Method 1 of 5: Making a USB Drive to Install Any PC Operating System

1
Open the Command Prompt. You will need to run Command Prompt as an Administr
ator. Right-click on it and select Run as Administrator. You may need to enter t
he Administrator password.
This method will create a USB drive that is bootable. You can then copy
the contents of an operating installation disc onto the drive to create a portab
le installation drive.
This method only works in Windows Vista, 7, and 8.
Ad
2
Open the disk management utility. This can be opened by entering the command
diskpart.
3
Display the connected disks. Type the command list disk to show a list of al
l the drives connected to your computer. Your USB drive should be listed here as
well. Make note of the number next to your USB drive.
4
Select the USB drive. Enter the command select disk #, replace # with the numb
er from the previous step.
5
Clean the flash drive. Enter the command clean to have the disk management u
tility verify the integrity of the USB drive, and erase all data.
6
Create a bootable partition. Once the USB drive is clean, type in create par
tition primary. You will see a message saying that the operation was successful.
7
Select the new partition. Enter the command select partition 1 and press Ent
er. Once you receive a confirmation message, type active and press Enter. This w
ill activate the partition.
8
Format the USB drive. Input the command format fs=fat32. When you press Ente
r, the program will work for a few minutes (if it is a small USB, e.g. 32Gb coul
d actually take hours to SLOW format), and the progress will be displayed as a p
ercentage.
9
Assign the USB a drive letter. Enter the command assign to give the thumb dr
ive a letter designation. Type exit to end the disk management program.
10
Copy the operating system. Once the USB drive has been made bootable, you ca
n copy over the installation files for the operating system you want to install.
You can do this by dragging and dropping using your preferred file manager/expl
orer.
Copy over any drivers you might need during the operating system install
ation to make the process much smoother.
EditMethod 2 of 5: Making a Windows Vista or 7 Install Drive
1
Create or Obtain A Windows Vista/7 ISO. Install a free burning program. Ther
e are a number of free burning utilities available online. You need one that can
create ISO files. If you received your Windows 7 as a downloadable ISO file fro
m Microsoft, you can skip to Step 2.
Insert your Windows 7 DVD. Open your new burning program. Look for an op
tion such as Copy to Image or Create Image. If prompted, select your DVD drive as th
e source.
Save your ISO file. Choose an easy to remember name and location for the
file. The ISO you make will be equal in size to the disc you are copying. This
means it can take up several gigabytes of space on your hard drive. Be sure you

have enough storage available.

Creating the ISO can take a long time, depending on the speed of your co
mputer and DVD drive.
2
Download Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool. This is available for free from Mi
crosoft. Despite its name, this tool works with Windows Vista ISOs as well. You
can run this tool on virtually any version of Windows.
3
Select the Source file. This is the ISO that you created or downloaded in th
e first section. Click Next.
4
Select USB device. You are given the option to either burn to a DVD or creat
e a USB device. For this guide, click USB Device.
5
Choose your USB device. Make sure that your flash drive is connected correct
ly. You will need at least 4GB space on your flash drive to copy over the Window
s installation.
6
Wait while program works. The program will format the USB drive to boot corr
ectly, then copy the ISO file onto the drive. The copying process can take up to
15 minutes to complete, depending on the speed of your machine.
EditMethod 3 of 5: Making a Windows XP Install Drive
1
Gather your software and hardware. You will need USB_Prep8 and bootsect.exe.
These are developer tools both freely available online. You will also need a fl
ash drive at least 1GB in size, and a Windows XP installation CD or DVD.
Insert the USB drive and the Windows XP disc. Close any Autoplay windows
that open.
2
Extract and run USB_Prep8. Once you extract the USB_Prep8 .zip file, open th
e folder it creates and run usb_prep8.cmd. This will open a command prompt. Pres
s any key to format the USB drive with PeToUSB. Note: In Windows 7, you will nee
d to open a cmd as administrator and run usb_prop8.cmd from prompt, otherwise no
thing works.
3
Start the format. Do not change any of the settings in the PeToUSB window. O
nce the format is complete, leave both windows open and start a new command prom
pt by pressing Windows key + R and typing cmd into the field.
4
Extract bootsect. Once it is extracted, navigate to the bootsect folder usin
g the new command window. Once you are in the bootsect directory on your compute
r, type bootsect.exe /nt52 Z: . Change the Z to the drive letter of your USB drive.
You cannot have any windows open showing the contents of the USB drive a
t this point, or the operation will fail and you will need to restart
Bootsect copies the files necessary to allow your computer to boot from
the flash drive. When it is complete you will see the message Bootcode was succes
sfully updated on all targeted volumes. You can close this window and PeToUSB now
, but keep the usb_prep8 command window open.
5
Adjust the Prep8 settings. Once the bootsect is done copying, the usb_prep8
command window will display a numbered menu allowing you to change some settings
. You will need to change the first 3 settings:
Press 1 and then Enter. A Browse for Folder window will open. Select the
drive that contains your Windows XP disc and press OK.
Press 2 and then Enter. If you have a drive on your computer that is alr
eady assigned to the letter T:, then change this option to a free letter. Otherw
ise, you can leave this as is.
Press 3 and then Enter. Enter the drive letter for your USB flash drive.

