Install Windows 7 using USB thumb drive

Installing Windows 7 from USB thumb drive is very useful for netbooks that do not come with a disc drive. It is also very beneficial when carrying out any diy computer repairs as it is faster then trying to install from a disc.

Users who do not have a DVD drive will not need to worry about not being able to install Windows 7 or Windows Vista because the disc is a DVD.  With Operating Systems getting more advanced these days, getting it to install from a USB thumb drive is a lot easier than before.  Here are the steps you need to do in order to get the whole installation CD inside a thumb drive.

Format your USB thumb drive.

First download this HP USB storage format utility.  Hook up the USB thumb drive and start the program.  You will need to format the thumb drive to NTFS.


Download mbrwiz and extract it to C:\ .  Place it right in the C: for easy access because you need to do Dos commands later.

Press the “Windows Key” + “R” and type “cmd”.

Make sure that the mbrwiz.exe is placed in the correct location.  Type the commands in the following order.

Cd\

mbrwiz /list



Take note of the disk number, you will need to replace the number in the next command with yours.

Mbrwiz /disk=3 /active=1   ( Replace the disk number with your own, but the active is set as 1)


Now you will need to transfer the boot record into the thumb drive.  Type the following commands in the command prompt.

E: [ Hit enter , where E: is the location where my Windows 7 DVD is]

[If you are using an iso file instead, mount it using any CD emulator software.]

Cd boot

Bootsect /nt60 O: (O is the letter of my thumb drive)

Now all you need to do it to copy the entire contents of the DVD drive to the USB thumb drive.  Once everything copied over, set the bios setup to boot from USB and it should start with no issues.

I hope this guide will come in handy to many since more and more people are using netbooks these days.  Install Windows 7 using a thumb drive instead of a CD is not a difficult process and the whole installation is a lot faster than using a disc.  I welcome all readers of this article to input any additional information.