# How To Install An OS Off Of A Flash Drive



## lucasbytegenius

*How To Install An OS Off Of A Flash Drive
By lucasbytegenius*​After a lot of experimentation, disastrous mistakes, slow download speeds and finally, success, I have written this guide to educate the common user, DIY, and IT in installing Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, and many major Linux distributions from a USB flash drive. Please note that all techniques described in this guide do have risks, most of the time due to human mistake. We do not claim any liability for these mistakes unless they can be proved to be directly due to this guide, and a kind PM sent to the author will help improve this guide if the user does come across any mistakes on my part. 

*Installing Windows:*
*EDIT: Microsoft has released a utility for Windows 7 and Windows 8 which will make this much easier. However, the steps outlined here require only the command line and the Windows DVD. You download this utility at http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msusa/html/pbPage.Help_Win7_usbdvd_dwnTool*

This section will describe how to make a bootable flash drive for use of installing Windows. Support in this guide includes Windows Vista and Windows 7, basically all Windows NT 6.x systems are supported. Regrettably, Windows NT 5.x systems (Windows XP, etc) are yet to be added, due to some software complications that have yet to be sorted out.
What you need is:

An empty 2 GB USB 2.0 or 3.0 compliant flash drive.
A USB 2.0 or 3.0 compliant USB port, this will include most computers manufactured in the last 5-6 years.
A Windows Vista, Windows 7, or other Windows NT 6.x family OS install disc. It can be either x86 or x64.
A computer with Windows Vista or above installed.
Ok, now that you’ve ascertained that you have all the requirements, let’s get started. 
First, open an elevated command prompt by typing cmd into the search box and pressing enter, and then hit Ctrl + Shift + Enter.
Type the following commands, pressing enter after each one:


		Code:
	

DISKPART
LIST DISK

In the list, you will see a list of disks, each with a number. The disk whose size corresponds to the size of your flash drive should be your flash drive. *It is very important that you select the right one, as data could be lost.* Remember the number next to your flash drive.
Now, type the following commands (pressing enter after each one):


		Code:
	

SELECT DISK x (replace x with the flash drive number you memorized earlier)
CLEAN
CREATE PARTITION PRIMARY
SELECT PARTITION 1
ACTIVE
FORMAT FS=NTFS QUICK
ASSIGN
EXIT

*Don’t close the prompt window.*
Place your Windows DVD into your DVD drive, and remember the drive letter of the DVD drive and your flash drive. Then go back to the prompt and type the following commands, pressing enter after each one:


		Code:
	

X: CD BOOT (where x is your DVD drive)
CD BOOT
BOOTSECT.EXE /NT60 Y: (where y is your flash drive letter)

Then copy the entire contents of your Windows DVD to your flash drive, and restart. It should boot. 
For those familiar with the bootsect command, the nt52 switch has not proven successful for me while trying to get XP on the flash drive, before you ask. If you have a way to put the Windows XP installation files on a flash drive and make it bootable, please let me know.

*Installing Mac OS X:*
This section will describe how to make a bootable flash drive for use of installing Mac OS X. Support in this guide includes all versions of Mac OS X.
What you need is:

An empty 5-8 GB USB 2.0 or 3.0 compliant flash drive
A USB 2.0 or 3.0 compliant USB port, this will include most Macs manufactured in the last 5-6 years.
A Mac OS X 10.x.x install disc.
A Mac running OS X.
Ok, now that you've ascertained that you have all the requirements, let's get started.
First, open the Utilities folder by pressing Shift + Command + U, and open Disk Utility.







Insert your Mac OS X Install disc. Select it in the list in the Disk Utility, and click Restore.
Drag the Mac OS X Install disc from the list to the Source box.
Then plug in your USB drive, and drag it from the list to the Destination box.






Check the Erase Destination box and click Restore. After a few minutes, you will have a bootable USB drive with Mac OS X on it.
To test your drive, open System Preferences>Startup Disk, enter your administrator’s password if necessary, and then select the disk you restored to with Disk Utility, and then click Restart. You can also hold down the Option key after the startup chime, and select the disk.

