There are cases when Windows cannot be installed on a computer or notebook because the CD/DVD drive isn’t working or it doesn’t exist at all. Still, there is another way to do it without this drive, and this article will show you how to install Windows XP/Vista/7/8 using a USB flash drive.
We will show you here how to setup an USB flash drive to become bootable and have the desired operating system setup files on it. To do this, you will need a USB flash drive and the help of a free software that makes this process alot easier. At the time when this method went into practice, this process was laborius and alot of steps were required, in order to do a USB flash drive bootable and have the setup files on it. With the help of Novicorp’s WinToFlash software, you will get this done in no time.
To transfer the Windows setup files from the installation disc to the USB drive WinToFlash (download links are at the bottom) has two main tabs named Wizard mode and Advanced mode. In the Wizard mode the software will guide you through the steps to get the USB flash drive ready. If you have an ISO image of the Operating System’s installation disc instead of a CD/DVD, you can mount that up using your favorite software (MagicISO Maker, Daemon Tools Lite, etc.) so it can be transferred.
This software offers additional options in the Advanced mode, but the easiest way is to use the wizard.
Please note: For Windows XP you will need 700mb+ USB flash drive space and for Windows Vista and 7 you will need atleast 4GB of space on your drive.
This software will format your drive before transferring the files, so make sure you don’t have any important files on it. Let’s start.
Press the Windows Setup Transfer Wizard button and a new window will appear.
We will cover this procedure step-by-step to give you a better understanding of what’s happening and how it should go. When the wizard window appears, press Next.
On the next phase you will be prompted to choose the Windows file path and specify the USB drive letter. To select the drives, use the Select buttons. In this case we had the drive V: as the source and the M: as the destination. After all is set, click Next.
On the next step, the program will prompt you the operating system’s EULA that you have to Accept in order to proceed.
Pressing Continue will pop a Format Warning window which needs your confirmation for deleting all of your data from your USB flash drive. Make sure you don’t have any important files on it and then click Continue.
The format and file transfer will start and after it is finished, click Next.
That’s basically it, now you will have an USB flash drive that is bootable and ready to be used to install the Windows Operating System of your choice.
Thanks to this software, making an USB flash drive bootable and have the Windows setup files on it, takes just 6 steps which makes this process open to all users that have a basic knowledge of using a computer.
