USB Bootable Vista Installation Flash Thumb Drive

How to Create a Vista Installation USB Key​

   Information

This will show you how to create a USB flash key drive that you can boot from to install Vista with.

   Tip

If the USB flash drive is of sufficient capacity, say 8GB, then after copying the Vista installation DVD onto it, you can create a new folder (ex: Device Drivers) in the USB key and place all of your latest driver installation files in it. This way you will have them handy to manually install the drivers after installing Vista from the USB key.

   Warning

• You can only create a 32-bit Vista USB key from within a 32-bit OS (ex: Vista or XP).
• You can only create a 64-bit Vista USB key from within a 64-bit OS (ex: Vista or XP).
• The USB key needs to be at least 4 GB in size.
• You must have a Retail Vista installation DVD, not a OEM Vista recovery CD.
• This will delete everything on the USB key. Be sure to save anything that you do not want to lose on it somewhere else.
• Before installing Vista from the USB key, you will need to:
  • Enable Legacy USB storage detect in the BIOS
  • Temporarily set the USB FDD (USB Flash Disk Drive) to be listed right before the hard drive (or partition) that you will be installing Vista on in the hard drive Boot Priority order list in the BIOS.
  • After you are finished installing Vista from the USB key, make the Vista hard drive (or partition) listed first in the hard drive Boot Priority order list in the BIOS.

METHOD ONE

Create Vista Installation USB Key using Vista ISO

   Note

You will need to have a Vista ISO file to do this option.

If you like, you can use the Create image file from disc feature of the free program ImgBurn with a retail Vista installation DVD to create a Vista ISO file.

If you do not have a retail Vista installation DVD, then you can download and create an official Vista ISO file using the tutorial here: Installation & Upgrade - Vista ISO - Download and Create Installation DVD or USB

1. Download and install the trial version of UltraIso.​

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2. Plug in your USB key.​

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3. Right click on the UltraIso shortcut, and click on Run as administrator.​

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4. Click on File (menu bar) and Open. (See screenshot below)​

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5. Navigate to your Vista ISO file and select it and click on the Open button. (See screenshot below)​

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6. In the bottom Local pane, select your USB flash key drive. (See screenshot below)​

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7. Click on Bootable (menu bar) and Write Disk Image. (See screenshot above)​

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8. Make sure the locations are correct, and check the Verify box and click on the Write button. (See screenshot below)​

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9. Click on Yes to confirm writing to the USB drive.​

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10. When it's done, click on the Close button. (See screenshot below)​

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11. You now have a Vista installation USB flash key drive. ​

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METHOD TWO

Manually Create Vista Installation USB Key

1. Plug the USB key in.​

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2. If AutoPlay opens a pop-up for the USB key, then just close it.​

NOTE: Make note of what the drive size is for the USB key for step 6 below. You can also open Computer (step 21) to see what the drive size is to. For example, mine is 3920 MB.​

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3. Open an elevated command prompt.​

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4. In the elevated command prompt, type diskpart and press Enter. (See screenshot below)​

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5. In the elevated command prompt, type list disk and press Enter. (See screenshot below)​

NOTE: Make note of what disk # your USB key is listed as for step 6 below. You can also look for the drive size (step 2) for the USB key to help ID the disk number. For example, mine is listed as Disk 1 here for the 3920 MB disk.​

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6. In the elevated command prompt, type select disk # (your USB disk #) and press Enter. (See screenshot below)​

NOTE: You can also look for the drive size (step 2) for the USB key to help ID the disk number. For example, my USB key is listed as Disk 1, so I would type select disk 1 and press Enter.​

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7. In the elevated command prompt, type clean and press Enter. (See screenshot below)​

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8. In the elevated command prompt, type create partition primary and press Enter. (See screenshot below)​

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9. In the elevated command prompt, type select partition 1 and press Enter. (See screenshot below)​

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10. In the elevated command prompt, type active and press Enter. (See screenshot below)​

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11. In the elevated command prompt, type format fs=ntfs and press Enter. (See screenshot below)​

NOTE: This may take a few moments to finish formatting the USB key.​

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12. If AutoPlay opens a pop-up for the USB key, then just close it. ​

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13. In the elevated command prompt, type assign and press Enter. (See screenshot below)​