*Installing Linux:*
This section will describe how to make a bootable flash drive for use of installing some Linux distributions. Support in this guide includes the Ubuntu family, version 10.10 and lower, with experiments performed on 10.04 and 9.10, and a few other distributions I have not experimented with but should work. 
What you need is:

An empty 1-8 GB USB 2.0 or 3.0 compliant flash drive.
A USB 2.0 or 3.0 compliant USB port, this will include most computers manufactured in the last 5-6 years.
A distribution’s ISO image or disc.
A computer with preferably Ubuntu 10.10 or Windows XP, Vista, or 7 (yes Windows )
The following files/utilities:

Unetbootin for either Windows or Linux (http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/)
Or, if you prefer a wizard interface, Pendrive Linux (www.pendrivelinux.com)
The Unetbootin and Pendrive Linux interface is pretty intuitive, I doubt it's necessary to write instructions on how to use them.
Also, you can put Ubuntu on a flash drive through Ubuntu by navigating System>Preferences>Startup Disk Creator and going from there.

*Conclusion:*
If you followed this short guide correctly, you should now have a USB drive containing the Windows, MacOS X, or Linux setup files. Congratulations!
*Notes on Future Improvement:*
If you (the reader) think it necessary to include more documentation on the Linux utilities, Unetbootin and Pendrive Linux, please comment.
If any more screenshots are needed, I'll be happy to provide them.
As for advanced configuration of the setup files before copying them to the USB drive, I'm still having a little trouble with that and may just go and write a whole new guide on how to patch the setup files when I'm done with my research.

Written originally for EnigmaBoard.


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## tremmor

Very good!


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## lucasbytegenius

tremmor said:


> Very good!



Thanks. I'd to see some people use the guide and tell me their results if it's not too much trouble


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## tremmor

One thing is a lot do not know how to search and find it.
I will 99% of the time if i need it. Great effort like many who explain.
No doubt it takes time and have everything in order and sequence. 
thanks.


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## jamesd1981

nice guide lucas, well layed out and clear, good of you to take the time and effort to do such a pro guide.


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## fastdude

:good:


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## lucasbytegenius

jamesd1981 said:


> nice guide lucas, well layed out and clear, good of you to take the time and effort to do such a pro guide.





fastdude said:


> :good:



Thanks guys  that means a lot to me.


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## bkribbs

I don't need to use it atm, but I probably will actually refer to it for whenever I get around to making my install cd's into FD's. But looks good!


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## lucasbytegenius

bkribbs said:


> I don't need to use it atm, but I probably will actually refer to it for whenever I get around to making my install cd's into FD's. But looks good!



Thank you


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## lucasbytegenius

Any other suggestions, opinions, or results?


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## tlarkin

Another way is to boot from the Installer DVD of the OS and choose the USB/FW drive if the installer supports it.  Most Linux distros and OS X support this method.  Windows I am not entirely sure of.  Also, on a PC you must make sure your BIOS supports USB booting, but most modern motherboards support such features.

Otherwise, the guide looks good to me.


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## lucasbytegenius

tlarkin said:


> Another way is to boot from the Installer DVD of the OS and choose the USB/FW drive if the installer supports it.  Most Linux distros and OS X support this method.  Windows I am not entirely sure of.  Also, on a PC you must make sure your BIOS supports USB booting, but most modern motherboards support such features.
> 
> Otherwise, the guide looks good to me.


Thanks, tlarkin. I'm considering adding a note on how to use the PloP Linux CD on older machines to boot, if you think it's really worth it.


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## pane-free

lucasbytegenius said:


> Any other suggestions, opinions, or results?



One could use the dd command, as in this example from CrunchBang forum:

http://crunchbanglinux.org/wiki/statler_usb_installation

HOWTO copy a CrunchBang 10 Statler ISO image to USB in Linux

:!: WARNING, the following instructions will destroy any existing data on your USB stick.

