has some sort of partitionissue, so i cant upgrade windows. i bought a brand new 500gb hard drive, and its not recognizing theflash drive...

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Anonymous1980May 16, 2011 at 9:10am

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patjebondFebruary 25, 2011 at 3:49am

Can this be done the same way with a windows XP install?

xxxbillybobxxxFebruary 19, 2011 at 10:58pm

The guide works great until it asks me for my product key.

I have a Win7 Pro 64-bit .iso file I got from MS when they did the student discount.

I extracted the files using ISO Buster, then copied them to the USB key as described in the guide.Win7 installed fine from the USB key, rebooted, then when it got to the product key input part, it said itwas invalid (quadruple checked I typed it correctly).

I ended up installing with the same ISO burned to a DVD with the same product key successfully.

Any ideas why the key wouldnt work when installed from a USB key, but would work when installedfrom a DVD?

CompaqsonlyFebruary 01, 2011 at 5:41pm

This is a great article. Very helpful. But Im wondering, how do I make it so I can install windowsONTO a flash drive so I can use it as the C: drive in a pc? Instead of installing from the USB.

nekollxFebruary 20, 2011 at 1:48pm

look up bootice

BeVarJanuary 16, 2011 at 11:31am

IDIOT MAC user.

We like PCs BECAUSE we can tinker.

Nice article Norm.

monacoJanuary 14, 2011 at 9:33pm

1. Open Disk Utility(its in yourUtilities folder) and click the "Restore" tab.2. Select your USB drivefrom the list and thenselect your disk imageand youre done.

Oh wait, that only works for Mac. :(

It must realy suck to be a Windows user. Sitting around all day, endlessly configuring your computer todo simple time saving tasks, only to find... Youve wasted more time configuring your computer. Iguess thats the price you pay to be a hardcore gamer... That iswhat PCs are for, right? Playing videogames? o_0

ZantozukenApril 21, 2011 at 12:26pm

Its not every day I find a reason to join a forum and comment, but I have to say, this isworthy.

I am an avid Mac user; in fact, Macs are my primary work machines. Coupled with my


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iPhone and iPad, Im pretty much always connected away from the office. I manage thredifferent Mac Labs, and support over 800 Mac Notebooks. My personal laptop is aMacBook. In short, I love Macs, and use them all the time.

I also have a custom built PC (from the ground up) that does the things my Macs cant.And I love it.

That being said, Im not sure you understand how the process you provided is bothincorrect and fulfills the stereotype that hardcore PC users see Mac users as.

Although it is true that Disk Utility can easily create a bootable disk image (.dmg) from an.iso, it would not function for this process. First the USB drive has to be formatted with aMaster Boot Record (MBR) so that non-Apple device can even boot from it. Without thisstep you are dead in the water. Secondly, Macs are incapable of natively partitioning adrive with NTFS (New Technology File System) that was created and patented byMicrosoft in 1993. To do so, youll have to purchase software that allows you to formatthe Thumb Drive correctly. You can attempt to use FAT32, but Im not confident that itwill compile correctly (it hasnt everworked for me).

In truth, I prefer GParted for Linux to do my partitioning work. Both Windows partitioningoptions and Disk Utility are curiously limited.

You have to realize that while Macs may be easier to use and may require lessknowledge of how it works to operate it, its changing us as a culture and making us moreignorant to a computers basic operating process. These people who build, tinker,explore, fail, break, rebuild, and tweak will ultimately be the people you come to for helpwhen you cant figure out why your Mac is beeping at you when you press the powerbutton (three beeps means memory problem, five means battery problem). Macs appealless to PC users not because of the OS (Operating System), but because Macs areclosed, non-customizable systems. No, you cannot have a Mac that is liquid cooled(unless you have a G5 tower!) with blue LEDs running through it. No, you may not havemore than two case fans. No, you may not upgrade the components - what you bought itwhat you have.

You will never go beyond using your computer as more than a giant calculator until youget underneath the GUI (Graphical User Interface), or break open the case and get tolearning.

