Bootable flash drive windows 7 winsetupfromusb 1.6. Bootable flash drive in the WinSetupFromUsb program: the correct instruction for writing windows

M multi-boot flash drive, equipped with a distribution kit of several operating systems, anti-virus live-disk, the necessary programs that work offline from bootable media - this is a universal tool for solving various problems and tasks with a computer that ordinary users have to deal with every now and then. What to say about IT-specialists, most of whose professional life is the restoration of the working capacity of computer equipment.

Flash drive, which brings together various bootable software solutions, will replace a bunch of different optical boot disks. A single multi-boot flash drive can be used to neutralize viruses blocking computer startup, and to reinstall the operating system, and to restore it from a backup, and to allocate hard drive space, and to solve other problems. Ready-made images are available for download on the Internet live-discs with a selection of various software for solving computer problems. But, of course, it is better to prepare a universal rescue tool on your own, choosing the contents of a bootable USB flash drive for your individual needs and preferences.

The program can create flash drives with various bootable software WinSetupFromUSB for Windows. It can complete a selection of bootable media based on the bootloader Grub4dos . We will use it to create a multiboot flash drive. And, accordingly, we will consider this whole process in detail below.

1. Contents of a multiboot flash drive

First of all, you need to prepare a distribution kit for a multiboot flash drive. In our case, we have a flash drive with a small volume by modern standards - just 8 GB. Therefore, it will be equipped with only the necessary tools. And this is the distribution Windows versions 8.1 , 10 and old XP , antivirus live-disk from Avira, disk space allocation manager and free backup. We prepare for recording on a flash drive ISO- images of bootable media of the selected software and installation disks of operating systems.

2. Download WinSetupFromUSB

WinSetupFromUSB is a free program. Download the latest version from the official website. At the time of writing this article, the current version 1.6 . WinSetupFromUSB works portable, without installation on the system. All you need to do is unpack the downloaded archive and launch the program shortcut in accordance with the bitness of the current Windows.

Download the WinSetupFromUSB program from the official website:
http://www.winsetupfromusb.com/downloads/

3. Formatting a flash drive

Next stage - flash drive formatting. This process can be carried out as regular Windows tools. (command "Format" in the context menu called on the flash drive in the explorer) , and inside WinSetupFromUSB. Let's consider the last option.

In the program window at the top, select the desired flash drive if there are several of them connected to the computer. Activate the option checkbox "Auto format it with FBinst". After that, its additional options will be revealed. Of these, you only need to decide on the future file system of the flash drive - NTFS or FAT32. If the distribution kit prepared for writing to a USB flash drive contains files whose weight exceeds 4 GB, you must select a file system NTFS. If not, leave FAT32 default.

The FAT32 file system must also be left if the multiboot flash drive is intended, among other things, to work with computers based on BIOS UEFI. In this case, it will not be necessary to disable the function. secure boot, and the distribution kit contained on the flash drive 64 -bit Windows 8.1 and 10 set to GPT-disk partition.

WinSetupFromUSB prepares a universal bootable flash drive - also for computers with a regular BIOS, and for devices based on BIOS UEFI. But the interface UEFI sees only bootable flash drives formatted in FAT32. Some programs can bypass these restrictions and create bootable UEFI- flash drives with file system NTFS, but WinSetupFromUSB, alas, is not one of them.

So, we decide on the file system and click the button below Go.

In the warning window about erasing data on the flash drive, click "Yes".

And again we press "Yes" another warning window.

In a few seconds we will see the inscription Job done- The work is done. We press "OK".

Now you can start adding the contents of the multiboot flash drive. The order in which you add images of operating system installation disks and bootable software media is not important. It is only important to adhere to the appropriate column in the central part of the window WinSetupFromUSB.

4. Adding a Windows distribution

Adding a Windows distribution kit is possible in two forms of the program window. One of the forms is designed to add images of Windows installation disks, starting from the version Vista , the other one is for installation files Windows XP and older versions of the system. In our case, we first add an image to the corresponding form Windows 8.1. Put a checkmark on this form and use the browse button to specify the path to ISO-image. A set of a multiboot flash drive is formed in stages: each distribution kit is added and recorded in a separate order. Click the button Go.

We are waiting for the completion of the process and click "OK".

Now we check the same form with a checkmark and use the browse button to add another Windows distribution. In our case, this is the installation disk. Windows 10. For the same version of Windows, you can add its various editions one by one - 32 - and 64 -bit. We add, we press Go, we are waiting for the completion of the process.

