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You are here: Help > Computer Hardware > USB

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, and 7. Before we begin, it's important to note that the
computer you want to use your bootable USB drive in will need to have
the capability of booting to a USB drive. Most recent computers built
since Windows Vista was released are capable of booting to a USB
device. Prior to the Windows Vista timeframe, 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 7 users
Windows XP users

Windows Vista and Windows 7 users

To make the 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.

Note: 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.
Tip: You will need a Windows Vista or Windows 7 disc 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 and typeDISKPART and press Enter. Then 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.
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 will 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
Before you start, plug in the USB drive and backup any files you have
stored on the USB drive, to ensure you do not lose any of them.

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 will 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\SRSP1 to copy the file.

4. You also need to expand the ramdisk.sys file to the SRSP1 folder.
Type expand -r ramdisk.sy_ c:\PEBuilder\SRSP1

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 you 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 will be displayed, showing 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. You will be
prompted to type YES to begin the process. 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.
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