This can take a few minutes to complete.ģ. Copying source files to USB flash drive The ISO file will now be extracted to a sub-folder with the same name as the ISO file. Once you have WinRAR installed navigate to the ISO file in explorer and right click on the file and select the bottom Extract to option. To extract the files from the ISO file you will need WinRAR. If you do not already have WinRAR download and install that now. If you have a physical Windows install DVD then skip to step 3. Now it is time to extract the setup from a Windows 7/8 ISO image file. Next, right click on the removable USB flash drive and select Format.Ĭlick Start and the USB flash drive will be formatted. Click on the Start Button and then Computer to bring up your drives.

Let’s get started. First we need to format the USB flash drive to erase any existing data on the drive. You may need a 8 GB USB flash drive for some Windows 8 images. Windows 7 or Windows 8 ISO file and WinRAR or a burned DVD with the install source files.As an extra benefit, modern USB flash drives are typically much faster than DVDs resulting in a quick install. The best way to install Windows on these devices is to use a USB flash drive that contains the Windows installation files. This has become problem as a number of laptops and tablet PCs no longer ship with DVD drives. Microsoft distributes Windows 7 and Windows 8 on physical discs or images of DVDs called ISO files that are typically burned to physical media.

Physical DVD drives are becoming a thing of the past as the size of our PCs continue shrink and new form factors are emerging.

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