Windows 7: Installing from a USB Flash Drive

How many of you don't have a DVD player in at least one of your machines? If you are like me, you probably have a few such systems, which normally isn't a big deal since I normally rip the DVD to an ISO then stream across my network. This works fine for normal installations, but many of my adventurous friends are wondering how I install the (very large) Windows 7 without a DVD player. It's quite simple, just use a USB flash drive.

If you do your research, you will find that there are a couple of different methods for making a bootable USB drive that will install Windows 7. The decision of which tools to use will be made almost strictly based on the main operating system you are using.

With that said, most Microsoft people I know are still using Windows XP, so let's jump to the best method under XP.

[ Note ] As I was writing this, I ran across a site that describes the process better than I can, and even provides screeenshots and step-by-step directions. In fact, it even includes directions for both XP and Vista! So, rather than plagiarize a well detailed process, I will simply link you there instead (see below).

Before I let you go, it appears that the site below no longer links to the Windows 7 iso file, so make sure you download the release candidate 1 here, as well as MBRWizard, which is used to set the flash drive bootable. Best of luck with the entire process, and with Windows 7 as well!

How To Boot And Install Windows 7 From USB Flash Drive


[ Update 6/23/2009 ] I just located another very good blog detailing the steps to install Windows 7 from a USB Flash disk. Check out Installing the New Windows 7 RC.