5. Nuances with Windows XP

The presence of an installation disk on the flash drive Windows XP it may be necessary in rare cases to reinstall the operating system on very old PC builds. But the process of creating a bootable USB flash drive with this version of the system through WinSetupFromUSB has its own nuances. In the program interface, the upper form is used to add the distribution kit of Windows XP and earlier versions of the system.

This form's browse button does not add a normal ISO distribution image. Before content ISO-image must be opened in a virtual drive. In systems Windows 8.1 and 10 this is done by regular means - on ISO-file, the context menu is called and the command is selected.

AT Windows 7 and earlier system mounts ISO-images possible through third-party programs such as Alcohol 120% or Daemon Tools. Connected content ISO-image is transferred to a separately created folder.

And this folder is already in the process of creating a bootable flash drive is added to the program window WinSetupFromUSB.

The next step is to accept the license agreement.

And only then start recording.

Another nuance is the need to integrate drivers for SATA-controller in distribution Windows XP, if it does not initially contain them.

6. Adding bootable software media

ISO- images of the distribution kit of the operating system linux , live -drives based linux and WinPE, bootable media of various programs using the browse button are added to the active form "Linux ISO/Other Grub4dos compatible ISO". After adding ISO-image a small window will appear Boot menu name, in which you can set the name of how the bootable media will be displayed in the bootloader menu Grub4dos. In our case, specify the path to the anti-virus image live- the Avira disc. Click the button Go and wait for the recording to complete.

And then the image.

7. Flash drive testing

One of the benefits of the program WinSetupFromUSB is built-in ON to emulate computer hardware - QEMU. By using QEMU you can immediately, without leaving the current operating system, test a USB flash drive - even a regular bootable one, even a multiboot one. At the bottom of the WinSetupFromUSB window, check the option box and click Go.

A QEMU window will open, in which everything will happen as on the monitor screen after booting from a USB flash drive. The first thing we see is the bootloader menu Grub4dos. Using the navigation keys or numbers according to the software serial numbers in the list, we can select one or another bootable media, live-disk or operating system installation process.

The Windows installation disks will be combined into two partitions. One will contain distributions Windows XP and older versions of the system, in the other - versions of Windows, starting from Vista. Each of the sections leads to the window of the additional boot menu for the corresponding versions and editions of Windows.

From time to time, each user has to reinstall their operating system. The easiest way to do this is with a so-called bootable flash drive. This means that an image of the operating system will be written to the USB drive, and then it will be installed from this drive. This is much more convenient than burning OS images to discs, because a flash drive is easier to use, if only because it is smaller and can easily be put in your pocket. In addition, you can always erase the information on it from a flash drive and write something else. And the ideal tool for creating bootable flash drives is WinSetupFromUsb.

WinSetupFromUsb is a multifunctional tool designed to write operating system images to USB drives, erase those drives, create data backups, and perform many other functions.


Create a bootable flash drive

To do this, we need only two things - the USB drive itself and the downloaded image of the operating system in ISO format. The process of creating a bootable USB flash drive takes place in several stages:

Working with additional features

The WinSetupFromUsb program has a huge number of additional functions. They are concentrated just below the OS image selection panel, which will be written to the USB flash drive. To select one of them, you just need to check the box next to it.


In addition to additional functions, WinSetupFromUsb also has additional routines. They are located above the operating system selection panel and are responsible for formatting, converting to MBR (master boot record) and PBR (boot code) and many other functions.

Formatting a flash drive for booting

Some users are faced with such a problem that the computer detects the flash drive not as bootable, but as a regular USB-HDD or USB-ZIP (and you need a USB Flash Drive). To solve this problem, the FBinst Tool utility is designed, which can be launched from the main WinSetupFromUsb window. You can not open this program, but simply check the box next to the item "Auto format it with FBinst". Then the system will automatically make a USB Flash Drive.

But if the user decides to do everything manually, the process of converting to USB Flash Drive from USB-HDD or USB-ZIP will look like this:


Convert to MBR and PBR

Another common problem when installing from a bootable USB flash drive is that a different storage format is required - MBR. Often, on old flash drives, data is stored in GPT format, and a conflict may occur during installation. Therefore, it is better to immediately convert it to MBR. As for PBR, that is, the boot code, it may be completely absent or, again, not suitable for the system. This problem is solved using the Bootice program, which is also launched from WinSetupFromUsb.

