How to install windows 7 from a flash storage device

Someone asked for it, so here it is
1) Get a flash drive with capacity that's larger than the disk image of the windows installation disk
2) Open the disk image file
3) Copy to your flash storage device
4) Boot from your flash storage device
5) Install windows 7 as usual

Better way:
Windows 7 USB tool from microsoft
http://store.microsoft.com/Help/ISO-Tool

http://images2.store.microsoft.com/prod/clustera/framework/w7udt/1.0/en-us/Windows7-USB-DVD-tool.exe

 

Has this worked for you? I've never attempted to just copy files over until I've diskpart to configure the flash drive first. If copying without formatting worked, would there be a point in writing guides like this?

http://usingwindowshomeserver.com/2...me-server-–-or-anything-else-for-that-matter/

 

Hmm... interesting. Might come in handy one day.
Edit: If someone tried this out, please let me know and tell me how it worked out.

 

I did this for god knows how many times. Yes all those guides are pretty much useless for windows 7. In fact, I just installed windows 7 RTM this way yesterday.

 

I would bet that you are using a "U3" configured flash drive such as those by Sandisk. That is why it will boot.

If you use the method you described just copying files over to a regular generic flash drive "Such as HP" it won't boot. You need to prep the drive with bootmgr or some other program so it will have a boot partition.

The senerio is much the same as if you were copying files to a DVD. If you just copy the files, it won't boot but you can read the files from an OS. The files would need to be copied to the DVD with the bootable option so the DVD has a boot partition.

I installed my W7 from a flash drive also, several times.

 

Nope, i'm using a standard kingston one as well as a sony microvault with absolutely no "U3" stuff.
I do not need to prep anything at all. I've done this personally many times with different flash drives on multiple computers.

 

My Experiment:

HP Flash Drive (8GB) fresh format before each method. No files on flash drive.

Methods:
1. Extract W7 RTM ISO to HP Flash Drive with Power ISO
2. Extract W7 RTM ISO to HDD with Power ISO then copy extracted files to HP Flash Drive
3. Extract W7 RTM ISO to HP Flash Drive with 7-Zip
4. Extract W7 RTM ISO to HDD with 7-Zip then copy extracted files to HP Flash Drive

Methods 1-4 above all result with the same Screen Message on boot attempt: "No Bootable partition in table"

That is what I expected, but I gave you the benefit of the doubt and tried again.

Now, if I create a boot partition on the Flash Drive first before copying the files then the System Boots from the Flash Drive and I could begin to install W7.

I still submit that you have a boot sector on the flash drive you are using prior to copying the files. If you are sure that you do not, then what program are you using to copy or extract the files to the flash drive because the program would have to be making the flash drive bootable.

 

Wierd... does your laptop support booting from usb?
Also, what file system are you using? FAT32?

I tried with 2 more flash storage devices.
1) Lexar 32GB flash drive
2) ADATA 8GB SDHC card with usb card reader
I extracted technet windows 7 RTM disk image (.iso) to the two flash drives, restart, then pressed F10 to go to the boot menu. After that, windows 7 installer will boot up and continue the installation.

 

What program are you using to extract the .iso to the flash drive?

I have 4 flash drives - 2-HP, Sandisk, Toshiba 4-8GB. I have used both FAT32 and NTFS.

I have no problem with my notebook booting from the USB flash drive, that is how I installed W7 (we probably use the same image). But I cannot boot by just extracting the files to the flash drive.

I can use a program such as ULTRAISO to extract the image to my flash devices and create a boot sector automatically (FD format fat32, I believe ULTRAISO quickformats it that way, not sure now).

Or, I can format the Flash Drive to NTFS and from a command prompt use "bootsect /nt60 X:" from within the Boot folder of the W7 RTM 32bit ISO to create a bootable flash drive. Then all I have to do is copy files to the flash drive.

There are other ways that also work to create the bootable drive but those are the main two I have used.

On my HP laptop you press F9 to change the boot order temporarily (F10 gets you into bios).

I do know by searching the Web that just copying the files to the boot device doesn 't work for most people.

