Microsoft now has a free utility that will automatically make a bootable USB flash drive from a Windows 7/8 ISO image file. At this point, installing Windows is the same as on a normal laptop or a desktop. Turn it on and hit the keyboard shortcut to bring up the boot menu for your model. Typically it is F12 or F1. After you select your USB flash drive the Windows 7/8 installation should begin to load. Once the file copy has completed you are ready to plug the USB flash drive into your computer. Installing Windows 7/8 from the USB flash drive Replace D with the drive letter of your CD-ROM drive and replace J with the drive letter of your USB flash drive.ĥ. Open up command prompt and type XCOPY D: J: /e and hit Enter. The instructions are slightly different when using a physical DVD. Be sure to replace J with the drive letter of your USB flash drive. Open up command prompt and navigate to the directory you extracted the source files from the ISO file with the CD command. Then, run XCOPY *.* J: /e and hit Enter to start the copy. Depending on where your source files are located there are two different methods to copy the files onto the flash drive.
The final step is to copy the install source onto the USB flash drive in a way that will allow the Windows 7/8 install to boot up.
This can take a few minutes to complete.ģ. Copying source files to USB flash drive The ISO file will now be extracted to a sub-folder with the same name as the ISO file. Once you have WinRAR installed navigate to the ISO file in explorer and right click on the file and select the bottom Extract to option.
To extract the files from the ISO file you will need WinRAR. If you do not already have WinRAR download and install that now. If you have a physical Windows install DVD then skip to step 3. Now it is time to extract the setup from a Windows 7/8 ISO image file. Next, right click on the removable USB flash drive and select Format.Ĭlick Start and the USB flash drive will be formatted. Click on the Start Button and then Computer to bring up your drives. Let’s get started. First we need to format the USB flash drive to erase any existing data on the drive.
You may need a 8 GB USB flash drive for some Windows 8 images. Windows 7 or Windows 8 ISO file and WinRAR or a burned DVD with the install source files.
As an extra benefit, modern USB flash drives are typically much faster than DVDs resulting in a quick install. The best way to install Windows on these devices is to use a USB flash drive that contains the Windows installation files. This has become problem as a number of laptops and tablet PCs no longer ship with DVD drives. Microsoft distributes Windows 7 and Windows 8 on physical discs or images of DVDs called ISO files that are typically burned to physical media. WinCDEmu is even useful on Windows 8 and 10, where it will allow you to mount the BIN/CUE, NRG, MDS/MDF, CCD, and IMG image files that Windows still doesn’t offer built-in support for.Physical DVD drives are becoming a thing of the past as the size of our PCs continue shrink and new form factors are emerging. It supports ISO files and other disc image formats.
We like WinCDEmu, a simple and open-source disc mounting program. On older versions of Windows, you’ll need a third-party application to mount ISO image files. Mounting an ISO Image in Windows 7 or Vista Once you’ve mounted the disc image, you’ll see it appear as a new drive under This PC. Right-click the drive and select “Eject” to unmount the ISO file when you’re done.
Mounting an ISO Image in Windows 8, 8.1 or 10