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59 Responses

• Doug says:

  January 26, 2009 at 4:01 pm

  Unsure of what I am doing incorrectly, but when I get to here “select volume X (X is the drive number of the USB flash drive)
  active”

  It wont allow me to make it active. I get this “There is no partition selected. Please select a partition and try again.”

  Now, unlike your screen shot where the status of your USB drive is healthy, while mine is healthy in diskmgmt, it will not show.

  Reply
• Doug says:

  January 26, 2009 at 4:33 pm

  ugh, sorry, a good rule for me, which I fail to do at times. READ first. That was a vista instruction, and I was using XP

  Reply
• Exsecrabilus says:

  January 27, 2009 at 10:21 am

  How do we do this under Ubuntu?

  Reply
• IronSheik says:

  January 31, 2009 at 10:51 pm

  I get this error in the command prompt:
  C:\Users\Roy\Desktop\win-7\boot>bootsect /nt60 f:
  This version of C:\Users\Roya Neissani\Desktop\win-7\boot\bootsect.exe is not co
  mpatible with the version of Windows you’re running. Check your computer’s syste
  m information to see whether you need a x86 (32-bit) or x64 (64-bit) version of
  the program, and then contact the software publisher.

  Is this a result of downloading the 64 bit version of windows7 or having the 32 but version of vista home premium? How can i get this working?

  Reply

  

  Damien Reply:
  February 1st, 2009 at 7:08 am

  If you are using a 32-bit machine/OS, the above method only work for 32-bit Windows 7. If you have 64-bit Win 7, you will need to use 64-bit machine/OS to get it working.

  Reply

  

  tuan nguyen Reply:
  February 16th, 2009 at 9:28 am

  helme DAMIEN !
  DO YOU HELP ME ? THREE STEP IS USE FOR VISTA ? OR XP ?

  {{ Select the USB disk.

  select disk X (X is the drive number of the USB flash drive)
  List the current partition. Record the partition number.

  list partition
  Select the current partition and make it active.

  select partition Y (Y is the partition
  }}

  Reply

  

  Damien Reply:
  February 16th, 2009 at 9:44 am

  The three steps are meant for Vista.

  

  JD Reply:
  September 13th, 2009 at 1:36 am

  You can use a 32 bit os to create a bootable 64 bit iso. Instead of useing the wizard in the WinToFlash Prgram i went to tasks and selceted the transfer windows 7 setup to flash on my XP machine runing 32 bit, and created the install usb stick that worked with the 64 bit iso

  Reply
• Obsidian says:

  February 3, 2009 at 5:52 pm

  mbrwiz /disk=X /active=X (X is Disk Number of your USB Drive)

  This is incorrect, /active is a boolean value taking 1 or 0. So it should read like:

  mbrwiz /disk=X /active=1 (X is Disk Number of your USB Drive)

  Reply
• Artemis says:

  February 6, 2009 at 3:58 pm

  No matter what I do I can’t get the disk to show up after typing disk list. I’ve gone through all the steps before that at least three times to no prevail including changing it to what Obsidian said.

  Reply

  

  Damien Reply:
  February 7th, 2009 at 1:31 am

  Are you using Win XP or Vista? If you are on Win Vista, you don’t need to use MBRWizard

  Reply

  

  mina Reply:
  September 9th, 2009 at 7:09 pm

  if i’m using win xp
  what should i do ???
  please answer

  Reply
• Roch says:

  February 6, 2009 at 9:51 pm

  Hello,

  My operating system at the time I tried the above steps was
  Windows 7 Home Premium Beta(with no key I might add).

  The final error said:

  Could not map drive partitions to the associated volume device objects:
  Access is denied.

  What did I do wrong?

  Reply

  

  Damien Reply:
  February 7th, 2009 at 1:33 am

  Is there Windows 7 Home Premium beta??? I thought Microsoft only release the Ultimate version of public testing?

  Reply
• Roch says:

  February 9, 2009 at 1:29 am

  According to the Torrent website demonoid.com this guy with nickname “djdanster” posted Windows 7 Home Premium Build 7000 BETA direct from Microsoft Connect.