This is just a curiosity more than anything, I know what works and what doesn't for me, but I would like to understand why (or how) your method works for you and not me. Again, what program do you use to extract the files to your flash drive?

 

I used winrar to extract the files in the .iso disk image. I have also tried mounting the disk image using magicdisk and then copy the files to a flash drive.

 

This only works for people that can boot off usb right?

 

yes, you'll need computer that's capable of booting from usb.

 

You're missing one step:

Setting the disk as an active partition.

Hit Windows+R
Type "cmd".
In the command prompt, type "diskpart" and wait a bit.
Type "list disk".
Find your USB disk and type "select disk #" where # is the number you found in the previous step.
Type this:
clean
create partition primary
select partition 1
active
format fs=fat32
assign
exit



Alternatively, you can go into Disk Management in W7 or Vista through your Computer Management window in Administrative tools, rightclick your drive and hit "Mark Partition as Active", after you've formatted the disk the regular way (a quick format will do).



Also, you may want to do this after you've extracted the iso to your usb:
http://hothardware.com/News/Tweak-Allows-Installing-Any-Win7-Version-from-One-DVD/

 

There's a free utility that will handle all of this for you, including the ability to pre-enter information such as product keys and whatnot. It's called WinToFlash:

http://wintoflash.com/home/en/

It was the Software Pick of the Week on Windows Weekly a couple of weeks ago. It's free. No fuss.

 

What? This step isn't necessary. I didnt even do a clean format of my flashdrive and it still works.

 

In my W7 PRO you cannot "Mark Partition as Active", on a USB device, from within Administrative Tools. Try it again on your version of W7 and if it works let me know what version you are using i.e. Ultimate, Pro, etc.

I have to make the partition active using diskpart.

 

jackluo923,
I believe I have sorted this issue out why just copying the files to my flash drive doesn't work and it works on yours.
(P.S. I now have my flash drives prepared so I just have to copy the files to them)

First, when a USB flash drive is new or freshly formated the partition may or may not be a primary partition. It doesn't matter if it is FAT32 or NTFS.

If you format the Flash Drive with XP the partition is not defined as a primary partition. If you format within W7 (or I presume Vista) the partition is defined as a primary partition.

Second, the partition created by the format process is not set to active. You cannot do this with the XP OS on a flash drive.
In order to set the partition to active on a flash device use "diskpart" from within Vista or W7.

For the process of just copying files to the USB flash drive to work, the formated partition must be both "Primary" and "Active". Once the flash device has been prepared in this manner, even if you reformat the flash drive it retains those properties. Preforming a "Clean" within "diskpart" will not only erase the drive but remove all properties.

I believe that if you take a look at the flash drives(s) you use to install W7 from within Disk Management you will find the partitions are both "Primary" and "Active". This is a requirement before the copy files process will work.

As long as a flash drive has its partition both "primary and active" you can just copy the files extracted from the ISO to it and it will work without the need for a specialized boot sector.

 

Certain flashdrives are set by the manufacturer to active by default. Yours is.

The step is necessary for the vast majority of USB flash drives.

 

I don't think any of my flashdrives/memory cards(10+) have "non-active" partitions. How many of yours are set to a non-active/primary partition?

 

All of my flash drives had "non-active" partitions out of the box.

Two HP drives purchased last week at Staples (one 4GB one 8GB), one Toshiba 4GB, and I don't know about my Sandisk 4GB as I removed the "U3" software on first boot. The drive didn't have an active partition when I checked after that. All the drives came FAT32 pre-formatted.

 

I've never came across a good explanation on why the partition must be set as the "active" system partition.

 

6 out of my 7 flash drives came from the factory with non-active primary partitions.

"active" means bootable.

 

Just use the Windows 7 USB DVD Download Tool.
There are alot of links to the program, just search for Windows7-USB-DVD-tool.exe

 

This works too.

 

Where is a good reliable source to get this .exe ?

 

You can use this.

http://wintoflash.com/home/en/

 

I used method 6 from this page:
http://www.bootdisk.com/pendrive.htm

Worked like a charm.

 

STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS
Here's some step-by-step instructions on how to do this.

