Installing windows 7 from a usb flash drive. Installing Windows XP from a USB flash drive

Sometimes there is a need to update or reinstall your operating system. And there are several ways: you can turn to specialists and, by paying money, get a new OS, or you can do it at home. However, not everything is as simple as it seems at first glance.

Preparing to reinstall Windows

Before installing Windows from a flash drive, you should complete a number of preparatory measures:

Internet search and download suitable image OS;
cleaning the computer and saving the necessary files;
writing the finished image to a bootable flash card;
setting settings in BIOS.

Each of the above points is important and must be implemented in exactly the same sequence as indicated.

Finding the right operating system

You can find absolutely anything on the Internet Windows image, regardless of bit depth and visual design. But here, too, there are several important nuances that you need to know before installing Windows from a flash drive to your computer.

Firstly, the build quality. It is preferable to use official assemblies, without unnecessary mods, utilities and programs. The “cleaner” the version, the greater the likelihood that it will install without problems and subsequent crashes.

Secondly, an equally important aspect is visual design Windows. You need to choose an image on those resources where the characteristics of the OS are described in detail and at least a few screenshots are attached.

Thirdly, depending on technical characteristics computer, you need to select the bit depth and Windows level. For example, how to install a new Windows from a flash drive if RAM only 2 GB on PC? You should definitely choose either the Home version or the Professional version, and even then it’s a stretch. In addition, many early applications are not supported by x64 bits, so it is better to turn to x32 for help.

Well, if we talk about the choice of the operating system itself - from XP to Win 10, then it is at the discretion of the user. Each OS has its own advantages and disadvantages:

Windows XP. The good old “piggy” is optimal for work PCs. Supports most special programs and is not demanding on hardware characteristics. Minus - it is not supported by the developer and conflicts with new models of PCs and laptops.
Win 7 (Win 8). The undisputed leader in the Windows family. It is convenient, visually attractive and supports absolutely all applications. Suitable for both home use, and for corporate networks. Minus - will soon be officially discontinued by the developer. As for Windows 8, it is a modified “seven” with a simplified interface. Minus - has a large number bugs and worse visualization.
Win 10. The latest OS, combining the best from previous builds. Compact, with nice functionality and external design. Minus - conflicts with the performance of many applications, utilities and drivers, plus - increased check licenses.

The choice is personal, but you need to understand that Win 7 will not be installed on a device with 1GB of RAM. More precisely, it will install, but it will be impossible to work on a PC due to constant processor overload and lack of physical memory.

On the other side, latest laptops will not be able to accept Windows XP due to the lack of suitable device drivers and a performance conflict.

Preparing your PC for reinstalling Windows

So, the desired image downloaded and waiting for its turn to be installed. However, you should remember that installing Windows from a flash drive will simply delete all data on the system drive. Therefore, you should be concerned about the safety of files that the user will need in the future.

There are several solutions you can choose for this:

transferring data to another logical drive, if there is one;
saving the necessary files to removable media (DVDs and CDs, flash drives, external hard drives);
copying files to cloud storage(“Yandex”, “Mail”, etc.).

Important! Situations arise when a computer or laptop has just been purchased, and there is only one system disk. For normal functioning The PC needs to be divided into several sections.

Yes, it's very important point, when the equipment has only one working section. But it is highly not recommended to leave it in this state, since unexpected problems in the form of viruses or a technical failure will lead to complete loss data. Therefore, it is very important to know how to install Windows from a flash drive on a laptop with one working partition.

Partitioning the hard drive into several partitions

Most assemblies contain special programs (for example, Acronis or Paragon) that make it possible to split the hard drive into several partitions.

IN optimal option The system disk should be made with a capacity of at least 100 GB (if, of course, the hard drive has a large volume), and only then the remaining disk space should be divided at your discretion ( logical drives maybe several). For full functionality, 20-30 GB is enough, but it’s better to take it with a reserve.

Find out how to install Windows from a flash drive, or rather, how to set up partitions hard drive- not a problem now, fortunately, there are a lot of detailed instructions on the Internet.

Separately, it is worth considering SSD drives. It is better to leave them in their original form, since in this way they can ensure maximum performance and speed of data exchange.

Preparing a bootable flash drive

The next important step is to create a bootable flash drive, with which the OS will be installed. To do this you will need the following components:

recording utility;
finished image;
flash drive with a minimum capacity of 8 GB.

