Installing windows 7 from a flash drive on a pc. Installing Windows from a flash drive via BIOS. Installation completed. What's next

The Windows installation process can hardly be called something complicated. However, there are many myths circulating among PC users about this incredibly difficult process. While installing an operating system from a disk may seem like something traditional, performing exactly the same actions from a flash drive terrifies many. Mainly due to the banal ignorance that the USB input can be used as a full replacement for a CD\DVD drive. There can be a huge number of reasons for this:

Initial lack of a disk drive (netbook, ultrabook).
Drive failure.
Disk failure.
Infection with a virus that prevents the device from reading disks, etc.

Having and installing Windows from a so-called bootable USB flash drive can be a full-fledged replacement for a boot disk.

Preparing the computer for installing the operating system.
Preparing a USB drive.
Changing BIOS settings.
Installation of the operating system itself.

Each stage has its own nuances and features. Therefore, we strongly recommend that you read the article carefully to the end, or better yet, print it out or download it to your mobile device.

Preparing your computer

Windows installation can be complete or partial. It depends on what goals you plan to achieve by reinstalling it. Full formats both of your disks (the one on which the OS is located and other additional ones) if you have them, of course. Partial allows you to reinstall only system files. It helps if you accidentally deleted system files or folders (for example, win 32 or *.dll files), but you simply do not have the time or opportunity to transfer all the information from your computer.

If you plan to perform a partial installation of Windows (and you have 2 disks, “C” and “D”), you can move all the important information to a disk that is not a system one. This is quite easy to do.

How to find out which drive the OS is installed on

To understand which of your system drives the operating system is installed on, just open the Start menu and launch “My Computer”. Or go to your computer settings from the shortcut on your desktop. After you start the “computer”, you will see all the hard drives that you have, as well as connected flash drives. Where Windows is installed, a small win icon will be drawn.

If for some reason this method does not work, then there is another way to find out the location of the OS on the computer. For this:

To avoid this need in the future, try to install the operating system on the “C” drive, and also create an additional directory for storing files.

Copying files

Once you have determined which of your drives is the system drive, you can, if necessary, copy all your information to an additional drive (in my case, drive “D”). It is advisable to carry out this procedure in advance before installing Windows. Especially if you have a habit of not organizing your files. Therefore, immediately check the main directories related to the system drive C; by default, this includes:

Desktop.
Library (images, documents).

If you are going to carry out a partial reinstallation of the OS, then create a new folder on an additional disk and copy all important files there (do not try to copy installed programs, they will not work anyway!). If the OS installation from a flash drive is complete, then copy your data to other USB drives, external hard drives and cloud services.

The main thing a computer is used for is storing information. Therefore, the most important thing here may be saved passwords, details, and so on. Don’t forget to write down all important logins and passwords (as well as files for WebMoney Keeper) from your browsers, because after reinstallation this information cannot be returned. Of course, if your computer is completely new and you just want to install a different version of Windows, then there will obviously not be important information on it.

Driver preparation

As a rule, some of the drivers are included in the operating system distribution itself and are installed along with Windows. Sometimes it happens that they are installed incorrectly or are completely absent from the installation package itself (it is assumed that the user has a disk with all the necessary drivers).

The main thing that needs to be provided is the presence of a fresh network driver. It is necessary for the correct operation of the Internet and Wi-Fi adapter. Therefore, it is not necessary to download absolutely all drivers to an additional disk or flash drive. If you have a network driver, you can easily download the rest from the Internet.

Preparing USB media and BIOS

Therefore, this article assumes that you have already created a bootable USB flash drive and are ready to install Windows itself. However, to start this process, it is not enough to simply insert a flash drive into a USB port.

By default, the BIOS settings are set in such a way that if there is a disk in the disk drive, the computer will boot from it. If, when Windows boots, there is a flash card in the USB input, then this fact is ignored by the system, and loading occurs as usual.

How to enter BIOS

To change the boot priority of devices, just go into the BIOS and set the necessary parameters. For this:

Insert your bootable USB flash drive into the USB port.
Restart your computer.
Immediately after the screen turns on, press the button to enter the BIOS settings (most often this is delete).