NOTE: This will assign a new drive letter to the USB key. Make note of the new USB drive letter for step 19 below. For example, mine is now H.​

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14. If AutoPlay opens a pop-up for the USB key, then just close it.​

NOTE: Make note of the new USB drive letter for step 18 below. For example, mine is now H.​

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15. In the elevated command prompt, type exit and press Enter. (See screenshot below)​

NOTE: This will exit you from DiskPart from step 4.​

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16. Insert your retail Vista installation DVD into the DVD drive.​

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17. If AutoPlay opens a pop-up for the retail Vista installation DVD, then just close it.​

NOTE: Make note of what the drive letter is for the DVD drive that has the retail Vista installation DVD in for step 19 below. You can also open Computer (step 21) to see what the drive letter is to. (See right screenshot below)​

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18. In the elevated command prompt, type cd\ and press Enter. (See screenshot below)​

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19. In the elevated command prompt, type the command below, and press Enter. (See screenshot below)​

WARNING: Subtitute the letter F with your actual DVD drive letter (step 17), and substitute H with your actual USB key drive letter (step 13).​

F:\boot\bootsect.exe /nt60 H:​

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20. When it finishes, close the elevated command prompt.​

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21. Open the Start Menu, and right click on the Computer button and click on Open.​

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22. Right click on the DVD drive (ex: F: ) that has the retail Vista installation DVD, and click on Open. (See screenshot below)​

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23. Highlight all of the contents, right click on the highlighted contents, and click on Copy. (See screenshot below)​

NOTE: You will need to copy all of the files and folders on the retail Vista installation DVD to the USB key.​

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24. Go back to Computer, right click on the USB key drive (ex: H ), and click on Paste. (See screenshot below)​

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25. The contents of the retail Vista installation DVD will now start copying over to the USB key.​

NOTE: This may take a few moments to complete.​

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26. When finished, you can close the Computer window and unplug the USB key.​

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27. You now have a Vista installation USB flash drive.​

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   Warning

Before installing Vista from the USB key, you will need to:

   Warning

• Enable Legacy USB storage detect in the BIOS
• Temporarily set the USB FDD (USB Flash Disk Drive) to be listed right before the hard drive (or partition) that you will be installing Vista on in the hard drive Boot Priority order list in the BIOS.
• After you are finished installing Vista from the USB key, make the Vista hard drive (or partition) listed first in the hard drive Boot Priority order list in the BIOS.

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That's it,
Shawn

Related Tutorials

---

• How to Download a Vista ISO and Create an Installation DVD or USB
• How to Create a Vista SP1 Slipstream Installation DVD
• How to Create a Vista Recovery Disc
• How to Do a Clean Install of Vista with a Upgrade Version
• How to Do a Clean Install with a Full Version of Vista
• How to Do a Dual Boot Installation with Windows Vista and XP
• How to Do a Dual Boot Installation with Windows 7 and Vista
• How to Do a Custom Installation of Vista
• How to Create a YUMI MultiBoot USB Flash Drive for Windows

 

[Golden]

Yeah, I've tried that, but after reboot get message saying the service pack wasn't installed. I'm going for the clean install I think.

 

[billybellfoot]

Yeah, I've tried that, but after reboot get message saying the service pack
wasn't installed. I'm going for the clean install I think.

have you created the vista .iso ? correctly?
did you use .iso download or retail media (cd/dvd) ?
what software did you use to create? imgburn etc

also are you trying to do a clean install of vista using it or a repair install

i have just used the usb .iso clean install method myself if i can offer you any help please let me know if i can help you i will "good luck"

ive also posted this in the thread vista usb install

if you want to reply there instead

 

[Golden]

Update :

I have succesfully done :

1. A clean install of Vista SP1,
2. Several updates,
3. Installed SP2,
4. And a few more updates

Is there any way to tell how many more updates are pending? I've noticed that doing a "Check for updates" doesn't always pick up all the required updates until several hours after previous updates have been installed.

 

[Brink]

Hello Golden,

Other than "Check for updates", I suppose you could subscripe to Microsoft's Technical Security notices to get an email letting you know what security related Windows Updates will be coming down.

Technical Security Notifications from Microsoft

 

[Golden]

Excellent, thanks Brink.

