Boot Windows 7 directly from a USB drive (run Win7 from a USB drive)

[mrburtugey]

I am using windows 8 Developer Preview it states not compatible when I try to choose the number in the installer

[steve6375]

@mrburtugey Windows 8 supports booting from USB directly - you do not need this method for Windows 8 - please read Tutorial #53 on rmprepusb website

[agentfifty]

Hi, will I be able to get some data of my hard disk (says does not exist at startup) if I create this usb boot disk? thanks! 

[steve6375]

@agentfifty Probably not. Instead create a USB Flash drive which will run TESTDISK. Create an Ultimate Boot CD (UBCD) bootable USB flash drive

google for UBCD and RMPrepUSB

Then boot from the USB FLash drive and run TestDisk which is in the UBCD menu under HDD

google for TestDisk_Step_By_Step for instructions

[laparuza]

can i boot my usb flash drive without hard disk? cause my laptop has no hard disk (damaged)

thnks!

[steve6375]

@laparuza Yes, but it will be VERY VERY SLOW and not really usable - you will also need a 32GB or larger pen drive and will run out of space soon anyway. If you have a USB Hard drive it will be much faster (but not as fast as the internal hard disk).

[ThePS3AndroidHacker]

Just wanted to say thanks for the excellent video and I am now subscribing to you! You successfully helped me to install my Windows 7 Professional to my old external harddrive via USB! Could you make a video on sysprep for us subscribers PLEASE!? I'm trying to understand the sysprep a little more so that I may use this on my old Dell running Windows XP Pro but booting from the USB drive. Thanks again for everything brother!!

[steve6375]

@ThePS3AndroidHacker The sysprep link should appear on the Desktop when you boot. It's use is explained in Tutorial #30 Addendum on the website.

[MySchoolProject418]

@ThePS3AndroidHacker I Will Make A video of that for you give me some days and will do it

[derpnerpwerp]

just wanted to point out that my usb drive wouldn't boot until I set the partition as active under windows disk management

[steve6375]

@derpnerpwerp Formatting with RMPrepUSB automatically sets the active partition (unless you tick the 'Set partition as non-bootable' box. See 1:02 in video.

[MarkusGoldberg1]

@steve6375 im using a WD My Passport 320g external usb hard drive, when going thoguh the process, in your video it says"is this a usb hard disc y/m? but it only asks me is this a usb dick? thats it. What does that mean?

[steve6375]

@MarkusGoldberg1 It means 'are you going to boot this as a USB disk' - for instance, after installing Win7 to the disk, you could simply remove the HDD from the drive caddy and plug it in to the IDE/SATA interface of a computer and not use it as a USB disk. So in your case the answer is YES it is a USB disk.

[rsvaughan]

Thank You SOOOO much for this video/link. I look for sometime to find something so easy to follow. I have been able to help a friend get his laptop that had something wrong with MB that did not allow it to be used with any internal HDD. Thanks again

[steve6375]

@rsvaughan Glad it was useful. However, be aware that it may not be as reliable as an internal hard drive as Windows on USB has a habit of BSOD'ing if anything goes wrong - so make sure you keep a backup (I recommend DropBox for free web backup). If the internal drive is OK, it is usually the drive cable that is broken.

[MisterCoolGuy1]

Why do I need AIK?



[steve6375]

@MisterCoolGuy1 Some apps are needed from it like ImageX and the drive mounting filter so we can extract files from the install.wim file and modify it.

[MisterCoolGuy1]

@steve6375 ok thanks i'm trying it now......that was a fast reply

[martindanny]

Wow ! just noticed the site is now disabled.

[steve6375]

@martindanny new site now!

[SuperWhizsper]

@steve6375 mate, on how many PC's/Laptops have you tested this? I'm asking because i have a success rate of just 25% (1/4).

[steve6375]

@SuperWhizsper Hi, about 10 different ones myself, but if you read the comments below you will see many others. In what way have the 3/4 failed exactly?

[SuperWhizsper]

@steve6375 well 2 PC's with pretty old mother boards (Asus p5b-v) gave me DOS prompt and didn't get any further with the boot process; on a Dell Inspiron N5010 the screen flashes with random colors and asci characters and that's it.

On the other hand, works fine on a Dell Inspiron N1564.

[steve6375]

@SuperWhizsper Well the USB pen should not have DOS on it, so the computer is clearly not booting from the USB pen at all. On the N5010, does it have enough memory? 512MB is needed as a minimum and pref. 1GB. These problems are down the BIOS. Maybe try updating the BIOS or changing BIOS USB settings maybe?

