Over the past decade, the decline in popularity of optical drives has led many manufacturers and sellers to simply not install these devices on computers and laptops. Users actively use flash drives to perform any task. At the moment, many owners of computers and laptops are interested in the question of how to install Windows 8 from a flash drive. After all, as you know, the operating system is intended only for installation from an optical disk.
Computer backup
Many users are so keen on thoughts about how to install Windows 8 from a flash drive without a disk that sometimes they forget about backing up personal data. After all, reinstalling the system will unambiguously delete all the information that was on the computer before, unless several disks are installed in the system.
- Files on the "Desktop". They certainly need to be saved, because many users are here to store all the important information.
- "My documents". Many applications save files to this folder by default.
- Misc. Do not forget about browser settings and save your favorite games. All this can be extracted from working directories independently, using the recommendations that can be found in the media.
IT experts do not recommend backing up music and video files, because all multimedia content takes up a lot of space on media. It’s easier, after the installation of “Windows 8” from the flash drive, it will download the necessary files from the Internet.
Preparing a Windows Image
Before you install "Windows 8" from a flash drive, you need to thoroughly prepare. First of all, you need an image of the operating system installation disk. There are several ways to get it:
- Create it yourself if you have licensed optical media at hand. To do this, you have to use a special application that can create images. Professionals recommend using the free software ImgBurn or Daemon Tools, which can easily cope with the task.
- Download the finished image from the Internet. It is recommended that you download the file from a trusted source, otherwise you can get a “non-working image” or, in the worst case, a system that will steal and transfer all the user's personal data to the author as a “gift” from the author.
Installing "Windows 8" from a USB flash drive also requires media. Everything is simple here - you need to build on the file with the image of the operating system. A flash drive must have a volume of at least 4 GB if the image was created independently. If the user downloaded the finished image from the Internet, the volume is selected according to the size of the downloaded file.
Creating a bootable flash drive
One of the instructions on the topic “How to install Windows 8 from a USB flash drive to a computer” provides for the mandatory creation of a bootloader on the media. Its task is to create a virtual optical drive, which should be visible to the system during the boot process. Naturally, one cannot do without special software. The programs presented below are very easy to use, have a Russian interface and complete instructions for creating a bootable USB flash drive and transferring the image to the drive.
- Windows USB / DVD Download Tool. After launch, the application has only 3 steps: they offer to select the desired media, image and record. Before starting work with the program, it is recommended to format the flash drive in NTFS format.
- UltraISO . The most popular program for working with images has acquired the function of creating a bootable flash drive, which will delight all fans of this application.
- MultiBoot USB and Windows To Go . They also offer users step-by-step work with the choice of certain parameters in the process of creating an emulator.
System Control Center - BIOS
How to install "Windows 8" from a flash drive, if the system does not see the drive at all? This question is asked by many users when trying to update the operating system from a flash drive. Before installation, you need to go into the BIOS settings (basic input / output information system) and set the appropriate settings for your computer or laptop. Before starting all the steps you need to insert the USB flash drive into the computer and make sure that it is visible to the system.
In the process of turning on the system or rebooting it, the user needs to force the system to go to the service menu, for this in many cases it is enough to press the F1 or Del key. Some laptop manufacturers use their own option to call the menu, in any case, you can not do without an instruction manual.
Before you install "Windows 8" from a USB flash drive, you need to configure the hardware of the computer. Once in the service menu, you need to find the Boot tab and go to the Boot Devices Priority item. Make sure that in the displayed list of devices the flash drive is in the first place. Here the instructions that can be found on the right side of the screen will help. Save the changes and exit with a reboot.
Partitioned Games
Having figured out how to install Windows 8 from a USB flash drive through BIOS, the user will have to get acquainted with yet another important system configuration called “disk layout”. In fact, its task is to break the hard drive into logical partitions within the same drive. The media have a lot of feedback on this issue, but many IT professionals recommend providing the installer with all the resources to manage partitions with the subsequent installation of Windows 8. And if a beginner is eager to keep the installation process under his control, then without fail you need to quickly format the desired section before completing the plan. You need to do this only by the means of the installer and nothing else. The file system format is set to NTFS.