  Not sure if its fake or not. The first comment of a user asked the question “Is this for real?”.

  According to another torrent by “orbit30″, it seems there will be 4 types of windows 7[home basic, home premium, business, and ultimate], because I saw a screenshot.

  Ofcourse, this is a torrent website…not sure how reliable this information is! Demonoid cannot be held responsible for what its users post, or any other actions of its users.
  ————————————————————
  So..I will try to do all the above steps again that you mention on windows XP, when I have time.

  Thanks again Damien

  Reply
• Noemi says:

  February 26, 2009 at 5:04 am

  Thanks for the instructions.
  It worked perfectly! :)

  Reply
• Diane36D says:

  February 26, 2009 at 5:50 pm

  I took the easy way out. I created the DVD so I would have a “permanent” copy and then just copied that to a 4GB flash drive. I plugged it into a a netbook with an Atom processor and 1GB of RAM and ran setup. It worked perfectly. The performance scores were, as expected, not outstanding, but they were in line with what I expected.

  Reply
• Mike says:

  March 13, 2009 at 9:28 pm

  Thanks a bunch for the instructions! Worked perfectly!

  Reply
• kwchan says:

  March 14, 2009 at 2:01 pm

  mbrwiz /disk=X /active=X (X is Disk Number of your USB Drive)

  it should be:

  mbrwiz /disk=X /active=1

  Reply

  

  Damien Reply:
  March 15th, 2009 at 11:00 am

  Thanks. I have amended it

  Reply
• vespertilio says:

  March 22, 2009 at 9:37 am

  it was really really useful. stumbleupon thumbs up!

  Reply
• James says:

  March 30, 2009 at 7:10 pm

  Thanks, Great post very easy to follow, I have not tested it yet, waiting for the files to finish copying.
  Note: I did not extract the file from the ISO I just mounted using daemon tools.

  Question: Do I really need all the files on the DVD or just the boot.wim? From my understanding the Boot.wim is the only file needed. I will test and report my findings.

  Thanks again.

  Reply

  

  James Reply:
  March 31st, 2009 at 3:36 pm

  At first I was unable to get this to work, so I did some research and this is how I go it to work.

  I did a few things different, first after selecting the disk I did a clean, then create partition primary and then select partition, after making the partition active I did a format fs=fat32 and then assign and exit. Finally I ran bootsect /nt60 X: (X is the drive latter of your USB drive ) and then copied the contents of my Windows 7 directory to the usb drive.

  I am going to experiment with some of the files in the windows 7 directory and see if I cant make this fit on a 2GB thumb drive.

  Reply

  

  James Reply:
  March 31st, 2009 at 3:48 pm

  I got it to work after I modified a few of your steps.

  1. diskpart
  2. select disk 1 (assuming disk 1 is your usb drive, make sure you use list disk if you are not sure.
  3. clean – New step
  4. create partition – New step
  5. Select Partition 1
  6. active
  7. format fs=fat32 – new step
  8. assign – new step
  9. exit

  Then I opened a command prompt and went to the windows 7 directory and run bootsect /nt60 X: (X is the drive latter of your USB drive )

  finally copy the windows 7 directory over to the usb drive.

  I dont know if this will work for anyone else but it worked for me.

  Thanks again for the great post.

  Reply
• greg says:

  April 5, 2009 at 8:23 am

  I have an 8gb kingston data traveler I would like to put other apps and files on besides the Win7 installation ones. Do I create separate folders, partitions, or just copy them in alongside the Win7 files?

  Reply

  

  Damien Reply:
  April 5th, 2009 at 3:33 pm

  It doesn’t matter whether you store them in separate folders or partition. It won’t affect the boot up and installation.

  Reply
• seanbperiod says:

  April 12, 2009 at 8:31 am

  Hello-

  Thanks for this post- I followed everything- however I’m already running Windows 7 7057 and I’m unable to boot from the USB drive, as I only get a black screen. My machine is capable of booting from USB. Are there any different steps to take when doing this under Windows 7?

