How to install Windows 7 & 8 from a USB drive

Over the last couple of months, we have shown you a number of methods to install Windows 7 and Windows 8. One can install Windows Windows 8 from bootable USB flash drive, install without DVD/USB, install Windows 8 on USB flash drive, install Windows from DVD, etc.

As the Developer Preview of Windows 8 is not available on DVD yet, you have to download the ISO file from Microsoft and then you have to burn the ISO file to DVD or USB to be able install Windows 8 on your machine. As always, the best method is installing Windows 8 from a USB flash drive. But if you don’t have a USB flash drive, you can create a bootable DVD from the downloaded ISO file.

1. A bootable Windows 8 DVD from the ISO file. A bootable USB drive from the ISO file

To Create a bootable USB flash drive from an ISO file
We are going to use the officially available Microsoft Windows 7 USB/DVD tool. Even though the tool was originally developed to write Windows 7 ISO file to USB, it supports Windows 8 ISO file as well.

Step 1:: Start the procedure by downloading and installing Windows 7 USB/DVD software.

Step 2: Double-click on the Windows 7 USB/DVD software shortcut on the desktop to launch the software. In the first step, you need to select the Windows 8 ISO file.To do that, use the browse button to browse to the Windows 8 ISO file that you have downloaded from Microsoft (use these direct links to download Windows 8). After download that file Once selected the ISO file, click Next button to continue.

Step 3: In this step, you need to select the media type (DVD or USB). As we need a bootable Windows 7 or 8 USB drive, click on USB device button
Step 4: Finally, connect your USB flash drive to the PC, backup all data and then use the Refresh button to see your USB drive in the list. Once done, click Begin copying button to start copying Windows 8 setup files to the USB drive

If you see “The selected USB device must be erased in order to continue. Do you want to erase all contents from this device” message, click Erase USB Device. Please note that you will loose all data on the device. So, if you have any data on the USB device, please backup before starting this procedure. Click Yes for the confirmation prompt to continue.

Step 5: Once done, you will see “Files copied successfully” message. Exit the application and then use the USB flash device to install Windows 8 from USB.

If you are having any issues with the above procedure, please check out the below mentioned method to burn the ISO file to USB drive. If you are familiar with the Command Prompt, we recommend using this 100% working install Windows 8 from USB flash drive guide.

 2: Create a bootable USB flash drive from an ISO file

There are many ways to create a bootable USB drive from an ISO file. In this guide, we are using the same tool that we will use in Method 3 to burn the ISO file to DVD. The beauty of Passcape ISO Burner is that it lets you write the ISO file to both DVD and USB.

Step 1: Connect the USB drive to your PC and backup all data before proceeding to the next step as the USB drive will be erased during the process.

Step 2: Download Passcape ISO Burner Software. The software comes in a zip file. So, you need to extract the zip file to get the Passcape ISO Burner exe file. Use 7-zip software to extract the zip file and then double-click on ISOBurner.exe file to run the software. As this is a portable software, it doesn’t require an installation.

Step 3: Once launched, in the main screen, select Create bootable USB disk option and then select the Windows 8 ISO file location before clicking the Next button.

Step 4: In the following screen, you need to select the USB flash drive that you want to use to install Windows 8. Select the right USB drive (if you have two or more) as the drive will be erased to make it bootable. If you can’t see the USB drive in the list, please use Refresh the list button.

Step 5: Finally click CREATE button to start formatting the drive and then creating bootable USB.

NOTE: Please don’t close the application even if the application appears Not Responding for a while. The tool will work in the background to complete the task.
Step 6: Once done, you will see “USB drive has been created successfully. Do you want to detach the drive” message. Click Yes button to safely remove the drive and No button to keep using the USB drive.

Reboot your PC, enable USB boot in BIOS and then start installing Windows 8 from USB.

3: Create a bootable Windows 8 DVD from the ISO file

In this guide, we will show you how to create a bootable Windows DVD using ISO file.

Step 1: First, download Windows 8 ISO file. If you have already downloaded skip this step.

Step 2: Download Passcape ISO Burner software, extract the zip file to get ISOBurner.exe file. This is a portable software and doesn’t require an installation. Double-click on the ISOBurner.exe file to run the software.

Step 3: On the home screen, under What do you want to do section, select Burn ISO image to CD/DVDoption and then select the Windows 8 ISO file by clicking the button next to Source ISO image file.

Step 4: Click Next button to select your CD/DVD recorder (if you have two or more). Insert a blank DVD into the optical drive, and hit the BURN button to start writing the ISO file on to the DVD. Your bootable Windows 8 DVD should be ready within a few minutes. The writing process shouldn’t take more than 20 minutes.

Step 5: Exit the application and follow our how to install Windows 8 guide to begin installing Windows 8 on your PC.

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