Recognized leaders among programs that can easily cope with the task of installing Windows from a bootable USB flash drive are, of course, Ultra ISO and Rufus.

Their operating principle is similar:

the media is selected (the flash drive must be inserted);
select the image to be recorded;
ready.

The flash drive is formatted and the writing process begins.

For information! Simply copying a Windows image to a drive will not work, since the sectors responsible for automatic download, working as a licensed disk.

However, there is a certain imbalance when choosing a recording program. If a problem arises, how to install Windows 10 from a flash drive, then it is better to use Ultra ISO or Astroburn, and in cases with Win 7 or Win 8, you can also use Rufus.

A brief overview of the best programs for creating a bootable flash drive

Perhaps the most widespread and easy-to-use program, problem solving, how to install Windows from a flash drive on a laptop or PC.

At the first stage, select the “File” - “Open” menu, after which the path to the already downloaded distribution is set.

At the third stage, the media on which the recording will be performed is selected (the flash drive must be inserted). Please note that all data on the media will be formatted, so if it contains necessary files, they should be copied to another location.

And lastly, click the “Burn” button, after which the application will begin mounting the bootable flash drive. That's it, you can start installing Windows.

The next leader is the Rufus program.

Its undoubted advantage in deciding how to install Windows from a flash drive is that there is no need to install it on a PC. It runs from a shortcut and takes up very little hard drive space.

By analogy with Ultra ISO, you first need to select the device to record to. Then the desired OS image is selected. That's all, you can press the “Start” button. Oh yes, another one important nuance- in the settings the item “Create boot disk».

WinSetupFromUSB closes the TOP 3 programs.

It's pretty interesting program, which works on the same principle as the previous two. First, the location where the system image will be written is selected, then the option that determines what type of OS will be written is checked. And finally, the image itself is selected.

Burning a bootable flash drive without using third-party programs

There is another method, although not as popular as those described above, which will tell you how to install Windows from a flash drive. It's about using command line.

First, launch the command line using the Win+R combination. Fits in line word cmd.

So, the line is running, you can get to work. Although we should immediately make a reservation that if there are doubts about whether it is possible to install Windows from a flash drive in this way, then it is better not to use it, but to turn to special programs.

Selecting a disc to burn. To do this, enter and then activate the section for working with all kinds of disks. By entering the list disk command, you can see all active disks and their capacity. To use the desired partition for work, enter the command select disk * (where * is the number of the selected partition).
Cleaning the disk for recording. To do this, use the Clean command. Here it is important to make sure that you select the exact disk on which the OS image will be written. Otherwise, the integrity of the system may be damaged.
Creating boot sectors and disk labels. The create partition primary command creates the primary partition on the flash drive (by default it occupies the entire free space of the media). And using assign letter=* (* is a letter of the Latin alphabet for the volume label).
Activation of the section. The following procedures are aimed at how to install Windows from a flash drive via BIOS, i.e. so that in primary settings The flash drive was displayed correctly. To do this, enter the select partition command indicating the number of the selected disk, as well as active to activate it.
Formatting. The last step left is to format the flash drive. You need to enter format fs=ntfs quick. That's it, the flash drive is ready for recording.

Now you need to exit the command line - enter exit. At the last stage, you need to find the source image and unpack it using any archiver to the desired flash drive.

BIOS setup

You only need to enter the BIOS to enable initial boot from a flash drive.

The user should not have any questions about how to install Windows from a flash drive via BIOS. Almost all PCs and laptops have a function to call the startup menu, which is called up with the F1 to F12 button (depending on the device model). If you can’t call this option, then you need to go into the BIOS at the very beginning Windows boot(the same variable keys - F2, F12, Del, Esc), go to Boot menu, and then set USB:CD-ROM as the primary boot method.

Then you need to press F10 and the Enter key. After the computer restarts, data will begin loading from the flash drive.

By the way, on different models technology BIOS firmware have different menus. And most importantly, you need to remember that the shell is very fragile and the slightest incorrect change can lead to a complete malfunction of the PC.

Nuances of installing Windows 7 and Windows 8

The most popular operating system today, Windows 7, is quite easy to install. But if you are in doubt about how to install Windows from a flash drive to your computer, you should follow these steps.

When the OS installation menu appears, you need to select the partition in which it will be installed and format it. After which the installation will be carried out in automatic mode, only occasionally requiring user interaction (for example, entering the PC name or time zone).