It is much easier to use than FBinst Tool. There are simple buttons and tabs, each of which is responsible for its own function. So, to convert a flash drive to MBR there is a button "Process MBR"(if the drive already has this format, it will not be available). There is a button to create a PBR "Process PBR". Using Bootice, you can also split the flash drive into parts ( "Parts Management"), select sector ( Sector Edit), work with VHD, that is, with virtual hard disks (tab "Disk Image") and perform many other functions.

Imaging, testing and more

WinSetupFromUsb has another great program called RMPrepUSB that does a ton of things. This includes creating a boot sector, converting the file system, and creating an image, and testing the speed of work, data integrity, and much more. The program interface is very convenient - when you hover the mouse over each button or even an inscription in a small window, hints will be displayed.

Tip: When starting RMPrepUSB, it is better to immediately select the Russian language. This is done in the upper right corner of the program.

The main functions of RMPrepUSB (although this is not a complete list of them) are:

  • recovery of lost files;
  • creation and conversion of file systems (including Ext2, exFAT, FAT16, FAT32, NTFS);
  • extract files from ZIP to the drive;
  • creating images of flash drives or writing ready-made images to flash drives;
  • testing;
  • drive cleaning;
  • copying system files;
  • performing a task to make a bootable partition non-bootable.

    In this case, you can check the box next to the item "Don't Ask Questions" to disable all dialog boxes.

Where to download WinSetupFromUSB
First of all, I want to draw your attention to the fact that by asking the appropriate query in the search engine, you are very likely to stumble upon a site that will have a lot of incomprehensibly leading green Download buttons, and after the desired download link is found , it turns out that when installing WinSetupFromUSB, several more "junk" programs of dubious usefulness were installed on the computer.

To prevent this from happening, just go to the official website of the program http://www.winsetupfromusb.com/downloads/ and download it. A little less than a month ago (October 17, 2013), the final version 1.0 was released, and we will consider it (before that, WinSetupFromUSB 1.0 beta6 and beta8 were the most commonly used).

Update 2015: The current version is 1.4, the work with the program has not changed. Below in the article is a video instruction on using WinSetupFromUSB 1.4.

By the way, the program does not require installation: you need to unpack the archive with it and run the desired version - 32-bit or x64.

How to make a bootable USB flash drive using WinSetupFromUSB
Despite the fact that creating a bootable USB flash drive is not all that can be done using this utility (which actually includes at least 3 additional tools for working with USB drives), this task is still the main one. Therefore, I will demonstrate the fastest and easiest way to do it.

In the main window of the program, in the upper field, select the USB drive to which the recording will be made. Please note that all data on it will be deleted. Also check the AutoFormat it with FBinst box - this will automatically format the flash drive and prepare it to be bootable when you start. In fact, this can be done manually using the Bootice, RMPrepUSB utilities, but, as I said, the instruction is for beginners and we will use the easiest way.

Note: However, you should check the box for automatic formatting only if you are writing images to a USB flash drive for the first time using this program. If you already have a bootable USB flash drive created in WinSetupFromUSB and you need to add, for example, another Windows installation to it, then just follow the steps below without formatting.
The next step is to specify what exactly we want to add to the flash drive. It can be several distributions at once, as a result of which we will get a multi-boot flash drive. So, tick the desired item or several and specify the path to the files needed for WinSetupFromUSB to work (for this, press the button with the ellipsis to the right of the field):

