Install Windows 7 using USB, create a USB Windows 7 installation

Instead of installing Windows 7 from a disc, users can install it using a USB drive, which is compact and versatile. To create a USB drive for installing Windows 7 or any other Windows version like 10 or 8.1, follow the steps provided by Mytour below.

Install Windows 7 using USB, create a USB boot setup for Win 7

Guide to install Windows 7 using USB, create a USB Windows 7 installation

1. Create a USB installation drive for Windows 7

1.1 Requirements

- Have the *.iso file of Windows 7 Professional (x86) or (x64). If you don't have it, choose to download one of the two versions of Windows 7

- Download Windows 7 Pro 32-bit
- Download Windows 7 Pro 64-bit

- A 4GB USB formatted as NTFS.
- Download software to create a Windows installation USB: Windows 7 USB DVD Download tool or download Rufus software here.

1.2 Check if your computer is using Legacy or UEFI standard

First, press the Windows + R key combination on your keyboard to open the Run window. Then type diskmgmt.msc and select OK

The Disk Management interface appears, you expand this window -> then drag the Status section wider to view drive information.

After expanding to view the information, you will see information such as in the image below. Locate drive C (highlighted in red), here you will see the capacity of drive C (Capacity) and the amount of free space (Free Space) on the drive. You should take a picture or write down this information because in step 2 you will need to review and use them.

Next, look at the Status column in all rows, pay attention to see if there is a row with the word EFI? As shown in the image below, if there is no EFI, it means your machine is using Win 10 and booting in Legacy mode.

If there is EFI as described in the image below, your computer will boot in UEFI mode. The image below was taken on a computer using Win 7.

1.3 Creating a Bootable USB Using Rufus Software

Step 1: Insert the USB drive you have prepared into the computer, then run the Rufus tool. It is recommended to place the Win 7 .ISO file and Rufus software file on the desktop for easy access, to avoid errors. You should also turn off the antivirus software on your computer to prevent the USB boot Autorun file from being flagged as a virus and deleted, which could cause the USB boot to fail and not boot.

Step 2: In the Device section -> select the correct USB drive you want to create the Win 7 bootable USB with Rufus. Then, press the drive icon as described in the image below to locate the Windows 7 ISO file you prepared earlier.

Step 3: Select the appropriate Windows 7 version you want to create the bootable USB for, in the file name contains x86 means Windows 32-bit and x64 is Windows 64-bit. Click Open to add the file to Rufus.

Next, select the Partition scheme and target system type to choose the USB Boot standard you want to create. If you determine that your computer boots from USB in Legacy mode, select MBR partition scheme for BIOS or UEFI-CSM, otherwise if you choose UEFI (only supported with Windows 64-bit ISO) then select MBR partition scheme for UEFI.

Next, click on Start to begin. You will see a notification as described in the image below warning you that all data on your USB will be erased, you should back up important data on your USB -> then, click OK to start.

Immediately, the process of creating the Boot USB will begin and take place in about 20 to 30 minutes, depending on the speed of your computer. Once the process is complete, you just need to click Close to close the application.

Now you open the USB file, then find the autorun line. If the size of this file is 1KB then you have successfully created the USB BOOT. If the size of this file is 0KB then you need to reinstall.

2. Install Windows 7 with USB

Step 1: If you want to reinstall Windows 7 on the same computer where you just created the Boot USB, you can leave the USB plugged in without removing it. Restart the computer and access the Boot Options mode.

Each computer will have different ways to access Boot Option. Typically, the shortcut keys to access this mode may be: F12, F9, F10, Delete. You can refer to the article Shortcut keys to Boot Option for various computer models to find the specific computer model you are using.

Step 2: When you successfully access the Boot Options mode, to navigate inside it, you need to perform the following actions:

+ Use the up and down arrow keys to navigate to the lines

+ Use the Enter key to select

For Legacy standard computers: Navigate to the line with one of the following names

+ USB_Name

+ USB storage device

+ USB storage device

+ USB-HDD

+ Hard Disk => USB name

For UEFI-based computers: Look for the entry with UEFI-USB Name

After successfully booting from the USB, your computer screen will display as shown below. If you see the message: Press any key to boot from CD or USB, press any key on the keyboard to access.

Step 3: Windows 7 installation process

Choose your language and keyboard layout, then click Next to proceed.

Note: In the Time and currency format section, select Vietnamese to set the time zone to Vietnam on the computer where you are reinstalling Windows.

Press Install now to start the installation program

The next window appears, select the option: I accept the license terms --> Click Next to proceed 

Next, click on the Custom (advanced) option

This is the most important step in installing Win 7 that you need to pay attention to. In this window, you will need to partition, divide the drive on your computer. Proceed to select Driver Options (advanced)

All drives on the computer will be displayed in this window. Pay attention to the following names and tools:

+ Name: Drive name

+ Total size: Total capacity of the drive

+ Free Space: Free space of the drive

+ Delete: Delete the drive

+ Format: Delete all files on the drive.

Usually, to reinstall Windows 7, users will select drive C for installation. You can use other drives on the computer to install, such as drives D, E... depending on your needs. Following the instructions shared by Mytour, we will install Windows 7 on drive C with a capacity of 30 GB. To find drive C on your computer, you can refer back to section 1.2 above.

You select drive C --> Choose Delete to delete. 

A message will then appear, select OK to confirm the deletion.

After successfully deleting drive C, a drive named: Unallocated Space will appear on the window. Proceed to delete all drives with a total size of less than 1GB by clicking Delete. 

