How To Create A Windows Xp Bootable Usb

For a long time, Microsoft didn't sell Windows install media in the form of bootable USB flash drives. Instead, it prefered to stick to quondam-school DVD media, despite the fact that many notebooks today are too small to even include an optical bulldoze, and many DIYers are edifice PCs which forego one on purpose.

Withal, things have moved on, and for the get-go time, Microsoft has begun to sell Windows ten on pre-configured USB drives. Previous versions of the Bone (XP, 7 and 8.one), all require the user to create their ain bootable USB drive.

Creating a bootable Windows USB bulldoze used to be a chore, simply today, ane solution can pretty-well arrange most people. However, at that place are times when a flash drive has some quirk that prevents information technology from working with a item solution, and so for that reason, this article takes a look at five unlike methods.

Guide Index:

• USB Installer Tools & Successes
• Acquiring a Disc Image (ISO)
• Method 1 – Using Rufus
• Method ii – UNetbootin
• Method 3 – Using Microsoft diskpart
• Method 4 – Microsoft Windows seven USB/DVD Tool
• Method 5 – Windows x Media Creation Tool
• Windows XP Notes
• Mutual Problems

Benefits of USB Install Media

Even if the target desktop or notebook has an optical drive, there are a couple of reasons to consider kickoff creating a USB-based installer. Admittedly, the time and effort of creating the bulldoze might make it best-suited for system builders, but for people like us, who juggle test machines, USB is a no-brainer.

To start, USB media is more durable than disc-based media. Discs can be hands scratched, while well-built USB flash drives can generally handle a bit of abuse. Then, there's the convenience. Ever walk around with a disc in your pocket? It looks a scrap odd.

For u.s., functioning and reliability are the key reasons why nosotros've opted to employ USB-based installers in lieu of discs, especially with USB iii.0 beingness much more common. Even if a DVD has been burned at the highest commercial speeds, information technology won't be able to compete with flash memory which offers far improved IOPS functioning (operations per second) – it's the same reason why SSDs are much faster for booting an OS and loading applications than a mechanical hard bulldoze; the seek times are minuscule in comparison.

While it'south beyond the telescopic of this article, those who truly want a fast install experience can slipstream USB 3.0 back up into the install media, which on electric current chipsets and an SSD target can allow you to install Windows in under 4 minutes flat.

USB Installer Tools & Successes

Over the course of this commodity, we're going to be looking at five unlike solutions that accomplish the verbal same thing: Creating a USB-based Windows installer; if one doesn't work, the next one should (at least, that's the promise). To give an overview of what to expect from each solution, refer to this success table:

	Windows 10	Windows eight	Windows seven	Windows XP
Rufus	Aye*	Aye	Yep	Yes
UNetbootin	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
diskpart	Yes	Yeah	Yep	No
Microsoft USB Tool	Yes	Yep	Yes	No
Media Cosmos Tool	Yes	No	No	No
* Requires Rufus 2.one.6 or later.

Given the fact that Windows XP has reached end-of-life status and doesn't officially back up installation over USB, we have to outline a number of problems and conditions in order to get it working. Windows XP over USB is all the same temperamental, and at that place is a practiced risk that it just won't work with your organization, so please keep this in mind.

For starters, modern UEFI-equipped machines are not designed to support such an old Bone, so chances are that it volition non even install, or even be detected in the first identify. If the motherboard in question happens to support a legacy BIOS mode, then it might work. Unlike version of Rufus (explained later) accept improve luck with the XP process than others. We strongly suggest you skip to the dedicated part of this article that explains the problems with Windows XP and USB support.

What virtually Windows Vista? Similar Windows 7, viii, and ten, Vista too can be installed from USB media with these same methods, but due to that fact that most have moved on from it in favor of x, information technology's not a big focus.

