Is it possible to install Windows from an SD card. How to install Windows XP from USB-Flash or SD card (program and instructions)

11.01.2012

Let me make a reservation right away: we will not talk about how to make a bootable USB flash drive; this operation is described in many sources.

Those who want to boot their PC from a USB drive will first of all encounter the problem of performance and, most likely, after the first experiments they will abandon this matter (even the most ancient HDD will be significantly faster than any USB drive). But there are other problems: for example, some platforms generally refuse to boot from such media. The same fate can befall those who try to use the built-in card reader (as a rule, they are all connected via a USB interface to motherboard).

But you shouldn’t write off flash drives; there are many cases in which the use of such a medium is justified not only from the point of view of simplicity and comfort, but also economically: the cost of a 4 GB flash card is significantly lower than the cheapest HDD. And there are enough advantages: it takes up little space (compact), there are no mechanical parts, the operating temperature range (again, compared to a hard drive) is wider. From a mini-server or storage to a regular desktop workstation, from a video surveillance system to a controller technological processes- there is a use for such a system everywhere. And from the point of view of reliability or maintainability, it’s a fairy tale: I made two or three copies, one malfunctioned - I pulled it out, inserted another - and again in service.

In addition, do not forget about low power consumption, lack of noise and compact dimensions - lovers of thin clients and compact media centers will understand me.

So let’s leave skepticism aside and try to solve the problem, bypassing all the bottlenecks.

Which memory card to choose?

Since the main goal of our system is to achieve maximum performance, let's start with choosing a card.

Of all the variety of models, perhaps the most interesting is CompactFlash. Of course, it would be nice to immediately become the owner of SanDisk Extreme Pro, which (thanks to the Power Core controller and UDMA-7 interface) provides recording speeds of up to 100 MB/s, but let’s be realistic: not all cases require such speeds. The question immediately arises: what speeds are enough? At a minimum, let us remember that classic SATA drives provided a throughput of 150 MB/s, their predecessors PATA (Ultra ATA IDE) - 133 MB/s, and the read speed of an optical disk (40x) was generally 6 MB/s, and these figures purely theoretical, in practice the actual speed was lower.

It is clear that even from a relatively slow IDE drive the operating system will load quite quickly, but even from a very fast CD it will load slowly. Let's see what flash cards offer.

As in the case of hard drives, performance is determined by the UDMA mode - the data exchange speed depends on its version. Fortunately, most manufacturers do not bother customers with the need to remember what speed is provided by UDMA 5 and what by UDMA 6, but simply mark their products with a multiplicity indicator: 133x, 150x, 600x, etc.

Most often, in relatively inexpensive models you can find speeds of 133x or 150x, which in practice means 20 MB/s and 22.5 MB/s, respectively. This is the minimum below which there is no point in going below: loading the OS will take too long. It is much wiser to pay attention to cards with a value of 400x - their data transfer speed will be 60 MB/s, and the price is not much higher than the slower ones.

In any case, even if you have to choose based on the specified UDMA version (without it there is no point in taking it at all), it is better to take a drive with the highest speed factor and a capacity of at least 16 GB.

And yet: why the CompactFlash format? But because these cards have the highest speed and reasonable price. Their only drawback is their dimensions, but in our case this does not matter: the dimensions of a CF card are 42 mm by 36 mm, the thickness is 3.3 mm, and a standard hard drive (even 2.5 "") is 65 mm wide, about 100 long and 9.5 mm thick.

When restrictions are imposed by the interface

Let's assume we've decided on a card: we've chosen the Transcend CompactFlash 16Gb 600x model, costing up to 2,500 rubles. But what's the point if you have to work with it through a standard card reader, which, due to the USB 2.0 interface, will cut the speed to a completely unusable level?

The solution is to use the interface for connecting hard drives.

At the same time, this will help get rid of the problem with loading the OS from external media: the computer will see our flash drive as a standard hard drive.

Of course, you won’t be able to plug a flash card directly into a SATA or IDE connector; you’ll have to purchase a special adapter. Which one to choose depends only on personal preference, but be sure to check for support for UltraDMA (UDMA) mode, preferably UDMA 5. As with the CF card, this will provide maximum speed work.

For example, Addonics Internal UDD II (Ultra DigiDrive), connected to a SATA port, provides throughput up to 150 MB/s. However, the manufacturer has many similar solutions - such as, for example, the DigiDrive installed in the Internal SATA/USB slot. If you wish, you can find something similar for the IDE interface, but remember: this will become more difficult every day - many manufacturers have stopped producing such adapters.

If you still managed to find an adapter with UDMA support, then all that remains is to combine the card, adapter and motherboard and start installing the OS.

How to install OS on a memory card?

If you made the right choice, then the only thing that can upset you is the incompatibility of your particular motherboard with a specific adapter and/or flash card. Unfortunately, it is impossible to give recommendations on their exact selection and provide a link to the compatibility table - in most cases everything works. Sometimes, however, there are problems, but here, depending on your luck, you will have to experiment. Some enthusiastic craftsmen, for example, undertake to modify adapters themselves. If you are ready for this, no problem, the Internet is full of articles on this topic. If not, change the flash card (for example, with a similar one from another vendor). If it doesn't help, change the adapter. Alternatively, do the same thing, but with a different motherboard.

If everything worked and the BIOS and the system saw your card as a hard drive, follow the standard procedure for installing the operating system. There are no special comments here, the only thing that needs to be done is to disable the swap file after installation. If it is absolutely necessary, place it on an additional hard drive.