6
Start the copy process. To do this, press 4 and then Enter. You will be noti
fied that proceeding will format the virtual disk from the earlier menu. Press Y
to continue. Once the format is complete, press any key to continue.
Files will scroll up the screen as the copy process progresses. You will
be prompted to press any key to continue again. After a few moments, a window w
ill open confirming that you want to copy TempDrive Files. Press Yes, and wait a
round 15 minutes, then press Yes for the next two windows that open.
7
Begin Windows XP setup. At this point the USB drive is complete. Insert it i
nto the computer that you want to install Windows XP on. You will need to set th
e BIOS to boot from a USB drive. Check out our guide on setting your BIOS correc
tly.
When the startup menu opens, select Option 1 for a text mode installatio
n. The Windows XP installation will now begin as normal.
After the computer reboots after the text mode portion, select Option 2
to start the GUI (Graphical User Interface) portion of the installation.
Keep your USB drive plugged in during the entire installation process.
EditMethod 4 of 5: Creating a USB PC Repair Toolkit
1
Download the Ultimate Boot CD (UBCD) ISO file. This file is available for fr
ee from the developers here. The UBCD is a collection of diagnostic tools that c
an be run before the operating system loads. Having them all on one thumbdrive m
akes for a convenient PC repair tool. You will also need the Universal USB Insta
ller, which can be found here. Place the Universal USB Installer in the same fol
der as the UBCD .iso file.
2
Run the Universal USB Installer. Select Ultimate Boot CD from the menu. Make
sure that the directory in the field is correct. Select the correct drive lette
r for your USB flash drive. Click the Create button.
3
Boot from the USB drive. After the USB is done being created, you re ready to
boot from the drive and run the diagnostic tool.
EditMethod 5 of 5: Making a Mac OS X 10.7 or 10.8 USB Install Drive
1
Assemble the hardware and software that you will need. You will need an 8GB
or larger USB flash drive. You will also need the OS X installer app from the Ma
c App Store. Download the app and insert the USB drive.
2
Launch the Disk Utility. It can be found in the Utilities folder inside the
Applications folder. The Disk Utility will allow you to manipulate the USB drive
. In the left frame, select your USB drive and then open the Partition tab. Unde
r Partition Layout, select 1 Partition.
3
Select the format. From the format dropdown menu, select Mac OS Extended (Jo
urnaled). This will allow your drive to be read by any Mac OS computer. Click th
e Options button and select GUID Partition Table.
4
Find the Install Mac OS X file. This is the .app file that you downloaded fr
om the Mac App Store. It is installed in the Applications folder by default. Rig
ht-click on the file and select Show Package Contents. Open Contents and then Sh
ared Support. You should see a file called InstallESD.dmg. Drag this file to you
r desktop.
5
Open the Disk Utility again. Click on the USB drive in the left frame. Open
the Restore tab and click the Image button next to the Source box. Select the Ins

tallESD.dmg file. For Destination, drag the newly created partition into the fie
ld.
6
Click the Restore button. You will be asked for confirmation before the copy
process begins. Press Erase to continue. The process can take up to an hour to
complete, depending on the speed of your Mac. Once it is finished, you can boot
from the USB drive and install Mac OS X as if you were using a disc