How to install Windows 8 from an USB Drive?

Posted by Admin
The much anticipated Windows 8 Operating system which was seen discussed and highlighted in most of the tech sites even before its release was recently being leaked on the internet and is available for download through some torrent sites or file hosting portals. The said leaked download files represented the Windows 8 Build 7850 Milestone 1 which is the official version but is now distributed illegally through torrent trackers which seems to be seeding it since a few weeks back as of now. As it is now publicly available through the medium of internet, it has indeed made way to understand lot of its features and other technical aspects but being a M1 release only, this build is not the final one to come out officially and there may be many changes being incorporated in the time being.

Here, we do not encourage people to download it via torrents or any other sources as it is not worth to so considering the fact that it is not a final and stable version and also not legal to do so. However, the reason to bring up this post was to let our readers know that Windows 8 can be installed from a USB Drive when the same is officially released by Microsoft. So, here are some easy steps that you can follow to learn in advance of how it can be done so that you need not waste more time when you get the official version and can readily proceed with getting started and exploring all the new features included therein.


System Requirements to install Windows 8 from an USB Drive


In order to be able to install the Windows 8 operating system using the method described below, you will need to satisfy few standard requirements. Firstly, you will need to have the Setup DVD Disc or ISO file of Windows 8 ready for use. As this is a tutorial to help you install the said OS in a USB Drive, hence you will need a removable USB Drive such as flash drives having storage capacity not less than 4GB in order to be compatible with the process and hold the data contained in the setup file. In case of ISO file, you must have a good disc mounting program like Daemon Tools to mount the ISO image available. You must also ensure that you are using either a Vista or Windows 7 compatible computer configuration with either of the two already installed on the computer.

Steps to install Windows 8 from an USB Drive or Pendrive/FlashDrive


  1. First of all, you will need to attach your intended USB Flash Drive or Pendrive to the computer concerned. If it contains any data, you may consider to store it somewhere else as a backup so as not to lose them during the process.

  2. Now, open the Command Prompt in Admin mode by clicking on Start Button --> Type CMD on the search box in the menu --> right-click on the CMD.exe entry and select the Run as Administrator option available therein.

  3. Now as the Command Prompt window appears, type the command 'DISKPART' without the quotes and hit the [Enter Key]. The resulting screen will look like the following:-

  4. Your next task will be to identify the Disk Number of the USB Drive that you have attached into the computer and this can be done by feeding the command 'LIST DISK' and hitting the return key to commit it. You can see the results which would be something similar to the screenshot given below. In case of this example, the pendrive used is of 16GB in capacity and is shown as Disk 2 in the image below.

  5. Now, you will need to execute a number of commands such as :-

    SELECT DISK 2
CLEAN
CREATE PARTITION PRIMARY
SELECT PARTITION 1
ACTIVE
FORMAT FS=NTFS
ASSIGN
EXIT

    The output after using the aforementioned list of commands can be seen in the figure given below and can be proceeded in the similar manner.

  6. You can now minimize the Command Prompt window to the taskbar for the timebeing. We are now left with the task of loading the bootmgr into the said USB Drive which can be done from the setup file from either a DVD disc or ISO Image, whichever is available. Now whether you are using the DVD or ISO Image (Mounted with Daemon Tools or similar Tools), you will need to identify the disk letter of the setup media. If the same is in I: drive for example, then again restore the Command window and type 'I:>CD BOOT' without the quotes and execute it.

  7. After executing the above command, you can proceed by typing 'I:boot>BOOTSECT.EXE /NT60 K:' and executing the command by hitting [Enter Key]. The sequence of using the commands can be found on the following image which will give you some idea of how it is done.

  8. Now, after accomplishing the above steps you can proceed with copying the rest of the contents from the Windows 8 setup media to the USB flash drive. After doing so, it will be ready to be booted and you can restart your computer to boot it and perform the installation of Windows 8 from the USB Drive. But on general note, you will need your BIOS to be configured to allow the flash drive to be the first boot option which will then let you in to the installation wizard and you can continue therefrom to have the latest Windows 8 onto your computer.


So, these are the simple steps that you can follow to install the Windows 8 operating system from a removable media like pendrives and hence is an easy and faster method to accomplish the task. It is also helpful for installing the said OS in devices like Netbooks which do not accompany a DVD Drive and hence USB Drives remains the best options other than trying out external DVD Drive for the same.