7 replies to this topic

[odinlives]

I thought I would share this tutorial I put together in response to some users having difficulty creating a bootable USB drive for windows 7 in RT7Lite (I have never tried to use that function as I always create an ISO).   I got the basic commands from the net and am going to take you step by step through the process without having to use a 3rd party program using the command prompt to utilize DiskPart which is built into Windows 7 by default.


* Insert you USB drive into your computer and remove the contents from the drive.

*Open command prompt by typing in cmd in the start menu search box and hit enter.

*First we need to know which number is assigned to the USB we are going to make bootable by typing in "diskpart" and hit enter



*Now type "list disk" and hit enter and you will see all of you drives with numbers assigned like this



In this case my 4gig USB drive was Disk 2 ( make sure you don't choose the wrong disk or you will end up erasing the disks contents, I can't be held responsible for your mistake)  
*Next type in "select disk 2" (or whichever you disk is) and hit enter



*Next type "clean" and hit enter



Next type "create partition primary" and hit enter



*After you see the in the above image that it has successfully created a primary partition on the selected disk you chose, type "select partition 1" and hit enter.  (Don't confuse partition number with disk number.  As they are not the same, you need to just type "select partition 1")



*Type "active" and hit enter



*Type "format fs=ntfs" and hit enter.  You will see progress in percent like image below.
*When it completes process type "assign" and hit enter.



*Type "exit" and hit enter



*Just leave command prompt open as we are going to add one final command which will update the Bootcode on all volumes and the USB will be bootable for Windows 7.

*Either insert your Windows DVD or in my case I mounted my ISO using PowerIso and check to see what drive letter it has been assigned.  My ISO of Windows was mounted to drive letter "E" and my USB was assigned drive letter "G".

Type in this command: "e: cd boot" and hit enter



*Type "cd boot" and hit enter



Type this final command, "bootsect.exe /nt60 g:" and hit enter and you should see this (remember you must use the drive letters assigned to the specific drive letters you are working with):



As you can see it now says we have successfully updated NTFS filesystem bootcode.

*Final step is you are going to have to extract the DVD contents or the ISO contents to the USB Drive.  I  used Power Iso and right clicked my unmounted image and chose extract to and then chose my drive letter "G".  You could also use 7zip or Winrar for the iso as it doesn't really matter.  After it is done extracting the contents you now have a fully bootable Windows 7 USB.

[gor17981]

Good post mate

[nice_guy75]

Ultra surf is also a good option, to make a bootable UFD. Though I personally like the one you have mentioned but for newbies ultra surf can also be helpful in creating bootable UFD.


Edit: Command "Format fs=ntfs quick" will speed up the format otherwise it takes hell lot of time to format big pendrives.

How about this:

http://vishal-gupta.deviantart.com/art/A-Bootable-USB-155238367

Edited by nice_guy75, 10 March 2011 - 08:14 AM.

[sk8r776]

Just an FYI, There is no need to use cd boot or worry about bootsect.exe.

All you have to do is make the volume "USB Drive" Active so its bootable, then copy the install files.

You can also use xcopy which i find is better, as in "CDROMLetter:\ /s/e/f USBLetter:\"

I have been doing this since vista was released.

But very nice post mate.

[odinlives]

sk8r776, on 10 March 2011 - 09:47 AM, said:

Just an FYI, There is no need to use cd boot or worry about bootsect.exe.

All you have to do is make the volume "USB Drive" Active so its bootable, then copy the install files.

You can also use xcopy which i find is better, as in "CDROMLetter:\ /s/e/f USBLetter:\"

I have been doing this since vista was released.

But very nice post mate.

Thanks mate, I just used this method on vista quite some time ago and there was some posts about RT7Lite stating that it didn't work correctly making a bootable USB so I made sure it would work with Windows 7 and took screens of my steps.  I personally never make anything other than an ISO after my builds and then go from there.  Good to know that you don't need cd boot or bootsect.exe.

[videobruce]

GFX Guy:
A lot of work and thanks for your time.  Definitely needed as a sticky. If I might add, if you don't want to go that route, a much easier choice would be WinToFlash (can be used for other bootable purposes) here;

http://wintoflash.com/download/en/

It's still in beta stage which is why I didn't try it sooner. But I have now used it and it was successful.

This link should work for a pdf file of a tutorial for Win7;

http://api.joliprint.com/api/rest/url/print/s/wp-plugin?url=http%3A%2F%2Fmaketecheasier.com%2Fupdated-boot-and-install-windows-7-from-usb-flash-drive%2F2009%2F09%2F12

If not, try this (there is a make a pdf option);

http://maketecheasier.com/updated-boot-and-install-windows-7-from-usb-flash-drive/2009/09/12

Edited by videobruce, 10 March 2011 - 11:07 PM.

[SelfGirl]

Hello.  Im a newbie in this stuff but i use this small tutorial and it work and love it.  My question is as follow: Can i make more partitions and put more than one O.S in a usb drive? if it can be done, how can i do it with command prompt? and what can i do when bootsect.exe /nt60 g do not work?

Thanks.

[Bhawani007]

SelfGirl, on 28 February 2013 - 05:53 AM, said:

Hello.  Im a newbie in this stuff but i use this small tutorial and it work and love it.  My question is as follow: Can i make more partitions and put more than one O.S in a usb drive? if it can be done, how can i do it with command prompt? and what can i do when bootsect.exe /nt60 g do not work?

Thanks.

If you want to add multiple os use yumi or unetbootin