  • Windows 2000/XP/2003 Setup- we use it to place the distribution kit of one of the specified operating systems on a flash drive. As a path, you need to specify the folder in which the I386 / AMD64 folders (or only I386) are located. That is, you either need to mount an ISO image with the OS in the system and specify the path to the virtual disk drive, or insert a Windows disk and, accordingly, specify the path to it. Another option is to open the ISO image with an archiver and extract all the contents to a separate folder: in this case, you will need to specify the path to this folder in WinSetupFromUSB. Those. Usually, when creating a bootable USB flash drive for Windows XP, we just need to specify the drive letter with the distribution.
  • Windows Vista/7/8/Server 2008/2012- to install the specified operating systems, you need to specify the path to the ISO image file with it. In general, in previous versions of the program it looked different, but now they have made it easier.
  • UBCD4Win/WinBuilder/Windows FLPC/Bart PE- also, as in the first case, you will need the path to the folder that contains I386, intended for various boot disks based on WinPE. A novice user is unlikely to need.
  • LinuxISO/Other Grub4dos compatible ISO- required if you want to add an Ubuntu Linux distribution (or another Linux) or any disk with utilities for computer recovery, virus scanning and similar, for example: Kaspersky Rescue Disk, Hiren's Boot CD, RBCD and others. Most of them use Grub4dos.
  • SysLinux bootsector- designed to add Linux distributions that use the syslinux bootloader. Most likely not useful. To use, you need to specify the path to the folder in which the SYSLINUX folder is located.
After all the necessary distributions have been added, we simply press the Go button, answer the two warnings in the affirmative and start waiting. I note that if you are making a bootable USB drive that has Windows 7 or Windows 8 installed, when you copy the windows.wim file, WinSetupFromUSB may appear to hang. It's not, be patient and wait.

Video instructions for using WinSetupFromUSB
I also recorded a short video that shows in detail how to make a bootable or multiboot flash drive in the described program. Perhaps it will be easier for someone to understand what's what.

Conclusion

This completes the instructions for using WinSetupFromUSB. All that is left for you is to put boot from a USB flash drive into the BIOS of the computer and use the newly created drive and boot from it. As I said, these are not all the features of the program, but in the vast majority of cases the described items will be enough.

The WinSetupFrom USB program is a universal program for turning a regular flash drive into a bootable device.
Difficulties for beginners may arise at the stage of managing this program, when, faced with a completely English interface, the user simply closes it and goes in search of a Russified, but weaker program.
In this article, an understandable manual for the program is disclosed.
Program installation
Before you start working with the utility, you need to download WinSetupFrom USB. The problem is that it is so popular that many resources offer to download it from them, adding a bunch of Trojans and suspicious programs.
This article provides WinSetupFrom USB instructions for its latest version, that is, 1.0.

How to install the official Windows 10 ISO without using the Media Creation Tool

What's good - no installer is required, just unzip the program and select the bit system that suits your computer. Available in 32 and 64 bit.
In general, this program is universal when working with flash drives, since in addition to creating a bootable and multiboot device, there are three more possible actions. But here the emphasis will be on the first.

How to open Control Panel in Windows 10

1. A window will open in front of you, in which you can select the desired flash drive. In this case, the flash card will need to be formatted using AutoFormat it with FBinst , if you are recording images for the first time (do not forget to check this option), which will destroy all data on it.
This is a necessary measure to create a multi-boot device from a USB stick.
If the flash drive has already been used in WinSetupFromUSB to create a bootable device, then this step can be skipped.
2. Now you need to add the required installation software to the flash drive. If you download several distributions, then the flash drive will turn into a multi-boot device, which will significantly increase its functionality. This must also be specified in the options and the address to the required folders and files must be written in the line.
The line is opened by pressing the button with «…» on the right side.
Below are the options for different operating systems:
  • Grub4dos is needed when installing a program from a Linux ISO (or other compatible ISO) or programs in order to restore the system, such as antiviruses such as Kaspersky or RBCD. Then Grub4dos will be needed here.
  • Bart PE (Win Builder or WindowsFLPC or UBCD4Win) - needed if the folder address includes I386. Their purpose is disks based on Win PE. The option is not for beginners.

  • Setup2003 is used for Windows XP or Windows 2000 to add folders from these operating systems. Also specify the folder name if the address includes I386 (or I386/AMD). Here you need to create a virtual disk image and set the path to the virtual drive. Or open the ISO image with an archive unpacker, extract the files to a separate directory and specify its name in the WinSetupFrom USB window (specify the name of the disk containing the distribution kit when creating an installation disk from a flash drive).

  • Server 2008(2012) for Windows Vista 7 and 8. You also need to register the address of the virtual image with the operating system.
  • SysLinux BootSector , applicable if syslinux was used, is the file loader on a Linux system. Here you need to enter the path to the SYSLINUX folder.

Optimizing Windows 10 with built-in tools

Having entered all the necessary paths to the desired files, you can click the Go button, go through the algorithm and in a few minutes you will have a ready-made bootable USB drive.
  • A small correction for those who have the 7th or 8th Windows - WinSetupFrom USB can slow down on copying windows.wim. It's okay, it's a minute lag.
In addition, the WinSetupFrom USB program supports writing a virtual image weighing more than 4 gigabytes to a flash drive, but already in FAT32 UEFI format.

