How To Create A Windows 7 USB Disk Installer

Netbooks and now the upcoming tablets like the HP Slate have one thing in common: no optical drives. What if you wanted to re-install Windows 7 from scratch? You'd have to spend a few more bucks to buy an external optical drive. Or, would it be possible to install from a USB drive? In fact, it is.

Here are the seven steps in creating a Windows 7 USB Disk Installer:

We're going to need a USB drive with a capacity of at least 4Gb and the Windows 7 (or Vista) installation files.

1. Open the Command Prompt with administrator rights. There are two ways to do this:
- From the Start Menu Search Box, type in cmd and press Ctrl+Shift+Enter.
- Go to Start Menu >; All Programs >; Accessories, then right-click on Command Prompt and select "Run as administrator"
(If you did this right, you will be presented with a command prompt showign c:\Windows\System32>)

2. At the command prompt, type in DISKPART then press Enter
-Next up, type in LIST DISK  [This displays the list of disks available in your system. My USB Drive is currently showing as Disk 2]

3. After properly identifying your USB Drive, type in all the commands below one by one:
SELECT DISK # [Select your USB accordingly. In my case it was Disk 2. Depending on the number of  partitions and drives you have, the value for your USB drive may differ]
CLEAN [Clears the configuration information off the USB Disk]
CREATE PARTITION PRIMARY [Creates the primary partition]
SELECT PARTITION 1 [Selects the primary partition to be activated]
ACTIVE [Activates partition]
FORMAT FS=NTFS [Formats the USB in NTFS Format.] *If you read my post on formatting USB Drives in NTFS, this is one of the other ways to do it
ASSIGN [Optional. This assigns a drive letter for your USB Drive]
EXIT (Exits DISKPART. Don't close the Command Prompt yet as we need to execute one more command at the next step.)

4. Next, insert your Windows7/Vista DVD into the optical drive and check the drive letter of the DVD drive. Let's assume that your DVD drive letter is “D” and USB drive letter is “H” (Open My Computer to make sure. Mine is showing "G" as my optical drive and "H" as my USB drive. ).

5. Proceed to Command Prompt and type in the following commands:
D: CD BOOT and press Enter --Where “D” is your DVD drive letter. If you have the files already stashed on your computer then you can point to this folder also with the same results. See sample picture below.
CD BOOT and press Enter to see the below message.
BOOTSECT.EXE /NT60 H: [This updates the USB disk with the BOOTMGR compatible code]

6. After successfully preparing your USB drive, you can now begin to copy the contents of your Windows 7/Vista Installer to your USB drive, the size of which is about 2.3Gb. You can also copy other software, like MS Office, Antivirus, Drivers, and other Utilities without affecting the installation files. This installer will work on any computer that supports USB booting, not just netbooks and tablets.

7. Your USB drive is now ready to boot and install Windows 7/Vista. You only need to change the boot priority in the Bios Menu or by pressing the boot hotkey at startup and by selecting your USB disk Installer.

If you have any problems concerning this guide, feel free to ask questions by leaving comment.