Tag: usb key

Use a USB Key to Install Windows 7

August 06, 2009 by Jason

Putting the Windows 7 installation on a USB thumb drive has a few advantages—a small USB key is much more convenient for carrying around than a DVD, the OS will actually install much faster, and you can use a USB key to install Windows 7 on systems that do not have a DVD drive, such as a netbook. In fact, you can even install Windows 7 on netbooks that have fairly modest hardware. Dennis Chung, an IT Pro Evangelist at Microsoft recently posted a video demonstrating how easy it is to prepare your thumb drive and use it to install Windows 7. Here’s a quick look at the process:

* First, you’ll need the DiskPart utility on the system you will use to prep the thumb drive. This is a free disk partitioning utility that is likely already installed on your Windows system. If not, you can download DiskPart here

* Launch the DiskPart utility by typing diskpart at the Start Menu.

* Then run the list disk command to check the status of your drive.

* Now run select disk 1 where the “1″ is actually the corresponding number of your USB drive. Read More»