With the Windows 8 Developer Preview which was recently released, it may be advisable to have it on a bootable USB drive instead of burning it onto a DVD. Check out our guide which helps you quickly prepare a bootable USB drive for Windows.
Windows 8 will have a beta and release candidate after the developer preview and I am sure no one will want to waste a DVD (even a re-writable one) with pre-release software. So we have put together a guide that will allow you to create a bootable USB drive which is easy to carry around and convenient to update with the latest Windows ISO.
[NOTE] You computer should have the ability to boot from USB drive. You need to set your computer to boot from USB drive from the Bios. Please check from your manufacturer for instructions on how to access and edit your Bios.
[NOTE] You computer should have the ability to boot from USB drive. You need to set your computer to boot from USB drive from the Bios. Please check from your manufacturer for instructions on how to access and edit your Bios.
- Download and install the Microsoft Windows 7 USB/DVD download tool.
- Download Windows 8 - You will have three options to choose from
- 64-bit edition with developer tools (4.8 GB)
- 64-bit edition (3.6 GB)
- 32-bit edition (2.8 GB)
- Insert your USB drive. A 4GB drive may be enough for the 32-bit version but we would recommend you use one which is at least 8GB in size.
- Launch the Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool.
- Choose your ISO file from the location you downloaded it to by clicking 'Browse'.
- You can use this tool to burn the image to either a DVD or USB, We will choose 'USB device' at this point.
- You will see your USB drive displayed and you can click 'Begin Copying' and sit back and wait for the process to finish.
- Once you are done, simply reboot your device with your USB drive plugged in and your setup should begin. Follow the on screen instructions to install Windows.