  Reply
• greg says:

  April 15, 2009 at 2:01 am

  I have Win7 bootable on Kingston 8gb flash with my other apps/files. I would like to put GWScan 5.12 bootable and Memtest86 on the same stick and allow them to boot also. Is there a simple way to do this? Perhaps a more generalized bootsect that would work for any of these 3 bootable programs/installers if I just take their files out of a storage folder into the root of the drive? Another method? Thanks.

  Reply
• raja baja says:

  May 2, 2009 at 4:51 am

  hey above not working for 64bit. I downloaded 7077 x64 bit release dvd iso and tried to make bootable as shown above for USB but it says no compatible version. 32 bit and 64bit issue.
  i have tried on both WIndows XP sp3 and Windows 7 build 7000.
  both have same prob. (both installed systems are 32bit ==> x86)’
  what to do reply

  Reply
• michael says:

  May 6, 2009 at 12:25 am

  it came up “could not map drive partitions to the associated volume access is denied”???

  Reply

  

  Rory Reply:
  May 17th, 2009 at 7:23 am

  Just run the Command Prompt as Administrator

  Reply
• Fith says:

  May 6, 2009 at 8:57 am

  **Win7RC 64BIT!**

  The 64bit bootsect.exe wont work in a 32bit enviroment. You will need a 32bit version.

  I had downloaded both Win7RC 32bit and 64bit versions. So I just used the 32bit bootsect.exe with the “bootsect /nt60″ switch to set the usb drive bootable. Then I copied the 64bit files accross.

  **Non Booting USB**

  I was still unable to boot from usb despite setting 1st, 2nd and 3rd Boot Devices correctly in the Bios. Even when I set all boot devices to cancel, it still booted into WinXP!?!?

  I then investigated a BIOS option called “Hard Disk Boot Priority” that appeared above my 1st, 2nd and 3rd Boot Device settings. This option allowed me to change the physical drive order that the BIOS checks through. With the USB stick plugged in, this became an option. When I set the USB as the first device, the USB booted in to Win7 install.

  **NB**
  I am using a Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3 motherboard.

  I have not installed Win7 yet as I am still backing up files. However I see no reason that the method above will screw up a 64bit install.

  If you do not have a 32bit Vista or Win7 disc / iso to get at a 32bit bootsect.exe, I suggest “googling” bootsect.exe and downloading just that bit.

  Reply

  

  Phil Reply:
  May 11th, 2009 at 10:15 pm

  I am attempting this scheme with a Seagate FreeAgent Go USB drive.

  No need to format the drive, as it came formatted with NTFS. However, I decided to shrink the original 250GB partition to leave room for a small bootable partition.

  From WIN7 Beta 64, I created the new partition, formatted it NTFS, made it active. Used Bootsect from the downloaded image, and it said it was successful. Copied all files to the new partition.

  I set the hard drive sequence to make the GO drive first and rebooted.

  Still boots from my internal hard drive. Any ideas?

  Reply
• dave says:

  May 6, 2009 at 8:31 pm

  Thank you, Damien! Worked great :)

  Reply
• Anfanglir says:

  May 15, 2009 at 5:46 pm

  Hi!
  found this page through google, good instructions! worked without any problems!

  regards / Anfanglir

  Reply
• Phil says:

  May 16, 2009 at 12:51 pm

  I was never able to get my mobo to boot the FreeAgent Go. Maybe this only works with no OS on the internal hard drive.

  I got what I wanted simply by invoking Setup in the extracted files. Installed RC into a newly formatted partition and it created a dual boot with Win7 Beta. The dual boot showed two “Windows 7″ entries, but I fixed that using bcdedit.

  Reply
• Andrew says:

  May 16, 2009 at 5:04 pm

  When I boot it, it said BOOTMGR is missing.
  What do I do?