As a result, upon successful completion of the process, we will see that the OS loads no longer than 20-30 seconds, and heavy applications (such as OpenOffice.org) launch almost instantly (2-4 seconds). And all this - in complete silence.

If you are satisfied with the result, you will have to work a little with the system: move user folders to the hard drive, send directories with application software there, and thoroughly clean the system (after all, CompactFlash is small in size). How to do this is a topic for a separate article.

When you want it even faster

The sky's the limit, and in pursuit of perfection, many enthusiasts will likely want to consider larger capacity CF cards. There is a solution especially for such experimenters: the same company Addonics produces Quad-CF PCI adapter. This device is not an adapter between SATA and CF - in fact, it is a stand-alone RAID controller installed in a PCI slot and allowing simultaneous connection of up to four flash cards (for which it is equipped with special connectors).

Of course, the Quad-CF PCI adapter cannot be called a full-fledged RAID controller - its capabilities are only sufficient to create arrays of levels 0, 1 or 10, and the developers are positioning the solution as a “low-cost SSD substitute.” In fact, on its basis you can create either a high-speed array (RAID 1) for running application software (Photoshop, for example), or use it to boot the system (almost everything is supported, starting with Win98), but with reliability support, for example, RAID 10. In the latter case, the speed gain is guaranteed (compared to a single flash card).

Finally, it remains to add that such a solution is a good option for those cases where many read operations and few write operations are required: nevertheless, the reliability of flash cards is relatively low and decreases with multiple rewrite cycles, and the speed of operation when saving data leaves much to be desired. So for full-fledged work it is better to use it in conjunction with a hard drive.

This article will talk about how to install Windows Vista or Windows 7 from a flash drive on any computer, laptop or netbook. In addition to a flash drive, you can use any memory card and external card reader.

Brief description of installing Windows from a flash drive

In this article you will learn how you can install Windows Vista and Windows 7 on your computer using a flash drive or memory card. This manual is primarily written for those people who are new to working with computers.

Of course, it’s much easier to install Windows using the usual DVD disc, but it is not always possible to do this. And there may be several reasons for this, starting with the fact that your computer or laptop does not have DVD drive and ending with the fact that this DVD drive is broken, and you may simply not have a disk with Windows.

And so, if you have one of the above problems, then you can install Windows using a flash drive or memory card, for this you will need to write Windows to an external drive, and then install it safely. In fact, this is what this article will discuss.

Installing Windows Vista and Windows 7 from a USB flash drive

Before you start installing Windows Vista or Windows 7, you should copy all important data from the partition on which you plan to install it; these files can be copied to another partition, to a flash drive, or to any other computer. It should be remembered that desktop elements, programs and documents in the system are located in different sections. Why do we copy files? In order not to lose them. Because if we start clearing space for our Windows, we will need to format the partition where Windows will be located, and this will lead to the irrevocable destruction of files.

In addition, before installing Windows you will need to copy all the necessary drivers (this mainly concerns the drivers of the network card, modem and Wi-Fi adapter). This procedure is necessary in order to avoid problems that may arise after Windows installation. And the problems may be of the following nature: the version of Windows that you install may simply be missing some drivers, and it’s okay if these are drivers from a video card, but if these are network drivers, then you will not be able to log on to the network and download the drivers you need, and this, as you yourself understand, is an unpleasant development of events.

The entire process of installing Windows Vista and Windows 7 can be divided into five main stages:

1. Actually preparing the flash drive itself for loading Windows 7 or Windows Vista on it.
2. Settings Laptop BIOS, which will allow you to boot Windows from a flash drive or memory card.
3. Direct installation of Windows.
4. We look for and then install drivers.
5. Installation software and utilities.

Let's look at each of the stages.

1. Preparing a flash drive

And so, now you will learn about three ways that will help you write a Windows distribution kit to a flash drive. It should be said that the first method is simpler than the second, but more difficult than the third.

Method number 1

To do this, we need a Windows OS distribution, which is best used in the original MSDN build. Why MSDN assembly? Because there are a minimum number of problems with it, both during installation and in further use.

After that, we will need a set of utilities that you can find on the Internet. And, of course, the flash drive itself is larger than 4 GB. In this case, it is better to use a flash drive with a memory card. This way you can avoid problems that may arise if your netbook or laptop does not have the ability to boot from a memory card in the built-in card reader.

Before installing Windows, find out which version your laptop supports. Because it can support either 32-bit or 64-bit version.

Let's get started! First, you should copy the image of your Windows (Vista or 7) to the hard drive, and the format should be ISO. Then we launch the UltraISO program, which you must download and install on your computer. After this, the main program window will open in front of you.

If your UltraISO program requires payment and you do not have a tablet, then select “Trial period”.

After this, you will need to open the image of your operating system. To do this, click on “File” and then “Open”.

Find the folder where the system ISO file is located.

Go to the boot menu and select “Burn hard disk image” from the list that appears.

Now insert the flash drive or memory card into the USB port on your computer or laptop.

After that, click on the “Format” button.

Remember that during the formatting process, all the data that was on your flash drive will be lost forever, so if these files are of particular value to you, copy them to some kind of media or computer.

After you clicked format, you will need to select the file system type (NTFS) and then click the “Start” button.

Warning about data deletion.

After some time, formatting will be completed.

Warning. Click “Yes”.

Now you need to be patient and wait. Once the recording is complete, you will have a flash drive or memory card with a working Windows 7.

Method number 2

Using this method, we will need a Windows distribution, a flash drive with a capacity of more than 4 gigabytes, or a memory card with the same capacity.

