Install W-7 from a pendrive ?

[handcuff36]

Hello.

Yesterday I wanted to install W-7 on a desktop, slipped in the proper DVD and after a while, I got a red LED on the device. This machine has no DVD-ROM or Writer.

Tomorrow, I will copy the DVD to a pendrive and try to install from it. Question : Will it ? Will the USB ports be lost in the first few steps of the install ? Is the install coded to look for a DVD device and not else ? This will be fun.

I had an old Thinkpad whose CD went south and I was able to load all that I wanted from a copy to a pendrive, but and a big but, there was an OS already on it, W2K. This attempt tomorrow will be to load an OS !

Taking bets now ! Jean.

[Tarbo]

http://www.intowindows.com/how-to-in...working-guide/

The critical hurdle is if the BIOS can be set to boot from USB, which most can be these days...less likely the older the desktop is.

[Medico]

There are numerous articles on doing just this via a Google Search. MS Technet also shows how to prepare and load the Win 7 installation files on your flash drive. Then as Byron states your PC must be set to check your USB ports before DVD or HD to allow the Win 7 installation to proceed from the flash drive. Good luck. Once loaded, buy a new DVD for the PC.

[handcuff36]

Ted and Byron, greets.

Well, it was done. I am now typing at you both on the P4 that just got upgraded to W-7. It was a bit of a struggle but done ! I could not do it from a pendrive, I could not set the machine to boot from USB. I then copied the whole DVD, get this, to a slave HD on it via the LAN. Once done, it was kid's play to click on Setup.exe and voila.

Game not over yet. I had to get on the router and had to try a few ethernet cards, the one in it was not seen by W-7, I searched in my reserve and finally found one that worked, I am on it now at 10/100 to write this. Some more tweeking to do still. See you later.

Jean.

[Medico]

Good for you. Perhaps next time the PC will have a USB option in the boot order. Nice method to get it done.

[Tarbo]

Yes, good method. I was going to suggest an ISO of the Win7 DVD mounted in a virtual DVD drive but that would require making the ISO if not already on hand and installing virtual drive software if not already present.

With a LAN present there's also the possibility of mapping an optic drive from another system and installing that way, but if the local LAN card becomes inoperable as Win 7 is installed, that method may fail unless everything needed to complete the install is read from the DVD before the LAN card stops working.

[handcuff36]

Hello to both of you.

I said that there was tweeking left to be done, there is. Keeping in mind that this machine is a P4, long in the tooth. The video is a bit of a pain, it will only give me 1024 X 768 and the circles are elongated right-left. I will be looking for a better vid-card.

I also got O2K installed and the path to all my .docs too. So, it is a workable machine, it will be a stand-by one. I was curious to see if this could be done, I have used one key out of three on this family DVD. I will instal one more on my sister's machine running Vista already, this could ??? be easier.

Hey, I just resolved the 1024 X 768 mode by going to 88% zoom level. Quite nice now.

Thanks for the moral support.

[Medico]

Win 7 does seem more behaved on older hardware. Just keep the background apps to a minimum to get a machine that responds as quickly as possible. Good luck with it all.