1. Insert your USB stick and learn how your USB stick is recognized by the system, enter the command:

sudo ls -l /dev/disk/by-id/*usb*

This should produce output along the lines of:

lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root  9 2010-03-15 22:54 /dev/disk/by-id/usb-_USB_DISK_2.0_077508380189-0:0 -> ../../sdb
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 2010-03-15 22:54 /dev/disk/by-id/usb-_USB_DISK_2.0_077508380189-0:0-part1 -> ../../sdb1

2. Unmount the usb stick, then use this command to write (as root) the image iso to your USB stick.
:!: Replace /dev/sdX with the actual hard disk device learned from the command above. In this example /dev/sdb NOT /dev/sdb1
:!: Replace the name of the iso image below by the actual name of the iso image you downloaded.

sudo dd if=/path/to/iso/crunchbang-10-20101205-openbox-i686.iso of=/dev/sdX bs=4M;sync

All being well, you should now have a bootable CrunchBang Statler USB stick.

aptosid manual gives similar instructions:  http://manual.aptosid.com/en/hd-ins-opts-oos-en.htm#raw-usb

There is also a procedure using cfdisk, i just cannot remember it offhand.
EDIT:  here it what I was thinking of, compiled --

##########################################################################

COMPLEX METHOD	(USB stick corrupted/need to make it recognizable again/desire a bootable distro installed on a USB stick previously formatted to NTFS)

1. Download your chosen distro ISO file, noting the path (/home/username/Downloads/)

2. Physically uninstall/unplug all other USB devices from the computer and do not use a USB hub.

3. Insert your USB stick and learn how your USB stick is recognized by the system (as #2 above)

4. 
	
	




		PHP:
	

sudo umount /dev/sdX


5. 
	
	




		PHP:
	

dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sdX bs=512 conv=notrunc,sync

	NOTE: 	this will both wipe your entire USB drive with zeros, destroy all existing data
		        and TAKE A WHILE!

6. Partitioning and Formatting your USB Drive with cfdisk as a single partition using FAT32
	NOTE: Please refer to http://manual.aptosid.com/en/part-cfdisk-en.htm



		PHP:
	

cfdisk /dev/sdX


    A. Delete all existing partitions using arrow keys to highlight each -- 

	"d" or "Delete" <Enter>

    B. Create a new partition

	"n" or "New" 	<Enter>	choose "Primary Partition"    NOTE: "Units" (MB)-- entire USB drive		<Enter>
	"t" or "Type" 	<Enter>	choose "0B" (FAT32)  					<Enter>
	"b" or "Boot"	<Enter>     NOTE: toggle until "Boot" flag remains visible
	"W" or "Write"   <Enter>    NOTE: if you don't do this you'll have to start over!
	"q" or "Quit"      <Enter>

		Your newly partitioned USB stick is now recognized as sdX (usually sdb)
		and your new partition on the stick is now recognized as sdX1 (usually sdb1)

    C. Still at the joyous prompt, Format the newly partitioned USB drive!



		PHP:
	

fdisk /dev/sdX




		PHP:
	

mkfs -t vfat /dev/sdX1


7. Now, perform #3 and #4 of the SIMPLE METHOD, and you are done!	


##########################################################################
SOURCES (for all; Copyleft applies):
http://www.pane-free.com  (compilation synthesized by chamaecyparis)
http://manual.aptosid.com/en/part-cfdisk-en.htm
http://crunchbanglinux.org/wiki/statler_usb_installation


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## tlarkin

Well, in OS X you can block copy images with the asr command, which is what disk utility uses under the hood.



		Code:
	

/usr/sbin/asr restore --source "/Volumes/pathto/usb/imagefile.dmg" -target /dev/disk0s2 -erase -noprompt -timeout 0 -puppetstrings -noverify --verbose


That is of course your standard set up that your main OS partition is in fact on disk0, you could compile this into a script to make it detect your main drive first and then block copy your disk image of your OS over to your destination.


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## Uwan

thanks for this post of yours.

its takes me an hard time looking for this .. 


thanks..


