Installing Windows 7 from a Microsoft flash drive. How to install windows from a flash drive? Step by step instructions

Quite often there is a need to install a new operating system. This is still relevant now, given the fact that in mid-April this year Microsoft officially announced the termination technical support Windows XP. It will still take no more than 3-4 years before all users completely switch to Windows 7. And if you want to know in advance how to install Windows 7 from a flash drive, then this article will give you the necessary information.

Installation takes place in several steps:

1. Preliminary preparation of the user's PC for installing Windows 7;
2. Preparing a USB flash drive for installing the operating system;
3. Preliminary BIOS setup for reading information directly from a flash drive;
4. OS installation via USB.

Let's take a closer look at each stage.

Preparing your computer for installation

Before installation new Windows 7 You need to prepare your computer first. First of all, the user is recommended to save all important information contained on the computer. It is worth paying attention to local disk C, since this is where the largest amount of information is stored. Most users store some of their media files on the desktop or in the “My Documents” folder, which are located on the disk with the operating system installed. So as not to lose part important files, you need to copy them either to another local drive, or save them to USB or other digital media.

Another important point that you should always remember: before installation, you need to check the availability of drivers for network card. If it passes Windows installation 7 via USB, and then it turns out that the distribution did not have drivers for the network card, you will have neither the Internet nor drivers. Therefore, play it safe once again and check the availability of drivers. And immediately check the presence of other drivers - for a video card, for an audio card, drivers for a sound card, and so on.

Preparing USB for installation

To prepare a USB flash drive for installing Windows 7, you need to follow these recommendations:

• The volume of the flash drive must be at least 4 GB - this is exactly how much space will be needed to be able to install the OS without losing important files and components;
• You will also need a Windows 7 distribution kit, which will be recorded and saved in *iso format (disk images);
• A utility that will help you create a disk image. You can use almost any program (you can use UltraISO).

After you have installed and launched the image creation program on your computer, you need to select a disk image that has been previously prepared for recording. We will look at the recording using the example of using the UltraISO program - it is quite simple and understandable for all users.

A memory card or USB flash drive is connected to the computer, formatted and Windows 7 is written to it, which can then be installed on the computer via the same flash drive.

Setting up BIOS for installation

Is the flash drive ready for installation? There are a few steps left before actual installation. There is one important nuance: you need to “force” the computer to recognize the flash drive and allow you to install Windows 7 from the flash drive. And the BIOS will help in this matter. It is available on all computers, and in addition to many different functions, it allows you to change the boot order from external media.

The first thing you need to do is go into the BIOS. During the initial boot of the computer, you need to press a certain key (this is either F2, or Esc, or Delete). You will know that you have launched the BIOS when one of the screens appears in front of you:

The next step is to find a section through which you can configure the boot order from external devices. This section is called Boot, and it displays all the devices that are connected to the computer in boot order ( hard drive, CD/DVD media, USB port). Using the arrows on the keyboard, you need to make sure that the USB port is in first place in terms of relevance, and then press the F10 button, which saves the changes and restarts the computer. Now the computer is completely ready to install Windows 7 using a USB flash drive.

Installing Windows 7

After installing the flash drive into the port, a black screen and the message “Press any key” will appear. Press any button and the process will begin immediately automatic installation Windows 7.

You will see a welcome screen asking you to select your language, time format, time zone, and keyboard layout. Have you all chosen? Now click the “Next” button and immediately after that the “Install” button.

The installation program will prompt you to select a version of the operating system that will be suitable for you in terms of functionality. After making your selection, click “Next” again, agree to the license terms and select the partition on which you want to install Windows 7. Have you chosen the partition? Now click the “Next” button and wait for the installation process via USB to complete.

The next article will be about how to burn and install Windows 7 from a flash drive. This is a really relevant way to install today Windows 7, since it’s much more convenient with a flash drive than with a disk. In order to install Windows 7 from a flash drive First you need to create a bootable flash drive from which we will install the operating system.

To create a bootable USB flash drive we will need:

1. Image of the operating room Windows systems 7

2. Flash drive at least 4GB

3. Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool, download.