[SuperWhizsper]

@steve6375 the very same USB pen works just fine with N1564.

N5010 has 3G of memory.

Have tried all the possibile combos regarding USB settings and get none of the other 3 to work. It pisses me off because the 4th works just fine.

N5010 is a newer and slightly better laptop than N1564.

[biganz]

Just google for Windows 7 USB DVD Download tool. If you have the iso of the disk just direct the program to it. It will even format your USB drive ready for the image. Good luck.

[steve6375]

@biganz That tool is for installing Win7 FROM a USB drive TO a hard disk in a system. This video is about installing Win7 onto a USB flash drive so you can boot to Win7 from a USB drive directly.

[bowdagger]

I went through all the steps, but my computer doesn't see it at all when I try to boot. I have the GA EP45-UD3P motherboard. I made sure legacy usb support was turned on, made USB-HDD first in priority, ad even hit F12 while booting to select it manually. It simply doesn't appear.

I then put in a regular flash drive and it popped right up as a drive. It seems like it's something to do with this installation process, any idea what's wrong?

[steve6375]

@bowdagger How did you format the drive? With RMPrepUSB? If you click on Drive Info it will show you what is on the boot sector. You need an active partition to be present. if still having trouble email me using the Contact Me page on my website.

[steve6375]

@bowdagger P.S. Try adding a 10 second delay to HDD startup in your BIOS menu. Also try using a Y-cable so you connect two USB ports to the hard disk. It may not have enough power from one USB cable to spin up the hard disk in time for the BIOS to 'see' it.

[steve6375]

@bowdagger P.P.S. try running QEMU from RMPrepUSB with your HDD plugged in - if it starts to boot then there is nothing wrong with the boot code or partitions on the HDD.

[Dr4g0nR4wr]

@bowdagger On mine the boot is simply invisible. try to go one option down from the bottom. should highlight empty space. press enter. thats all folks

[martindanny]

i got an error right when i was executing the installer, it said

"x86 OS detected

imagex.exe is missing. Setup can't continue.

Please install Microsoft WAIK for Windows 7 and try again.

Press any key to exit..."

Please guide me through, i am running windows xp SP3 on my notebook but i also have a win 7 32 bit desktop..

p.s I tried on both machines, didn't seem to work either.

[steve6375]

@martindanny Did you download and install the Windows WAIK?

[steve6375]

@martindanny Hi - I double-checked and found a typo in the Installer script! Please download NT6_Fast_Installer.zip again. It should work now. Sorry about that!

[martindanny]

@steve6375 You're alright mate thanks for the quick response. My apologies, it was totally my fault for not reading the IMPORTANT section on your description laugh out loud. However, I'm still trying to get this running on my usb stick. Wish me luck on that ;) BTW, do I have to do some changes to the default settings on BIOS menu or anything like that? Just to make sure, because when I plug my usb in into any computer they'll always go with their default operating system primarily on their HDD.

[steve6375]

@martindanny It depends on the BIOS. Some have a BBS (Bios Boot Select) menu key - e.g. F10 or F12 or ESC - some you need to go into the BIOS and change the boot order. Always enable Legacy USB (even if just for keyboard). If poss. set USB boot to HDD emulation.

[martindanny]

@steve6375 It wouldn't work, I changed the boot order and all that. (I also picked USB to boot by pressing F12.) It still booted into the default Windows. But seems "setting USB boot to HDD emulation" sounds more interesting and helpful. I will give it another shot. Please provide instructions of how to get it done. Thanks again

[steve6375]

@martindanny Please run RMPrepUSB and press F11. Answer 0 to the virtual HDD size and Enter for the memory size. Does it boot from your USB HDD? If not then something is wrong with the way yo prepared the HDD.

[martindanny]

@steve6375 Hey, good to be back, after 3 day straight of drilling your tutorials Lol jk. Anyways first off thanks for the advice, I followed your instructions and downloaded RMPrepUSB, simply used it to prepare my USBHDD. Do the whole cmd thing all over again, It worked like a charm. Thanks for your awesome instructions again. Now I'm going to do the same thing to my 16GB USB stick which was planned to be my original boot device instead of my new HDD. I will report as soon as I get the results.

[martindanny]

@martindanny By the way just thought I'd let you know, I got the 16GB USB working now, I did the exact same thing from the last time. I appreciate for all your help and all the things you've been working on on the website. You just earned a subscriber

P.S I suggest using a 32GB USB instead if possible lol ! (Using USB HDD even faster)