Install Windows 7 without a DVD!

When trying to install Windows 7, I didn't have a DVD at hand. So I searched the internet for some way to boot of of the .iso image, but I didn't find anything.

Then I found Daemon Tools, which is the best thing ever. It's a virtual CD/DVD drive. And it's so flipping easy! All you have to do is mount the image and the Win7 installer starts.

Hope this helps anyone who doesn't have a blank DVD. And I'm pretty sure the whole process is faster than with a DVD, cause everything is on your hard drive. Downloading the image took longer than the install. Overall, I would recommend this process for everyone!

 

yep, DT is great. on a side note, your method won't work for people attempting to install 64bit Win7 from a 32bit OS, and vice versa.

 

Hmm... Thanks for the update. I don't think that that would happen for most people though. I mean, why would you change versions, unless you are upgrading ram?

 

I recently discovered Daemon Tolls lite and use it frequently to install programs, view iso etc.. It's awesome.

 

My main OS is Vista 32 business. I wanted to see if everything would work in a 64 bit environment, so I installed Win7 64 Beta in a separate partition. Unfortunately, I have a critical work application that I can't get to load in Win7 64.

To me, coming from a 32 bit OS, the beta is the perfect opportunity to try out the 64 bit world. I'm glad that I was able to burn the ISO to a DVD!

 

Can you use compatability mode to fix this?

 

So far, all of my programs (even the one that are stuck in x86 mode) still install on Windows 7 Beta, just in a separate folder than the x64 programs...the core of 7 hasn't changed much from Vista, so I'm not sure why any programs that would work in Vista wouldn't work here.

 

The application makes use of MS SQL Server.

So, I can get it to start in compatibility mode, but when it tries to start SQL it doesn't know to start it in compatibility mode and it errors out.

To be honest, I don't know if this is a Win 7 problem or a 64 bit problem. I don't have a Vista 64 installation to play with.

I'll probably contact the folks that write and update the software, but they probably wouldn't be too happy to hear that I'm testing their program on a beta OS.

 

I have used that program for years and I have my beta .iso but usually installers have to install from boot, since Daemon is run inside the OS I do not see how it can install a new OS from an old OS, nor would this work if you had a blank formatted HDD.

So my guess is the beta can run from inside windows and allows you to install to another partition?

The best thing ever is the hack for my sandisk 8gb usb, using its software it can mount an .iso file and boot from it and its faster than a dvd and easily reusable.

I had to use this method to install a OS to my EEE since it has no optical drive.

 

DT is riddled with malware. I recommend PowerISO for mounting any disk image.

 

I think its often used for reasons that could lead to getting malware but the program itself is fine.

Its been tried and true for years now by people with far more knowledge than you or I and they had nothing to say about it.

Many things of this nature give false positives on virus checkers so dont cry wolf just because you get a false positive on certain kinds of programs.

Its one of the first things to go on any of my computers and not once have I had issues so far.

 

DT installs things I don't want, like toolbars, extra processes, etc. PowerISO is a far lighter application, uses less resources, and is overall simpler to use. I don't use any anti-malware applications, outside windows defender, I'm not crying wolf, I'm just saying PowerISO is a far lighter application, and doesn't install all that bloatware crap.

 

It gives you an option of whether you want those toolbars and stuff, at least if you choose Custom Install, something I always recommend even if you don't change anything. I've never noticed any indication of Daemon Tools doing anything nefarious - and it has always seemed to run light for me. Usually a few megabytes of RAM, and maybe one second of CPU power over the course of running the system. As good a reputation as it has, I really doubt it carries anything bad with it. Never had an anti-virus product tag it, either. Though it is true that there are occasionally false positives.

But it doesn't seem to work in 64-bit Win7, and neither does Alcohol 52%. So I may try PowerISO as an alternative.

 

Ya I hear what your saying about custom install. I usually go that route. Even after an uninstall, the registry is riddled with entries, files left behind, and the driver it installed to virtualize the disk does not get removed. Just a buncha little things I never liked about it.

 

if you have a big enough usb stick, you can easily set it up to boot vista or win7 disks, and then just copy over the files. it's a matter of formating the disk, and setting it active, with the builtin diskpart from vista. works great and simple (i set up a win7 stick like that, a vista stick, and a winhomeserverrestorestick. they are much faster loaded than from disk, and i can fill them with drivers and such)

 

I use Daemon Tool lite and have no idea what you're talking about Compared to PowerISO I find it works much better.

You must be the sole PowerISO user on this thread.

http://www.neowin.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=597416

 

I use PowerISO if the situation calls for it, there are certain types of files it can open and extract that DT can not.

However I use DT for everything else.

 

Argh, I don't like PowerISO. I've never encountered anything that DT can't run, been using DT Pro with SCSI

 

Yeah, DT is fine for most things.

 

Yep, I installed the Win7 beta the same way when it first became available by mounting it (I used VCD, but DT works the same I guess). Makes life so much easier~

 

I prefer Virtual Conedrive to PowerISO. I had some problems with PowerISO and Vista x64.

 

Hey, I don't think you can install an OS from a virtual drive...

It works fine in the beginning but the image doesn't get loaded when the system restarts for the main installation as the previous won't be booted.

Also, AFAIK it messes up the previous installation too so the previous OS wont work either without the OS disc and refixing the MBR to point to the previous OS.

 

Yea I don't think the installation would finish. I know you only have to boot from DVD once, but after a restart it most likely collects more files from the DVD.

Not sure how it would work for an upgrade tho.

 

You can install Win7 from inside Vista. It's a cool new feature!

I don't know about other OS's, though.

 

I installed 7 32 bit on my sister's Compaq from PowerISO, worked like a charm.

 

Nice. Yeah, tools like DT and PowerISO are helpful.

 

just copy the disk data (by opening the iso with winrar or something similar) over to an usb stick that you marked bootable before (instructions are all over google). then boot from that.

(this is for installs that don't have an os around yet)

 

Guys I need some help here. I'd like to burn the Windows 7 ISO to a DVD but because I'm a bonehead, I forgot to bring my DVD burning software with me and I just did a clean install.

Is there some recommended burning software for burning ISOs?

I don't wanna be messing with virtual drives and all that.

 

hey dere i dont usually post..
but u dont even need DT or power iso for installin win7
use winrar professional 3.80 to open the iso file and run the setup.
all done in less than 30 mins.
hope this helps.
p.s. so no problems of creatin virtual drives etc.
u can get winrar 3.80 frm torrentz.

 

It took me like 5 sec to set up a virtual drive with DT. Just push open file.

 

thanks...

 

you can get it fully functional as well on the winrar homepage. you shouldn't suggest torrents in here.

for burning an iso to disk, use iso recorder. tiny program, quick to setup, allows exactly that: burn images to disk. and create images from disk.

 

I was able to install Windows 7 using DT in Windows XP to a different partition. Naturally, I backed up all files on that partition, since I expected it to reformat it. It restarted normally, continuing the installation.

To my surprise, it didn't format the drive, so I have windows 7 and all the files on that partition intact. Haha.

 

Same here.

 

ironically, Daemon Tools is on the list of programs that won't work with Windows 7.