User installs Windows Vista from USB flash drive

by Darren Murph, posted Mar 1st 2007 at 11:22AM

Let's get one thing straight on this right from the start: this methodology makes little sense if you've got exactly one machine to install Vista on, as you'll probably spend more time making your USB flash drive bootable than it'd actually take to get your single machine up and running. So, to those of you who are staring down that daunting line of machines that you're fully responsible for, and can't imagine pulling yet another 18-hour day just to get Vista on every single one, here's a way to cut out early without being reprimanded. Joining the list of other high-profile applications that are better booted from a flash drive than CD / DVD or external hard drive, Windows Vista has now been figured out, and the process looks to be relatively painless; just snag a 4GB (or so) high-speed flash drive, format it, and copy Vista's DVD-ROM content over. Of course, you want to be real sure you get all the command lines right, so if you're seriously pondering doing this yourself, do yourself a favor and hit the read link for the expert's take, and watch each successive installation go from 20-minutes or more to "around 5 to 10" -- and leave it in your machine when you're finished for a bit of that ReadyBoost advantage, cool?

[Via EverythingUSB]

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops, Storage

Tags: diy, flash drive, FlashDrive, hack, how-to, install, install vista, InstallVista, jump drive, JumpDrive, microsoft, software, thumb drive, ThumbDrive, usb, usb boot, usb bootable, usb drive, usb key, UsbBoot, UsbBootable, UsbDrive, UsbKey, vista

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Neutral

Matt @ Mar 1st 2007 11:26AM

Damn where can i get a 20 gb flash drive like him. That thing is gonna die soon.

group.blogspot.com/index.html

Neutral

Scott @ Mar 1st 2007 12:07PM

This should accredited to this blog entry - http://kurtsh.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!DA410C7F7E038D!1665.entry - not the weird blog cache or whatever it is at otgnet.com.

Great story, still! I love saving time.

Neutral

NHAnimator @ Mar 1st 2007 12:13PM

This is more valuable than the average user will know.

Neutral

coyotej @ Mar 1st 2007 12:28PM

I think the reverse is more interesting: install Windows Vista to a [bootable] USB disk drive. It's been done before on XP (but requires hacking the install CD contents to allow USB boot).

Neutral

B1663R @ Mar 1st 2007 1:17PM

Very nice, I will do this when vista becomes viable.

Neutral

Richard Lai @ Mar 1st 2007 2:08PM

Anyone up for trying to do the same with Mac OSX86?

Neutral

Mike on a Bike @ Mar 1st 2007 2:29PM

This article is too technical for the home user and anyone who is in IT and is half-way intelligent has heard of drive imaging software...setup one PC, clone it, activate Windows. Done.

This article is for hobbyists and tinkerers...

Neutral

Marius @ Mar 1st 2007 2:32PM

And how long did it take to copy the Vista DVD to the USB Drive?
Probably more than 20 minutes!

Neutral

Scott @ Mar 1st 2007 8:45PM

The point is that the tinkerers and hobbyists as "Mike on a Bike" describes the group that would be interested will likely install Vista more than once. Heck, if you install this twice you've already saved time. And it's just plain cool.

Neutral

blackhonda @ Mar 1st 2007 5:44PM

LOL Marius

Neutral

trimbandit @ Mar 1st 2007 6:45PM

"I think the reverse is more interesting: install Windows Vista to a [bootable] USB disk drive. It's been done before on XP (but requires hacking the install CD contents to allow USB boot)."

Umm, that's what winPE is for dude

Neutral

EBG @ Mar 1st 2007 7:53PM

Kinda out of context, but I have the same type of USB drive that's in the picture.

Neutral

Spencer @ Mar 1st 2007 8:01PM

This is very similar to installing a Microsoft OS form the hard drive.

format c:
c:
mkdir i386
copy d:\i386\*.* c:\i386\
cd i386
winnt

The only difference is you're copying i386 to flash media for the speed advantage, instead of to the hard drive so you won't need the disc when changing OS features.

Neutral