We mentioned Rufus above, and that's the tool we're going to lead in here with, as we consider it to exist the simplest to use, and the most effective. We discussed the same tool in an article from summer 2012 chosen 'Creating a Bootable DOS Flash Drive the Piece of cake Way', every bit it allows for simple creation of bootable MS-DOS wink drives, every bit the title suggests.

Subsequently the look at Rufus, we'll continue on to UNetbootin, Microsoft's diskpart (a tool built into Windows), a quick mention of another official Microsoft tool, but 1 the company no longer promotes for Windows 7 and 8, besides every bit the latest method, the Media Cosmos Tool. But commencement…

Acquiring a Disc Prototype (ISO)

Some solutions listed on this page require a Windows disc image (.iso) to exist present. The exception is 'diskpart', equally the disc's files will need to be transferred over manually (information technology doesn't matter if they come from a mounted ISO or a bulldoze in an bodily DVD-ROM). ISOs are available from a number of sources, simply most people volition acquire them after purchasing the Os online through Microsoft, or through some other related Microsoft service. If you don't take an ISO, or a disc for that matter, you'll need to acquire one from a friend or elsewhere on the web.

If yous're just looking to downloadWindows x as an ISO, you lot just need to run the tool listed in stride #5, and cull to relieve as ISO rather than to burn the image to a wink drive. Note that nosotros can't really provide an MD5 for a Windows ten ISO, every bit it changes every time it'southward downloaded through Microsoft's tool. Only the ISOs directly supplied by Microsoft would have static hashes.

In that location are multiple editions of whatever given Windows version, merely we're going to list the exact ISOs we used along with their MD5 checksums in case they evidence useful.

MD5 Checksums

• Windows XP Pro (Service Pack 3): F424A52153E6E5ED4C0D44235CF545D5
• Windows 7 Ultimate (Service Pack 1): 56A26636EC667799F5A7F42F142C772D
• Windows 8 Pro: 0E8F2199FAE18FE510C23426E68F675A
• Windows 8.1 (MSDN; multi-version): CDADC5A76634651770A365F457702803

Please be careful where yous source your OS image from, as nigh online sources will be pirated copies and/or bundled with extra (sometimes malicious) software. How the epitome was captured equally well will have an effect on how the terminal kick bulldoze turns out, so stick to official sources where possible.

For those who take a Windows setup DVD, a free tool similar CDBurnerXP or ImgBurn tin can be used to rip it into an .iso file. Other tools exist that accomplish the same thing, simply these are the only ones we tin personally recommend. For mounting an ISO image, we'd recommend Virtual CloneDrive, as information technology'south free, and not the "free but a full nag" kind of gratis.

NOTE: Some anti-virus applications might interfere with the USB creation process due to the autorun properties involved, and so if issues are experienced, we'd recommend temporarily disabling the anti-virus until the process is complete.

Using Rufus

Both Rufus and UNetbootin are simple tools for this task, and outside of Rufus' Windows XP support, both piece of work just the same. Still, we prefer Rufus because we detect information technology loads a lot quicker, and feels a bit faster, as well. For a great many reasons, this is still our preferred method of creating USB boot drives.

With Rufus loaded up, cull the advisable device that you want to turn into a kicking drive, under the "Device" card, and make certain that the file system is NTFS (not FAT32). The other options shouldn't matter too much, although if you're planning to install Windows 8 as an official EFI OS, you may wish to peruse the options under the "Partition scheme and target system type" menu. For Windows XP, select MBR Segmentation just.

To load the Windows .iso file, the small CD icon to the right of "Create a bootable disk using:" option can be clicked. After perusing the file manager for the ISO image and accepting information technology, the "Start" push tin can exist clicked to have the tool piece of work its magic. NOTE: As the programme volition state, doing this will erase all data off of the wink drive – so backup first.

If you take any issues, be certain to check out our Mutual Problems section below.