Create a bootable USB flash drive:

1. Format the flash drive. Be careful, as formatting will delete all data from the flash drive. Go to “My Computer”, right-click on our flash drive, select “Format” and where the file system is, select NTFS and click “Start”

2. Launch Windows program 7 USB/DVD Download Tool.

3. Click on “Browse” and Select the disk image. I will say that it doesn’t have to be Windows 7, XP is also possible.

5. Select the flash drive you want to burn Windows 7 to and click “Begin copying”

6. That’s it, all you have to do is wait until the flash drive is created to install Windows 7.

Now you will always have a flash drive with which you can install the operating system. All new computers support installation from flash drives, you just need to select a special boot option in the BIOS.

If your computer device does not have an optical drive as standard equipment, you will probably be interested in properly installing Windows from a flash drive at some point. You will have to create an installation USB drive with all the files necessary for installation, and run from this device to begin the procedure for installing Windows 7 from a flash drive. It is important to understand that simply copying files to a flash drive will not be effective. You first need to prepare the USB device by correctly copying the Windows installation files onto it before everything will function exactly as you need it to.

If you don’t know how to install Windows from a flash drive yourself, follow the instructions below.

The following instructions will tell you how to install Windows 10 from a flash drive, as well as Windows 7 and all its versions: Windows 7 Ultimate, Professional, Home Premium. Learn how to install with Windows flash drives XP, you can find it at the end of the instructions.

As you restart your computer, watch for a message during the power-on self test about a specific key, usually Del or F2, that you need to press to enter Setup. Press the key as soon as you see the message while your computer is booting.

Boot order is a BIOS setting, so it is independent of the operating system. In other words, it doesn't matter whether you're running Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista, XP, Linux, or any other system, the instructions for changing the boot order still apply.

Entering the BIOS Setup Utility

After executing the command in the previous step, you will be taken to BIOS settings.

All BIOS utilities are slightly different, but are basically a set of menus containing many settings hardware your computer.

BIOS settings are listed horizontally at the top of the screen, hardware settings are listed in the middle of the screen (gray area), and instructions for making BIOS changes are listed on a page at the bottom of the screen.

Using the instructions to navigate your BIOS utility, find the option to change the boot order. Since each BIOS setup utility is different, the layout of the boot order options varies from computer to computer. The menu item you need to find may be called Boot Options, Boot Menu or Boot Order. The boot order option may be located in the general menu, for example, in the Advanced Options, Advanced BIOS Features or Other Options tabs.

Boot Order Options

The boot order settings in most BIOS utilities include information about all the hardware connected to the motherboard that can boot from, such as your hard drive, floppy drive, USB ports, or optical drive.

The list that lists devices is the boot sequence in which the computer will look for operating system information.

Given the current order, the BIOS will first try to boot from any devices that it sees, such as a drive on hard drives, which means an integrated hard drive built into the computer. If the hard drive from which you are booting is not capable of booting, the BIOS will look for a bootable CD-ROM, and then a bootable connected media, i.e. a flash drive, and finally the last one on the list is the network.

You can change the device from which the computer will boot using the + and – keys. Keep in mind that your BIOS may have different instructions.

Make any necessary changes to the boot order, and then continue to the next step to save your settings.

Before your boot order changes take effect, you will need to save your changes. Follow the instructions given to you in the utility to go to the Exit or Save and Exit menu. Select the Exit Saving Changes option, confirm it by clicking Yes.

Changes made to the boot order, like any other changes made to the BIOS, are now saved and the computer will automatically restart.

Boot from your USB device and you can begin installing Windows.

Successful installation from a Windows XP flash drive is carried out in a similar way, but you can use the WinToFlash program to create a USB installation media. By switching to wizard mode, you can easily make a bootable USB flash drive yourself.

Detailed description of several installation methods Windows 7 or Vista from a flash drive or memory card to any laptop, netbook or computer. The methods described below also apply to Windows 8, 8.1 And 10

Introduction to installing Windows from a flash drive

This guide will cover installation Windows 7 And Vista from a flash drive or memory card. The manual is intended primarily for novice users. It can also be used to install Windows 8, 8.1 And 10 .