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## kalu1991

@ lucasbytegenius
Yes you can use win to flash program to make bootable usb, without cmd. 
It is a lot easier.
Also can you take a look here, I have a big problem whit booting from usb and maybe you could help me.
Link  http://www.computerforum.com/190236-window-7-wont-boot-usb.html


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## lucasbytegenius

kalu1991 said:


> @ lucasbytegenius
> Yes you can use win to flash program to make bootable usb, without cmd.
> It is a lot easier.
> Also can you take a look here, I have a big problem whit booting from usb and maybe you could help me.
> Link  http://www.computerforum.com/190236-window-7-wont-boot-usb.html



Originally, my guide was based off of WinToFlash, but it didn't work too well (can't find my old guide-it's somewhere on this forum) so I figured out how to do it with the command line. WTF is in beta still, when they release it it should have all its bugs cleared up and then I'll consider a rewrite.

@tlarkin: When I rewrite my guide, I'll be sure to include your tip 
@pane-free: Thanks, I'll also add that too


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## chamgamer

lucasbytegenius said:


> Any other suggestions, opinions, or results?



Here's an alternative way on how to install windows 7 using a flash drive. http://gadgetmix.com/netbook/how-to-install-windows-7-via-usbflash-drive/


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## lucasbytegenius

chamgamer said:


> Here's an alternative way on how to install windows 7 using a flash drive. http://gadgetmix.com/netbook/how-to-install-windows-7-via-usbflash-drive/



Thanks, but the technique I use requires less external software and I have used it with far more success than that one. I experimented with that technique a month or two back and it was troublesome, as it could be tricky with the mbr on the drive. Eventually I settled with the current technique, as it was much simpler than the exaggerated list of steps I would have to put in to troubleshoot your link.


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## leosar

*installing win vista?*

hi
excuse me to post this question.
i have hp laptop with vista
i tried to restore it to earlier date,and while it was restoring we lost electricity,(batterie is dead)
my cd-rom is not working 
so can i put win vista on usb key 4gb and format my laptop ?
and how should i do this?


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## esmphoto

*excellent!*

this will come in handy for me! adding two more flash drives to my keychain for whenever I need to recover a dell or an iMac in the office (been happening alot lately, especially with the win. machines) :good::good::good::good::good:


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## lucasbytegenius

esmphoto said:


> this will come in handy for me! adding two more flash drives to my keychain for whenever I need to recover a dell or an iMac in the office (been happening alot lately, especially with the win. machines) :good::good::good::good::good:



:good:
Always appreciate the feedback


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## mihir

Well written.


My suggestions
Use more colours.Like John(mod).


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## lucasbytegenius

mihir said:


> Well written.
> 
> 
> My suggestions
> Use more colours.Like John(mod).



Done. And thanks


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## mihir

lucasbytegenius said:


> Done. And thanks



HAHAHA nice.
What do you think about the picture I posted ?


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## lucasbytegenius

mihir said:


> HAHAHA nice.
> What do you think about the picture I posted ?



It sure shows your epic appreciation :good:


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## mreccentric

;(


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## lucasbytegenius

r.vittalkiran said:


> ;(



'scuse me?


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## TechGurujuni

Download and install UltraISO thats simple you can boot iso and burn it on cd/dvd or writing it on usb.


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## lucasbytegenius

TechGurujuni said:


> Download and install UltraISO thats simple you can boot iso and burn it on cd/dvd or writing it on usb.



I'll have to look into that, but I have things against shareware


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## jdtcomputer

Do any one know how.to remove bios.password


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## lucasbytegenius

jdtcomputer said:


> Do any one know how.to remove bios.password


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## computermad123

Recently i decided to upgrade the operating system on my eeepc700 netbook ,
i had a look round for different operating systems compatible with the eeepc700, and Joli OS 1.2 was the best to install and use:

how to install:

you need: A 1GB usb stick and linux usb creator and a wireless computer!. 

1:download linux usb creator (from:www.linuxliveusb.com/)

2pen linux usb creator and click options which is located at the bottom.