Using UNetbootin

UNetbootin is a well-known tool equally it's go a de facto choice for turning a bootable Linux live CD into a bootable Linux live flash bulldoze – for that purpose, it notwithstanding excels. Little exercise nearly people realize, it can handle Windows ISOs likewise (but every bit the table at the top of this page shows, information technology doesn't back up creating a bootable Windows XP drive).

Like with Rufus, the appropriate drive should be selected from the "Bulldoze:" menu at the bottom, and and then the "…" push to the right of the largest text field can be clicked to search for and accept the required ISO. At this point, the "OK" can be clicked, and the process will become underway.

Different Rufus, UNetbootin doesn't erase the flash drive first, so data remains intact – however, if yous're repeatedly writing new ISOs to the bulldoze using the tool, it'due south recommended you format after each one, so as to not exit unused bit files around the drive. Notation: We'd still recommend backing up personal data earlier writing an ISO to it but in instance.

Using Microsoft diskpart

For those who don't have an ISO, but rather a DVD, diskpart is the solution for y'all. Information technology does require some command-line usage, but as yous'll run into, it'due south not as well complicated. NOTE: This method volition delete the unabridged wink drive, so be certain to back up personal data showtime.

To make proper apply of diskpart, you'll need to open up a control prompt with ambassador rights (head to "Start", type in 'cmd', right-click it, and cull 'Open as Ambassador'). One time the prompt is opened, type in 'diskpart' to load the tool, and then 'listing deejay' to figure out which # relates to your wink drive.

External storage should appear at the end of the list, and in our case, it did (we're using a 32GB flash drive, which appears here equally 29GB). Once the appropriate bulldoze is figured-out, it tin can be chosen using the 'select deejay #' command. Once selected, it needs to be wiped clean, have a partitioning created, and then be formatted. The unabridged command process is summed-upwards in this cake:

list disk – shows avaialble disks, look advisedly for the one that looks like your flash drive
select disk # – alter # to the disk (flash drive) you lot wish to use
clean – removes existing partions
create partitioning primary
select partition i
agile
format fs=ntfs quick
assign
exit

For those who might want to see this in action, we provide this screenshot:

Notation that "quick" can be removed off of the format control to run a full format, just that might take minutes to tens of minutes depending on the drive (as it'southward more than thorough).

At this point, the Windows setup DVD can be inserted into the drive, or the ISO mounted, and its files copied over to the root folder of the flash drive. Later on the process is done, opening up the flash drive in the file manager should mirror the contents of the Windows DVD/ISO.

Using Microsoft Windows seven USB/DVD Tool

Later the Windows 7 launch, Microsoft released its own USB creator tool that supported its official ISOs. While the company no longer promotes the tool, it supports at to the lowest degree 7 and 8 just fine, so some might adopt to use it over the other solutions.

Once downloaded and opened, an ISO must be chosen. After that, the "USB Device" selection needs to be clicked (this same tool tin as well burn straight to a DVD).

At the last screen, the appropriate wink dive needs to be selected from the menu, and after hitting "Begin copying", the unabridged procedure will be complete afterwards just a couple of minutes.

Truthfully, Microsoft's tool here might be the easiest of them all to use, merely because the company isn't promoting it in whatever way, shape, or form (note that it'due south chosen the Windows seven USB/DVD tool, and not Windows vii & viii USB/DVD tool), we feel that it's right to quicker recommend the other (frequently updated) solutions first.

Using Windows 10 Media Creation Tool

If y'all plan to install Windows 10 on a new system, apply it to recover an existing organization, or upgrade a previous install of Windows 7 or 8, creating a bootable flash drive is the start step. Windows 10 is the first Microsoft OS that not only natively supports USB installs, just encourages it and even sells USB drives ready-to-go.

The process with Windows 10 is not much different from Windows vii and 8/8.1 like to a higher place, but is made simpler by the fact that yous don't even demand the disk image first, as you tin download it direct from Microsoft, complete with all the latest service packs already installed.

The whole procedure for creating a Windows 10 bootable USB drive can be done by using the Media Cosmos Tool; most systems these days will utilize the 64-fleck version, so grab that.

