This short tutorial will tell you how to install windows 7 from an external hard drive without the need to burn a dvd.
What you will need:
A copy of the Windows 7 iso disc image 32 bit or 64 bit
A disc mounting program such as Daemon Tools, UltraISO, MagicDisc, etc.
An external hard drive or usb flash drive with at least 4 GB free space
A computer running Windows Vista, or a computer running Windows XP with a partitioning program such as Easeus Partition Manager or Partition Magic
A motherboard that supports booting from a USB Drive
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For the sake of time and ease we will assume you are doing this on a computer with Windows Vista.
1. In Windows Vista open the start menu, right click Computer and select manage.
2. In the computer management program navigate to Storage>Disk Management
3. Now you will need to select the external HDD or USB flash drive and right click it, then from the drop down menu select shrink and shrink it at least 5000 MB
4. In the Unallocated Space right click and select New Simple Volume, run through the wizard creating a new simple volume formatted with FAT32 (!!!MUST BE FAT32!!!)
5. Once the format is complete minimize the computer management window, and mount the disc image using the virtual drive software of your choice (look above for suggestions)
6. After the disc image is mounted and recognized copy the contents of the image to your new FAT32 partition you just made.
7. When all the files are finished copying reopen the Computer Management window and right click your FAT32 partition and select Mark as Active, this is very important.
8a. Now if this is the computer you will be installing Windows 7 on create a new partition with at least 15 GB free space and formatted with NTFS.
8b. If Windows 7 will be installed on another computer, follow the above step (8a.) on the other computer you will be installing 7 on.
(note: for 7 to install there must be at least 10 MB unallocated space at the beginning of the drive and before your first partition)
9. Now safely remove your external HDD or USB flash drive and reconnect it to the computer you will install 7 on.
10. Reboot the computer and when the bios menu shows press the required key (generally an F key) to enter the boot menu then select boot from USB HDD or USB Flash Drive
accordingly (alternately you may also enter the bios and set it to boot from USB HDD or USB Flash Drive)
11. The computer should then boot as though it is booting from the installation disc for Windows 7
12. Follow the steps to install Windows 7 and be sure you select the correct partition you created earlier for the Windows 7 Install
13. Congratulations you have successfully completed this tutorial!!
This worked perfectly for me since I do not have a DVD burner and this also works with any version of Windows Vista, although I could not get it to work with Windows XP.
Hope you found this helpful and useful!
sceadwe