Format theFlash Drive

Run CMD.EXE and type the following. Note: This set of commands assumes that the USB flash drive is addressed as "disk 1". you should double check that by doing a list of the disks (type "list disk") before cleaning it. If you have multiple hard drives, like an SDFlash drive or a Multibay drive, you could end up wiping your second drive using this command.

diskpart
select disk 1
clean

Next, create partition primary

select partition 1
active
format fs=fat32
assign
exit

Then, copy Windows 7 DVD ROM content to the Flash Drive
Simply issue the following command to start copying all the content from the Windows 7 DVD to your newly formatted high speed flash drive - PRESUMING that your CD/DVD-ROM Drive is DriveD and your USB Flash Drive is DriveE.

xcopy d:\*.* /s/e/f e:\

And that's it. Boot up the machine, have it boot off the USB drive, and watch how fast the installation completes. If you thought Windows 7 installed quickly before then let's see how you like it now. The slowest part of the install will probably be the computer waiting for you to type in information in the setup fields.

 

Sticky!
:yes:

 

I havn't read this entire thread yet but some of the first few posts is what I was thinking. Modern computer BIOS has code in the bios to boot from USB devices regardless of a bootsector being present. If you took any old flash drive and put it into older hardware with say windows install disc just copied over it won't boot for several reasons. I have a 1GB Verbatim Store 'n' Go Pro. I never formatted it, left it as is and it was already setup with FAT32 and I think a partition type other than 07. In an Intel D850GB motherboard it is detected as a hard drive. In some other ECS board with a VIA chipset it is detected as a USB Floppy Disk drive. I've been trying to learn how to manually make it universally bootable as long as the BIOS can detect usb devices during POST. I also want to manually make a boot menu like the old DOS days so I can choose what launches at startup.

Convenient for virus scanning since it has write-protection that retains even when unplugged and put into a different PC. Anyway several things effect usb bootability, IO.sys and command.com and config.sys and autoexec.bat, bootsectors, boot managers, drive/partition type, BIOS settings and/or if your BIOS treats usb devices as floppy or optical drive or hard drive. If you have a laptop with build in card reader see if your method works from a memory card. If you get different results question why.

Some systems can detect usb devices but don't have code in the BIOS to boot the device and require that code on the usb flash device. My response hasn't been too helpful I know, I'm working from memory and havn't done enough tests to understand what all the problems are. Those of you having trouble check the partition type ID (there's a byte value for that I don't mean whether it is a primary partition or not)

 

just did a test on an Acer Aspire 5050-5278 I think bios 3023 or something and an Asus P4VP-MX latest no beta bios. Using a 1GB Kingston SD card and a 4GB Verbatim Stor 'n' Go non-pro version. I did not format/clean/edit partiton tables or partition info. I took the empty drive/mem card, both using FAT32 file systems, and copied the whole dvd (for the 1GB I copied everything except 1 file that was 2GB in size). I'm just testing to see what can boot up.

Nothing really worked but I did get different results. So the Asus doesn't mention anything in the bios about USB booting but POST usually detects that a USB 2.0 device is connected at boot up. The Asus doesn't even look at the 4GB usb flash. I didn't get time to test a mem card via usb card reader but likely that won't make a diff.

On the Acer Aspire 5050-5278 laptop I can enable usb booting in the bios. There are 4 usb device types listed; USB HDD, USB Floppy, USB CD-ROM, USB Key. Verbatim Stor 'n' Go drives (I only have a 1GB Pro and a 4GB non-Pro) both detect as USB HDD. When I boot the 5050 laptop with the verbatim 4GB it says on screen "No bootable partition in table". The SD mem card doesn't even detect. Interesting.

I havn't played with partition info yet but my next step is to set the verbatim's partition to "Active". In diskpart there are lots of variables to consider in "detail volume" and "detail partition" for each device.