Looks like I finally caught up with everything, and no more updates (apart from the usual MSE updates ) have been offered in the last 36 hours.

 

[Brink]

You're most welcome Golden.

 

[maujhsn209]

I followed all the steps to try and create the usb. When I entered the command below,

"F:\boot\bootsect.exe /nt60 G:"

This is the resulting message that was returned:

"This tool can only be run on systems booted using a PC?AT BIOS.
The system was booted using EFI or other firmware type."

I need a work around solution does anybody have one?

Thanks

 

[Brink]

Hello Maujhsn, and welcome to Vista Forums.

Are you able to use METHOD ONE instead?

 

[maujhsn209]

I don't know what method one is. What I did was load a Vista onto a 16gb usb!

I followed your instructions: I worked around this issue:

F:\boot\bootsect.exe /nt60 G: +
This tool can only be run on systems booted using a PC/AT BIOS.
The system was booted using EFI or other firmware type

by directly copying the Windows Vista files to the usb!

I recently bought a new 160gb hard drive by Western Digital.

When I attempted to boot up the laptop, Windows Vista would not allow me

to enter 25 alphanumeric code. If there are no drivers installed, how could I possibly type anything. I got as far as the load drivers screen, but quit

there because I did not know how to proceed from there. Any suggestions?

 

[Brink]

Method One is the first method in the tutorial on the first page here. You used Method Two.

Where did you get your copy of Vista from?

That's usually an indication of a bad or corrupted installation files.

 

[maujhsn209]

I feel a sense of relief that you answered my message on the Vista BBS! Now to answer your questions.
I was forced to use method number two because the laptop has a new Western Digital hard drive. The laptop in question has a non-functioning cd/dvd optical drive. So the work around is booting from the usb drive.
Your second point was quite interesting...Is the Windows Vista Installation software reliable. All I can tell you is that I downloaded off the internet. it was a .torrent file. It was a 4gb dvd. It is possible that there are corrupt files in that software package.
I hope this answers your question.

 

[Brink]

A .torrent would most likely be the cause since it's not legal, and no telling what was done with it.

You can get a safe official Vista ISO at the link below. You will just need to activate it with your legally purchased Vista product key as usual.

Dell Community

 

[maujhsn209]

I find the page link that you sent very informative...Thanks! If I have any more questions in the the future I will post it right here.

 

[Brink]

You're most welcome.

 

[maujhsn209]

Brink I need your help again, but first I need for you to watch this tutorial:

http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/1...llation-flash-thumb-drive-22.html#post1383663

Every event that I am experiencing has occurred in this tutorial. However, I am not able to input any commands from the laptops keyboard! Do you have a solution!

P.S. the Boot Manager also still needs to be repaired!

 

[Brink]

muajhsn,

Be sure that you are using the Vista ISO from the Dell link above to create the bootable USB with using the tutorial below.

Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool - Windows 7 Forums
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Next, you will need to boot to a command prompt at boot using the bootable USB you just created.

Run a clean command on the HDD you want to install Vista on. This will wipe the drive out completely.

Disk - Clean and Clean All with Diskpart Command - Windows 7 Forums
​

Afterwards in the same command prompt at boot, use OPTION TWO in the tutorial below to create a new NTFS partition.

Partition or Volume - Create New - Windows 7 Forums
​

When finished, try doing a clean install of Vista to the HDD now.

http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/117366-clean-install-full-version-vista.html

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[maujhsn209]

Brink: I am feeling frustrated here:

I do not see the .iso that you are talking about in this quote below:
"Be sure that you are using the Vista ISO from the Dell link above to create the bootable USB with using the tutorial below."

Dell Community

Where is the .iso that you speak of?

 

[Brink]

You would just need to download the files I have boxed in red in the screenshot below at the Dell site, then follow all of the directions at the site under Extraction the setup files for Creation of a .iso file (scroll down until you see it).

 

[maujhsn209]

Brinks: Thanks...now I am on the same page---I have been looking for just one .iso, but I saw the three files that you highlighted and have downloaded them. What software programs extracts boot.wim & install.wim? If you tell me Novicorp winflash I'll scream because it is incompatable with my laptop brand ASUS!

 

[Brink]

LOL, nar 7-Zip is another good free one to use.