Install Windows from a USB drive

Install Windows from a USB drive

One might need to reinstall an operating system from time to time, but
the netbooks and ultra-portable laptops gaining popularity today have
no optical drives.


What do you do when there is no optical drive in your PC and you want
to install a new operating system on it? Before you invest in an
external drive, we will tell you about a more cost-effective solution.
Why not install Windows XP or Windows Vista from a USB flash drive
instead? All you need are the following items:
A desktop or laptop with Windows XP/Vista (according to the OS
required to be dumped onto the USB flash drive).
An optical drive in the PC.
The original Windows XP or Vista installation disk.
A 1 GB or 4 GB USB flash drive for Windows XP/Vista respectively.
A software called 'Komku-SP-usb.exe' (for the Windows XP part) which
can be downloaded from 'http://www.mediafire.com/?zlvkwwzmjmt'.
Alternatively, you can avail of the utilities from this month's CHIP
DVD or search for these on http://download.chip.asia.
This step-by-step workshop will be in two phases—Windows Vista and Windows XP.
Installing Windows XP from a USB flash drive
Step 1: Download the software 'Komku-SP-usb.exe' from the websites
mentioned earlier and execute it. The executable file will extract the
necessary utilities to a folder called 'C:komku'.

Step 2: Once the package has been extracted, go to the folder
'C:komkuPeToUSB' using Windows Explorer. Execute the file
'PeToUSB.exe'. Plug in the USB flash drive and make sure you choose
the following (see image below) before clicking the start button.
Select 'USB removable', 'Enable Disk Format', 'Quick format', 'Enable
LBA (Fat 16x)' and finally give the drive a name under 'Drive Label'.
Once it's done, click start to let the utility format the drive.

Step 3: Next you will need to start the command prompt. Click 'Start |
Run', type 'cmd' and press [Enter]. Then go to the 'bootsect'
directory by typing the command 'cd C:komkubootsect' and pressing
[Enter]. Now type the command 'bootsect /nt52 F:' and press [Enter].
(The 'F:' is the USB flash drive letter represented in 'My Computer'.
Check to verify the drive letter used by your USB flash drive). Let
the utility do the needful. Do not exit the Command Prompt yet.

Step 4: Now you will need to change to the directory 'Usb_Prep8' by
using the command 'cd C:komkuusb_prep8' and pressing [Enter]. Here
execute the command 'usb_prep8' and press [Enter]. Press any key to
continue and you will see a welcome screen with a menu appear in the
Command Prompt.

Step 5: Now at this stage, you will have to insert the Windows XP
installation disk into your optical drive. At the Command Prompt menu,
type '1' and press [Enter]. A new popup will appear asking you to
choose the location (path) of the Windows installation disk. Select
the optical drive and click 'OK'. Next choose '2' from the menu and
change the drive letter to any drive letter which has not been taken.
It is drive 'T:' by default and you can ignore this step unless you do
have a 'T:' drive on your computer.
After this, choose '3' from the menu and enter the drive letter of
your USB flash drive (in this case it would be 'F'). Finally choose
'4' from the menu and press [Enter]. Wait for a few seconds for the
process to complete and you will see a prompt to allow the utility to
format the USB flash drive. Type 'Y' and then press [Enter] at this
stage to let the utility proceed and install the necessary files from
the Windows XP installation disk to the USB flash drive. This process
will take a few minutes and depends on the speed of the flash drive.

Step 6: After the files are copied, you will see a popup window asking
you for permission to copy files from the temp drive to the USB flash
drive. Select 'Yes'.

Step 7: Next there will be another popup window asking you to allow
the utility to change the boot drive letter of the USB flash drive
from 'F:' to 'U:'. Select 'Yes'.

Step 8: Finally, after all the processes are complete, you will see
yet another popup window asking if you want to unmount the virtual
drive. Select 'Yes'. Exit the Command Prompt now and you will see that
your flash drive is ready to install Windows XP to another computer.
To install Windows XP to the computer, you will have to go to the BIOS
and enable the option of booting from a USB removable device. This
option is usually found under the boot sequence menu of the BIOS. Plug
in the USB drive to the computer before you turn it on. Now your
computer will boot from the USB flash drive and will be ready to
install Windows XP. Follow the necessary steps to install Windows XP
and your computer will be up, raring and ready to go and running
Windows in no time.

--
Amrit Heda