This is the info on a 4GB SD card in my Aspire 1410 built in card reader:

Code:

DISKPART> detail disk

Multiple Card  Reader USB Device
Disk ID: 00000000
Type   : USB
Bus    : 0
Target : 0
LUN ID : 0
Read-only  : No
Boot Disk  : No
Pagefile Disk  : No
Hibernation File Disk  : No
Crashdump Disk  : No

  Volume ###  Ltr  Label        Fs     Type        Size     Status     Info
  ----------  ---  -----------  -----  ----------  -------  ---------  --------
* Volume 1     H                FAT32  Removable   3880 MB  Healthy

DISKPART> detail volume

  Disk ###  Status      Size     Free     Dyn  Gpt
  --------  ----------  -------  -------  ---  ---
* Disk 1    Online      3884 MB      0 B

Read-only              : No
Hidden                 : No
No Default Drive Letter: No
Shadow Copy            : No
Dismounted             : No
BitLocker Encrypted    : No

Volume Capacity        : 3876 MB
Volume Free Space      :  106 MB

DISKPART> detail partition

Partition 1
Type  : 0B
Hidden: No
Active: No

  Volume ###  Ltr  Label        Fs     Type        Size     Status     Info
  ----------  ---  -----------  -----  ----------  -------  ---------  --------
* Volume 1     H                FAT32  Removable   3880 MB  Healthy

_________________________________________________________________

This is the details of the 1GB SD card in an external usb card reader:
DISKPART> detail disk

Generic STORAGE DEVICE USB Device
Disk ID: 00000000
Type   : USB
Bus    : 0
Target : 0
LUN ID : 0
Read-only  : No
Boot Disk  : No
Pagefile Disk  : No
Hibernation File Disk  : No
Crashdump Disk  : No

  Volume ###  Ltr  Label        Fs     Type        Size     Status     Info
  ----------  ---  -----------  -----  ----------  -------  ---------  --------
* Volume 4     F                FAT    Removable    970 MB  Healthy

DISKPART> detail volume

  Disk ###  Status      Size     Free     Dyn  Gpt
  --------  ----------  -------  -------  ---  ---
* Disk 4    Online       971 MB      0 B

Read-only              : No
Hidden                 : No
No Default Drive Letter: No
Shadow Copy            : No
Dismounted             : No
BitLocker Encrypted    : No

Volume Capacity        :  970 MB
Volume Free Space      :  645 MB

DISKPART> detail partition

Partition 1
Type  : 06
Hidden: No
Active: No

  Volume ###  Ltr  Label        Fs     Type        Size     Status     Info
  ----------  ---  -----------  -----  ----------  -------  ---------  --------
* Volume 4     F                FAT    Removable    970 MB  Healthy

DISKPART>
_________________________________________________________________

This is the details of the 4GB Verbatim flash drive:
DISKPART> detail disk

Verbatim STORE N GO USB Device
Disk ID: 00000000
Type   : USB
Bus    : 0
Target : 0
LUN ID : 0
Read-only  : No
Boot Disk  : No
Pagefile Disk  : No
Hibernation File Disk  : No
Crashdump Disk  : No

  Volume ###  Ltr  Label        Fs     Type        Size     Status     Info
  ----------  ---  -----------  -----  ----------  -------  ---------  --------
* Volume 6     I   STORE N GO   FAT32  Removable   3816 MB  Healthy

DISKPART> detail volume

  Disk ###  Status      Size     Free     Dyn  Gpt
  --------  ----------  -------  -------  ---  ---
* Disk 6    Online      3820 MB      0 B

Read-only              : No
Hidden                 : No
No Default Drive Letter: No
Shadow Copy            : No
Dismounted             : No
BitLocker Encrypted    : No

Volume Capacity        : 3812 MB
Volume Free Space      : 1358 MB

DISKPART> detail partition

Partition 1
Type  : 0C
Hidden: No
Active: No

  Volume ###  Ltr  Label        Fs     Type        Size     Status     Info
  ----------  ---  -----------  -----  ----------  -------  ---------  --------
* Volume 6     I   STORE N GO   FAT32  Removable   3816 MB  Healthy

DISKPART>

EDIT: When I set the Verbatim 4GB flash drive to Active it prompts disk I/O error when I try to boot it on the Acer 5050.

 

This only matters if the usb device detects as a hard drive aka usb hdd

I think diskpart is on the Win2K/WinXP Recovery Console. There might be FDisk or some other equivalent in 2K/XP as well. Google on command line partition manager windows 2000 XP and you should find something.