I understand if you dont have that kind of time, but its tough to tolerate pop-shots againstWindows users when you cant even get the details of your Mac down correctly.

TeknobenjiJanuary 28, 2011 at 8:00am

I believe you should redirect your comment to the " Maximum MAC" website, hosted bythe same people as Geometroracing.com and imadbag.org

Feel free to enjoy your 2nd generation double the price hardware that requires you topersonally stroke Steve Jobs if you want to make any changes, modifications, additions,subtractions, or "gulp"....be productive at more than misguided hatred of the "PC" whichworldwide still holds >92% (that means "greater than" in case you are not familiar withsuch symbols) of the market and a staggering 98% in business.

Compatibility, usability, and END USER CONFIGURABILTY willalways be king for the

same reasons democracy trumps communism....thats right - I just made that analogy. Ifignorance is bliss then why do MAC users seem to carry such big chips on theirshoulders? (thats rhetorical - which means I dont want an answer, I just want you to thinabout it, if you are allowed to do that on your own)

GFY DB FF

BTW thanks for this article (and every other thing I have learned and used!), it works likea champ and makes one hell of a quick install!

CompaqsonlyFebruary 01, 2011 at 5:44pm

LOL well said Teknobenji, well said. :)

jaredddJanuary 06, 2011 at 6:30pm

THANK YOU!!! This worked perfectly! BUT, I had trouble with step 2 where you say "Use the CDcommand..." I had no idea how to do that, so I had to google how to use cmd. Please update this stepto say: "Enter: "cd C:\Users\Username\Desktop\Windows 7". THEN it will be a perfect guide for anynon-tech savvy person. THANKS!

furrybaditDecember 22, 2010 at 3:54pm

works great thanks to the poster.


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roman horolNovember 14, 2010 at 4:30pm

i am using 32-bit edition of windows 7 and needed to upgrade to 64-bit, just for work with adobeaftereffects cs5-

my pc is an I5- quad core 760 - 2.80 GHZ , with 4 gigs of ram , iam actually using autodesk maya ,and after effects graphic application , and really needed to know how much i can get from this pc, ithink this 64-bit will help alot , your instruction was really good , though i think you should need to addthis 32- 64 bootsect to the instruction for people to know how to fix this , thanks to one of the personsthat remind this part, i got actually to do it , thank for this man ! so thanks again it was intrestingknowledge and i was register my self to this site just to say thank you, so .... have anice day ! cya

rawrOctober 23, 2010 at 10:46pm

Im running windows 7 on my laptop, can i use this method to create a windows XP bootable usb? (ineed to repair my desktop but my CD drive is broken on the desktop - which is why i need to make axp usb).

btw, I have the windows XP CD disk

MidienOctober 11, 2010 at 2:09pm

Im another who registered just to say thanks. XD You saved my install, sir. Thanks a million. :)

Jenny JamesSeptember 19, 2010 at 11:27pm

Honestly i was tired of searching step by step instructions to install windows, just found this articles.thanks much

Jenny

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blindhorizonSeptember 14, 2010 at 11:15am

tracking this message for future use.

prema11August 17, 2010 at 6:38am

I heard that the above method is applicable for Os above Xp Am I right?I firmly believe that its betterto use some softwares to get the job done otherwise you might end up loosing valuable data.I heard

that WintoFlash can get your job done like this guy who has posted it in hisblog:http://sunil-bhaskar.blogspot.com/2010/08/windows-7-installation-from-usbflash.html

halloween2010July 08, 2010 at 2:27pm

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angelsixJuly 01, 2010 at 6:07pm

Really, I have read the article and the comments. I cant see how/when/where extracting (with Winraror otherwise) comes into it. When I put in the Win7 disk, I dont see ISO files, just a lot of directoriesand files. I copied those to my hard drive (in a Windows 7 named subdirectory of Desktop). WindowsExplorer now reports that I this Windows 7 directory has 3.01 GB, consisting of 874 files in 199folders. Does having Winzip installed mean somehow that it skipped the extract phase and just gaveme the files? Or, ...???