The same is true for Win 8. This system is even easier to install; it is important to clean the system disk first, since several operating systems (new and existing) can create a conflict both at the driver level and internal applications, so it may be necessary reinstalling Windows from a flash drive.

It is important to note that when you start the PC, the message Press any key to boot from CD or DVD should appear. If it is not there, then BIOS settings done incorrectly and will have to go back to check.

The installation of Windows from a flash drive itself does not last long - from 20 to 40 minutes. Subject to build and availability additional components(main programs and drivers) given time can vary both up and down. But if Windows is installed for more than an hour and a half, then it is better to roll back the installation and start over, having first formatted the system disk and checked it for errors.

As a matter of fact, installing Windows 7 from a flash drive at home will save not only time, but also money. After all, technical failures occur quite often for most users? Mainly due to poor quality assemblies and improper use of PC functionality.

Installing Windows 10

But with latest version Things are not going so smoothly for the popular operating system. And the reason lies in three Latin letters- GPT. New PCs and laptops are already being produced with such a technological interface work hard disk. When creating boot drive pay close attention to the "Select" item - quality programs provide a choice between MBR and GPT.

By the way, Windows 10 has special utility, which is called Media Creation. She herself offers the possibility of recording boot image on removable media, so figuring out how to install Windows 10 from a flash drive is not difficult.

Of course, before installing Win 10, you should think about its shortcomings. For example, it can cause serious crashes and glitches in the operation of some applications. Especially those that she herself considers unlicensed.

Well, if you still need to install Windows from a flash drive, the instructions advise:

The best utility for Win 10 is Astroburn. It writes an image in a few clicks, automatically checking the integrity of sectors. In the absence of this utility, you can use Ultra ISO;
if there is no license key, then you need to select the appropriate item during system installation;
if the computer’s hard drive is in SSD format, then it is not necessary to split it into several partitions - everything is at the discretion of the user;
If the hard drive size is more than 2 TB, you must use GPT partitioning. Only in this case will the system use the entire volume.

Otherwise, the installation process is virtually no different from other systems.

Do you have a laptop, personal computer or tablet - in a word, a device on which you want to install Windows via a USB flash drive? Do you have to frequently reinstall the OS and don't want to use fragile and bulky disks?

If yes, then this guide is for you. Read the instructions below carefully and you will definitely succeed!

We can also say that a disk image is the same CD/DVD disk that does not have its own material shell.

Step 1. If you own an official copy of Windows OS, you can create bootable usb drive from the program Windows installations, supplied to DVD disc or use the official ISO file, which can be downloaded from the company’s website. You can also purchase an ISO distribution from other sources (download from any torrent tracker). In the last two cases, skip the following paragraphs in this section.

Step 2.. There are many available on the Internet free solutions, one of which is the ImgBurn program - one of the most popular utilities.

Step 3. Insert the operating system disc into the DVD drive. Open the program and click on the “Copy to Image” or “Create Image” tab (in different versions program, the inscription may differ). When prompted, select the DVD drive as the source.

Step 4. Save the ISO file. Choose an easy-to-remember file name and location. Make sure you have enough free space to save the file. An ISO file is essentially exact copy boot DVD.

Part 2: Creating a bootable USB flash drive

Step 1. Insert your flash drive into the appropriate slot on your computer. To successfully copy a disk image (ISO) file, the media size must be at least 4 GB.

Pay attention! When created, all original data will be erased - create backup copy if there is important information.

Step 2. Download Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool from the official Windows website. Despite the name, the utility also works with other versions of the OS.

Step 3. Specify the path to ISO file- the location where you saved it at the last stage of creation.

Step 4. Click on the button USB Device" The program can also create a boot disk; to do this, click on the “Disc” button.

Step 5. Wait until the download completes. The program will prepare the drive, then download the ISO file to it. Depending on the speed of your device, the copying process takes up to 15 minutes.

Part 3. Preparing the system

Insert the USB drive into your computer. Press the power button or restart your computer. During the reboot, click on the so-called “Setup key” - a key combination that is shown on the first system boot screens. Typically, this combination is located on the same screen on which the manufacturer’s logo is displayed. The key varies from computer to computer, but in any case it will be on the screen. Once clicked, you will be taken to the BIOS menu.