If you did everything correctly, you will see the BIOS main menu. It looks something like this:

If you pressed the delete button several times, but the BIOS still did not appear, then perhaps your laptop or computer model uses a different default key to call up this menu. To find out exactly how to enter the BIOS from your computer, use the search or random dialing method (try the F2, F12, Escape, etc. buttons).

Changing BIOS settings

After you manage to get into the BIOS, you need to change the boot order of the devices. Control in this menu is carried out using the “arrows”, the “confirm” key - “enter”, back - backspace or escape. Once you open the BIOS, the control buttons will be marked on the screen.

The next thing you might notice when you get into the BIOS is that it is not Russified. Therefore, to change the boot priority of devices, you will need to know the simplest terms in English that will help you find and correctly change the necessary parameters. So follow these steps:

After you correct the necessary parameters, you can exit the BIOS menu. However, do not forget to save all changes made. Therefore, when exiting, be sure to select Save and Exit.

Installation does not occur

Insert the bootable USB flash drive into the USB port and reboot the device. An inscription should appear on the screen prompting you to press any button to boot the system from a flash drive or disk. If such a boot screen does not appear and the computer starts up as usual, then you may have configured the BIOS incorrectly, or you forgot to save the changes you made. Therefore, open the BIOS again, and then make the necessary changes again. If you are sure that you have configured the BIOS correctly, then the problem may lie in the image itself, the flash drive, or even a faulty USB port. In this case, you may need another USB drive or wine distribution.

Installing Windows 7

After the required loading screen appears, follow the system’s recommendations and press any button to continue the installation.

It should be immediately noted here that depending on the version and build of your win operating system distribution, the settings of various parameters may differ slightly. There may be additional settings or the absence of those that will be mentioned in the article. In any case, don't worry about it. If you encounter such a situation, just carefully read the information that win offers you to choose and mark the parameters you need. As a rule, for such cases, the Win 7 system explains that in the future all the parameters you select can be changed or offers a choice of “default” settings (if you don’t know what to choose).

The first thing you will be asked to select is the operating system interface language, date and time settings, and keyboard layout. After selecting the settings you need, click the “next” button.

An information screen will appear on which you can familiarize yourself with the reinstallation procedure in detail, after which you can click “install”.

The Windows 7 installation wizard will prompt you to select one of the operating system versions. It all depends on which image distribution you copied to the flash drive. If you initially downloaded win 7 Home Edition or Professional from the Internet, then this window will not appear. If you have downloaded a collection of various packages, then from the list select the one for which you have a license key (it can be found in the laptop box or on the back cover). If you cannot find it or are in doubt, you can enter this information later, within 30 days. Therefore, select the required version and click “next”.

Read the license agreement in detail, accept its terms and continue installation by clicking “next”.

Win 7 will prompt you to select an installation type:

Partial (updating system files, saving information on an additional drive “D”).
Complete (all user information will be permanently erased).

Depending on the purpose of installation, select the desired item. If you are in doubt about making a decision, you can find more detailed information in the “decision help” menu. In principle, further actions will not be much different. The article assumes a complete installation of Win 7, then we will consider the parameters that are equivalent for the selected “full installation” item.

Then you will be asked to select the disk on which the Windows 7 operating system will be installed. Select the desired one with the right mouse button and click on the “disk settings” line.

Select the partition in which Windows 7 will be installed and click “Disk Setup”. If you have never installed an operating system, then this is where you may have difficulties.

Hard drive setup

Usually, in addition to the main disk partitions that are visible to the user (the so-called drives C, D, etc.), there are so-called hidden partitions. This is especially common with new laptop models. Usually the so-called recovery system is located here, which allows you to return the operating system settings to factory settings. There may also be a special section created by win 7. It is necessary for setting up the encryption of system settings data. Therefore, it is better not to change this parameter during OS installation. And if the need arises, then change it using third-party utilities.

In the same “disk setup” menu, format each partition.

This procedure will remove all custom settings. But since you have previously saved all the important information, this procedure is absolutely not scary. The data formatting procedure must be carried out without fail. Therefore, we confirm the removal of all data from the computer.