Remember that before you start formatting a flash drive or memory card, you should copy all the files that are important to you from it, otherwise they will all be irretrievably lost.

Let's start work. The first step is to insert a memory card or flash drive into the USB connector, after which you need to launch the “Command Prompt”, which can be found in the “Start” menu.

It looks like a window with a black background and white letters.

Enter the command “diskpart” into it and press the “Enter” button.

Then type the command “list disk”, press “Enter” and a list of all storage devices will appear in front of you. After this, you should find the disk number under which your flash drive is displayed (this can be done based on the size of the flash drive).

After you have found out what number your flash drive is located under, enter the command “select disk” (and the number, for example select disk 2), press “Enter”.

Now type “clean” into the command line and press “Enter”.

After this, you will need to select the first partition; to do this, use the command line again and enter “select partition 1” and press “Enter”.

Type the command “active” and press “Enter”.

Then we begin formatting the partition, to do this you will need to type the command “format fs=NTFS” and, as you already understood, press the “Enter” button.

After entering this command, a flash drive will appear in the system. And after it appears, enter the command “Exit” - press “Enter”.

After completing all the work with the command line, all that remains is to copy the Windows distribution to a flash drive. To do this, it is best to use the 7-zip utility.

We launch the utility and select the ISO image we need. When the image is selected, you will need to click the extract button and specify the path to the flash drive. Once the file is unpacked, Windows will be ready to install.

Installation method number 3

As mentioned above, this is the easiest way. In order to use it, we need the WinToFlash utility, which you can figure out on your own.

After all the above steps, you should have a flash drive with the following contents:

2. Enable file downloading in the BIOS

Now let's talk about how to enable file loading (in our case Window) via a flash drive or memory card in the BIOS.

Turn off your computer, netbook or laptop, insert a USB flash drive into it and turn it on again. While it is loading, press F2, Del or ESC (depending on your system), after which you will enter Bios. If none of the buttons helped you enter the BIOS, then pay attention to the lower left corner of the boot screen and press the button that you see there.

Once you have entered the BIOS, select the BOOT tab and using the F5 and F6 keys you can change the boot order. Again, if the specified buttons did not help change the list of downloads, then the buttons needed for this should be displayed on the screen.

And so, you need to install your flash drive or memory card first in the download list; most often, portable USB memory devices are designated as USB-HDD. After this, you should save the selected settings using the “Save and Exit Setup” item.

3. Let's start installing Windows 7 directly

There is nothing complicated here, because installation via a flash drive or memory card is very simple. The main thing during installation is to pay close attention to the operations associated with choosing an installation partition and creating disks.

Reboot the computer (laptop). In the first window that appears, you need to select the system language. Click on the “Next” button.

In the next window, click “Install”.

The next step is to select the version of Windows 7. You should select the one for which you have the key. It is usually indicated on the bottom of the laptop and must be entered at the end of the installation. Click “Next”.

We accept the license agreement and click “Next”.

Now we need to select the partition in which we will install Windows 7. I recommend selecting the system partition. Also, when installing Windows 7 Professional and Windows 7 Ultimate, there will be another additional partition with a capacity of 100 MB. This partition is created by Windows 7 itself and is intended to implement the encryption function of the system partition, but not for installing Windows.

Click on “Disk Settings”.

The next step is to activate Windows. The code can be entered immediately, or you can wait for 30 days. If you bought a laptop with the system already installed, the activation code should be written on the bottom of the device.

You can set the time and date.

If the Internet is connected to the laptop and the network card drivers are installed, the system will automatically prompt you to specify the network type.

All! Now you know how to install Windows 7 from a flash drive. All that remains is to install drivers and programs.

4. Search and install drivers

Usually you will need to install a minimum of drivers; almost all laptop hardware will work. On the Internet you can find new versions of drivers that will significantly speed up the operation of your laptop. The kit should also include a driver disk and you don't need to search for anything on the Internet at all.

5. Final stage. Installing utilities and programs

Utilities are additional programs, which expand the operation of the laptop. Usually they come on the same disk as the drivers and there is no need to look for them anywhere else. There is no need to neglect their installation; they greatly simplify the work.

You choose the programs to install on your laptop yourself. There will be no special recommendations here, since there are a huge number of them and they solve different goals.

I hope this article will be useful to you and installing Windows 7 from a flash drive is no longer a problem for you.

In this article we will talk about ways to install Windows 10.

Today a large number of PC users use USB drives as bootable media to perform a clean installation of Windows 10 or earlier versions. Although USB installation is convenient, you may not be able to use this method at all times.

Did you know that you can install Windows 10 without using USB? In fact, it is possible to install Windows 10 without creating bootable media.

Below are six ways to install Windows 10.

Methods for installing the Windows 10 operating system

Method number 1. Installing Windows 10 from a USB device

Installing Windows 10 using a USB drive is perhaps the most the best method. In addition, a USB drive has a fast data transfer speed of its kind, which will allow you to install a Windows distribution many times faster.

You can use the official tool to create bootable USB drives – , or use a third-party tool such as .

Method number 2. Installing Windows 10 from DVD

If you don't have a USB drive or frequently install or reinstall Windows 10, using DVD as boot media makes sense. You can use the built-in ISO burning tool in Windows 10/8/7 or use third-party ISO burning tools to prepare a Windows 10 bootable DVD.

Method No. 3. Installing Windows 10 from an SD memory card

If you can't find USB or DVD around when you want to install Windows 10, you can simply do backup data from your smartphone's memory card to your computer, and then use the memory card as boot media.

