How to create a bootable Windows

USB drive.
A common use of a bootable USB flash drive is to
use it for booting into Windows. This can allow you
to perform diagnostics on a computer that has
hardware issues or can't boot into Windows. You
can also use the flash drive to install Windows,
instead of using the Windows installation CD.
This guide will outline making a bootable USB flash
drive with Windows XP, Vista, or 7. Before we
begin, it is important to note that the computer you
want to use your bootable USB drive must have the
ability of booting to a USB drive. Most computers
built since Windows Vista was released are capable
of booting to a USB device. Prior to the Windows
Vista time frame, it's hit or miss with
motherboards.

To determine if a computer is capable of booting to

a USB device, access the computer's BIOS and
check the bootable device list. If a USB device is
listed, set the USB drive to be the first boot device.
If you do not see a USB device in the list of
bootable devices, your BIOS is not capable of
booting to a USB device.
Note: You may need to have your USB flash drive
plugged in when you access the BIOS).
Windows Vista and
Windows XP users

Windows

users

Windows Vista and Windows 7 users

To make a bootable USB drive for Windows Vista or
Windows 7, you need to have Windows Vista or 7
installed on your computer. It is recommended that
you have a flash drive of at least 4 GB in size, in
order to store all the necessary files.
Tip: Before you start, plug in the USB drive and
backup any files you have stored on the USB drive.
The drive will be formatted during this process and
all files on it will be deleted.
Note: You need to have a Windows Vista or
Windows 7 DVD for these instructions to be
successful.
1. Open
an elevated
Windows
command
line window by clicking Start, typing in cmd in the
search text field, then pressing CTRL + Shift +
Enter on your keyboard (at the same time). You
can also access this by navigating to Start, All
Programs, Accessories, right-click with your mouse
on the Command Prompt menu item and
select Run as Administrator.
2. At
the
command
prompt,
type cd
c:\windows\system32 to change the directory to
the Windows system32 directory. Ensure your USB

drive is plugged in, typeDISKPART, then press

Enter. Type LIST DISK and press Enter.
See our diskpart command page for additional
information on this command.
3. You will see a listing of the disk drives connected
to your computer. Find the disk number of your
USB drive and type SELECT DISK [USB disk #],
where "[USB disk #]" is the disk # for your USB
drive. It should now state that your USB drive is the
selected disk. If you're not sure what disk is the
USB disk, eject the USB drive, perform step number
2 again, connect the USB drive again, and compare
the results. Usually the USB drive will be the last
drive.
4. Type in the following commands, one by one,
pressing Enter after each command.
CLEAN
CREATE PARTITION PRIMARY
SELECT PARTITION 1
ACTIVE
FORMAT FS=NTFS

(may take a couple minutes, depending on the USB

drive size)
ASSIGN
EXIT
Keep the command prompt window open, but you
can minimize it for a little bit.
5. You will now need your Windows Vista or 7
Installation DVD. Put the DVD in your computer's
DVD drive. Open up My Computer and note which
drive letter is assigned to your DVD Drive and your
USB flash drive.
6. Go back to the command prompt window and
type in D: CD BOOT (substitute your DVD drive
letter for "D:", if necessary) and press Enter.
Type CD BOOT again and press Enter. Lastly,
type BOOTSECT.EXE /NT60 H: (substitute your
USB flash drive letter for "H:", if necessary) and
press Enter.
7. The last step is to copy the entire contents of the
Windows DVD to your USB flash drive. To do this, in
the My Computer window (opened in step 5
above), right-click on the DVD drive and
select Open to view the contents of the DVD. Copy

all the files and folders on the DVD to the USB flash
drive.
Your USB flash drive is now set up to be a bootable
USB drive for Windows Vista or 7.
Windows XP users
To make the bootable USB drive for Windows XP, it
is recommended that you have a flash drive of at
least 4 GB in size, in order to store all the
necessary
files.
You
also
need
to
download Windows Server 2003 SP1 and a
program called PE Builder (also known as Bart
PE).
Windows Server 2003 SP1
Bart PE
Tip: Before you start, plug in the USB drive and
backup any files you have stored on the USB drive.
The drive will be formatted during this process and
all files on it will be deleted.
Note: You need to have a Windows XP Professional
CD for these instructions to be successful. This will
not work for Windows XP Home Edition.
1. Install PE Builder on your computer. For the sake
of
ease,
install
the
program
to

aC:\PEBuilder folder. After you've installed PE

Builder, create a folder titled SRSP1 in the
PEBuilder folder.
2. Now you need to extract two files from Windows
Server 2003 SP1. The filename is quite long, so it is
recommended
that
you rename
the
file to
something shorter, likeWS-SP1.exe. Open a
command prompt (Start > Run, type cmd and
press Enter) and use the cd command to change to
the folder where you downloaded the Windows
Server 2003 SP1 file to (i.e. cd c:\downloads to
change to the c:\downloads folder). Then,
type WS-SP1.exe -x to extract the files. A window
should open asking where to extract the files. You
can enter the same folder where the file was
downloaded.
3. A new folder titled i386 will be created by the
extraction process. Type cd i386 to change to that
folder. You now need to copy the setupldr.bin file to
the SRSP1 folder you created in the PE Builder
folder.
Type copy
setupldr.bin
c:\PEBuilder\SRSP1to copy the file.
4. You also need to expand the ramdisk.sys file to
the
SRSP1
folder.

Type expand
c:\PEBuilder\SRSP1

-r

ramdisk.sy_

5. Open My
Computer and
navigate
to
the
c:\PEBuilder\SRSP1 folder and verify the two files
are there.
6. Next, you need to create a compressed version
of Windows XP using PE Builder. Make sure the
Windows XP Professional CD is in your computer's
CD drive, then launch the PE Builder program. In
the Source field, type in the drive letter assigned to
your CD Drive (you can check in My Computer if
you are not sure) (e.g. "d:"). In the Output field,
type BartPE. Make sure the None option is
selected in the Media output section. Then click
the Build button.

A progress report shows the progress of the

bootable image build. When the build process is
complete, click the Close button.
7. Now, you can create the bootable USB flash
drive. Open a command prompt again and type cd
c:\PEBuilder to change to the PEBuilder folder.
Make sure your USB drive is plugged in to your
computer and type pe2usb -f e: (change "e:" to
the drive letter assigned to your USB flash drive, if
necessary) to create the bootable drive. When
prompted to begin the process, type YES. When
the process is complete, press any key to exit the
program.
Your USB flash drive is now set up to be a bootable
USB drive for Windows XP using the Bart PE
interface.
Additional information
See our USB thumb drive definition for further
information and related links.

How to or can't boot from a CD or DVD.