If you don’t have a DVD drive in your computer you might have a hard time converting that .ISO into a usable method to install Windows 7. Fortunately, I have a method that works using a USB-connected Hard Drive.
Step 1 – Collect the iso images.
Step 2 – Install Virtual Drive that can read .iso images. I use VirtualCloneDrive from Elaborate Bytes. Freeware that works well. I’ve also used Daemon Tools in the past.
Step 3 – Partition and format your hard drive. Partition an 8GB section of the hard drive you’re planning to use and format it with the FAT32 file system.
Step 4 – Mount the ISO and copy the files to the newly created partition using XCOPY
xcopy [SOURCE]:\* [DESTINATION]:\* /e
Step 5 – Mark the partition as active. Right click on your Computer and select “Manage”. Go to Disk Management, right click on your new partition, select “Mark Partition as Active”.
Step 6 – Reboot and select your USB Hard Drive as your boot device. All BIOSes are different so the process is not documented here.
You will need to follow up with my next post to complete the whole process and be able to disconnect your hard drive.
Tags: Bootable Harddrive, Installation, Windows 7
Tags: Bootable Harddrive, Installation, Windows 7
When not spending time behind a computer screen bringing you his latest blog posts; you might catch him playing video games on his PC; eating/cooking something in the kitchen of his house in Northwest Georgia; watching movies from his Netflix queue; volunteering for the Boy Scouts of America; fueling his wilderness interests by hiking, camping, backpacking, rafting, kayaking; sustaining his established hobbies in Amateur Radio, videography, photography, or music; running his DJ business with his brother as a partner; or hanging out with his friends doing any number of fun activities. 
April 20th, 2011 at 11:07 am
[...] you followed the methods in my earlier post, upon unplugging the hard drive from the computer’s USB port you would have been unable to [...]