After deleting all drives with a capacity of less than 1GB, now select Unallocated Space and click Next to proceed to the next window. 

Now you sit back and wait for the computer to reinstall Windows 7. The process takes a relatively long time, about 20 to 30 minutes depending on the computer's configuration. 

After the computer reaches the window: Windows needs to restart to continue, proceed to remove the USB from the computer 

After restarting, the computer will continue automatically installing the next settings 

The data setup process is complete, now it's time for you to set up the information on your computer. Enter user name, computer name and click Next to proceed to the next window. 

Next, you need to set a password for accessing your computer. If you do not want to set a password, you can simply click Next to skip 

At the next window, if you have a valid Windows 7 product key, you can enter it in the PRODUCT KEY box. If not, check the box Automatically activate Windows when I’m online to activate the license later. 

Next, select Ask me later 

Set the time zone on your computer. If you are in Vietnam, select the time zone: (UTC +07:00) Bangkok, Hanoi, Jakarta

And there you have it, you have successfully installed Windows 7. 

3. Common errors when installing Windows 7

3.1 Error: Required CD/DVD drive device driver is missing...

- When installing Windows 7, 8, 10 via USB or CD/DVD drive, you may encounter the error Required CD/DVD drive device driver is missing... as described in the image below, and you won't be able to continue the Windows installation. This error occurs when the user successfully boots from USB but cannot proceed with the Windows installation.

To fix this, refer to the guide on how to fix the Required cd/dvd drive device driver is missing error when installing Windows 7, 8, 10 here

3.2 Error: The selected disk has an MBR partition table

If you see the message: Windows can’t be installed on drive 0 partition 2 (Show details), click on that line.

If the error message then displays: Windows cannot be installed to this disk... as shown below, it means you have created the USB Boot with the wrong format. To fix this, you need to recreate the USB Boot

+ If you are creating the USB Boot using Legacy mode, recreate it using UEFI mode

+ If you are creating the USB Boot using UEFI mode, recreate it using Legacy mode

You can also refer to how to Fix the error: The selected disk has an MBR partition table when installing Windows here.

3.3 Error: autorun file 0KB when creating USB Boot

This error occurs because when creating the USB Boot, you have enabled antivirus software on your computer. To fix this, you need to disable this software and then recreate the USB Boot.

3.4 Error: Unable to access Boot Option

As Mytour mentioned above, each computer has a different way to access the Boot Option. To find out the shortcut key on your computer to access the Boot Option, you can refer to the article Shortcut keys to access Boot Option of different computer models.

4. How to create a USB Boot with Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool

In addition to creating a USB Boot using Rufus software, users can create one using the Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool. In case you cannot create a USB Boot using the software above, this tool will be extremely useful for you.

Step 1: After downloading the Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool, proceed to install the software.

 Note

Your computer needs to have .NET Framework 2.0 or higher.

Step 2: Burn the *.iso file to USB

Launch the Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool, browse to the *.iso file, and click Next to continue.

Select the USB device

Select the USB (if the PC is currently using one USB), press Begin copying to start the bootable.

Please wait a few minutes

Once the program is finished, you will have a USB for installing Windows when needed without using a disk.

To check if the USB Boot has been successfully created, simply open the USB and you will see the autorun file with a size of 1 KB, indicating that you have successfully created it. If there is a file with a size of 0 KB, it is likely that your computer has antivirus software installed and the antivirus software has deleted or changed the attributes of the file. The simple solution is to exit the antivirus software and recreate the USB.

Another way is to use MobaLiveCD to check the USB boot instead of having to reset the computer or open the USB to check, which takes a lot of time. Refer to this method on Mytour for detailed instructions.

Note: Currently, installing Windows 7 via USB on some computers may encounter installation errors. The reason is that some mainboard, laptop manufacturers, and Microsoft only support installing Windows via USB on Windows 10. However, simply installing USB 3.0 drivers can fix the issue of Windows 7 not recognizing USB on the computer. For details, refer to the article: Fix Windows 7 installation not recognizing USB

5. Installing Win 7 via USB brings the following advantages

- Avoid problems such as disk damage or costs for buying Win disks.
- Installing via USB is 3 times faster than using disks as usual.

This article from Mytour has guided how to install Windows 7 via USB. Hopefully, this article partly helps you imagine and perform the process of installing Windows 7 via USB more easily.

If you want to use Windows 10 on your computer, you can also refer to how to install Windows 10 to install the latest operating system on your computer.

In addition, you can also use the method of ghosting Windows 7 to save your time and money. It only takes half the time compared to installing a new Windows 7 operating system to have a brand new operating system.

Currently, Qube OS is the latest and considered the most secure operating system. You can use a USB to install Qube on your computer, for details, please refer to how to install Qube to successfully complete.

Today, alongside the strong development of open-source operating systems such as Ubuntu, Linux, etc., Windows still maintains the majority of the user market. After the success of Windows XP, Microsoft introduced subsequent generations of operating systems that have been significantly improved in terms of interface and enhanced security. The article below will guide you on how to install win 7 via USB.

However, this is just one of the ways to install Windows 7. If you don't have a USB drive, you can also install Win 7 from a DVD, which is also very easy and has been the basic and most popular installation method so far.

If you are already familiar with computers, you can consider installing win 7 from the hard drive. With this method, you don't need to use a USB or DVD but can still install win 7 for your laptop or computer.