Creating a bootable memory stick is quite simple and is similar to creating a bootable USB.

Method number 4. Installing Windows 10 from an ISO image

You can install Windows 10 directly from an ISO image without burning it to DVD or USB only if you have a bootable Windows PC and plan to install Windows 10 on a drive other than the one where Windows 10/8/7 is installed. To install from ISO you just need to install ISO file and run the installation file located in the folder "Sources".

Method No. 5. Installing Windows 10 from a smartphone

Did you know that you can even use your smartphone to install Windows 10 on your PC? Well, not all smartphones, but smartphones equipped with Android should be able to install Windows 10 on your computer.

Not every user has a DVD drive; moreover, recently rare PCs have been equipped with them. But you still need to install the system, and for this it is most convenient to use a bootable USB flash drive. Let's figure out how to install Windows 7 from a flash drive - after all, you won't buy a DVD for this purpose.

Before proceeding with the installation, carefully study this article: various difficulties may arise during the process, which can be solved using one of the methods described below.

The installation process itself can be divided into the following stages:

• downloading the installation image;
• computer preparation;
• creating a bootable flash drive;
• setting up PC BIOS;
• Windows 7 installation.

Let's look at each stage in more detail.

Before you burn the image to a flash drive and install the system from it, you need to download it. Today there are a huge number of ready-made operating system builds, which are equipped with many applications and functions.

Very often in such distributions the default theme or sound scheme is changed. But not all users like such innovations. You only need to download original images created by Microsoft. A huge headquarters of the world's leading programmers does their job better than some artisanal modifier.

A little lower you will find a button where you can download a torrent file to download the Russian version of Windows 7 with 32 or 64-bit architecture. The file was taken from the official Microsoft website and is completely original. Proceed with the download, and when the download is complete, move on to the next step.

After the file is downloaded, open it using a torrent client. If you don't know how to work with such programs, follow our step by step instructions.

1. First, download the torrent client itself. This will be the qBittoorent application.
2. Install the program and use it to open the previously downloaded torrent file.

1. Select the version of Windows 7 (in our case it is professional 64 bit) and click “OK”.

1. After this, the operating system will begin loading at the maximum available speed.

Getting ready to install Windows 7

First of all, we need to copy to a safe place all the information that is important to us, located on drive C. Each user stores data in their own way, so each user has their own choice of folders for backup. Most often these are folders: “Downloads”, “Desktop”, etc.

You can save files to another logical drive (the one on which the system will not be installed) or to an external drive. You can also use cloud storage if there is not too much data. For example, the Mail.ru cloud provides 100 GB of free space.

With an eye to the future, remember: while using your PC, you need to store your data on a disk other than the one on which the system is installed. Divide the physical disk into partitions and store your files on any of them except the system one. To install Windows 7, a comfortable volume of 70–100 GB will be (depending on the type and amount of software used).

Another important point that should be taken into account before the installation begins is the drivers for our network card. If, after installing Windows 7, it turns out that there is no driver for the network card, additional difficulties will arise that will have to be solved using a second computer by transferring files from it via a flash drive.

If you just bought a computer, there is not and cannot be any valuable information on it, feel free to move on to the next section, without copying the data.

Create a bootable USB flash drive

In order to create bootable media and begin the operating system installation procedure, we will need:

• USB flash drive with a capacity of 8 GB or more. Instead of a USB flash drive, you can use simple map memory with card reader;
• "Seven" installation distribution with .iso extension;
• a utility with which we will write an image to a flash drive;

Attention! Before you start creating installation media, remember that all data on it will be irretrievably destroyed.

Making installation media using Ultra ISO

A well-known disk imaging program can create bootable media. Let's look at the algorithm for recording Windows 7 to a USB device.

1. Download and install the Ultra ISO program from the link.
2. Run the resulting file and check the “I accept the license agreement” checkbox. Proceed to the next step by clicking “Next”.

1. Using the “Browse” button, select the installation path, then click “Next”.

1. We don’t change anything here and just move on.

1. The program is being installed, we are waiting for it to finish.

The Ultra ISO installation is complete, you can run it and go straight to creating a flash drive for installing Windows 7.

1. The Ultra ISO program can be launched in trial mode, so its functionality will not suffer at all. Click on the button marked in the picture.

1. Go to the “File” menu and click on the “Open” item.

1. Select the Windows 7 image we downloaded, and then “Open”.

1. Go to the “Startup” section and click on the item that we marked in the screenshot.

1. We make sure that the media we need is displayed in the devices at the top of the window and click on the “Format” button.

Attention! This will destroy all your data beyond recovery. If you have the files you need on your USB drive, save them first.

1. In the next window, simply click “Start”.

1. Ultra ISO will once again warn us that all information from the flash drive will be erased. Click "OK".

1. After formatting is completed, click on “Burn”.

1. The process of recording “Seven” onto a flash drive has begun. It will take about 5-10 minutes depending on the speed of the drive and the selected OS version.

The recording is complete, our media can be used.

Let's look at a few more options for creating bootable media with Windows 7.

Rufus

This is another program that can create a bootable USB flash drive with “Seven”. First, let's download it.

The application, unlike Ultra ISO, does not require installation, so you can run the downloaded file and immediately proceed to the process of burning the OS to a USB device. To do this we do the following:

1. Select the recording device. This will be our flash drive, in this case – 16 GB. Then click on the disk icon.

1. Select the distribution we downloaded in the PC folder.

1. We begin the recording process with the “Start” button.

1. Rufus will notify us that all files will be deleted from the flash drive. If you have already created a backup copy or there was no important information on the media, click “OK”.

