I have an ISO image of the Windows 7 installation DVD, but I can't burn it to CD or DVD. I have an empty flash drive with plenty of space. Is there any way I can put the ISO image on it and install from it as if it were a CD?
Asked
Active
Viewed 9.0k times
7 Answers
53
Microsoft has released a tool to put an ISO of Windows 7 on a bootable USB drive (or on a DVD).
Windows7Hacker has an explanation on where to download this tool and how to use it : Creating Bootable Windows 7 Install USB Flash Drive or DVD Using Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool
20
Yes.
Easiest way is to mark a partition as active (although not always needed, depending on your motherboard).
Next, extract everything in the ISO to the root of the USB drive (use Winrar, 7-Zip or your favourite extraction program.).
Reboot and either change boot order in the BIOS or press whatever key it is on your motherboard to bring up the boot menu (usually F12 or Esacpe).
Choose USB drive.
Done!
William Hilsum
- 117,648
12
Use UNetBootin to create a bootable USB flash drive with the ISO.
The software was made for creating bootable linux flash drives, but works with any bootable ISO.
2
Here you go, in four easy steps:
Using the HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool (v2.0.6), format the flash drive using FAT32 leaving all the boxes unchecked.
Mount the Windows 7 ISO image using Virtual CloneDrive (a free tool).
Then copy the contents of the ISO image (all of the Windows 7 files and folders) over to the flash drive. Grab a cup of coffee; it could take upwards of 5-10 minutes.
Lastly, rename the file on the root of the flash drive from "BOOTMGR" to "NTLDR".
I hope this helps...
Peter Mortensen
- 12,326
pjemmert
- 346
2
I know this question is a few years old, but I think this program is worth mentioning (it's also easy).
Your Universal Multiboot Integrator
You can use it to add many Operating Systems on one flash drive (both Windows and Linux, I don't know about MAC OSX)
You can also use it to add other ISO images, like Norton Ghost SRD, Acronis True Image and many other tools.
ICTAddict
- 407
1
I love using rufus for extracting any OS onto a USB. It's source is on github as well. For windows:
fixer1234
- 28,064
meguroyama
- 140
1
If already running Windows™ you can simply use the Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool from Microsoft.
If on another OS you can perform the following steps:
- Make sure the filesystem is NTFS and has the bootable flag set..
- Use ms-sys to write boot record (
ms-sys -7 /dev/sdx). - Mount the ISO and copy all the files and directories.
Aldrik
- 926