Several operating systems on one computer
An important factor for many users is the ability to install multiple operating systems on one computer. Before installing Windows 8 through a USB flash drive, you need to decide on the list of operating systems that will be involved. Initially, it is recommended that you install open source systems (Linux, Unix, and the like), as well as Mac OS.
Windows is the last to install. And if you need to have several OS data of different versions in the system, then you need to install them as they enter the market. First the old version, then the new one. The whole problem lies in the bootloader of operating systems, which is constantly updated and does not want to give control of the system to its old predecessor.
Standard procedure
Having studied all the recommendations on how to install Windows 8 from a USB flash drive, the user can proceed with the implementation. The installation process itself, in contrast to the installation from optical media, will take several minutes. Therefore, it is not necessary to move far from the computer; it will periodically ask questions to the user, who must choose the parameters he needs.
After the first reboot of the computer, in no case can you remove the USB flash drive from the connector, since the system still needs time and resources to create user profiles and transfer the necessary files. If a failure occurred during the installation (read error, power outage) or some other problem that caused the installation to stop, it is recommended to interrupt the procedure and start all over again (with formatting partitions).
Installation issues due to interfaces
The standard problem faced by many users trying to install Windows 8 from a USB flash drive to a laptop is the incompatibility of the media with the device, or rather, the failure of the system to see flash drives. The problem is that when the BIOS is loaded at the hardware level, it sees only USB 2.0 ports. Therefore, by inserting a flash drive into a faster USB 3.0 port, the user may encounter the problem of not detecting the portable device. Naturally, the problem is solved by connecting a USB flash drive to the desired port. To find out which of the existing ports works according to the old technology, the instructions for the laptop or computer will help.
Defective installation image
It is not so easy to make an inoperative image from the original optical media on your own, because most programs for this, after creating the file, verify the checksums with the original. But to download a deliberately defective image from the Internet is very easy. And it’s not the author who is to blame for this, but the global network, which can easily lose a couple of bytes of information on its expanses in the process of transmitting it to the end user.
The problem with a qualitative way is solved quite easily: most authors accompany the transmitted file with information on checksums (the value calculated by a special algorithm that takes into account the contents of the file, the size of the IGO and the name). Before installing Windows 8.1 from a flash drive, the user must verify these amounts. The algorithm for the downloaded file can be launched in any program that can create images.
BIOS issues
Interested in how to install Windows 8 from a USB flash drive, many users will find that the problem is not hidden in the process of installing the system, but in preparing the computer for use with a portable drive. Certain troubles are delivered by the BIOS of the computer. The user does not hurt to get additional skills with the operation of the input-output system.
- To find out which button the BIOS menu is called up is not enough, you still have to press the key before loading the operating system. The procedure can be simplified by a trick: immediately after turning on the computer, you must press the treasured button with a frequency of 3-5 presses per second - the chances increase dramatically.
- In older computers, you need to specify the system boot from the USB flash drive in several menus. One is responsible for the boot sequence, and the second allows portable devices to work in embedded device mode. Without the instructions that came with the computer, it will be quite difficult to figure out.
About the drives themselves and their problems
Many recommendations on how to install Windows 8 from a flash drive are silent about the features of the drives themselves. The first problem may be hidden for the user in the hardware of the drive. After all, flash drives differ in price, not only because of their appearance. In most cases, it is the quality of the installed chip, which affects the speed of work, that determines the price of the device. If the process of recording an image on a USB flash drive is delayed in time, you need to be prepared for the fact that installing the system from the drive will be as long.
Instead of a flash drive, you can use a memory card (from a phone, a camera, and similar devices). To do this, you need an external card reader that can work with a USB 2.0 port. This solution is very often used by IT professionals, because memory cards with many operating systems are much more convenient to carry with you than kilograms of flash drives.
Finally
Having asked how to install Windows 8 from a flash drive, anyone can, using the recommendations of professionals, independently cope with the task. However, it is worth remembering that a computer is a very complex and incomprehensible mechanism that even IT professionals can spoil nerves. Accordingly, an ordinary user should always be prepared for the unexpected and always have the patience to cope with the problems that appeared during the installation of the Windows 8 operating system from a flash drive.