As a result, it will begin Windows entry 7 onto a flash drive, after which you will have a full-fledged installation media at your disposal.

Attention! Before you begin the process of writing the system to a flash drive, be sure to save all the data on it - otherwise they will be irretrievably lost.

As we see, this method turned out to be much simpler than the previous one, but we will not dwell on this and will consider several more options for recording Windows 7 to a USB drive.

Making a bootable USB flash drive using WinSetupFromUSB

Another application focused solely on writing operating system files to an external drive. Let's take a look at the utility and look at the process of working with it.

1. Select the path where the program will be unpacked (click on the button with the image of three dots) and click “Extract”.

1. We are waiting for all the necessary files to be unzipped.

1. We open the directory into which the unpacking was carried out and launch the program depending on the architecture on which your operating system is built. For us it is 64 bit, so we click on the marked file.

1. We insert our flash drive into the USB port and make sure that it appears in WinSetupFromUSB. Next, check the box marked “2” in the screenshot. When the bird is placed, click on the icon with the image of three dots, marked with the number “3”.

1. Select the image of our operating system and click on “Open”.

1. All that remains is to press the “GO” key and Windows 7 recording will begin.

Windows 7 is being written to an external drive. Once the process is completed, the flash drive can be used to install the system.

We will not stop at WinSetupFromUSB and will tell you how to burn the OS to media via Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool from Microsoft.

Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool

This is an official application from Microsoft, so it should, in theory, do the best job of writing Windows 7 to a flash drive. Let's get started with the program.

1. First, download the utility from the link from the official website. Then we launch it and click on the “Next” button.

1. We are waiting for the program to install.

1. We complete the installation process by clicking on the “Finish” button.

1. Let's move on to working with the program. Initially, we need to specify the file that we will record. To do this, click the “Browse” button.

1. After the path to the image file is registered, you can proceed to the next step - click “Next”.

1. Here we should select the type of media on which we will install the “Seven”. Since this is a flash drive, we click on “USB device”.

1. We make sure that our drive is displayed in the field marked with the number “1” and click on the “Begin copying” button.

1. After this, we will be warned that all information from the media will be erased and, after confirmation, the process of transferring Windows 7 to a USB drive will begin.

Upon completion, we will receive a bootable USB flash drive, with which it is easy to install the OS on your computer.

The program requires the Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 library. If you do not have it, then download the program from the official Microsoft website.

We use the UNetBootin program

The UNetBootin utility is completely free. you can download it without registering or sending SMS. The program does not need to be installed - it works immediately after downloading. An application was created not only for recording to a Windows flash drive, but also for other operating systems such as Linux or Mac OS.

Let's move on to the instructions for using the application.

1. First of all, check the “Disk Image” box and click on the button with the ellipsis. In the window that opens, we need a Windows distribution.

1. In the drop-down list indicated by the number “1”, select a USB device, indicate our flash drive and click “OK”.

1. The application will warn us that all data that is already on the flash drive will be irretrievably lost. If we don’t need them, click “Yes to All”.

The distribution package is being written to a USB device. Once it is completed, the flash drive can be used to install the OS.

Command line

You can create bootable media with “Seven” without using any programs using the system itself. For this we will use the command line.

The entire process is described in the form of detailed step-by-step instructions, each stage of which is accompanied by a screenshot for clarity.

1. Initially, launch the command line. This must be done exclusively as an administrator. We will create bootable media using Windows 10 as an example, but you can get the same result on Windows 7 - 8. Press the Win + R button combination and press the “Browse” key in the window that appears.

1. We follow the path indicated in the screenshot with the number “1” and find the cmd application. We right-click on it with our manipulator and select “Run as administrator”.

1. Write the command diskpart on the command line and press Enter.

1. To start recording to a disk, you must initially select it, and take this choice responsibly, because all data from it will be deleted. You can view a list of disks using the operators: “list disk”, “list volume” or “list partition”. The first two show a list of disks, the third displays the number of partitions and their names. Insert the flash drive into the USB port and enter the “list disk” command in DISKPART. Next press Enter. You will see a list of all drives installed on this moment in PC.

1. Select the disk that we need. To do this, enter select disk disk_number. The disk number can be viewed in the previous step; for us it is “1” since its size is 14 GB, which corresponds to our flash drive.

1. We remove the disk with the clean command. Make sure you do it again right choice– all data on the media will be completely deleted.

1. Now we need to create the main partition for the flash drive, from which we will boot in the future. Enter the command create partition primary and press Enter.

1. We set the drive letter using the assign letter=drive_letter operator. Let's do that. We know that our PC has drives C, D and E - therefore, we specify F. The final command will look like this: assign letter=F.

1. You can also specify the partition size. If you skip this step, it will take up all the free space. You can set the size of a logical disk using the create partition primary size=disk_size command. The size must be specified in megabytes.

1. Select our disk using the select partition 1 command (indicate your disk number) and press Enter.

1. Now we need to make our section active. To do this, use the active operator.

1. All that remains is to format the flash drive - write a command like this: format fs=fat32 quick.

1. Exit DISKPART using the exit command. Now you need to prepare the files for recording. We unpack our Windows 7 image using any archiver (we will use the usual WinRAR) and extract all the files to our flash drive.

The installation media is ready and you can use it.

We use the WinToFlash program

Let us describe the process of working with another program for recording Windows 7 and other operating systems on a USB drive. To get started, download the utility from the link from the official website.