Table of dependence of hot keys on the PC model at the time of booting
Click on the " Boot Menu" Each BIOS is different, but they all have this tab. You will see the order in which the computer searches for a bootable operating system. Typically, computers do this from the hard drive first, so the OS boots automatically.
Once you go to the "Boot Menu", you will need to switch the order so that your USB drive is at the very top of the list. Again, exactly what this list looks like will vary depending on the make and model of the device. You may see the name of your drive, or perhaps it will just say “Removable Device” or “USB”. To change the order, use the “+” and “-” keys - up and down, respectively.
Afterwards, save the changes and exit the BIOS. The key to this action usually the F10 key. The computer will reboot from the USB drive.

Part 4: Installing Windows

Step 1. To begin initializing the installer, press any key. If you do nothing, the computer will automatically start loading the already installed operating system and you will have to reboot the system again.

Step 2. After pressing the key, the system will begin downloading data to install the operating system. On slow devices this process may take up to several minutes.

Step 3. Follow the installer's instructions. Once the installation is complete, the system will reboot.

Congratulations! You have installed Windows! Now you have a flash drive with which you can . Most new computers support installation from flash drives, use special item BIOS boot as shown above.

Video - How to reinstall Windows from a flash drive via BIOS

Hello. It’s probably worth starting with the fact that not all computers have a CD-Rom, or at least not always. installation disk with Windows, onto which you can burn an image (already discussed earlier). In this case, you can install Windows 7 from a flash drive.

The main difference there will be 2 steps here! The first is preparing such a bootable flash drive and the second is changing the boot order in the bios (i.e. include a check for boot records USB).

So let's begin...

There are several ways to create a bootable USB flash drive. Now we will look at one of the simplest and fastest. To do this, you will need such a wonderful program as UltraISO (link to the official website) and an image with a Windows system. UltraISO supports a large number of images and allows you to record them on various media. We are now interested in recording an image from Windows OS to a flash drive.

By the way! You can make such an image yourself from a real disk with the OS. You can download it on the Internet, from some torrent (however, beware of pirated copies or all kinds of assemblies). In any case, before this operation you should have such an image!

Open the image with the system in the UltraISO program

After successfully opening the image with Windows 7 OS, click on “”

Selecting a flash drive and parameters

Be extremely careful, because... if let's say you have 2 flash drives inserted and you specify the wrong one... During recording, all data from the flash drive will be deleted! However, the program itself warns us about this (it’s just that the program version may not be in Russian, so it’s better to warn us about this small subtlety).

Warning.

After you click on the “record” button, all you have to do is wait. On average, recording takes min. 10-15 on average based on PC capabilities.

Recording process.

After some time, the program will create a bootable USB flash drive for you. It's time to move on to the second step...

2. Enable the ability to boot from a flash drive in bios

Many people may not need this chapter. But if, when you turn on the computer, it doesn’t seem to see the newly created bootable USB flash drive with Windows 7 OS, it’s time to dig into the bios to check if everything is in order there.

If you do not have Enabled there, then use the Enter key to enable them! Next, go to the download section (Boot). Here you can set the boot order (i.e., for example, the PC first checks CD/DVD disks for boot records, then boots from the HDD). We need to add USB to the boot order. This is demonstrated in the screenshot below.

The first check is for loading from a flash drive; if no data is found on it, the CD/DVD is checked - if there is no boot data there, yours will be loaded old system with HDD

Important! After all the changes to the bios, many people forget to simply save their settings. To do this, select the “Save and exit” option in the section (often the F10 key), then agree (“Yes”). The computer will reboot and should begin to see the bootable USB flash drive with the OS.

2.2 Enabling boot from USB on a laptop (using the example of Asus Aspire 5552G)

By default, booting from a flash drive is disabled in this laptop model. To enable it when booting the laptop, press F2, then in bios go to Boot section, and using the F5 and F6 keys move the USB CD/DVD higher than the line with loading from the HDD.

By the way, sometimes this doesn't help. Then you need to check all the lines where USB is found (USB HDD, USB FDD), moving them all higher than booting from the HDD.

Setting download priority

After the changes, click on F10 (this exits while saving all the settings that have been made). Next, reboot the laptop by inserting a bootable USB flash drive in advance and watch the installation of Windows 7 begin...

3. Installing Windows 7

In general, installing from a flash drive is not much different from installing from a disk. The only differences can be, for example, in installation time (sometimes it takes longer to install from a disk) and noise (CD/DVDs are quite noisy during operation). For more simple description, we will provide the entire installation with screenshots, which should appear in approximately the same order (differences may be due to differences in build versions).

Starting Windows installation. This is exactly what you should see if you followed the previous steps correctly.