  Reply

  

  Sam Reply:
  June 3rd, 2009 at 3:58 pm

  I’ve got the same problem

  I created the bootable USB drive on PC 1

  When I try to use it to boot PC2 (my netbook) it says BOOTMGR is missing.

  Reply

  

  Adham Reply:
  August 18th, 2009 at 5:28 pm

  I had the same problem, till I discovered that I missed the last step, which “copy all the files from the Windows 7 folder to the USB flash drive.”

  Cheers.

  Reply
• khanh says:

  May 17, 2009 at 5:26 am

  i did everything as instructions but when i booted from usb it said “invalid or damaged partitions” (???) im using imation 8gb T_T any help

  Reply
• Tim says:

  May 21, 2009 at 9:28 pm

  if that method didnt work…

  this one works on vista and XP

  if you just ignore the windows 7 part this gives very detailed instructions on how to do it

  http://ultimatemini.blogspot.com/

  Reply
• Wayne says:

  May 25, 2009 at 1:20 am

  Thank you! I wont say it worked without a hitch but it worked and I learned from it so its all good. Thanks again

  Reply
• Sage says:

  July 18, 2009 at 5:59 am

  im havin problems at the very last step :(. I also named my windows 7 folder win-7 just like you did, to make it easier. Instead of getting a nice cmd like you, i get:

  “could not open the volume root directory: the parameter is incorrect. no bootcode was successfully updated.”

  Reply

  

  Damien Reply:
  July 20th, 2009 at 1:46 am

  1) Which version of Windows are you using?
  2) Did you open the command prompt as root?
  3) Did you make sure that the file path to the Win-7 folder is set correctly?

  Reply
• QueueNut says:

  August 1, 2009 at 4:19 pm

  Very good article. Thank you.

  Followed your procedure to a “T” using a 4 GB Corsair USB flash drive as the target, from Windows XP Pro.

  When attempting to boot from that device, the boot sector is found but single error message “Cannot load operating system” is displayed on an otherwise blank monitor screen.

  One difference observed afterward from MBRwiz, the USB flash drive has a start sector of 32 rather than 63 (would like to have inserted screen shot from MBRwiz). Can you recommend an internals-level description of the boot sequence from a low level?

  Reply
• TJKIZCARR says:

  September 3, 2009 at 12:24 am

  Hi im having problems when i get to the last part before you copy it over to your flash drive.. this is what i says…..

  Microsoft Windows [Version 6.0.6001]
  Copyright (c) 2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

  C:\Users\TJ>cd desktop/windows 7

  C:\Users\TJ\Desktop\Windows 7>cd boot

  C:\Users\TJ\Desktop\Windows 7\boot>boot /nt60 H:
  ‘boot’ is not recognized as an internal or external command,
  operable program or batch file.

  C:\Users\TJ\Desktop\Windows 7\boot>bootsect /nt60 H:
  Target volumes will be updated with BOOTMGR compatible bootcode.

  Could not map drive partitions to the associated volume device objects:
  Access is denied.

  C:\Users\TJ\Desktop\Windows 7\boot>

  Reply
• TJKIZCARR says:

  September 3, 2009 at 12:26 am

  Hi im having problems doing this right before the copy all the files to flash drive…this is what it says…

  Microsoft Windows [Version 6.0.6001]
  Copyright (c) 2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

  C:\Users\TJ>cd desktop/windows 7

  C:\Users\TJ\Desktop\Windows 7>cd boot

  C:\Users\TJ\Desktop\Windows 7\boot>boot /nt60 H:
  ‘boot’ is not recognized as an internal or external command,
  operable program or batch file.

  C:\Users\TJ\Desktop\Windows 7\boot>bootsect /nt60 H:
  Target volumes will be updated with BOOTMGR compatible bootcode.

  Could not map drive partitions to the associated volume device objects:
  Access is denied.

  C:\Users\TJ\Desktop\Windows 7\boot>

  Reply

  

  QueueNut Reply:
  September 7th, 2009 at 10:24 pm

  I used the error message you specified (without “access denied”) and found this: http://kmwoley.com/blog/?p=345
  which suggests either bootsect is being executed from the USB drive that you are trying to write to (run bootsect from the disk or CD, wherever bootsect is, but not from the USB drive) or bootsect is not being run as administrator.