After the system completes the removal, you can exit the disk settings menu and click “next”. Automatic unpacking will begin.

Configuring operating system settings

After the system finishes installation, you will be prompted to enter your computer name and username.

Here you can also configure other administration settings (password, additional accounts).

Then you will be asked to enter the license key (depending on the distribution build, this item may be missing altogether).

Now select windows security settings. Check the top line to automatically check and install updates.

The next item is setting the date and time (time zone). Here you can enable or disable the automatic transition of the system to summer or winter time. Plus, you can always change your time zone settings at any time.

If the win 7 distribution had built-in network drivers, the computer will automatically detect the network connection and prompt you to select security settings. Otherwise, this window simply will not appear.

If you are the owner of a compact netbook and sincerely believe that CDs and DVDs will soon take pride of place in the museum of storage media (next to cassettes and floppy disks), you definitely need to know the answer to the question “how to install Windows 7 from a flash drive? » And not only for this reason! There are more than enough motivations to study this computer wisdom.

An installation distribution on a USB drive is, at a minimum, convenient and compact. And most importantly, it’s reliable: you don’t need to worry that due to some scratch or speck of dust, a few bits will be lost and the OS installer will fail (again, as often happens with disks).

This article discusses in detail all the steps of installing Windows 7 from a flash drive: from selecting the media to setting up the distribution.

Preparing bootable USB media

The size of the installation flash drive must exceed 4GB. Since some assemblies of the “seven”, unlike the standard distribution, include many updates, patches, applets, integrated components (Framework, WinRAR, DirectX, etc.) Accordingly, they are larger in size.

1. Connect the flash drive to the PC.

2. Open the Start menu (the first icon on the taskbar).

3. On the right side of the menu, click Computer.

4. In the “Devices with removable media” section, click on the flash drive shortcut.

5. Select the “Format...” command in the context submenu.

6. In the formatting settings window, in the “File system:” option, set “NTFS”. Necessarily! Installing Windows 7 from a flash drive is most stable and correct on this system.

7. Click the "Start" button.

8. Wait until formatting is complete.

Selecting and downloading Windows 7 distribution

To create an installation flash drive, you will need a distribution image in ISO format. It can be downloaded from specialized websites or popular torrent trackers (nnm-club.me, torrent-windows.net, etc.)

Advice! Installing Windows from a flash drive is a responsible and extremely serious matter. The success of this event guarantees comfortable and safe work on the PC. Therefore, before downloading any ISO image of a system, or, simply put, an assembly, onto your computer, find out what other users think about it. Better yet, consult with IT specialists (if, of course, there is such an opportunity).

Creating a bootable USB flash drive

In addition to a formatted 6-8 GB flash drive and a Windows 7 distribution in ISO format, you will also need the UltraISO program to burn the USB installation media. And don’t be confused by the fact that this digital product is paid - you don’t need to buy it. The demo version of UltraISO is also suitable for making bootable media. Download it from the developer’s official website - ezbsystems.com/ultraiso/.

After downloading and installing the utility, do the following:

1. Launch UltraISO.

2. In the "File" menu, activate the "Open..." function.

3. Specify the path to the OS image:

go to the section/folder where it is stored;
select it with a mouse click;
click the "Open" button.

4. Open “Boot” (third section of the UltraISO main menu) and click “Burn hard disk image...”.

5. In the settings window, in the “Recording method:” option, set the value to “USB-HDD+”, and then click the “Record” button.

6. When recording is complete, close the program. Make sure that the distribution package is installed on the flash drive (visually view its contents; do not edit or change anything!)

Installing Windows 7 from a USB flash drive

Before installing windows from a flash drive , transfer data that is valuable to you (photos, videos, game saves) from the system partition (drive C, on which the OS is installed) to a logical partition (to drive D or E). Otherwise, they will be destroyed during the installation process.

So, to install windows 7 from a flash drive:

1. Restart your PC and hold down the F8 key until the display shows Select boot device.

Attention! On your PC, this function can be activated by another key (for example F12, F2). Please check this specification in the manufacturer's data sheet.