The free program WinSetupFromUSB, designed to create a bootable or multiboot USB flash drive, I have repeatedly touched on in articles on this site. In addition, many other thematic resources can draw your attention to this tool, as one of the most functional in terms of writing bootable USB drives.

Where to download WinSetupFromUSB

First of all, I want to draw your attention to the fact that by asking the appropriate query in the search engine, you are very likely to stumble upon a site that will have a lot of incomprehensibly leading green Download buttons, and after the desired download link is found , it turns out that when installing WinSetupFromUSB, several more "junk" programs of dubious usefulness were installed on the computer.

To prevent this from happening, just go to the official website of the program Http://www. winsetupfromusb. com/downloads/ and download it. A little less than a month ago (October 17, 2013), the final version 1.0 was released, and we will consider it (before that, WinSetupFromUSB 1.0 beta6 and beta8 were the most commonly used).

Update 2015: The current version is 1.4, the work with the program has not changed. Below in the article is a video instruction on using WinSetupFromUSB 1.4.

By the way, the program does not require installation: you need to unpack the archive with it and run the desired version - 32-bit or x64.

How to make a bootable USB flash drive using WinSetupFromUSB

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Despite the fact that creating a bootable USB flash drive is not all that can be done using this utility (which actually includes at least 3 additional tools for working with USB drives), this task is still the main one. Therefore, I will demonstrate the fastest and easiest way to do it.

In the main window of the program, in the upper field, select the USB drive to which the recording will be made. Please note that all data on it will be deleted. Also check the AutoFormat it with FBinst box - this will automatically format the flash drive and prepare it to be bootable when you start. In fact, this can be done manually using the Bootice, RMPrepUSB utilities, but, as I said, the instruction is for beginners and we will use the easiest way.

Note: However, you should check the box for automatic formatting only if you are writing images to a USB flash drive for the first time using this program. If you already have a bootable USB flash drive created in WinSetupFromUSB and you need to add, for example, another Windows installation to it, then just follow the steps below without formatting.

The next step is to specify what exactly we want to add to the flash drive. It can be several distributions at once, as a result of which we will get a multi-boot flash drive. So, tick the desired item or several and specify the path to the files needed for WinSetupFromUSB to work (for this, press the button with the ellipsis to the right of the field):

    Windows 2000/XP/2003 Setup - we use it to place the distribution kit of one of the specified operating systems on a flash drive. As a path, you need to specify the folder in which the I386 / AMD64 folders (or only I386) are located. That is, you either need to mount an ISO image with the OS in the system and specify the path to the virtual disk drive, or insert a Windows disk and, accordingly, specify the path to it. Another option is to open the ISO image with an archiver and extract all the contents to a separate folder: in this case, you will need to specify the path to this folder in WinSetupFromUSB. That is, usually, when creating a bootable Windows XP flash drive, we just need to specify the drive letter with the distribution. Windows Vista / 7/8 / Server 2008/2012 - to install these operating systems, you need to specify the path to the ISO image file with it. In general, in previous versions of the program it looked different, but now they have made it easier. WinPE. It is unlikely that a novice user will need it.LinuxISO / Other Grub4dos compatible ISO - it will be required if you want to add an Ubuntu Linux distribution (or other Linux) or any disk with utilities for restoring a computer, checking for viruses and similar, for example: Kaspersky Rescue Disk , Hiren's Boot CD, RBCD and others. Most of them use exactly Grub4dos. SysLinux bootsector - designed to add Linux distributions that use the syslinux bootloader. Most likely not useful. To use, you need to specify the path to the folder in which the SYSLINUX folder is located.

After all the necessary distributions have been added, we simply press the Go button, answer the two warnings in the affirmative and start waiting. Note that if you are making a bootable USB drive that has Windows 7 or Windows 8 present, when you copy the windows. wim, it may appear that WinSetupFromUSB is stuck. It's not, be patient and wait.

Update 2015: The latest version of WinSetupFromUSB introduced the ability to burn ISOs larger than 4 GB to a FAT32 UEFI flash drive.

This completes the instructions for using WinSetupFromUSB. All that's left for you is to put the boot from a USB flash drive into the BIOS of the computer and use the newly created drive and boot from it. As I said, these are not all the features of the program, but in the vast majority of cases the described items will be enough.