Windows 8 Bootable Flash Drive

Create A Windows 8 Bootable Flash Drive
Windows 8 Bootable Flash Drive Rufus

As the title suggested, you need an empty flash drive or any USB storage that you can put your hands on. It should be 4 GB in size if you plan to install the 32-bit version of Windows 8 or 8.1, or 8 GB drive for the 64-bit version. If your drive is not empty, a pre-formatting process is suggested. To create a bootable USB flash drive. Insert a USB flash drive into a running computer. Open a Command Prompt window as an administrator. Type diskpart. In the new command line window that opens, to determine the USB flash drive number or drive letter, at the command prompt, type list disk, and then click ENTER. Here’s the easiest way to create a bootable USB flash drive for Windows 8. One of the easiest ways to install Windows 8 is from a USB flash drive. It’s easier to carry a small thumb drive than mess around with a DVD. Here’s the easiest way to create a bootable USB flash drive for Windows 8.

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Applies To: Windows Server 2016 Essentials, Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials, Windows Server 2012 Essentials

You can create a bootable USB flash drive to use to deploy Windows Server Essentials. The first step is to prepare the USB flash drive by using DiskPart, which is a command-line utility. For information about DiskPart, see DiskPart Command-Line Options.

Tip

To create a bootable USB flash drive for use in recovering or reinstalling Windows on a PC instead of a server, see Create a recovery drive.

For additional scenarios in which you may want to create or use a bootable USB flash drive, see the following topics:

To create a bootable USB flash drive

Insert a USB flash drive into a running computer.
Open a Command Prompt window as an administrator.
Type diskpart.
In the new command line window that opens, to determine the USB flash drive number or drive letter, at the command prompt, type list disk, and then click ENTER. The list disk command displays all the disks on the computer. Note the drive number or drive letter of the USB flash drive.
At the command prompt, type select disk <X>, where X is the drive number or drive letter of the USB flash drive, and then click ENTER.
Type clean, and the click ENTER. This command deletes all data from the USB flash drive.
To create a new primary partition on the USB flash drive, type create partition primary, and then click ENTER.
To select the partition that you just created, type select partition 1, and then click ENTER.
To format the partition, type format fs=ntfs quick, and then click ENTER.
Important
If your server platform supports Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI), you should format the USB flash drive as FAT32 rather than as NTFS. To format the partition as FAT32, type format fs=fat32 quick, and then click ENTER.
Type active, and then click ENTER.
Type exit, and then click ENTER.
When you finish preparing your custom image, save it to the root of the USB flash drive.

Long time Windows users will know that preparing bootable USB is relatively easy if you know a thing or two about the Command Prompt. Since not all users are comfortable with command line, in this guide, we’re going to walk you through two methods with step-by-step instructions to install Windows 8.1 from USB flash drive.

The method 1 involves preparing bootable Windows 8.1 USB with the help of a third-part software and method 2 is for users who would like to prepare bootable USB without using third-party tools (using Command Prompt). Note that both methods are compatible with 32-bit and 64-bit Windows.

Also read:How to Install Windows 8/8.1 from an external hard drive.

Method 1: Creating bootable USB with the help of a third-party tool.

NOTE: In this guide, we are preparing bootable USB on a Windows 8 PC but you can use this method to create bootable USB on Windows 7 as well.

Even though there are bunch of good tools out there, including Microsoft’s own Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool, we’re going to use Rufus software, as it’s the best tool out there for the job.

Step 1: Connect your USB flash drive that you would like to install Windows on your PC and backup all data from the USB drive before proceeding further as we’re going to erase all data by formatting it.

Step 2: Head over to this page and download the latest version of Rufus tool. The download size is under 0.5 MB.

Step 3: Double-click on the downloaded Rufus.exe file to launch it (it’s a standalone tool). You will see a small dialog box asking “Do you want to allow Rufus to check for application updates?” message. Click Yes or No button to continue.

Step 4: Select your USB flash drive under Device drop down menu, select Partition scheme and target system type as MBR partition scheme for BIOS or UEFI computers, and select File system as NTFS.

NOTE: If you are preparing bootable USB for a UEFI PC, you need to select Partition scheme and target system type as GPT partition scheme for UEFI computer and file system as FAT32. Note that UEFI doesn’t support 32-bit version of Windows 8.1.

Step 5: Next, check the box named Create a bootable disk using, select ISO Image and then click the CD/DVD icon to browse to the Windows 8.1 ISO file. And if you have a Windows 8.1 DVD, we suggest you use Method 2.

Step 6: That’s it! Your bootable Windows 8.1 USB flash drive is ready! You can now connect to the PC, enable boot from USB under BIOS, and then start installing Windows 8.1.

Method 2: Preparing bootable USB using Command Prompt (without using extra tool).

Step 1: Open Command Prompt as administrator. To do this, in Windows 8, simultaneously press Windows + X keys to see Power Menu in the bottom left corner of the screen, click Command Prompt (admin), and then click Yes for the UAC prompt to launch elevated prompt.

If you’re on Windows 7, open Start menu, type CMD in Start screen search box, and then simultaneously press Ctrl + Shift + Enter keys to run Command Prompt as administrator.

Step 2: Next, in the Command Prompt, type the following command:

Type DISKPART and press Enter key.

Step 3: Type LIST DISK and then press Enter key to see list of all connected drives to your PC.

Here, you need to note down the Disk number of your USB flash drive that you wish to make bootable. For instance, in the below picture, the Disk number of my USB drive is “Disk 1”. We suggest you double-check your USB drive’s Disk number before proceeding to the next step as we’re going to format it and entering a wrong Disk number might erase other connected drives.

Step 4: Enter the following commands one-by-one and press Enter key after entering each command.

SELECT DISK 1(replace “1” with your USB drive’s disk number)

CLEAN

Create A Windows 8 Bootable Flash Drive

CREATE PARTITION PRIMARY

SELECT PARTITION 1

ACTIVE

FORMAT FS=NTFS QUICK

ASSIGN

EXIT

Close the Command Prompt.

Step 5: Next, you need to either insert your Windows 8.1 installation DVD or mount your Windows 8.1 ISO file. If you’re on Windows 8, mounting the ISO file is fairly simple, right-click on the ISO file, select Mount option. When you mount the ISO file, you will see a new virtual drive in Computer (My Computer).

And if you’re on Windows 7, please follow the instructions provided in our how to mount an ISO file in Windows 7 guide to successfully mount it.

Step 8: In this step, you need to copy all files including autorun.ini file from your Windows 8.1 DVD or mounted drive (containing files from ISO). That’s it! Your bootable Windows 8.1 USB drive is ready!

Good luck! You can reboot or connect your USB drive to the PC on which you wish to install Windows 8.1 and start installing the newest version of Windows.