3nce in options click on the option tab and click on force using same parameters as: 

4: then scroll down on the drop down box and click on Joli OS 1.2 then click ok

5lug in your usb stick and in step 1 on the linux usb creator click on  your usb stick

6:step 2 on the usb creator click download and again find Joli OS 1.2 in the drop down box then click automatically (this will find and download Joli OS)

7: once it has finished downloading in step 4 of the usb creator make sure hide created files on key is unticked.

8: your ready to go click on the lightning bolt in step 5 and it will format and download joli OS to your usb stick ( this will take 2 to 5 minutes)

9: once it has finished downloading a web page will pop up just click that off, then unplug your usb stick and plug it back in again this will force windows to recognize it as a linux key.

10:unplug your usb stick and make sure you netbook is turned off then plug in your usb stick and turn on press ESC a couple of times before your operating system loads

11: then use your arrows to highlight boot from USB stick and click enter Joli should load  up from there click enter a couple of times to speed it up and you can then choose to try it out first or install it first time then just follow the on screen steps from joli if your going to install first time.

note: if the ESC step does not work then you must press F2 and go into your bios then scroll along the tabs and find boot order and use the relevant arrows to change the boot order to boot from usb stick.

Also your computer must be wireless in order for joli OS to work ! 

hope you find this useful.


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## computermad123

lucasbytegenius said:


>




hey what do you think of my steps to installing joli OS 1.2 your steps are very good !!


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## lucasbytegenius

computermad123 said:


> hey what do you think of my steps to installing joli OS 1.2 your steps are very good !!



Looks great man 
Thanks for bringing to my awareness LiLi and Joli OS, I'm going to take Joli for a spin today


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## Ambushed

I take back what I said about kids on these forums, nice work  (I was once your age when I joined these forums almost 6 years ago )


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## claptonman

When I just did it, when it said to type "X:CD BOOT" into CMD, it wouldn't recognize it. But when I did "X: CD BOOT" (With the space between X: and CD) it worked. Is that for everyone or just me?


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## lucasbytegenius

Ambushed said:


> I take back what I said about kids on these forums, nice work  (I was once your age when I joined these forums almost 6 years ago )


Haha, from what I know of you I feel honored 


claptonman said:


> When I just did it, when it said to type "X:CD BOOT" into CMD, it wouldn't recognize it. But when I did "X: CD BOOT" (With the space between X: and CD) it worked. Is that for everyone or just me?



I just tried it, thanks for pointing out the issue. Guide updated


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## bratsos

a easy way to install one operating system , especially linux.

is here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GhpYLcX6dU&feature=related

And here is the site for the utility

http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/


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## bratsos

*to remove pass from bios*



jdtcomputer said:


> Do any one know how.to remove bios.password



Just if is desktop remove the battery from the motherboard and make sure the power cord is no plug in. Then press the on button to clear the buff memory.
Then re-insert the battery.

Aboyt laptops same method, but be more carefully, sometimes to remove the small battery, is hard to locate and verify it...
And syrely remove the main power supply and battery before try anything...


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## lucasbytegenius

bratsos said:


> a easy way to install one operating system , especially linux.
> 
> is here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GhpYLcX6dU&feature=related
> 
> And here is the site for the utility
> 
> http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/



Uh...I posted the link to unetbootin in the guide.

People, please read the original post.


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## voyagerfan99

emdadblog said:


> The most easiest way to make bootbale windows Vista and Windows 7 pendrive is :
> 
> 1. Format 4 GB Flash Drive in NTFS format
> 
> 2. Copy all windows vista / 7 files into formated 4 GB flash Drive.
> 
> Now restart your computer and configure the bios to boot from flash drive.



I have an easier way 

http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msstore/html/pbPage.Help_Win7_usbdvd_dwnTool


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## Jiniix

For installing Windows 7 via USB I've always used a tool I got on askvg.com. All you need is an ISO file or the actual DVD in your DVD-drive.
For Linux distributions you can download the tool on ubuntu.com, it supports pretty much all versions of Linux.