One time you've downloaded the tool, run it and you lot'll be presented with the media cosmos process. The gallery below outlines each stride of the process for the bones method. There are a few things y'all might need to cheque first. Depending on where you plan to install Windows x, you need to check which version y'all crave, Habitation or Pro. NOTE: The contents of the USB flash bulldoze will be erased, so make certain yous dorsum it upwardly first.

Select 'Create installation media for another PC'  to begin the process.

We'll be creating the bootable USB flash drive with the tool, and so select the kickoff option.

Select the version of Windows 10 that you crave, in this case, we went with Abode 64-chip.

Choose the USB bulldoze that you lot wish to turn into the bootable media. Just Flash media will show on the list. The drive will demand at least 4GB of costless infinite. NOTE: The flash drive will exist formatted, and so make backups first.

Wait for the tool to terminate downloading. Depending on your Internet connexion, this could exist  from a few minutes to a few hours.

One time the Windows 10 prototype has downloaded, it will automatically brainstorm creating the boot media on the bulldoze you selected. This tin take a few minutes.

If everything when according to program, the Media Creation Tool will declare success and yous are gear up to employ your new Windows 10 bootable USB drive.

The version you pick here at the beginning actually doesn't matter, since your license key will determine the version y'all can use, and the OS will change and configure itself based on that key. The N version of each Bone type is for the EU compliant version, only truth be told, there isn't anything different virtually information technology at this time. You tin choice 64-bit every bit well, or both 32/64-bit if y'all are unsure or programme on using the bootable flash drive on different systems.

The Media Creation Tool can can be used to simply download the ISO image of Windows 10, which tin then be used with something similar Rufus to create the bootable USB drive. This offers the reward of existence able to keep a backup of the ISO image, as well every bit create multiple boot drives without having to download the epitome each fourth dimension. If yous run into problems with the Media Creation Tool when it comes to creating the bootable flash drive, you tin use the post-obit method.

Instead of selecting USB Flash Bulldoze in the Media Cosmos Tool, just select ISO File instead, choose a location to save the file, and later it's downloaded, follow the steps outlined in the Rufus guide to a higher place. In general, we found this method more reliable than using the Media Creation Tool to create the Windows ten bootable wink drive, and ther are a number of other advantages to using Rufus likewise.

NOTE: When you permit the Media Creation Tool handle the entire procedure of making the USB boot drive, in that location is a pocket-sized problem when dealing with USB drives larger than 32GB. The tool will only create a single partition up to 32GB and then completely ignore the rest of the drive, and Windows-based operating systems can only handle a unmarried partition on USB flash drives. If you create the kick drive with Rufus, it'll use the entire bulldoze, so 64GB and 128GB flash drives will accept the total disk space made bachelor.

Windows XP Notes

If you are attempting to use Windows XP on a USB drive, there are a couple of things to bear in mind. First off, we strongly recommend using Rufus (32-bit version) to setup XP on a USB wink bulldoze over the other methods, as its success charge per unit is much better. If installing with Rufus doesn't work the first time, change the partition mode to MBR for BIOS merely. Making XP boot over USB is a little tricky as well, because information technology'southward much more sensitive to the age of the hardware and the organization yous are using information technology with.

Equally far as nosotros know, the 32-bit ISO image of XP is the only uniform version that can be put on a bootable flash bulldoze (success for XP 64-bit was limited). I of the key points though is that you tin can't use a USB 3.0 port when installing, even with EHCI mode enabled. We also found that a lot of modern hardware refuses to discover the drive.

If you are using an older organisation, and then yous should accept better luck booting Windows XP from a USB flash drive. Just be sure that your particular motherboard supports booting from USB in the showtime place (it's normally off by default in older system). Check the BIOS boot section and meet if USB drives are supported.

