While working from my hotel this week at VMworld 2010, it was necessary to rebuild my computer for some labs I was working on. There are two way to build a bootable Flash key with an OS. Let’s go over both methods and you can decide which one you prefer.
Creating a Bootable Flash Key via Command Line
We will begin by inserting a flash drive key into a laptop or desktop, as shown in Figure A.
Figure A.
Next, click the Start button and type cmd in the instant search bar. Right-click on the cmd entry and select Run as Administrator, as shown in Figure B.
Figure B.
Now we are ready to run Diskpart. Type diskpart, as shown in Figure C. Type List Disk, as also shown in Figure C, to find your USB key. In this case, it is Disk1.
Figure C.
We will continue by typing Select Disk 1 and cleaning the flash key by typing clean, as shown in Figure D.
Figure D.
Let’s continue by typing create partition primary, as shown in Figure E.
Figure E.ONext, type active to mark the disk as active; we are getting closer to the finish line. Now we are ready to format our partition by typing Format FS=Fat32, as shown in Figure F.
Figure F.
Now you can copy over the installation files of Windows 7 or any other installation media
Once you have copied the installation files, the next thing is to configure your laptop/PC to boot from the flash drive. You should log in to your BIOS settings to make sure booting from USB is available. Finally, start your laptop/desktop and select from which boot device you want to load the Operating System.
Creating a Flash Key with Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool
Now let’s move on to the method that I prefer. We will begin by
downloading Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool. Once installed Click the Start | Windows 7 USB DVD Download Tool. The following tool opens in Figure G.
Figure G.
Next, click Browse and select your ISO image as shown in Figure H. Most downloads of software today are ISO images that allow you to burn DVD’s or run in virtual machines.
Figure H.
You have the option of choosing to create a USB or DVD media. For the purposes of this blog post, we will choose USB Device as shown in Figure I.
Figure I.
Finally, click Begin Copying. A message appears with the following information: “You have selected to erase all of the contents from the selected USB device (drive letter). All contents on this device will be lost. Are you sure you want to do this?” Click Yes, as shown in Figure J, and your bootable device is created.
Figure J.
Once completed, the USB device is ready to load the installation media. For example, I chose Windows 7 ISO image and 5 minutes later I had a flash key ready to load Windows.
Which of the two methods do you prefer? In my mind, it is a no brainer.
article source:
http://www.trainsignaltraining.com/how-do-i-burn-a-bootable-flash-key/2010-09-02/#more-14854