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## lucasbytegenius

Jiniix said:


> For installing Windows 7 via USB I've always used a tool I got on askvg.com. All you need is an ISO file or the actual DVD in your DVD-drive.
> For Linux distributions you can download the tool on ubuntu.com, it supports pretty much all versions of Linux.



I've linked to the official Microsoft tool in the original post, however of course you are free to use your own.
I really dislike Ubuntu's tool and it didn't work with other versions of Linux for some reason. It gave me a bunch of errors whenever I launched it and so it was a pain to use and the results weren't consistent.

In the future, please post feedback relevant to the guide, such as feedback or any problems you've encountered while following it. Thanks.


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## lucasbytegenius

gh0st said:


> Thanks for the nice guide. I used this a while ago but only registered now



You're welcome, glad it helped you


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## lucasbytegenius

fzvarun said:


> all you need is to copy win7 directly to usb and select usb in boot priority from BIOS



It can't boot without the boot sector step.


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## Thanatos

How can I format my flash drive back to FAT 32?


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## lucasbytegenius

Green dog252 said:


> How can I format my flash drive back to FAT 32?




Open up Computer
Right-click on the flash drive and click Format
Select FAT32 in the filesystem list.

Or open up Disk Management, delete the volume on the flash drive, and then create a new FAT32 volume on it.


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## dstruct2k

I have a slightly different idea; I'm combining a set of tools into a single, bootable USB stick. I currently have Hiren's BootCD and Windows 7 32 and 64 bit installers together on one USB stick, both bootable using the Windows boot manager.

I have the Windows Boot Manager handing off to GRUB for Hiren's, but I can't seem to set up a second copy of GRUB to be able to get Ubuntu bootable off the Windows Boot Manager as well. I know I could probably swap to a single copy of GRUB that would handle all 3 choices, but I'm not very good with GRUB and can't figure out how to get the USB version of Ubuntu to boot at all.... It looks like it's using syslinux, and I'm not sure how to hand-off from GRUB/WindowsBoot to syslinux.

Anyone have any suggestions?


tl;dr: Trying to set up triple-boot USB stick, can't get 3rd part to boot, need help.


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## voyagerfan99

dstruct2k said:


> I have a slightly different idea; I'm combining a set of tools into a single, bootable USB stick. I currently have Hiren's BootCD and Windows 7 32 and 64 bit installers together on one USB stick, both bootable using the Windows boot manager.
> 
> I have the Windows Boot Manager handing off to GRUB for Hiren's, but I can't seem to set up a second copy of GRUB to be able to get Ubuntu bootable off the Windows Boot Manager as well. I know I could probably swap to a single copy of GRUB that would handle all 3 choices, but I'm not very good with GRUB and can't figure out how to get the USB version of Ubuntu to boot at all.... It looks like it's using syslinux, and I'm not sure how to hand-off from GRUB/WindowsBoot to syslinux.
> 
> Anyone have any suggestions?
> 
> 
> tl;dr: Trying to set up triple-boot USB stick, can't get 3rd part to boot, need help.



Try integrating the Yumi Multi-Installer. It can integrate multiple linux distros and other misc. tools onto one USB drive. Then do what you did to get the Windows installer back on the drive. I'm sure you could get the Windows boot manager to handle the main boot, then hand everything else over to Yumi.


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## 47R3YU

Hello everyone,

due to the recent release of the windows 8 consumer preview i made a video tutorial, how to install it from a usb drive.
Was about to open a new thread when i saw this one - so here's the tutorial!

Installing Windows 8 from a USB Stick / DVD - Tutorial

(sadly, the youtube-tags don't seem to work)


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## lucasbytegenius

Really?

So that just happened...


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## mihir

For Unix and Linux based operating systems, you can also use, "dd"
Like format the flash drive first and then


> sudo dd if=os.iso of=/dev/xxx[device id]


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## lucasbytegenius

ameliewakelin said:


> Very informative


Thanks.


mihir said:


> For Unix and Linux based operating systems, you can also use, "dd"
> Like format the flash drive first and then



Interesting, thanks for the tip.


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## lucasbytegenius

ashimbd said:


> very helpful guideline.



