Creating Bootable Windows Flash Drive Installers

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While most tech savvy people have been doing this for ages, there is still a lot of people out there that could use this guide to creating a bootable flash drive with your OS of choice on it.

As time passes, more and more PCs are being built without an optical drive. When it comes time to conduct a format and reinstall Windows, then, an issue arises: Where does that setup DVD go? The answer: On a flash drive – well, the data at least. If that sounds complicated, don’t fret: It’s not. We have four solutions, and each one is a breeze.
 
I use MS USB tool for Windows installations (even works for the HyperV Hypervisor) and LiLi USB Creator for Linux.
 
I use MS USB tool for Windows installations (even works for the HyperV Hypervisor) and LiLi USB Creator for Linux.

Why? Use YUMI for both, and a lot more. I use it for Windows 7, Windows XP, Clonezilla, UBCD, SysRescueCD, Avira Rescue CD, various Linux distros, VMWare ESXi... and I probably forgot some stuff.

It is not perfect, and I used to prefer other tools (mostly Xboot before YUMI), but I feel it's come a long way. I haven't found anything else even close to as good.
 
Pfft.

I'd rather find an easy way to make an OS bootable from USB instead. Now THAT would be helpful.
 
Using diskpart from the command line is stupid easy. I'd imagine 99% of people here can do it:

Code:
diskpart
list disk
select disk #
clean
create partition primary
select partition 1
active
format fs=ntfs quick
assign
exit

Then just extract your windows ISO into that partition. Easy as that.
 
format fs=ntfs quick

You might want to modify and note that if the user wishes for an EFI installation then FAT32 must be used. Also, I would use the "quick" format command.
 
Damnit, cannot edit. I swear I didn't read the quick command.
 
USB keys like the Black Friday $7.99 32GB Sandisk Cruzer Glide come configured as local disk to meet Windows 8 requirements (see link below) so they're not detected by some utilities like Microsoft USB Tool (ironic!) and Rufus. Fortunately, Universal USB Installer does detect it as I was able to create a working bootable Windows 8.1 Pro 64-bit. Haven't confirmed but guessing YUMI will work too since it's from the same guy.

http://kb.sandisk.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/12830/~/flash-drive-shows-as-hard-disk-drive-
 
Microsoft USB tool for Windows, definitely.

I'm partial to Unetbootin for Linux distros, unless it's OpenSUSE or Fedora which requires their own USB tools or YUMI.

Anything but the MS usb tool. Most of the time it doesn't work.
 
There is literally no reason to use the MS tool over YUMI. There was no further discussion necessary after my first post in here. :p
 
You'd think there would be easier things by now, like a program where you put your Windows CD in, the flash drive you want to use, click start, and after it's done, voila! Bootable Windows install flash drive!
 
I use Rufus. It works great for just about every OS, including many versions of Linux. It won't work for RHEL or CentOS, though. I don't believe anything works with either of those.
 
I use Rufus. It works great for just about every OS, including many versions of Linux. It won't work for RHEL or CentOS, though. I don't believe anything works with either of those.

I downloaded that earlier today (after seeing it on Betanews) to check it out (note: I have tried several others already but not Rufus) and wow... this program offers very little.

As much as it sounds like I'm probably being paid off by someone to say this, again... try YUMI. Unless I am missing something here, it does a hell of a lot more than Rufus.
 
Anything but the MS usb tool. Most of the time it doesn't work.

100% of the time it works 100% of the time for me. :confused:

I will say that someone else I know tried the USB download tool and it didn't work on a cheap hand-out USB stick that he got as a promo from Staples. I told him to use a brand name stick like Kingston or Corsair and throw away his piece of crap 2GB promo stick and it worked just fine.
 
You might want to modify and note that if the user wishes for an EFI installation then FAT32 must be used. Also, I would use the "quick" format command.

Does this mean mobos with UEFI BIOS require FAT32 to install an OS from a flash drive?
 
Anything but the MS usb tool. Most of the time it doesn't work.

Uh, it's stupid easy and only does one thing. Faulty drive / broken file or something isn't possible?

unebootin is good enough for me on linux.
 
