How To Make A Windows Xp Bootable Usb

Ever faced a virus attack on your PC? Have an old laptop that refuses to boot up one fine day, throwing up errors such as bootmgr missing or NTLDR missing? Your best option in both these cases may exist to reinstall Windows on your reckoner. When yous offset utilize your computer, you're prompted to create a DVD fill-in of your Windows install, but keeping a DVD safely and not losing information technology can be a bother. Existence able to reinstall Windows using a USB yous just keep nearby can be a large aid, and to practice this all you need to practice first is create a bootable Windows USB drive. This is besides very helpful if you bought a meaty laptop - many smaller new devices don't have a DVD drive.

(As well run across: How to Make a Bootable USB Disk for Windows x)

Recall you'll need a working Windows install (any version) to do this - if your computer won't kicking, use a friend's to follow these steps.

Here'south everything you demand to know nigh the process.

How to Create a Bootable Windows 7 USB Drive

The start thing you need is a Windows ISO or an paradigm file. This is a virtual copy of a Windows installation DVD and you can source this legally from Microsoft without a product key. Here are the links for various edition of Windows 7.

Windows 7 Ultimate (32 flake)

Windows 7 Ultimate (64 flake)

Windows vii Professional (32-bit)

Windows 7 Professional (64-bit)

Windows 7 Dwelling house Premium (32-fleck)

Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit)

Y'all'll however demand a valid production key when you reinstall Windows so make sure y'all keep that safely.

Once yous've downloaded the Windows 7 ISO file, follow these steps to burn it to a pen drive.

Download the Windows USB/DVD tool from here and run it.
Click Browse and select the downloaded Windows 7 ISO file.
Click Next.
The adjacent page asks whether you lot want to save this file to a USB or a DVD. Click USB device.
Connect a pen drive with at least 4GB infinite to your computer. Make sure you dorsum up all data on the pen drive to your figurer as it volition exist erased during this process.
Select your pen drive from the drib downwardly carte and click Begin copying.
When this process is complete, you'll have a bootable Windows 7 USB set.

How to Create a Bootable Windows 8 USB Drive

Download the Windows Installation Media Cosmos Tool from here and run it.
Select the Linguistic communication from the first drop-downwards menu.
Then select the Edition of Windows you want to install. Your choices are: Windows 8.1, Windows viii.1 N, Windows 8.1 Pro, Windows 8.1 Pro Northward and Windows 8.1 Unmarried Language.
In the third drop-down menu adjacent to Architecture cull whether you desire a 32-bit or 64-fleck version of the Os. If you need to see which version y'all're running right now, right click on My Estimator and select Properties. There, you'll run across the data y'all demand under Windows Edition and System type respectively. Alternatively, check Microsoft'due south website for detailed instructions.
Click Next.
Plug in a USB drive to your computer. Make sure that it has at least 4GB space. If there'due south whatsoever important data on the drive, create a backup as this procedure will erase the pen drive completely.
Now you lot'll be asked to choose where to save the ISO file. Choose USB flash drive.
Click Adjacent.
Yous'll see a list of USB drives connected to your computer. Select your pen bulldoze from the list and click Adjacent.
Now the Media Cosmos Tool volition begin downloading the ISO directly to your pen drive. When the download completes, click Finish.

How to Create a Bootable Windows XP USB Drive

Go to the Windows XP SP3 ISO download page.
Select the language from the drop-down menu and click the big red Download button.
Download a free programme such equally ISOtoUSB to fire the image to a pen drive. There are a lot of apps that let you do this and you can use any of these. We constitute ISOtoUSB piece of cake to use and light, and then we picked information technology over others.
Install ISOtoUSB on your figurer and open it.
Click Browse and select the downloaded Windows XP ISO file.
Plug in a pen drive with at least 1GB costless space to your reckoner. All data on this pen bulldoze will be erased and then make certain yous have a backup.
In ISOtoUSB, select the pen bulldoze from the drop-down carte.
Click the checkbox next to Bootable
Click Burn down.

When the process is complete, a bootable Windows XP USB drive will be ready.

Booting and installing Windows from USB Drive

At present yous have a bootable pen drive prepare, you can kicking off this drive and install Windows. Installing Windows is quite straightforward, merely the steps leading up to it may vary a lilliputian depending on the manufacturer of your computer. We've added a brief caption below on how to practice this.

When you're booting up the reckoner, on the very first screen, you lot'll come across a text which says something like "Printing Del to Enter BIOS". Press whatever key is listed - this is ordinarily Delete, or i of F1, F2, F8, or F12 - when the calculator is booting, to enter the BIOS. At that place, yous need to discover a menu like Advanced BIOS settings, and select USB every bit the primary boot device. At present, you need to salvage and exit BIOS - the key to do so will be listed on-screen, but information technology is usually F10. Plug in the USB, and when you lot reboot, yous'll starting time the install procedure for Windows on your computer. Follow on screen instructions to install Windows 8, Windows vii, or Windows XP.

Did yous manage to create a bootable Windows pen drive? Let u.s. know via the comments. For more tutorials, head to our How To department.

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