This site has already described how to install Windows Vista() And Windows 7(). Everything would be fine, but what to do if you don’t have a DVD drive? But this is a fairly common situation. It is usually encountered by owners of netbooks, portable laptops, as well as those whose DVD drive or there is simply no disk.

Luckily, there is a simple solution to this problem: you need to write the installation files onto a USB flash drive or memory card, and then boot from it and install the system. We will consider how all this can be done within the framework of this material.

Preparing for installation

Before installation Windows 7 or Vista you need to copy all important data from the partition on which you are going to install the system to another partition, to a flash drive or to another computer. Do not forget that by default, documents, desktop contents and programs are located on the system partition. This is due to the fact that for the so-called “clean” installation of Windows, you need to format the partition on which you will install Windows.

Important Note: If you are installing Windows 7 instead of the pre-installed Windows 8, 8.1 or 10, then it is recommended that you familiarize yourself with the very important features of this process: Removing the pre-installed Windows 8.

In addition, it is recommended to download and save a set of drivers for your device in advance. This recommendation is due to the fact that the Windows distribution may not initially contain drivers for your network card, Wi-Fi adapter or your modem. As a result, on a freshly installed system you will not be able to access the Internet and download the required driver. Not the most pleasant development of events. To avoid getting into this vicious circle, it is recommended to download everything in advance. What drivers are needed and where to download them are described in more detail at the end of the article.

Installing Windows 7 or Vista can be roughly divided into the following basic operations:

1. Preparing a flash drive or memory card with Windows 7 or Vista;
2. Enabling booting from a flash drive or memory card in the BIOS;
3. Direct installation of Windows;
4. Finding and installing drivers;
5. Installation of utilities and programs.

Let's start preparing the flash drive.

Preparing a flash drive or memory card with Windows 7 or Vista distribution

This guide will describe three ways to burn a distribution package with Windows Vista or Windows 7 to a USB flash drive. Difficulty first method easier than the second, and the third is a little simpler than the first.

The first way to install Windows from a flash drive

To install Windows using the first method, we will need:

1. Distribution with the Windows operating system. It is recommended to use original MSDN assemblies as they have the least unexpected problems. Recently, Windows 7 distributions can be downloaded from the Microsoft website after entering the serial number;
2. A set of utilities that you can download from the links: / ;
3. Flash drive or memory card with a capacity of 4 GB or more. It is advisable to use a flash drive or external USB card reader with a memory card. This recommendation is due to the fact that a laptop, tablet or PC does not always allow you to boot from a memory card in the built-in card reader.

Important Note: if you don't know which one Windows version installed on your laptop (32-bit or 64-bit), then I recommend that you familiarize yourself with this material: . I also recommend checking out this article: . It will help you choose the version of the operating system, and also give answers to many questions.

First we copy Windows image 7 or Vista format iso to the hard drive. Then install and run the utility Ultra ISO, which is present in the archive via the links above. A window like this should open:

Since we are using a demo version of this utility, click on Trial period. Now you need to open iso image with the operating system. To do this, click on the menu File -> Open...:

We indicate where the image with the operating system is located:

and select the item Write down image of a tough disk:

Now insert the flash drive or memory card into your laptop or computer.

Important Note: the contents of the Flash drive or memory card will be deleted while the system image is being written to it. Therefore, it is necessary to copy all important data either to your hard drive or to another computer.

Click on the button Format:

Select the file system type and click Begin:

Now click on the button Write down:

That's it. Now you have a memory card or flash drive with the system.

Let's now consider the second method. It will be more difficult.

Second way

As in the first method, we will need a distribution kit with the operating system (on disk or in the form iso image) and a flash drive/memory card with a capacity of 4 GB or more.

Important Note: Before starting preparation, you must copy all necessary information from a flash drive or memory card. It will be formatted and all information on it will be deleted.