Thanks


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## A5H151

Nice guide, should help considering I don't have an optical drive.


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## lucasbytegenius

johhny said:


> For Installation of windows through flash drive you need to make the drive boot-able and then plug in the flash drive and restart the computer. At the booting time to need to press the button for changing boot order. Set the priority of the flash drive as first and press enter. It will start booting and you can install the OS simply as from the DISC.



Basic summary of my guide, thanks I guess.


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## KasperL

lucasbytegenius said:


> Basic summary of my guide, thanks I guess.



I will be upgrading to an SSD very soon.

Are the steps the same for an SSD? How do I make sure that the OS will be installed on the SSD?



47R3YU said:


> Hello everyone,
> 
> due to the recent release of the windows 8 consumer preview i made a video tutorial, how to install it from a usb drive.
> Was about to open a new thread when i saw this one - so here's the tutorial!
> 
> Installing Windows 8 from a USB Stick / DVD - Tutorial
> 
> (sadly, the youtube-tags don't seem to work)



Did he actually advertise his own video on your thread?


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## PabloTeK

KasperL said:


> I will be upgrading to an SSD very soon.
> 
> Are the steps the same for an SSD? How do I make sure that the OS will be installed on the SSD?



The disk controller will show the SSD as a normal disk within your system, so just select that as the target for installation.


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## KasperL

PabloTeK said:


> The disk controller will show the SSD as a normal disk within your system, so just select that as the target for installation.



Do I just plug the SSD in when the PC is off, and then turn the PC on, and follow the steps?


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## PabloTeK

It's the same process as a mechanical drive, even if there are no mechanical parts it's still a HDD.


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## lucasbytegenius

If you're installing from a USB drive, it should still work to install to an SSD.


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## Nejcv

*Uefi*

Hey, i have a new asos x550c notebook and i can't boot win7 from usb. And there is no launch CMS in boot option in bios and no secure boot control in security.. I have no idea what to do, i'm stuck with a new computer without OS. Thanks for all the help


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## lucasbytegenius

Nejcv said:


> Hey, i have a new asos x550c notebook and i can't boot win7 from usb. And there is no launch CMS in boot option in bios and no secure boot control in security.. I have no idea what to do, i'm stuck with a new computer without OS. Thanks for all the help



You can't change the boot priorities in the BIOS?


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## Nejcv

it doesnt find USB, so i could change it into noumber one on the boot list. it seems that alot of asus users have this problem, an i dont know what to do..


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## johnb35

On some models, you must have the usb device plugged in before the system will recognize it as being bootable.


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## Nejcv

i know, it is plugged in and nothing happens.. here was another guy with the same problem and this was the answer: 
All you need to do is get into the bios through Win8 which can take a little work, but go to the Win8 settings 'charm' through one of the right corners then to PC settings/General and finally advanced startup (restart).
After it restarts, go to troubleshoot, advanced options, and UEFI firmware settings to get into the bios.
Disable Secure Boot under the bios 'Security' settings and enable CSM under the 'Advanced' bios settings to boot to USB or a DVD.

but i dont have these options in bios


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## Agent Smith

Just want to share this on the sticky. Not sure if it's been mentioned. http://wintoflash.com/home/en/

Also note that some USB drives don't boot from BIOS. I had luck with a Toshiba USB thumb drive.


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## spirit

The tool I use to make bootable USBs is a free tool that you just run called Rufus: https://rufus.akeo.ie/

I've used Rufus to make bootable USB drives of Windows 8.1 ISOs and also Hiren's Boot CD and it works a treat. Very quick and easy to do. It also works perfectly for UEFI computers too!

Recommended! :good:


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## G25r8cer

I have used Rufus before as well. Works great! But lately I have been using Sardu to create a multi-boot usb for diagnostic and OS installations. 

http://www.sarducd.it/downloads

Note: These tools require making .iso backups of said OS disk


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## CrayonMuncher

I know this is relatively outdated, but still want to say thanks for this guide as I still use it despite the Microsoft option.


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