1. Install the program and run it. In the window that opens, select the item marked with a red frame.

1. At the very top, select “Windows”, then indicate Windows 7 and press the button indicated in the screenshot with the number “3”.

1. We indicate the path to the Windows 7 image that we downloaded. To do this, click the “Select” button.

1. Click on “Add”.

1. We make sure that the flash drive we need is indicated as the target, and click “Run”.

After this, the process of creating bootable media with Windows 7 will begin, after which the device will be ready for use.

Burn a bootable USB flash drive using WinToBootic

This application is one of the simplest tools for recording operating systems to external media. To work with the utility, you do not need to install it, nor do you need administrator rights. You can work with both Windows files and its images. The interface here is simple, and the speed of the program is pleasing.

To burn Windows 7 to a USB flash drive via WinToBootic, do the following:

1. First, download the program from the link and launch it. Check the box next to “Quick Format” and click “Do It!”

1. We answer the request for formatting in the affirmative.

1. We are again notified that all data on the flash drive will be deleted. Don't forget to save important information from the media, if it is there, and click “OK”.

1. The preparation of the flash drive is completed, click “Thanks!”

1. Next, select the files that will be written to our flash drive. To do this, click the icon indicated in the screenshot and select the image we need.

1. Click the button to start the process again.

Windows 7 will begin recording to the USB flash drive. When it is finished, the device can be used to install the system.

How to boot from a flash drive

To successfully install Windows 7 from a flash drive, it is not enough for us to simply write the operating system onto the media; we also need to force the PC to boot not from the hard drive, but from a USB drive. This can be done in two ways: either by modifying the BIOS, or through a special boot menu.

Regarding the Boot Menu, we can say that it is launched using different keys, depending on the model of the computer or laptop. You can see which button is responsible for this on your device in the instructions for it. We provide a list of combinations for the main brands of computers and laptops:

Launching Boot Menu on PC:

Launching Boot Menu on a laptop:

Below is a list of keys that launch the BIOS on different computers and laptops:

For clarity, we will show the process of installing a flash drive as the first boot device using the example of our PC with an Asus motherboard:

1. We turn off or restart the computer and after it starts, press the button to go to the BIOS (for us it’s Del).

1. This is what the BIOS itself looks like.

1. Go to the Boot tab.

1. We install our USB drive as the first device.

The process is similar on different computers, although the names of the tabs and items may differ. In order to understand how to enter the BIOS of your PC, read the instructions for it.

Installing Windows 7 from a USB flash drive

After the BIOS has been configured, you can proceed directly to installing Windows 7 from a flash drive. Let's get started.

1. Immediately after the system starts, you will see the following window (data for installing Windows 7 is being preloaded).

1. Set regional parameters. Select your system language, region of residence, and keyboard layout. If desired, all this data can be specified after Windows starts. When the setup is complete, click on “Next”.

1. At the next stage, simply click “Install”.

1. All you have to do is accept the license agreement and the installation will begin. Check the box as shown in the screenshot and click “Next”.

1. Select a mode complete installation- This is the so-called clean option, when all old data on the system partition is deleted.

1. We are in the section settings menu. Click on the entry outlined in red.

1. If your disk is not partitioned, you can do this here (for Windows 7, it would be best to use about 100 GB of free space, the rest will become drive D). Don't forget to format your system partition before installing Windows on it. When the operation is completed, click on the “Next” button.

1. Finally the Windows installation began. We are waiting for the process to be completed.

1. Next, the system will reboot and we will be greeted with the Windows startup screen

1. Initial optimization is underway. The system prepares all the necessary files.

1. System services begin to start.

1. After which we proceed to complete the Windows installation

1. We are again informed that we need to restart the computer.

1. The system will check how productive our video card is.

1. Now we need to provide our details. We write an arbitrary name and computer name. Then click “Next”.

1. If necessary, you can set a password that the system will request upon startup. We skip this step since the computer will be at home.

1. If you have a Windows 7 key, you can enter it here, however, you can do this even after the system starts. We skip this step.

1. We choose the system protection option depending on our personal preferences. We will be installing another antivirus, so the regular one will not be needed.

1. Enter the time and time zone. Then click “Next”.

1. We decide on the type of network. This is quite an important step, because if we specify home network, but we are connected to the public, our security will suffer greatly.

1. The settings are applied and the network is automatically configured.

1. Last minute of optimization before our Windows 7 launches.

As a result, we installed Windows 7 from a flash drive, the creation of which was described above.

Instead of an afterword

We've looked at a ton different programs and tools from Windows itself to answer the question: how to install Windows 7 from a flash drive. However, these are not all options. There are a lot of such programs on the Internet. They differ in their convenience and functionality. Some utilities are better suited for ordinary users, while others are better suited for professionals.

Which method to choose and how to write Windows 7 to a flash drive should be determined based on purely personal preferences. Use the option that you like, and if you have any questions, ask us in the comments. We are committed to the shortest possible time give a comprehensive answer.

A sudden failure to start Windows on a business trip will not be a problem if you take a flash drive with the OS with you. Unlike the installation DVD, it takes up very little space in your bag or laptop case.

Which flash drive is best for recording a Windows image?

A Windows installation flash drive will help bring the system back to working order in an hour if it suddenly crashes. The storage requirements are as follows:

• memory capacity of at least 4 GB (the image itself takes up 3 GB, but flash drives of “multiple” sizes are not available, this is not a hard drive);
• The flash drive must support USB 2.0 speed (using USB 1.2 will take up to several hours to record a copy of Windows).

