If you need to install Windows or
Linux and you don’t have access to a CD/DVD drive, a boot-able USB drive is the
solution. You can boot to the USB drive, using it to run the OS setup program,
just like a CD or DVD. We have collected some links to
free programs that allow you to easily setup a USB drive to install Windows or
Linux on a computer.
- The Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool is an official,
freeware tool from Microsoft that allows you to install Windows 7 and Windows 8
without having to first run an existing operating system on your computer. You
can change the boot order of the drives in your computer’s BIOS so the Windows
7 installation on your USB drive runs automatically when you turn on your
computer. Please see the documentation for your computer for information about
how to access BIOS and change the boot order of drives...more
- WiNToBootic is
another free tool that allows you to create a bootable USB flash drive for
installing Windows 7 or Windows 8. It supports an ISO file, a DVD, or a folder
as the boot disk source. It’s a standalone tool that doesn’t require
installation and it operates very fast...more
- WBI Creator is a free program that allows you to
create a bootable ISO image from Windows XP, Vista, and Windows 7 setup files.
It’s a portable tool that’s easy to use. Simply tell the tool where the Windows
setup files are and select a target folder for the new ISO file that will get
created. Then, you can use one of the other tools mentioned in this article to
setup a bootable USB flash drive or CD/DVD for use in setting up a Windows
system...more
- WinToFlash is a
free, portable tool that allows you to create a bootable USB flash drive from a
Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7, Server 2003, or Server 2008 installation CD
or DVD. It will also transfer a Windows pre-install environments (WinPE), which
are handy for troubleshooting and repairs, to a USB flash drive. You can even
use WinToFlash to create a MSDOS bootable USB drive...more
- XBoot is
a free utility for creating multiboot USB flash drives or ISO image files. This
allows you to combine multiple ISO files (Linux, utilities, and antivirus
rescue CDs) onto one USB drive or ISO file, allowing you to create a handy
utility drive. Simply drag and drop the ISO files onto the XBoot window and
click Create ISO or Create USB....more
(NOTE: XBoot requires .NET
Framework 4.0 (Standalone installer or Web installer) to be installed on your system to run.)
- UNetbootin is
a free program for both Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X that allows you to create
bootable Live USB drives for Ubuntu, Fedora, and other Linux distributions
instead of burning a CD. It runs on both Windows and Linux. Either use
UNetbootin to download one of the many Linux distributions it supports or
provide the location of your own Linux ISO file...more
(NOTE: The resulting USB drive is
only bootable on PCs, not Macs.)
The program also allows you to
create a drive for Debian, or any other Debian-based OS for which you have a CD
or .iso image.
- Universal USB Installer is a program that allows you
to choose from several Linux distributions to install on a USB flash drive.
Select the Linux distribution, provide a location for the appropriate ISO file,
select your USB flash drive, and click Create...more
(NOTE: The USB flash drive must be
formatted as a Fat16, Fat32, or NTFS drive.)
- Rufus is a small, portable program that allows you to
create bootable USB drives for Windows and Linux. It also allows you to check
the USB device for bad blocks, using up to four passes. Rufus runs in both
32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Windows
8. You can create bootable USB drives for the listed versions of Windows, as well
as almost all popular Linux distributions, such as Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Fedora, and
OpenSUSE. Rufus is very easy to use and the
program looks like the default format window shown in Windows when you format a
hard disk partition, USB drive, or other external drive...more
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