Install Windows OS using Pen drive on Netbook/PC

Computers that are sold without Windows are sometimes cheaper. You can install your own copy of Windows, but if there is no CD or DVD drive it can be unclear how to do that.

There are two ways to install Windows 7 on a netbook. The easiest is to use an external USB DVD drive. With Windows running connect the drive to the netbook and insert the Windows disc. Close the Windows 7 launcher if it starts. Restart the netbook and go into the PC’s Bios by pressing the Delete key when it first turns on. Some computers may have a different key for this, watch the screen for a message to this effect when the netbook starts. Set the PC to boot from the USB DVD drive by searching in the Advanced menu for an option with a name such as ‘Boot order’ then restart the computer. When it starts it should load the Windows 7 setup from the disc.

If you don’t have an external DVD drive, an alternative is to install Windows from a bootable USB memory key.

For this, you’ll need a second PC with a DVD drive, and a USB memory key with at least 4GB of free space. It is not enough to copy the files over from the Windows 7 installation disc to the memory key, as the key first has to be made bootable using a freely downloadable program.

There are a few steps to this process though.

First, you need to copy the Windows 7 DVD to an ISO file on the hard disk of your second computer.

A good tool for this is Imgburn. Put the Windows 7 disc in the PC’s DVD drive, then in the program’s main menu, click Create image file from disc.

In the following window, choose the PC’s DVD drive letter using the dropdown menu at the top, then click the folder icon under Destination.

In the window that appears, choose a filename and location for the ISO file. Click OK. then click the Read button at the bottom to create the ISO file.



Next you’ll need to download Microsoft’s Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool. If your second PC is running Windows XP, you also need the Image Mastering API, and the .Net Framework. Windows may need restarting after these programs are installed.

Next plug the USB memory key into your second PC, click on Start, open the folder Windows 7 USB DVD Download Tool, and run the program.

The first screen asks you to choose an ISO file.

Click Browse then choose the Windows 7 ISO tile you created using the folder browser.

Click Next, and the following screen asks if you wish to create a bootable DVD or USB memory key, so click USB Device.

Afterwards, it asks you to select a USB Device, so click the arrow next to the dropdown box, then choose the drive letter for the USB memory key. If it doesn’t appear, click Refresh.

Finally, click Begin Copying.

When it is done, remove the USB key from the PC and plug it into the netbook.

Press the Delete key when switching the netbook on to enter the Bios, find the boot menu as before, and set it to boot from the USB memory key. Save the changes, then restart.

The netbook should start from the USB memory key. and the installation process should be identical to when using a real DVD to install Windows.