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I was dealing with the USB key installation in preparation to installation, which I havent tried yet(havent finished building the system), but am bothered that I cant see what everyone else apparentlycan see (extraction using Winrar).

If theres a step saying all the files have to be compressed into an .iso file, please let me know.Gently, if possibly.

Could some nice, patient person explain what I fear is going to be pointed out as obvious for me?

Thanks.

lc084302

July 08, 2010 at 10:34am

Winrar is for folks that downloaded the iso. Mine was downloaded as an iso fromMicrosofts college discount program. Well, MS provided a tool to make a bootable usbfrom the iso so those people really dont need to go through all these. If you have thephysical disc, dont worry about it.

MSI X58 Pro-E, Intel core i7 920, HIS Radeon HD 5850, 6GB Corsair Dominator 1600MHz

itzaboJune 23, 2010 at 4:23pm

I followed the instructions.

It worked 1st time.

Awesome!!!

Thanks for the article.

Big_MARKJune 19, 2010 at 9:05am

These instructions didnt work for me either until I tried it at work and built the installer from one of ourWin7 iso images downloaded directly from MS.

kamikaze33June 17, 2010 at 4:07pm

my desktop doesnt have a cd drive, this command prompt is confusing the hell out of me. im trying todo this except with a version of linux. its in a folder called puppy. heres what the console tells me:

c:\users\joel\desktop\puppy\cd bootsect.exe /nt60 j: bootsect.ex is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file.

[email protected] 29, 2010 at 1:01am

Before the file BOOTSEC.exe, remove the CH.

barberbarianbobMay 17, 2010 at 10:44pm

every time i try to type in the commands to make the folder with the iso image to be found all i get is"the system cannot find the path specified" i dont know what else to doBob K

corourkeApril 15, 2010 at 3:42pm

@plam plam

type cd C:/ and then cd users, then just follow the rest


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corourkeApril 15, 2010 at 3:42pm

@plam plam

type cd C:/ and then cd users, then just follow the rest

plamplamApril 04, 2010 at 11:14am

please help. it says: "could not map drive partitions to the associated volume device obhects:

Accesss is denied."

WWHYY???????? also, when i run as admin it shows prompt as C:\windows\system32\cmd.exe

instead of the c:\users... etc etc..

please help, thanks. also i have email:[email protected] send any thing to help :(

PeachZ90

September 10, 2013 at 9:40pm

I dunno if you would still want to know the issue to the problem, but I found out after abou15 minutes of messing around with command prompt.

You have to use cmd as an ADMIN, and when you are using it, you have this:

C:\windows\system32>

You have to re-route yourself back to the Users\(USERNAME)> section by doing thefollowing:

C:\windows\system32> CD C:/Users/(USERNAME)

This will route you back to the correct section of files so that you can continue on updatngthe bootsect.exe file.

Also, to save on steps, you can do the following:

C:\windows\system32> CD C:\users\(USERNAME)\Desktop\Windows 7\Boot

PeachZ90September 10, 2013 at 9:07pmI am having the same issue. Does anyone know the fix?

tysoniusMarch 04, 2010 at 5:49pm

Win XP recognizes my usb devices, both in the front panel and at the rear. They show up in explorer,system info, etc., and I can freely transfer files to and from them. Diskpart doesnt show them in "listdisk." Is there something Im forgetting?

Big_MARKJune 19, 2010 at 9:05amYeah, you forgot to do this IN WINDOWS7!! these instructions wont workin XP, linux or OSX! Sheesh people are you all that ignant?

scotthomasJanuary 25, 2010 at 4:26am

Really a very great article explains about the instalation in a very effect ive way.I have been wonderingto get the solution for this problem for a long time.So could you explain the upgadation of vista towindows 7.It really helped me a lot.Thanks ..........

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