USB 3.0 Clean Install Compatibility Question

Hello,
I recently bought an Acer laptop that came with Windows 8 installed but I was thinking of backing up windows 8 to a flash drive and installing windows 7 instead. Before I got out and buy a usb flash drive, I have a few questions.

My first question is, If I try to bootup and do a clean install of Windows 8 from a USB 3.0 flash drive, will it work?

Also, I have a physical DVD copy of Windows 7 which I want to install on the laptop instead of Windows 8. If I create a bootable image of Windows 7 on a USB 3.0 drive, will I be able to do a clean install from that without issues of the system not recognizing the usb 3.0 flash drive?

The reason I ask is that I've read there's some issues with the system not recognizing usb 3.0 because of missing drivers.
I'm going out tomorrow to buy 2 flash drives (one for backing up Win8 and another for Win7) and I would like to know if it's better to get a USB 2.0 drive or a 3.0. Which version of Windows will I be able to successfully install from a USB 3.0 drive without running into problems?

 

W8 works well with USB 3.0, W7 does not.

The issue with W7 is missing drivers for the USB 3.0 ports, so if your computer only got USB 3.0 ports you can't start the installation, which is also true if you use an external USB DVD.

USB 3.0 drives are usually backwards compatible with USB 2.0 ports, so your choice of drives doesn't make much difference here.

Adding drivers aren't that difficult, I have posted instructions here.

 

It doesn't matter the speed of your USB flash drive during installation. It will install just fine. Windows 8 has built in USB 3.0 drivers so no need to install additional drivers.