First you need to insert a flash drive or memory card into your laptop and run Command line (this can be done either through the menu Start, and through Execute(press Win + R) and enter the command cmd). It looks something like this:

Enter the command diskpart and press Enter:

To display a list of all storage devices, enter the command list disk and press Enter:

The flash drive in the screenshot above appears as Disc 2. You may have it under a different number (1, for example). Enter the command select disk 2 and press Enter(2 is the disk number. If you have a flash drive number 1 (Disk 1), then you should enter the command select disk 1. This is very important!):

Enter the command clean, which cleans the selected disk, and press Enter:

Enter the command create partition primary:

Now we need to select the first section. To do this, enter the command select partition 1:

:

Enter the command active:

Format the section. To do this, enter format fs=NTFS and press Enter:

Assign a letter to the flash drive using the command assign letter=Z:

After this, the flash drive should appear in the system. Enter the command Exit and press Enter:

Now we copy all the files from the distribution disk to the flash drive. If you have an ISO image with a distribution, I recommend using the utility 7-Zip, which you can also find in the archive via the links above ( / ). Install this utility and select iso Windows image:

Click on the button Extract and indicate your flash drive:

That's it. We figured out the second method.

The third easiest way to install Windows 7 or Vista

The third method is described in detail in this manual: . Everything is simple and clear even for a complete beginner.

So. We're done preparing the flash drive. If at this stage you have problems, then you can seek help in these forum topics: and. I urge you to read the topic before asking. Most likely, your problem has already been raised and resolved. This way you will save your time.

As a result, the flash drive should contain approximately the following files and folders:

Let's move on to the second point.

Enabling booting from a flash drive or memory card in the BIOS.

Turn off your laptop, netbook or computer, put a flash drive or memory card in it and turn it on. This is very important since some laptops and other equipment do not recognize BIOS flash drive, which were inserted after switching on. It should also be noted that not all laptops and netbooks are capable of booting from a memory card that is inserted into the built-in card reader. In this case, you need to look for either an external USB card reader or a USB flash drive.

Let's go to Laptop BIOS. To do this, you need to press a certain key when the laptop starts booting. As a rule, when loading, the bottom of the screen indicates which button to press to enter the BIOS. Most often this F2, Del, Esc and others. How to enter the BIOS should be described in the instructions for the laptop and at the bottom of the screen when loading the BIOS.

After entering the BIOS, you need to find where the boot order is configured. Typically these settings are located on the tab BOOT. To change the boot order, buttons are usually used F5 And F6, sometimes something like a menu is used. Click on the item and select the device. As a rule, the settings page indicates which buttons can be used to change the download list. How to change the boot order should also be indicated in the instructions for the laptop.

Install your flash drive or memory card on first place in the download list. Flash drives usually act as USB-HDD. The loading order should look something like this:

After saving the settings, a reboot should follow. Now you can proceed to installing the system.

Direct installation of Windows 7 or Vista

Installation Windows 7 And Windows Vista from a flash drive or memory card completely similar installation from disk. The procedure itself is described in detail in the manuals: and. Pay special attention to operations with selecting a partition for installation and disk operations.

Finding and installing drivers

So. Windows you have installed. Now you need to start installing drivers.

Since this guide is intended primarily for beginners, we need to say a few words about what a driver is and what it is needed for. I think it’s no secret to anyone that a laptop, computer or other similar device consists of a great many components like motherboard, network card, video card, sound card. In order for the operating system to fully work with them, some kind of connecting link is needed. This link is the driver. IN Windows, like many other operating systems, many devices already have drivers. Yes, they work somehow, but they will not allow you to fully utilize the capabilities various devices on your laptop or computer. To fix this, you need to install drivers on the same video card, sound card and other devices.

For your convenience, guide pages have also been created with links to sets of drivers and applications for the most different models laptops:

• Lenovo:
• Asus:
• Acer Packard Bell and eMachines: Drivers for Acer, eMachines and Packard Bell laptops

In general, you should start searching for a driver for your laptop or computer here: . There is a whole article on drivers for webcams: . The article is short and quite useful.

