2 questions please , about installing Windows 7 SP1 64bit

[mahanddeem]

Hello

I have a Dell laptop running on Windows 7 SP1 64bit and the company provided me with the original Windows 7 DVD with its serial no. (pure clean DVD install) ...

1.Can I copy that original DVD to a flash drive (I have a clean new one with 8GB storage space) so that I can do a clean format and install this Windows on my laptop using this flash drive and make it bootable ? man I hate endless spinning DVD drive !! and how ?

2.Can I do the same if I copy the entire DVD on a partition (other than C and do a clean install of Windows 7 from the hard drive (let's say partition E ? and how ?

Thanks alot

 

[Nibiru2012]

Use the Windows USB tool to do the conversion to the USB flash drive.

Google it you'll find it.

The answer to #2 is no.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I apologize... I should have given you the link the Windows7-USB-DVD-tool to create your own bootable USB Flash drive.

INSTALLATION

TO INSTALL THE WINDOWS 7 USB/DVD DOWNLOAD TOOL:

1. Click to open the Windows 7 USB/DVD Download tool installation file.
2. When you are prompted to either save the file to disk or run it, choose Run.
3. Follow the steps in the setup dialogs. You'll have the option to specify where to install the Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool.

I hope this helps you out. I have used this tool quite a few times and it works like a charm!


~Nibs

 

[mahanddeem]

Use the Windows USB tool to do the conversion to the USB flash drive.

Google it you'll find it.

The answer to #2 is no.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I apologize... I should have given you the link the Windows7-USB-DVD-tool to create your own bootable USB Flash drive.

INSTALLATION

TO INSTALL THE WINDOWS 7 USB/DVD DOWNLOAD TOOL:

1. Click to open the Windows 7 USB/DVD Download tool installation file.
2. When you are prompted to either save the file to disk or run it, choose Run.
3. Follow the steps in the setup dialogs. You'll have the option to specify where to install the Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool.

I hope this helps you out. I have used this tool quite a few times and it works like a charm!


~Nibs

Thanks sir ... Will look into that.

 

[mahanddeem]

The tool at the last step in copying files displayed this message "Files copied succesfully , but we were unable to run bootsect to make the flash drive bootable , click help on line" !!

What was wrong ? the usb drive is clean and formatted , 8GB storage , FAT32 (it looks the program formatted it to NTFS)

Thanks

 

[Nibiru2012]

You may have had a glitch. It sometimes happens with USB flash drives.

You can download a tool called SD Formater. What it does is a clean wipe of the drive and sets it back to specs.
In addition, the drive must be formatted to NTFS, not FAT32. The tool does it as part of the process of file transfer, but it has helped to do a manual format prior to running the application.
Then run the software again and see what happens. If you're using a USB cable connection, be sure your connections are snug. It's best to plug the drive directly into a port on the motherboard.

It seems to work better if you have an ISO image of the DVD. You can do that by either downloading the ISO from the links in this forum in the "Installation" section. You can also use ImgBurn to make an ISO image and save to a folder.

~Nibs

 

[mahanddeem]

Actually I used the ISO images from this forum , the bootable Windows 7 64bit SP1 (bootable) .. which is a 3.09GB .iso file !!!
I will try the sd formatter ... and report back
Thanks

 

[mahanddeem]

PS :
I found this (so that it will serve somebody in the future)

"Caveat: as with any 64 bit Windows OS install to USB drive using this tool, it will give you an error in the fourth phase (making the drive bootable) if you try to run it from a 32 bit system. This is because it can not use/understand the 64 bit bootsect.exe file from the iso.

Easy fix is to extract the bootsect.exe file from a 32 bit Windows ISO and paste the file into the Wibdows 7 USB Download Tool program folder. It will then use the 32 bit version which works just fine to boot the 64 bit OS install."

 

[mahanddeem]

With some googling I found this (might be helpful to someone someday)

"Caveat: as with any 64 bit Windows OS install to USB drive using this tool, it will give you an error in the fourth phase (making the drive bootable) if you try to run it from a 32 bit system. This is because it can not use/understand the 64 bit bootsect.exe file from the iso.

Easy fix is to extract the bootsect.exe file from a 32 bit Windows ISO and paste the file into the Wibdows 7 USB Download Tool program folder. It will then use the 32 bit version which works just fine to boot the 64 bit OS install."

 

[mahanddeem]

Thanks ....... It worked finally ... but on a 64bit system !!! it looks that bootsect.exe 64bit is not recognized in a 32bit system !

Thanks again the tool worked flawlessly now

 

[Nibiru2012]

I'm glad you got it working for you!

Now you'll be able to install Windows 7 much faster with the USB Tool rather than waiting about 15 minutes. Most of my installs using the USB Tool take about 6-8 minutes from start to initial desktop view.

If you need anything else, let us know.

~Nibs