2. Using the cursor keys, highlight the “USB” item in the menu (boot from a flash drive). Press the "ENTER" key.

4. In the “Windows Installation” window, click on the system partition (on which the OS will be installed). In its column, in the “Type” column, there should be the value “System”.

5. Check again that the settings are correct! And only then launch the “Format” function.

Upon completion of the installation - after the PC automatically reboots - you can begin installing the software.

That's all the instructions, dear reader! As a result of minor efforts, you have a self-made bootable USB flash drive and a “fresh” Windows 7 on your PC. What's bad?!

When purchasing a new computer or laptop, as a rule, in specialized stores, the buyer can immediately take advantage of the paid service of installing an operating system on the purchased PC, as well as some programs, including anti-virus programs.

Working according to the standard scheme, the specialist in this case will install the OS by default, without dividing the hard drive into partitions. As a result, the system local disk will contain the OS, a software package, and all kinds of multimedia files that are completely unrelated to the system.

And when the time comes for the next OS reinstallation, the user may forever lose all data on this computer. Of course, before this you can copy the contents of the disk to another medium, but you need to take into account that the decision to reinstall the OS is not always made in advance, as in the case of a sudden failure, the so-called ““ (complete system failure without the possibility of its recovery).

Therefore, you should learn how to install Windows yourself. In fact, this is not as difficult as it might seem to a beginner, and even more so it will save money, gain the necessary knowledge in working with a computer and protect yourself from troubles with the loss of valuable information on your hard drive.

How to remove windows 7 and install windows 7: necessary steps before installing the OS

So, it is important to emphasize that during the installation process, immediately before changing the OS, all information located on the system local drive C will be erased. Therefore, the necessary data will have to be transferred either to another local drive or to an external storage device (CD, flash drive, removable drive or backup hard drive).

Accordingly, all files displayed on the desktop will also disappear, and the work of previously installed programs will be impossible in the future, since before installing a new OS, drive C must be completely formatted, thereby eliminating not only old data and system errors, but even unwanted, virus software, if any (and often it is viruses that cause system failure; in fact, they are developed for these purposes).

The next step is to have a Windows OS (in this example, Windows 7) recorded as an image on the media. On the question of where to purchase this software:

buy a licensed version at a computer store;
download the OS distribution from the Internet;
rewrite the OS image from another external media or borrow it for a while from friends.

You should immediately determine the bit depth of the operating system: 32 or 64 bit.

To find out which of them is currently installed, go to the Start menu - Computer - right-click on the general background - Properties.

Also, you need to write down or remember the total size of the local drive C and the amount of free space on it. This is done so as not to confuse the partitions with each other when reinstalling the OS.

Then, it is advisable to make sure that disks with drivers for the equipment are available (or driver versions may be stored on the PC, on another local drive).

A driver is the necessary software for launching and further stable operation of special PC equipment: input-output system (monitor; manipulators - keyboard, mouse, gamepad, etc.; sound and video card), external equipment (printer; scanner; uninterruptible power supply unit, etc. .)

If there are no drivers, you can successfully download them from the network even after installing the OS.

In case of reinstalling the OS, the user should know that Windows, recorded as an image on the media, gives the latter the name “bootable” (boot disk or bootable USB flash drive). And, since the operating system image is recorded in a special mode, the entire memory capacity of the bootable media is intended exclusively for Windows, and installation of the system is possible only through displaying and changing the settings of the “heart of the computer” - the BIOS.

The initial stage of installing Windows 7: BIOS settings

If the OS image on the bootable media has already been purchased and the system bit depth is known, then you can begin the installation process.

When working with a boot disk, we use the disk drive; if the OS is on a bootable USB flash drive, plug it into the appropriate USB connector and reboot the system.

As soon as the familiar title image of the motherboard logo appears on the monitor, we begin to repeatedly press a certain key to display the BIOS, most often it is the “Delete” or “F8” key. However, there are other options: “F1”; "F2"; "F3"; "F10"; "F12". In any case, in order not to waste time guessing the right button, just look carefully at the commands indicated at the bottom of the screen when the computer boots, where the “hot keys” for calling not only the BIOS, but also the general system management menu are located.