You can still boot in the traditional mode, and this is what I recommend everyone do for as long as possible.

ok, thanks, because I didn't get a CD/DVD drive on the new build I'll be making this weekend, so I made a bootable flash drive using NTFS and dumped the Windows 7 64bit CD on to it using my laptop... Would have sucked to get it all built and have the install fail! :D
 
External USB optical drive for the win!

Nope, nope, nope.

First of all, USB flash drives are MUCH faster than CDs/DVDs.

Secondly, they aren't super annoyingly loud when they are in use, unlike CDs/DVDs.

Thirdly, if you take my advice and use YUMI (as opposed to the junky tools like the MS one and the HP one), you can have tons of stuff on one drive. All those things I listed as examples for what I use with YUMI are installed on ONE flash drive, and I still use the drive as normal storage, too.

Fourthly, while USB flash drives can be broken, it is far easier to scratch a DVD.

Fifthly, DVDs aren't a comfortable fit in the pocket, and definitely no to a drive.
 
Nope, nope, nope.

Got to disagree with you. Mainly because it's easy to label DVDs. I have a DVD case full of DVDs of various OSs, all inscribed in detail - SP level, license keys etc. A similar number of bootable USB drives would be too easy to mix up. Labels fall off too easily.

Fifthly, DVDs aren't a comfortable fit in the pocket, and definitely no to a drive.

I can put the case and optical drive easily in a briefcase. And when it's not in use, it just sits there out of the way, and it's not having dusty air going through it.
 
Got to disagree with you. Mainly because it's easy to label DVDs. I have a DVD case full of DVDs of various OSs, all inscribed in detail - SP level, license keys etc. A similar number of bootable USB drives would be too easy to mix up. Labels fall off too easily.



I can put the case and optical drive easily in a briefcase. And when it's not in use, it just sits there out of the way, and it's not having dusty air going through it.

just make a text file with the short description of its contents and the serials or keys and throw it into the flash drive after making your boot disk.
 
Got to disagree with you. Mainly because it's easy to label DVDs. I have a DVD case full of DVDs of various OSs, all inscribed in detail - SP level, license keys etc. A similar number of bootable USB drives would be too easy to mix up. Labels fall off too easily.

You don't generally need to label a USB drive because if you buy the right size drive you'll only need one drive for every single tool you use. Keys are mostly not an issue because it's probably just Windows that you need a key for, and you can skip that during the install, going to trial mode, and enter it once you boot the OS (where you can then look at the text file with the key on the drive)... or actually you can just customize the Windows install to have the key pre-entered...
 
Does this mean mobos with UEFI BIOS require FAT32 to install an OS from a flash drive?

It does not. But it is better to have the drive formatted as so-for this only; as an install drive. This way if you select to do GPT (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GUID_Partition_Table) or as with Windows 8 want an EFI install you will not have to redo the flash drive formatting.
 
just make a text file with the short description of its contents and the serials or keys and throw it into the flash drive after making your boot disk.

Now take a dozen flash drives, each with a different OS, and quickly find the one you want with the computer off.
 
I downloaded that earlier today (after seeing it on Betanews) to check it out (note: I have tried several others already but not Rufus) and wow... this program offers very little.

As much as it sounds like I'm probably being paid off by someone to say this, again... try YUMI. Unless I am missing something here, it does a hell of a lot more than Rufus.
Some of us don't need extra/fluff options, just need something simple, quick, works. The MS tool is OK, it gets the job done (most of the time) but is painfully slow on USB 2.0 thumbdrives. I started using Rufus a few weeks ago for my Win 7s, it was quite a bit faster, minutes faster, creating the thumbdrive.
 
For reals! YUMI your YUMI and you can YUMI all of your YUMI from one YUMI!

That about sum it up?

How about you try it first? You guys all have used one or two applications at most and think you should be recommending software? I have tried every single piece of software mentioned in this thread (except, prior to today, Rufus). Try some advice for a change.

But yeah. You guys keep recommending shitty alternatives to YUMI and I'll keep telling you that YUMI is better.
 
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