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Installing Windows from USB Part 1

Updated: Feb 8, 2019


Hi everyone.

How many of us have installed Windows on our own computers and just thought there has to be a faster way to do this. Will since Windows 7 there is. Windows can be installed from a USB stick. I never use a Windows install from a PC I just bought, there is always to much Freeware or OEMWare and it just makes the OS slow. This method is good for any version of Windows after Windows 7, including Windows Server 2008 R2 to Windows Server 2012 R2. I'm sure it will be there for Windows Server 2016.

Here is a quick list of what you will need:

  1. Your OWN copy of Windows in an ISO format. (If you have your own media I'll tell you how to make your own ISO for Backups)

  2. A USB stick at least 4GB in size

  3. A computer running Windows 10,8,7, Vista or XP

  4. Microsoft Windows 7 USB DVD Download Tool. You can download the USB/DVD tool here: http://tinyurl.com/4qfdm4x

  5. Download MagicDisk from here: http://tinyurl.com/b3295

Ok let’s get started.

If you have your OWN copy of Windows in ISO format Skip to step 2

If you have your OWN copy of Windows in DVD format, go to step 1

Step 1:

When MagicDisk is installed there is an icon in the taskbar that looks like this


Right Click that icon to get your options menu


Left Click Make CD/DVD Image...

Select your DVD Drive and pick an Output File Location. I usually have an ISO folder on my Desktop so its easy to find later.

Set your Output file type to be Standard ISO Image file (.ISO)


In Option make sure "Make a CD Image" is Selected and Click "OK"

The image burning will take a while so be patient........


When its finished, just Click "OK"


Step 2:

Now that you have an ISO of Windows 7 we are going to use the "Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool" from Microsoft.

This tool will allow you to convert your ISO file to either a USB drive or burn it to a DVD.


Click Browse and Browse to your ISO library


Select your Windows 7 ISO image file and Click "Open"


Click "Next"

Choose what media you want to use, either USB device or DVD. For this we are going to select USB. Make sure your 4 GB USB drive is plugged into your system.


After you select your USB drive, select "Begin Copying"


Even if your USB drive is formatted and empty, the utility will format the drive for you. It kind of makes is dummy proof so it doesn’t run out of space when doing the image copy.

After is done formatting it starts copying files.


When it’s done, close the utility by clicking the "X" on the top right corner.


Now restart your computer with the USB drive plugged in to it.

When the system restarts there are options on the screen before you OS starts.

Some of them say "Press Any Key to Boot CDROM" or "Press F12 for Boot Options". Either way you have to get your system to recognize that the USB drive is bootable. In my case "Press F12" bring up a boot options menu. I select "USB Bootable Device" and hit enter.

Windows starts to boot into the installer.

#Windows #Installs

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