Preparing a flash drive for recording a Windows image

Do the following:

Formatting in fast mode takes up to 15 seconds. After completing the procedure, you can begin recording the Windows image. You can also format the flash drive third party program or by means of Command line».

Setting up booting from a flash drive in the UEFI interface

Before giving advice on setting up UEFI to boot your computer from a flash drive, it’s worth briefly talking about this program. The user of the latest PC will in any case encounter it the first time they try to reinstall Windows.

How is UEFI different from BIOS?

UEFI is similar to a new generation BIOS, but with mouse support. Unlike BIOS, where control is carried out only from the keyboard, in UEFI you can also control the mouse, as in the Magic Partition application, which worked with hard disk partitions. UEFI has a more modern graphical shell, vaguely reminiscent of the first versions of Android. Thus, Asus is promoting its modification of the Asus EFI program, which looks more impressive than the BIOS.

The purpose of UEFI is low-level interaction between operating systems and the hardware itself, as in the BIOS. Without the settings of this program, “built into” the PC motherboard or laptop/tablet, your computer device will not start.

Many Windows/Android tablets are equipped with UEFI firmware, which makes it possible to either replace Android with Windows and vice versa, or use both operating systems alternately on the same gadget.

How to set UEFI to boot a PC from a flash drive

This is achieved in two ways: simple drag and drop using the media index in UEFI and using advanced settings.

Shuffling drives in UEFI

Do the following:

When exiting, the UEFI program will ask you to confirm that you have saved your settings if anything has changed.

Via the UEFI advanced settings submenu

Do the following:

Video: two ways to boot a PC using a flash drive

Burning a Windows 10 installation flash drive using standard Windows tools

The developers met the wishes of users halfway and built into Windows 10 a wizard for recording installation flash drives - the Media Creation Tool. Before this, you could only use third-party applications, for example, UltraISO or WinSetupFromUSB, as well as Command Line. However, all programs created to solve this problem continue to develop.

Using the Windows Media Creation Tool

Using the Media Creation Tool, burning a Windows 10 image to a USB flash drive is greatly simplified. Do the following:

1. Download the MCT application from the Microsoft website.
   Download the Media Creation Tool app
2. Launch the Media Creation Tool application and select to burn the installation copy of Windows 10 to a USB flash drive.
   Select Create Installation Media
3. Select the installation language, version of Windows 10 and bit depth of your PC.
   Select your PC architecture, installer language, and Windows 10 version
4. Select the media type (flash drive only or advanced selection with the ability to burn the image to DVD). When choosing the second option, you will still have the opportunity to specify a flash drive or memory card when recording.
   DVD creation is offered to those who have a disk drive and blank DVD-R discs
5. Determine the USB flash drive for recording the Windows 10 image, if there are several of them.
   The drive you select will erase all data
6. The Installation Media Builder will proceed to download the Windows 10 image from the Microsoft website. Wait until the ISO image downloads. To download quickly, you need as high-speed Internet access as possible, otherwise the download will take up to several days, because the image itself weighs at least 3 GB.
   Do not disconnect the Internet while downloading the Windows image to the USB flash drive
7. After downloading the Windows 10 ISO file, click Next to start burning the image.

Video: Burning Windows 10 to a USB flash drive using the Media Creation Tool

Burning an installation flash drive using the Windows Command Line

This method is loved by professionals who operate by entering commands. But the third-party applications discussed above do the same thing - clearly and automatically.

Preparing a flash drive using the Windows Command Line

Do the following:

Burning Windows 10 to a USB flash drive via Command Line

To write a copy of Windows to a USB flash drive, you need the Boot Sector Registration Tool (bootsect.exe program). Do the following:

Video: recording Windows 10 to a USB flash drive via DiskPart

Burning a Windows 10 USB flash drive using third-party applications

In the Media Creation Tool “combine” there was no need to rack your brains over UEFI: everything superfluous was removed, even a small child could write Windows 10 onto a flash drive, and such a flash drive would be detected by any gadget or PC “wired” for UEFI. IN third party applications- Rufus, UltraISO (try to use latest versions) - UEFI support is enabled optionally.

Burn Windows 10 to a USB flash drive using Rufus

Rufus will bring the BIOS/UEFI setup to the front. You don’t need to look for it in additional settings. Do the following:

You can now enter UEFI by restarting your tablet or computer and begin installing Windows.

Video: recording Windows 10 to a USB flash drive in Rufus

Creating a multiboot USB flash drive for Windows 7/8/10 using the UltraISO application

For “multi-system” Windows flash drives, you need corresponding images that occupy dozens of gigabytes. You are unlikely to be able to burn such a flash drive if it does not reach at least 16 GB.

As an example, recording using the UltraISO application and assembling Windows 7/8/10 from a certain Startsoft. Do the following:

Once the recording is complete, you can use the USB flash drive to (re)install Windows. The installer will prompt you to select any version of Windows, including 10.

Of course, you can also create flash drives from one Windows version. And not only in the UltraISO program. Everything is decided by the image file (single or multi-build of Windows, “packed” into an ISO file).