Also, the following forum topics can greatly help you in finding a driver for your laptop or computer:

1. . The first message has a small guide on finding and installing the required driver;
2. . Pay special attention to the first message of the topic;

When searching for a solution to a problem on the forum, pay special attention to the first messages of various topics. They usually contain typical solutions to the most common problems, and also have extensive collections of drivers and instructions on what to do with them.

They can help you in the process of solving problems. Answers to the most frequently asked questions are collected there.

Installing programs and utilities

So. We somehow sorted out the drivers. Now all that remains are programs and utilities. The situation here is complicated by the fact that each manufacturer has its own set of proprietary utilities. With those utilities some are often installed system drivers. Therefore, it is often impossible to ignore their installation. Some of them are really needed for the normal operation of the laptop, namely for the operation of additional keys, for the operation of the display, for the webcam, for wireless adapters, and so on.

How these utilities are roughly installed and what to do with them in general using laptops as an example Asus shown in the manual: . To devices Acer, eMachines And Packard Bell installation of utilities comes down to installation Launch Manager, on laptops HP - HP Quick Launch Buttons and so on. You can discuss proprietary utilities in this forum thread: .

If you have problems with drivers and some programs that are designed to Windows XP, V Windows Vista or Windows 7, then I recommend reading this article: .

That's all.

Please ask all questions related to installing Windows 7 in this forum topic: , questions about installing Windows Vista in this topic: . I remind you once again that before asking, read the topic. Your question has most likely already been asked and answered.

Working with the Windows automatic installation system on a laptop

Detailed description of the system operation automatic recovery Windows with programs and drivers up to the state at the time of purchase of the laptop. The main part of the article concerns hidden sections on the hard drive.

Solving the problem with an inverted camera image

Solving the problem with an upside-down image from a laptop webcam.

Installing and running Windows XP in Windows 7, Windows Vista or another operating system

Description of how to install and run the full version Windows XP from under Windows Vista or Windows 7 using the program Oracle VirtualBox. In this Windows case XP is installed on virtual machine and runs as a separate application in Windows Vista, Windows 7 or any other operating system, including various Linux distributions. In this way, you can solve problems with the compatibility of various programs and drivers with Windows Vista, Windows 7 or another operating system.

To install Windows on a computer or laptop, you usually use optical drive, into which the disk is inserted - most often it is a DVD with a system image. However, in a situation where the disk drive is missing or simply broken, it is allowed to install Windows from removable media, that is, from a flash drive. Let's look at how to do this.

If you already have an image with the operating system you need, that's great, but if not, then go looking for it, and it doesn't matter where you get it. If you have any difficulties in this matter, use the well-known torrent resource “Rutracker*org” and download a pirated copy from there, for example, Windows 7. You will also need a program (you can borrow it from the torrent there) to create a bootable flash drive - “WinSetupFromUSB” and the actual USB Flash drive. Give preference to a device with at least 4 GB of storage, as some operating systems They also include a driver package, which increases the size of the installation file several times. Insert the flash drive into your PC and format it to file system NTFS – open Explorer, select your drive, right-click on it, and in the open window go down to “Format”. Don't forget to copy important data from the flash drive if you use an existing device. Run the executive file of the “WinSetupFromUSB” utility. In the program window that opens, your flash drive, which is located in the PC, should appear in the first line, and you just need to activate the checkbox on the desired item, depending on the Windows you have chosen, and indicate the path to installation files, unpacked from the image using an archiver. Next, press the “GO” button and wait for “WinSetupFromUSB” to record the necessary Windows components to the drive. Set the boot directly from the flash drive through a separate “Boot Menu” window. Go to the “Boot Menu” by rebooting and holding down the key, which can be recognized when the system starts - it is written in white on the black boot screen and can be: “ESC”, “F5”, “F8”, “F9” “F10” ", "F11" or "F12". Or set the priority to USB-HDD through the main BIOS window. If you find it difficult to open “BIOS Setup”, then read on our website detailed instructions: And . Having a bootable USB flash drive with USB priority set, run the setup file, wait a little while the temporary files are copied and preparations for installation begin. Next, follow the Windows Installer prompts.

The process of installing Windows from a flash drive is completely no different from installing from a disk, the only difference is in preparing the bootable media.