Here you just need to agree with the setting.

Wait patiently while the system checks the files and prepares to copy them to the hard drive

Do you agree...

Here we select installation - option 2.

This is an important section! Here we select the disk that will become the system disk. It is best if you do not have information on the disk - split it into two parts - one for the system, the second for files. For Windows 7 system, 30-50GB is recommended. By the way, keep in mind that the partition in which the system is installed can be formatted!

We are waiting for the installation process to complete. During this time, the computer may reboot itself several times. We just don’t touch anything...

This window signals us about the first start of the system

Congratulations. The system is installed and you can start working with it!

This completes the installation of Windows 7 from a USB flash drive. Now you can take it out USB port and move on to more pleasant moments: watching movies, listening to music, playing games, etc.

This material is dedicated to installing Windows operating systems from a USB flash drive. Many skeptics still claim that this is impossible, and if it is possible, it is very difficult, but the very existence of this material proves the opposite. Installing Windows XP, Vista, 7.8 from a flash drive is much more convenient than from a disk, since a flash drive does not require a disk drive, is better stored and is much more portable than a floppy disk.

As you know, you can install Windows using a disk in two ways: through a running system by running the installer from the disk in My Computer and through the BIOS. From a USB flash drive you can install any Windows in the same way.

Installing Windows from a USB flash drive via My Computer

So, let's start with the simplest thing, installing Windows via a USB flash drive from the My Computer window. In order to install the operating system in this way, we need a working OS, a computer on which we will install Windows (In order to record the system installation on a flash drive), a USB flash drive and Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8 itself, which we will install, or rather her image.

Now we need to prepare the flash drive by recording the OS on it. You need to not just copy the system files to a flash drive, but write them in a special way using the UltraISO program. So let's get started:

1. Install UltraISO program and open it.

2. Select the Boot tab >> Burn hard disk image

3. In the window that appears, select the flash drive where we will write the installation, the image file and check that the recording method is USB-HDD+. When everything has been checked, click Record and wait until the recording finishes.

After successfully recording the OS onto the USB flash drive, let's begin the actual installation of the system. Go to the USB flash drive and run the setup.exe file, which should be in Windows files, at the root of the flash drive. After launch, a window should appear in which we select Windows installation. It will begin normal installation Windows, which is described in detail, and there is no point in describing it again. After rebooting, the computer will continue the installation until it is completed.

The disadvantage of installing through My Computer is that you cannot format the disk on which a running operating system is currently installed. If this does not suit you, proceed to the point below.

Installing Windows from a USB flash drive via BIOS

This is a more labor-intensive installation compared to the first one, via My Computer. First, prepare a flash drive by copying the operating system there Windows system, as described in the previous installation type.

Having prepared the flash drive, we need to prepare the computer to boot into the BIOS to install Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8. Restart the computer. While the first ones appear graphic images on the screen, as a rule, this is the manufacturer’s logo motherboard, press the DEL button on the keyboard until the settings screen appears. This is the BIOS. Now find the Boot tab, and if your BIOS background is blue, look for Advanced in the left column BIOS Features and use the arrow keys to move the pointer and press ENTER on your keyboard. The following window should now appear with the computer boot options.

If you have a gray BIOS, you may immediately see the boot order that we need, or you may have a choice of where to find Boot Device Priority and hover the pointer and press ENTER. If you did everything correctly, the boot order of devices on your computer should be displayed. Set it so that USB is first, CD/DVD Disk is second, Hard Disk- third.

The value names may be slightly changed from what is written, but you should understand. When the boot order is as described, press F10 on your keyboard, then ENTER. We just set the boot order so that the flash drive boots first, then the floppy drive, and then hard drive. This is a completely harmless option, which after installing Windows does not need to be returned to its previous state.

If you have a blue BIOS, put it in First Boot Device - USB-HDD, Second Boot Device - CDROM, Third Boot Device - Hard Disk or HDD-0, then press F10 and then ENTER.

After everything is done correctly, the computer should reboot. We wait for a message to appear on the screen, something like “Press any key to boot from CD or DVD...”, then press any button to start installing Windows, which is described in detail.

If you want to install something other than Windows using a flash drive, the essence of the steps will be exactly the same. However, if you want to install one of Linux distributions, you can use programs that will make recording the OS installation on a flash drive even easier. Such programs include Linux Live USB Creator and uNetBoot. These programs are also excellent replacement UltraISO which was discussed above.