  Reply
• TJKIZCARR says:

  September 3, 2009 at 12:28 am

  Hi im having problems at the part right bfr you copy the files to your flash drive…this is what it says…help please gettin angry…lmao

  C:\Users\TJ\Desktop\Windows 7\boot>bootsect /nt60 H:
  Target volumes will be updated with BOOTMGR compatible bootcode.

  Could not map drive partitions to the associated volume device objects:
  Access is denied.

  Reply
• Ali says:

  September 3, 2009 at 3:12 pm

  I was able to follow all instructions without a hitch (using Win-7 32-bit. Did formatting on XP OS).
  Now when i try to install Win-7 on the new machine (has Centrino Duo processor) it appears as if it’s installing just fine, but as soon as the machine reboots to complete the installation, the install starts all over again from the beginning!
  Did i do something wrong? Should i start from scratch and try again?

  Reply
• GSC says:

  October 5, 2009 at 4:50 pm

  Hi Guys,

  I’ve tried this in both XP and Vista now and both times i get an error when trying to boot:

  “Error reading bootloader” (Or something similar)

  Its complains about the file boot\bcd.

  Being as i’ve had this problem on both OS’ i assume its me doing something wrong. Anyone have any ideas?

  Much appreciated.

  Reply

  

  Damien Reply:
  October 9th, 2009 at 4:50 am

  Try using WinToFlash – http://maketecheasier.com/updated-boot-and-install-windows-7-from-usb-flash-drive/2009/09/12

  Reply
• Ananda says:

  October 28, 2009 at 9:49 am

  Great job, thanks man, it worked perfect :-)

  Reply
• Kevin says:

  October 29, 2009 at 12:27 am

  The vista process doesn’t work because the path is wrong.
  C:\Documents and Settings\Kevin Whetstone\Desktop\Win7>cd boot
  The system cannot find the path specified.
  C:\Documents and Settings\Kevin Whetstone\Desktop\Win7>cd boot.images
  C:\Documents and Settings\Kevin Whetstone\Desktop\Win7\boot.images> /nt60E
  ‘/nt60E’ is not recognized as an internal or external command,
  operable program or batch file
  0 E:
  ‘bootsect’ is not recognized as an internal or external command,
  operable program or batch file.

  Reply
• JohJoh says:

  October 31, 2009 at 5:21 am

  Try putting “s around directories and connected commands that have spaces.

  Example:
  “C:\Documents and Settings\Kevin Whetstone\Desktop\Win7>cd boot”

  or
  “C:\Documents and Settings\Kevin Whetstone\Desktop\Win7\boot.images> /nt60E”

  Good luck :P

  Reply
• JohJoh says:

  October 31, 2009 at 5:25 am

  *Sorry for double post*

  Or simply move to a location that the directory does NOT have spaces in it, such as C:\Win7 or something.

  Reply
• Sina says:

  November 4, 2009 at 6:51 pm

  I did do it well, thanks

  Reply
• jiimy says:

  November 9, 2009 at 8:06 am

  Hi!

  I got this error:
  —————–
  C:\Win-7\boot>bootsect.exe /nt60 g:
  Target volumes will be updated with BOOTMGR compatible bootcode.

  G: (\\?\Volume{8f38d949-cd26-11de-acb9-001a4b634685})

  Could not open the volume root directory:
  The parameter is incorrect.

  No bootcode was successfully updated.
  —————-

  and also when following steps “format fs=ntfs” it doesn’t show successful and shows list of commands as if my command was wrong.

  Please help Thanks!

  Reply
• Gsmith says:

  November 16, 2009 at 10:05 pm

  Thanks for the instructions. they worked very well. one note, even if you are logged in as the administator, you will get access denied when doing bootsect. I had to still open CMD as administrator (right click CMD off Accessories and open as administator

  thanks again!

  Reply