Little by little the discs are obsolete. Increasingly, the question arises of loading the operating system from a flash drive. Or such a need arises for technical reasons. For example, in a laptop PC, the drive failed. In this case, loading the laptop from the USB flash drive will help. Thus, you can work with netbooks, in which the drive is simply not provided. However, it is not enough just to upload information to a USB flash drive, for a start it needs to be formatted and turned into bootable. Let's deal with everything in order.
What is a download?
If it’s quite simple, then downloading is sending programs or any data in general to a computer from a device connected to it. Why are we talking about loading the operating system whenever the PC turns on? But because in this context, the hard drive (from which the OS is sent for direct operation already in RAM) acts as a connected device. The same connected device accepts both the drive and the flash drive.
Therefore, in fact, for a computer or laptop it is absolutely indifferent to where the necessary information will come from. Will it be boot from a flash drive or directly from a hard drive. It's all about the BIOS settings.
How to put a boot from a flash drive
BIOS is an acronym for English words that translate as a basic input / output system. And she has a strict order of implementation of the tasks. By default, your computer will first try to boot from a floppy disk (historically). Then he will turn to the drive. Then comes the turn of the hard drive. But loading from a USB flash drive in the BIOS is either in the last place (which you cannot get to bypassing the hard drive), or not at all. To correct this situation, it is necessary to change the priority of the system. Make it easy.
You can only enter BIOS if you start your computer until the download starts. The buttons for entering almost every manufacturer are individual. Ideally, it would be right to look at the documentation for the motherboard. But, based on the fact that ideal situations in our life are extremely rare, just try to ask Google (or Yandex - that's how you prefer), which key will allow exactly your computer model in BIOS. And in the most extreme case, you can use the “scientific poke” method. That is, consistently try all possible combinations. There are not so many of them - these are the keys Esc, Del, F2, F8, F9, F10, F11, F12.
For example, take an Asus laptop. Download from a flash drive for it should be a priority. When you start the computer, continuously press the F2 key (if it doesn’t work, try Del). This way you will get into BIOS. You can only use the keyboard for navigation. To help you arrows and Enter.
Go to the tab that says Boot (this means "boot"). There you are interested in the Boot Device Priority line. Confirming the selection of this line by pressing the Enter key, you will see a numbered list. On the first line in the second column, in square brackets will be written Floppy Drive ("floppy disk drive"). The second position is Hard Drive, and the third is Disabled.
When you select any line, a window appears with a list of possible assignments. In addition to those described above, you can install CDROM (“drive”) or USB Device (“device connected via USB port”). This is exactly what is required in order for the boot from the USB flash drive to be activated in the BIOS. After you set the new priority of the commands, press the F10 key and confirm your choice by clicking on “Ok” in the window that appears. After these changes in BIOS, loading from a flash drive will be carried out automatically.
Preparing a USB drive
However, if you simply drop the program onto the information medium , nothing will work. In order for the computer to boot from the USB flash drive correctly, the flash drive must be bootable. This can be achieved either using special programs, or by writing the necessary tasks on the command line. First, consider two popular programs. We will not dwell on the fact that the program needs to be installed on the computer first. We proceed immediately to work directly with her.
A few words about the ISO format
Do not try to simply copy files. Be sure to find the disk image in ISO format. The fact is that program creators often use copy protection in some files. This will be enough to prevent the entire program from working. And the peculiarity of the disk image in ISO is that every byte is copied there sequentially. Conventionally, this can be illustrated by the difference between a painting by an artist and digital photography. They can display the same object, but the photograph will still be more accurate. So, in order for the boot from the flash drive to be successful, you just need a “photo” - an ISO disk image.
How to work with UltraISO
- The program must be opened using administrator rights, otherwise it will fail. To do this, click on the icon with the right mouse button. In the menu that opens, select "Run as administrator".
- After that, expand the “File” menu (the top line is the first position) and give the command “Open ...”. Or, if you prefer to use the keyboard, press Ctrl + O.
- At this point, the operating system in ISO format should already be in the computer's memory. Select it by clicking the left mouse button.
- Now go to the "Boot" menu. This is the third position on the top line.
- Give the command "Burn the image of the Hard Disk ..." (next to the line you need is a four-color shield icon).
- Carefully check the information that appears in the pop-up window. Pay particular attention to the “Recording Method”. It should read: USB-HDD +.
- Click on the “Record” button (the bottom row).
- Do not be alarmed by the warning that all information will be erased. Confirm that you wish to continue.
- After that, the recording process will begin, during which data will be indicated in the window on what stage the recording is at. You will need to wait a few minutes.
- Soon the program will delight you with the message "Recording is completed!".
Do not be afraid of such a lengthy description. In practice, everything happens easier than it looks. Just this detailed explanation will save you time (and possibly nerves) when you first get acquainted with the program.
Windows7 USB / DVD Download Tool
After you install the Windows7 USB / DVD Download Tool on your computer, you will only need to complete three simple steps. Remember that the program must be opened with administrator rights.
- Step one: in the window that opens, the program will ask for the source file. Click the Browse button and the Next button.
- Step Two: Choose media type. The choice is your USB device (flash drive) and DVD (disk). Choose the first type.
