How can I put Windows 7 on a USB drive for installation purposes?

How can I put Windows 7 on a USB drive for installation purposes?
I’ve been trying to figure out how to put Windows 7 on a USB drive so that I can use it to install the operating system on my computer. I’ve read a bit about creating bootable USB drives, but I’m still not entirely sure about the steps involved and the necessary tools. It seems like this method is a preferred way of installing Windows 7, especially when I don’t have a physical installation disc handy. I’m looking for clear instructions that can help me through the process of turning a USB drive into a bootable Windows 7 installation medium. My goal is to make sure that the installation goes smoothly without running into compatibility or data loss issues. Additionally, any advice on preparing the USB drive and the initial setup before the installation would be very helpful.
5 Answers

I went through a fairly straightforward route to put Windows 7 on a USB stick. Using a combination of official tools and some hands-on command-line work:
- Download the official Windows 7 ISO file.
- Plugged in a 32GB USB stick just to be on the safe side.
-
Employed the Windows USB/DVD Download Tool which simplifies the process.
-
Selected the ISO file.
-
Picked the USB drive.
-
Allowed the tool to copy and make the USB bootable.
-
Once complete, modified the BIOS settings to boot from the USB drive.
- Started my computer, chose the USB as the initial boot device, and ran the Windows 7 installation setup.
Each step required precision, especially the part where I prepared the USB with the necessary system files. But the Windows USB/DVD Download Tool made things much easier than anticipated.

Creating a bootable USB drive with Windows 7 wasn’t as difficult as I initially thought. Here are the basic steps I took:
- First, I downloaded the Windows 7 ISO file.
- Then, I inserted an 8GB USB drive into my computer.
- I used the Windows USB/DVD Download Tool, which streamlined the process. It’s a straightforward program where you select the ISO file and the USB drive, and it does the rest.
- After the tool finished its work, the USB drive was ready to boot from.
- For a foolproof installation, I made sure to change the boot order in my computer’s BIOS to prioritize USB drives.
- Once I confirmed these settings, I was able to boot from the USB drive and initiate the Windows 7 installation process.

I found it helpful to use Rufus for creating a bootable Windows 7 USB drive. Here’s how I did it:
- Downloaded the Windows 7 ISO file and the latest version of Rufus.
- Inserted a 16GB USB drive into my laptop.
- Launched Rufus, selected the USB drive, and chose the Windows 7 ISO file.
- I set the partition scheme to GPT and the file system to NTFS.
- Started the process, and within a few minutes, the bootable USB was ready.
- Rebooted the computer, entered BIOS, and set the USB drive as the primary boot device.
- Saved the BIOS settings, rebooted, and began the Windows 7 installation from the USB drive.

The way I put Windows 7 on a USB drive involved a series of meticulous steps. Primarily, I employed Microsoft’s own DiskPart tool along with a couple of other utilities. Here’s an outline of what I did:
- Downloaded Windows 7 ISO from an official source.
- Connected an 8GB USB drive to my PC.
-
Formatted the USB drive using DiskPart commands:
-
Opened Command Prompt as administrator and initiated DiskPart.
-
Listed all disks with
list disk
, selected the USB drive usingselect disk
. -
Used
clean
command to clear the drive. -
Created a primary partition with
create partition primary
and selected it. -
Formatted the partition to NTFS with
format quick fs=ntfs
and assigned it. -
Mounted the Windows 7 ISO using Windows’ built-in features.
- Copied all the contents from the ISO to the USB drive.
- Ensured the drive was set to active using DiskPart’s
active
command. - Finally, changed the boot order in the BIOS to boot from USB first and proceeded with the installation.

I successfully put Windows 7 on a USB drive by following these steps:
- Download the Windows 7 ISO file from a reliable source.
- Plug in a USB drive (minimum 4 GB).
- Open the Command Prompt as an administrator.
- Type
diskpart
and press Enter. - In the DiskPart window, type
list disk
and press Enter to see the list of drives. - Identify your USB drive by its size and type
select disk X
(replace X with the USB drive number). - Type
clean
to wipe the USB drive. - Create a new primary partition with
create partition primary
. - Format the drive to FAT32 or NTFS using
format fs=fat32 quick
orformat fs=ntfs quick
. - Assign a drive letter with
assign
. - Finally, transfer the Windows 7 files to the USB drive using a tool like Rufus or manually copy them from the mounted ISO.