Video: recording Windows 7/8/10 to a USB flash drive using UltraISO

Burn Windows 10 to a USB flash drive using WinSetupFromUSB

The WinSetupFromUSB program is distributed through the winsetupfromusb website. Do the following:

1. Download, extract and run the application. It does not require installation.
2. Select a USB flash drive to copy Windows. In the format settings, you can specify both the FAT32 and NTFS file systems. Do not confuse the desired flash drive with others if they are connected
3. Select the ISO file that contains your copy of Windows.
   Choose a look Windows systems, not the contents of the disk in the image
4. Click the button to start writing a Windows image to a USB flash drive. Pressing "GO" will start recording
5. The WinSetupFromUSB program, like any modern application, warns about clearing existing data from the media. Confirm your request. Cleaning the flash drive is done for reliability
6. The second request to delete data and partitions must also be confirmed.
   Confirm the request to delete data and partitions
7. Start creating a copy of the Windows image. At the end of the process, the program will notify you that a copy of Windows has been successfully written to the media. Click "OK"

Before writing a copy of Windows, the WinSetupFromUSB application will delete partitions (if there were any) on the flash drive and recreate a single partition that occupies all the memory on it, then clear all data through a quick format. This mandatory procedure is done for reliability - the Windows image takes up at least 3 GB, and you need free space to copy it. If the flash drive is partitioned and full, it may cause the recording to fail and you will waste your time. This is what you need pre-cleaning carrier memory.

After recording a copy of Windows, the unallocated space can be used by creating a separate folder and downloading drivers and application programs that you used into it (if there is enough space), without disturbing the structure of the Windows distribution on the flash drive. It is not recommended to store valuable files on it in a single copy - be sure to store backup copies of them on other media.

Video: writing Windows 7/8/10 to a USB flash drive using WinSetupFromUSB

Creating Bootable SD Cards with Windows

Theoretically, creating bootable memory cards - (mini/micro)SD, MMC (MemoryStick) and many others - is possible. Required:

• the presence of a USB card reader that supports all of the above types of memory cards;
• the memory card, regardless of its type, must have a capacity of at least 4 GB;
• All devices support at least USB 2.0 standards.

But it's not that simple. If a laptop or tablet has a slot for an SD card or a built-in mini-card reader connected directly to the main/motherboard of the device or PC, it is not always possible to assign booting from the BIOS. And although there is an item “Bootable Add-In Cards” in the bootable devices menu, for example, in Award BIOS, these are by no means flash drives or even a built-in card reader.

The function of booting from embedded expansion cards in Award BIOS cannot be used to boot Windows from a flash drive

Using an adapter with an SD memory card as a flash drive

The most affordable option is a USB-microSD adapter: a microSD memory card will work like a flash drive. There are different adapters - from the simplest, miniature ones, designed for one SD card, to universal ones, with several slots for cards and other adapters of different formats.

With its help, a memory card works no worse than a standard flash drive

In this case, the above methods for writing a regular Windows flash drive also work with SD memory cards - you only need support for USB 2.0 speed (up to 35 MB/sec) from both the USB port, the adapter and the SD card itself. Use any of them.

Errors when writing a Windows installation flash drive

Below are the most critical errors with tips on how to resolve them.

The flash drive is not readable and is not detected by the application.

The most common error is that the Media Creation Tool (or other) program does not see the flash drive. Causes:

• The flash drive is damaged - a manufacturer defect or any mechanical failure;
• The flash drive has exhausted its resource - it was often formatted, the storage chip is worn out;
• frequent “hot” shutdowns when writing/erasing data, which “killed” the flash drive;
• The flash drive operated at extreme temperatures, often overheated, moisture condensed on it, which led to premature destruction of the materials from which the electronic media itself is made, its printed circuit board and contacts;
• USB port is faulty - there is not enough power, the USB bus controller is faulty, the contacts are worn out, the USB port socket is loose;
• the additional device (USB-Hub or USB card reader when using an SD card instead of a flash drive) is faulty, or its external power is not turned on if it is powered from a separate adapter;
• you recently serviced the computer yourself and did not reconnect the USB port controller to the motherboard of your PC or laptop if the port has a detachable cable;
• failure of the microUSB port of the tablet, if you are using a tablet;
• unreliable connection - the USB connector and/or plug is dirty;
• viruses received over the network or from other infected drives that damaged data and the boot sector (boot record, media partition table);
• from active and long-term use, “broken” or weakened sectors have formed on the flash drive - “remapping” or software repair of the flash drive is required;
• an outdated version of the program with which you tried to record Windows files to a flash drive.

For various reasons, a flash drive can fail.

The last point requires clarification. For example, the first versions of WinSetupFromUSB do not support Windows 10 - they were created when Windows 8.1 and 10 did not yet exist.

Error during the process of writing the installation flash drive

It happens that writing a Windows distribution to a flash drive is interrupted or is slow and bad. Causes:

• the outdated version of the program did not warn that the flash drive was too “small” to write a copy of Windows onto it;
• sudden power loss or data loss due to an unreliable connection of the flash drive to the USB port;
• error in the ISO image file - the ISO archive is damaged or has an invalid format, taken from an unverified source, infected with a virus, the developer/builder made an error;
• The flash drive and/or port support outdated USB 1.2 speeds, and recording is greatly slowed down, taking up to several hours;
• unexpected wear of the flash drive - appears at the pre-formatting stage or during the process of writing “broken” sectors.

The last point involves checking the flash drive using the Victoria or HDD Scan/Regenerator programs, followed by software repair (remap/restore weakened and “bad” sectors). However, such a flash drive should be thrown away - it is not suitable for such important tasks as reinstalling operating systems, preloading the OS (LiveUSB technology, often used to recover data from a single partition C if the OS crashed on it) and running other utilities without and/or bypassing the OS available on the PC or gadget disk.

Installing a Windows installation flash drive is a hassle, but it's worth it. Use the tips from the article to create it, and then if problems arise with loading the system, you can easily deal with them.