If you’ve misplaced your Windows 7 install disc, which may be the actual discs that came with your PC or a retail Windows 7 install disc that you bought separately, then reinstalling Windows can be a bit frustrating. However, there is a very simple way to create your own Windows 7 install disc for Home Premium, Professional or Ultimate in 32 or 64-bit versions, from scratch.
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1. Identify the Version of Windows 7 and Product Key
The Windows 7 Product Key is essential for reinstalling Windows and getting it activated. If you purchased your PC from a manufacturer, the product key may be printed on a label that is attached to the computer’s case. It may also be printed on some documentation that came with your PC.
If you purchased a retail of copy of Windows 7, then the product key may be printed on the box or included as documentation.
The version of Windows 7 is also important, as product keys will only work with certain versions of Windows. You will learn more about this in the next step. To identify your version of Windows 7, simply launch the Start Menu, right-click on Computer and select Properties from the context menu. Of course, you could also look on the box or documentation that came with the Windows 7 purchase.
2. Download a Copy of Windows 7
The next step is to of course download a copy of Windows 7 that will eventually be burned to disc or moved to a USB drive. The only recommended way to download Windows 7 is from Microsoft itself.
The only thing you have to provide is the Product key. Microsoft will figure out what version of Windows 7 is needed based on the product key and give you links to download that version. If you don’t have your product key, you’re kind of out of luck.
3. Create a Windows Install Disc or Bootable USB Drive
The Windows USB/DVD download tool is a free utility from Microsoft that will allow you to burn the Windows 7 download to disc or create a bootable USB drive.
At this point, you have now replaced your misplaced Windows install disc with either another disc or a bootable Windows 7 USB drive!
4. Download Drivers (optional)
If your PC requires certain drivers for full functionality, you may also want to download these drivers and install them with Windows.
Start by using Google or your search engine of choice to search the web for your particular PC and exact model, followed by keyword drivers. You should be able to find a quality link to a list of drivers that you need to download for your PC.
5. Prepare the Drivers (optional)
Once you’ve downloaded the drivers for your PC, you will need to move them to a removable disk or disc so that they can be used once you’ve installed Windows. Thus, you have a few options:
5a Burn the Drivers to Disc
This is very simple and can be done with any blank CD or DVD and a PC that utilizes an optical drive with CD or DVD writing functionality.
Simply insert the CD or DVD into the computer’s optical drive, create a new folder on the desktop containing all of the drivers and burn the folder to disc using the built-in Windows 7 burning option.
5b Copy the Drivers to a USB Drive
Simply insert any high capacity USB drive into an available USB port on your PC and drag the drivers to the drive to copy them.
6. Install Drivers
Once you’ve reinstalled Windows, simply insert the disc containing the drivers or USB drive with the drivers (step 5a, 5b) and proceed to install the drivers for your PC.
7. Create a Bootable Windows 7 USB Drive with Drivers already installed (alternative method)
Proceed to download a Windows 7 ISO (links above), but instead of using the USB to DVD utility, jump to our article on creating a custom Windows 7 image.
That’s basically all there is to it. Lost Windows 7 install DVD? Now you can simply replace it or create a bootable USB drive. Thank you for stopping by the site for today’s post.
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We need a Windows installation medium to reinstall Windows, install the OS on a new PC, or even hack the Windows administrator password. If we don't have one, it's quick, easy, and free to create a Windows installation disc or bootable Windows USB. We just need to download a Windows ISO, and then use Microsoft programs or free third-party applications.
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Table of Contents
- How to create a Windows installation bootable USB flash drive
- Rufus: The fastest way to create a Windows USB
Download the Windows version of your choice
This guide requires that we already have a Windows ISO. You can get one for the latest versions of Windows through the following guides:
How to create a Windows installation bootable USB flash drive
CDs and DVD aren't dead yet, but they are on their last legs. USB thumb drives have a smaller size, larger capacity, faster read and write speed, and they are impervious to scratches.
So, why bother to create a Windows installation disc, when we can have a Windows USB? Provided our motherboard's BIOS can boot from USB, of course.
Rufus: The fastest way to create a Windows USB
There are several programs we can use to create a Windows USB from an ISO.
For Windows 8.1 or Windows 10, we can create a bootable Windows USB straight from Microsoft's Media Creation Tool, no third-party apps required. It even skips over the step to download the ISO; it's a true all-in-one solution.
If, however, we have already downloaded Windows as an ISO, or wish to create a Windows 7 USB, Rufus is one of the best apps to create a Windows USB of any version. We will find the latest version at https://rufus.akeo.ie/downloads/.
The program's interface seems a bit cluttered and somewhat old-fashioned, but it's simple to use.
Rufus also claims to be much faster than its competitors, in comparisons with the same ISO and USB stick.
Creating a bootable Windows USB with Rufus
To create a bootable Windows USB, we just need to make sure that we have selected our USB flash drive in the 'Device' field, and that it has a capacity of at least 4GB.
If we use a Windows 10 ISO that has both x86 and x64 versions together, we will need a thumb drive with a capacity of at least 8GB. Most other Windows versions will fit on a 4GB flash drive.
For a Windows 7 installation USB, the MBR partition scheme for BIOS or UEFI is the best option.
If we are installing Windows 8.1 or Windows 10 on a UEFI system with a GPT disk, we must select a 'GPT partition scheme for UEFI.'
After that, we click on the disc icon and choose the ISO image.
Rufus will automatically change the File system to NTFS, which is a prerequisite for creating a Windows USB. It will also change the volume label to ESD-ISO.
We don't need to do anything special to make the USB bootable, change any settings or check any options. If we use the Microsoft/Digital River ISOs, it will be bootable by default.
Finally, we click 'Start.' Rufus will warn us that it will destroy any data already on the flash drive.
If we have no data on the USB flash, or we don't care about the files, we proceed with 'OK.'
Depending on the speed of the thumb drive and the USB version, the Windows USB will take a few minutes to prepare.
With an old and slow USB 2.0 drive, the process took more than 23 minutes.
Using a fast USB 3.0 drive, with the same ISO on the same system, it finished in about two and a half minutes.
Remember to safely eject the USB
It's a good idea to remove the USB safely, to minimize any chance of corruption. Corrupted data is never fun, but it's especially bad on a Windows USB.
How to create a Windows installation disc
If we have an older-than-10-years motherboard on our PC, it is possible that it can't boot from a Windows USB. In that case, a Windows installation disc is the most compatible solution.
What's best is that Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 10 can create a Windows installation disc from an ISO without any third-party programs.
We just need to right-click on the ISO and select the 'Burn disc image' option.
Then, it's just a matter of selecting our DVD-R drive - in which we should have an empty DVD-R or DVD-RW - and click on 'Burn.'
We can optionally check the 'Verify disc after burning' checkbox, to make sure the Windows installation disc was created correctly and with no corruptions or any other problems.
As with the USB, we don't need to do anything special for the DVD to be bootable. With the official ISOs, it will be bootable by default.
How to boot our PC with the Windows installation disc or Windows USB
For detailed instructions on how to boot from the Windows installation medium, check out our guide:
Do you prefer other methods of creating Windows installation media?
There are many apps we can use to create a bootable Windows USB or burn the Windows ISO to DVD.
If you prefer some other applications, leave us a comment, to help the rest of our readers with their choice.
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