If the user did not manage to press the BIOS key at the right time, you should wait until the system boots and reboot it again, trying again. A successful press is accompanied by a special sound signal and displays the general BIOS menu on the monitor screen.

So, the BIOS menu has opened, now you need to select the “Advanced BIOS” item.

In the next window we find a list of priorities when loading the PC system, as well as connection statuses of individual equipment. In this list, it is important to select the primary priority column “First Boot Device”, opposite which is written “Hard Disk” (hard drive), that is, the settings determine that when the system boots, priority reading of information occurs through the hard drive data, in particular the registry and local drive WITH.

But in order for the PC system, bypassing loading the old copy of Windows, to start scanning and processing information from the boot disk, for this you will have to change the primary priority of reading data. We replace the “Hard Disk” request with “CDROM” if the image of the new copy of the OS is written to a CD and to “USB-HDD” if we are installing the operating system from a flash drive.

As for the older BIOS version, the changes in the settings are almost the same, although the overall appearance of the interface is different.

There is also an “Advanced” menu here, and switching the priorities for the primary reading of information is in the “Boot” menu.

Selecting a volume to install Windows 7

Now you should wait for the Windows 7 installation menu to appear while the system copies data from the boot disk.

As soon as it appears, select “Install Windows 7”;

architecture (bit size) - in accordance with the currently available one (or based on the performance of the processor and video card during initial installation);

installation type - complete;

We accept the terms of the license agreement.

In the menu that appears with partitions for installing Windows, by volume type and size, we find the one that is currently the local system drive C (just for this purpose it was necessary to record the volume of this disk before installation).

Let's start formatting it: select the required volume and click on the "Disk Setup" - "Format" button - in the warning message, click "Ok" and "Next".

Provided that the OS is being installed for the first time, in the menu with partitions, only one of the main volumes will be indicated with a size equal to the volume of the entire hard drive. In this case, using the “Disk Settings” button, you will need to delete this partition and in its place create a new one with a size of 100 GB, which will later become a system local disk. You should install a copy of Windows on it. The remaining large part of the hard disk capacity will fill the niche of another volume, which we will also create next to the first. Thus, we were able to divide the hard drive into partitions.

When you click on the “Next” button, the automatic process of unpacking OS files and installing components and updates will begin, which will take approximately 30 minutes until completion. Each further stage of installation will be accompanied by a reboot of the PC to save and accept the data.

Completing the installation of OS Windows 7

At the final stage, before the new copy of Windows 7 is displayed on the desktop screen for the first time, in the system settings windows that appear, you will need to enter: user name; OC product key; your account password, optional; interface language and keyboard layout. Next, the system will reboot again and then the desktop will open in a low resolution of 800*600 pixels. After this, you can remove the boot disk (or bootable USB flash drive).

Then, in order for all components and system updates to take effect, we find a shortcut with the Windows activator on the desktop and open it.

After activating the OS, we reboot the system manually and call the BIOS again, where we return the priority to the “Hard Disk” in the reverse order; save the changes using the “F10” key and confirm the actions with the “Y” and “Enter” buttons.

So, the new operating system is installed on the PC, all that remains is to connect the necessary drivers and update them to more recent versions via the Internet.

How and where to download the original image of Windows 7/8.1/10 can be read and viewed.

Preparing a flash drive using Windows 7 USB/DVD download tool

Select the language and click Download.

Install the downloaded file.

Launch Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool from a shortcut on the desktop.

Graphic or EFI BIOS are easier. It is possible to set the boot order in the main window in the field Boot Priority using . Devices marked UEFI are flash drives. : two flash drives - one bootable and the other for saving BIOS pictures with the FAT32 file system.

It is also necessary to check the operating mode of the drives. Install or depending on BIOS. The setup was completed successfully.

Installing Windows 7/8.1/10 from a USB flash drive

Important! All information located on the disk on which it is installed will be IRREVERSIBLY deleted. Therefore, make a copy of important data in advance. Reinstalling Windows 7.