Unfortunately, the time period in which motherboards supported USB booting on older hardware is quite short, as anything earlier didn't accept the option, and annihilation after (around the time Windows Vista and 7 took off), those boards started the transition over to UEFI, which XP does not support.

A number of systems we take tested this with had very mixed results. Both an older Pentium D organization with BIOS, and a i7-2600 with UEFI, couldn't boot into XP. The USB media does work on a couple of laptops, simply with other systems, information technology just boots up into a bare screen. If checking your motherboard settings for USB boot back up and even legacy modes do not work, then you will have to resort to using a CD/DVD. You can read below for some more full general advice also.

Common Problems

No Bootable Device Detected

This tin can be acquired by a number of things. The almost common is that your organisation is non setup to discover or boot from USB devices. Yous volition need to go into your BIOS/EFI and check whether your USB drive is detected at all. If it is, brand certain that it's available from the kicking menu. If information technology isn't, then some security choice may exist enabled that prevents booting from USB devices.

As each BIOS/EFI is different, nosotros can non help with specific options, but check various security and kicking menus to make sure that USB support is enabled. If everything appears correct, only still can't be detected, try enabling USB legacy support, or a different USB port, such every bit a USB two.0 port instead of USB 3.0.

It'due south too possible that the install media, or ISO image you take, does not have the boot information bachelor. Try a different ISO paradigm if at all possible.

Windows Installer Starts But Can't Discover Install Media

If the installer starts and lets you lot pick installation options, but an mistake occurs that either says it can't detect the DVD or it requests you to insert media with additional drivers, so y'all demand to use a USB 2.0 port.

Windows XP, Vista and 7, do not have native support for USB iii.0 ports. Attempting to install with your wink drive plugged into a USB 3.0 port will result in the to a higher place error. Unplug your USB Flash Drive and insert it into a USB 2.0 port, and so begin the procedure once more. You lot may yet use a USB 3.0 Flash drive, but non plugged into a USB three.0 port.

If no USB 2.0 ports are available (such equally with more modern systems), then yous will either need to go into the BIOS/EFI and enable forced legacy mode or enable EHCI on the USB ports, or you will need to 'slipstream' the USB 3.0 drivers into your Windows Install Image.

Flash Drive Isn't Using All Bachelor Infinite

This was mentioned previously in the Windows x section, only if you are creating a USB boot drive for Windows 10 and your 64GB drive is simply showing 32GB available, then you need to recreate your boot bulldoze with Rufus. The Media Creation Tool (MCT) only supports drives up to 32GB, and anything larger volition have a 2nd partitioning made, which Windows can not detect normally (but is still available if you plug information technology into a Linux machine for example). So download the ISO with MCT, then flash it with Rufus.

Windows ten 'Something Happened'

Generic and oh-so-helpful error. If you are using the Media Cosmos Tool to create the bootable USB flash drive, and it'due south failing on the concluding step, endeavor the alternative (and recommended) method of using the tool to download the ISO image then use Rufus to create the kick media. If the Media Creation Tool is failing to download the ISO, so this is likely a network issue with either your local auto or Microsoft's server. Try using a wired/Ethernet connectedness instead of wireless, or just wait a while and try once more later. Failing that, effort to download from a different machine if possible.

If you have any questions near any of the steps, please exit a comment below and we'll help you every bit all-time we can.

Update: This article was updated May 2018 by Jamie Fletcher, to include Windows 10 and additional information regarding XP and USB size bug. Originally published December 2013.

Support our efforts! With ad revenue at an all-fourth dimension low for written websites, nosotros're relying more than than always on reader back up to help u.s. continue putting then much effort into this type of content. Yous can support the states by becoming a Patron, or by using our Amazon shopping affiliate links listed through our articles. Thanks for your support!

How To Create A Windows Xp Bootable Usb,

Source: https://techgage.com/article/creating-bootable-windows-xp-7-8-flash-drive-installers/

Posted by: brucethund1989.blogspot.com

Share this post