Sunday, June 24, 2012

How to make USB bootable for window 7

1. Insert your USB (4GB+ preferable) stick to the system and backup all the data from the USB as we are going to format the USB to make it as bootable.
2. Open elevated Command Prompt. To do this, type in CMD in Start menu search field and hit Ctrl + Shift + Enter. Alternatively, navigate to Start > All programs >Accessories > right click on Command Prompt and select run as administrator.
3. When the Command Prompt opens, enter the following command:
DISKPART and hit enter.
LIST DISK and hit enter.
Once you enter the LIST DISK command, it will show the disk number of your USB drive. In the below image my USB drive disk no is Disk 1.
4. In this step you need to enter all the below commands one by one and hit enter. As these commands are self explanatory, you can easily guess what these commands do.
SELECT DISK 1 (Replace DISK 1 with your disk number)
CLEAN
CREATE PARTITION PRIMARY
SELECT PARTITION 1
ACTIVE
FORMAT FS=NTFS
(Format process may take few seconds)
ASSIGN
EXIT
Bootable USB

Don’t close the command prompt as we need to execute one more command at the next step. Just minimize it.
5. Insert your Windows DVD in the optical drive and note down the drive letter of the optical drive and USB media. Here I use “D” as my optical (DVD) drive letter and “H” as my USB drive letter.
6. Go back to command prompt and execute the following commands:
D:CD BOOT and hit enter. Where “D” is your DVD drive letter.
CD BOOT and hit enter to see the below message.
BOOTSECT.EXE/NT60 H:
(Where “H” is your USB drive letter)

USB Bootable
7. Copy Windows DVD contents to USB.
You are done with your bootable USB. You can now use this bootable USB as bootable DVD on any computer that comes with USB boot feature (most of the current motherboards support this feature).
Note that this bootable USB guide will not work if you are trying to make a bootable USB on XP computer.

Only Last Two steps Are Modified

    • This does not work on Windows XP.
    • Vista/Windows 7:
      • Start > (type in the search bar) cmd , then press Enter.

  1. 2
    Once inside the command prompt, type in: diskpart , then press Enter.



    • After that, a new window, diskpart, will appear.

  2. 3
    Once inside this new window, type in: list disk . All active drives will be displayed to the command prompt.



    • After that is done, you will want to select your USB. Typically, it's always the smallest one in size, so you will always be able to tell which one it is. Type in: select disk 1 .


    • Clean your USB. Be sure to back up all data stored on the USB you are using, because you will lose all your data in this step. Type in: clean .

  3. 4
    Now you will create a partition for the USB. Type in: create partition primary .

  4. 5
    Type in: select partition 1 . This will select the partition you have just created.



    • Now type in: active . This will make the partition active on the USB.

  5. 6
    Format your USB. This could take awhile depending on the size of the drive and the processing power of your computer. It could take anywhere from a few seconds to 45 minutes. Type in: format fs=ntfs .



    • Once completed, type in: assign .

  6. 7
    Now that you a bootable USB, type in: exit . Congratulations, you now have a bootable USB.
  7. 8
    Insert your Windows Vista or Windows 7 DVD into your computer. Open the DVD from windows explorer(My computer). You might have to right-click, then click on "Open".



    • Once you have done that, select all that you see and transfer to your USB.

  8. 9
    Install your operating system. You will have to go into your BIOS, which can only be accessed when your computer first turns on. You have the option, when the computer boots, to press F2 key and access your BIOS. When you enter your BIOS, make sure your USB is plugged in and go to boot options and then boot device priority and make sure your USB is the first one on the list. That way when your computer reboots, it will load from the USB, thus enabling you to install your Operating System.