Again I think for usb hdd only but if you think about your C: when you format it you don't have to set it active again so that's why same with usb hdd no need to set it active again if you format, only when you "clean" the drive the partition properties are changed as well as deleting/remaking the partition.

I'm not sure about this yet. I can confirm if you copy the files before setting to active and set it active after the files are copied over (I did the copying from a Win7 DVD I made from the ISO downloaded directly from microsoft) I get a read I/O error just after POST when the system tried to boot from the usb. This error returned to "no bootable partition in table" when I changed it back to inactive. Again I didn't touch/change the file data on the usb between changing "activation".

+1

I have 3 usb drives, 2 are verbatim and one has no name brand made in china MP3/usb flash drive 128MB. That no named one uses an unusual drive type I can't remember how computers POST it but I think the partition type is 14 or some other number I've never seen before. My verbatims are both non-active and you can see details of one of them in my previous post.

That's usually the case, I doubt the U3 had an effect.

active="look at this partition for bootable info ie Operating System" in the case that you split your flash drive into multiple partitions. If your flash drive was partitioned as a usb FDD there would be only 1 partition allowed on it. I don't think floppies can have multiple partitions. HDDs can so a usb-hdd can have multiple partitions and multiple OSes or copies of OSes so active points out which one to look at to start up this time.

yes and no see my previous answer but simplified you are correct.

I can see a lot of you guys are as clueless as me (that's not an insult) as to why some work and some don't. Keep in mind partition type ID matters, how your usb device is detected matters (usb floppy, usb hdd, usb key, I doubt any show as a usb cd-rom lol), active partition only matters to usb hdd, default is non-active, and as well boot sectors, boot managers, maybe even IO.sys config.sys autoexec.bat ntldr bootmgr bootable binary files.

 

just because your drive got, by default, set to active. that's just pure luck. some are, some are not.

 

This is the way i do it everytime:

Requirements:

*USB Flash Drive (Minimum 4GB)

*Windows 7 or Vista installation files

1. Plug-in your USB flash drive to USB port and move all the contents from USB drive to a safe location on your system.

2. Open Command Prompt with admin rights. Use any of the below methods to open Command Prompt with admin rights.

*Type cmd in Start menu search box and hit Ctrl+ Shift+ Enter.

Or

*Go to Start menu > All programs > Accessories, right click on Command Prompt and select Run as administrator.

3. You need to know about the USB drive a little bit. Type in the following commands in the command prompt:

First type DISKPART and hit enter

Next type LIST DISK command and note down the Disk number (ex: Disk 1) of your USB flash drive.

4. Next type all the below commands one by one. Here I assume that your disk drive no is “Disk 1”.If you have Disk 2 as your USB flash drive then use Disk 2.Refer the above step to confirm it.

So below are the commands you need to type and execute one by one:

SELECT DISK 1

CLEAN

CREATE PARTITION PRIMARY

SELECT PARTITION 1

ACTIVE

FORMAT FS=NTFS

(Format process may take few seconds)

ASSIGN

EXIT

5. Next insert your Windows7/Vista DVD into the optical drive and check the drive letter of the DVD drive. In this guide I will assume that your DVD drive letter is “D” and USB drive letter is “H” (open my computer to know about it).

6. Maximize the minimized Command Prompt in the 4th step.Type the following command now:

D: CD BOOT and hit enter.Where “D” is your DVD drive letter.

CD BOOT and hit enter to see the below message.

7. Type another command given below to update the USB drive with BOOTMGR compatible code.

BOOTSECT.EXE /NT60 H:

Where “H” is your USB drive letter. Once you enter the above command you will see the below message.

8. Copy your Windows 7/Vista DVD contents to the USB flash drive.

9. Your USB drive is ready to boot and install Windows 7/Vista. Only thing you need to change the boot priority at the BIOS to USB from the HDD or CD ROM drive. I won’t explain it as it’s just the matter the changing the boot priority or enabling the USB boot option in the BIOS.

Works perfectly everytime.

If you have the ISO of Win7, instead of the disk, just use deamon tools or whatever, then copy the win7 files over to you're stick/sd card that way.