- Step three: specify the path to the USB flash drive and click Begin copying ("start copying").
The program will execute the rest on its own. You just have to wait for the end of the copying process.
Although, at first glance, this program seems easier to use, it will be useful to know that there have been cases when loading Windows 7 from a flash drive recorded by the above program simply did not start. This does not always happen. But if you encounter a similar problem, just use UltraISO. Booting Windows from a flash drive recorded by this program always proceeds correctly.
Using your own resources
However, it is possible to create a bootable USB flash drive without resorting to any additional programs. It will be enough to set the necessary parameters on the command line.
Left-click on the "Start" button (the icon with the Windows logo in the lower left corner of the desktop). In the search bar, type the word "run." In the list that opens, select the Run program. In most cases, she will be the first on the list. In the field that appears, type cmd. You invoked the command line. Now let’s describe how to act with it.
Work with the command line
We will work to ensure that we have a boot from a USB flash drive on the laptop. Acer Aspire will serve as a prototype. If you did everything correctly, a line should appear with the following content: C: \ Users \ ACER>. On this line, enter the DISKPART command (calling a utility that manages partitions on the hard disk). The computer will provide the requested information. In the case of Acer Aspire, it looks like this:
- Microsoft DiskPart version 6.1.7601.
- Microsoft Corporation, 1999-2008.
- On the computer: Acer-V5_PC.
- DISKPART>.
Enter the following command: list disk (query for a list of available disk drives). A table appears with a list of disks whose numbering starts from zero. Look at the number assigned to the removable media of your choice (the size column will help in determining). In our example, it will be "Disk 1". Type in the line: select disk 1 ("select disk 1"). Remember that the number may differ depending on what position your computer has determined for the flash drive. A confirmation message should appear:
- Disc 1 is selected.
- DISKPART>.
Enter the command: clean. Further, the process will proceed according to the same principle: team - confirmation. Enter in sequence:
- create partition primary ("create a primary partition");
- select partition 1 ("select partition 1");
- active ("make active");
- format fs = NTFS ("format to NTFS").
Wait until the process indicator reaches 100%. At this stage, if desired, you can assign the flash drive an individual volume letter. Although it is not necessary. But if you decide to name it, enter: assign letter = T ("assign letter T"). The letter can be selected arbitrarily. And the final touch is the Exit command.
Now loading Windows from a flash drive has become a priority. Only the data on it must be placed already in the unpacked form. If you simply throw in a disk image there, this will not work.
What else needs to be done before installation
After all the preparatory work is done, you can proceed directly to the installation of the operating system. Let's try to avoid all the pitfalls in this process.
So, for starters, remember that Windows will boot from a USB flash drive to C: \. Therefore, it is necessary to save all the important information from there either to another disk or to removable media. All information from this disk will be lost.
The same applies to all software. However, it’s better not just to move the program to a neighboring drive, but reinstall it again. This will allow not to clog the registry once again.
Pay special attention to drivers. In some cases, they are attached to a computer or laptop, but it happens that they need to be installed or updated. Be sure to save the driver from drive C: \ to any other drive. Otherwise, after the download from the USB flash drive has already been completed, you may regret to find that, for example, the Internet connection is not supported due to the lack of the necessary driver. Therefore, after installing the operating system, first of all, re-equip your computer or laptop with all the drivers.
Download Windows 7 from a flash drive
Installing an operating system is not such a scary and complicated action as it might seem at first glance. Moreover, with this detailed step-by-step instruction, you have nothing to fear at all. Just be careful and do not confirm the action if you do not understand why it is needed.
If you have already set the boot priority from the flash drive, just restart the computer (the flash drive, of course, must be connected). A black screen should appear with the inscription below: Windows is loading files ... ("Windows downloads files"). This means that the process of copying data from the media has begun.
Soon Starting Windows will appear, after which you will see the installation window already on the usual colored background. The first thing you will be asked to choose is your preferred language, time format, and keyboard layout. Everything is selected without problems from pop-up lists. Click the “Next” button. In the next window, you are only interested in the “Install” button (it is located in the middle of the screen). Press. Next, accept the terms of the license agreement (you need to check the box and click "Next").
The next item is the choice of installation type. You need a full installation (second option). Now the computer will offer you disks on which you can install the system. It’s preferable to choose one that allows you to reserve at least 50 GB of space for Windows. Select it by clicking the left mouse button. At the bottom you will see a list of actions that can be performed with this drive. Click Create. At the moment, we are making a section on which the operating system will be stored. You will see data about the size (do not be afraid of a huge number - these are megabytes). Click Apply.
The system will warn that, in addition to this section, it will create additional ones. This is normal. Agree (the “Ok” button) - and click “Next”. Now the installation process really begins. It is quite long, it can take something about half an hour. During installation, the system will reboot several times on its own. However, no action is required.
After the installation is complete, only a couple of strokes will remain. You will be prompted to enter a username and computer, set a password (you can skip this action) and enter an activation key (you can skip this too, but you still have to activate the program within 30 days). The last step is to set the time and date.
Congratulations yourself - booting from a Windows flash drive was successful!