Install Windows 7 or windows 8 from a USB drive/USB Key/pen drive/u disk/potable hard drive

I know there are tons of tutorials that try to teach you how to install windows using a USB drive but I am going to write another one. This is because most of the tutorial are either too complicated or simply not work. The method I am going to show you never failed on me before so I am sure it will work for you as well.

Now you've poked around the web and have learned that there is something called windows 8 consumer preview which got you all excited. When you downloaded it, you're left with an ISO file that must be burned to a DVD before you can actually install it. But you don’t have a DVD burner or you burned the disk using your desktop but found out that your shiny new “ultra book” simply don’t have a place that you can insert the disk. So there is nothing you can do to try the fancy Metro interface. Or is there?

The good news is that you are not screwed. You can install the ISO file from a USB drive. It will save you the trouble to burn a DVD, save you the cost of a DVD disk, and last but not least, save you time during the installation as well.

Material you’ll need:

• A computer that you want to install your new fancy operating system
• A USB drive, (4GB minimum for 32bit system and 8GB minimum for 64bit system)
• The operating system you want to install. This need to be an .ISO file. You can download the windows 8 consumer preview from here or extract windows 7 from an installation DVD by following this handy tutorial.
• Windows 7 USB DVD Download Tool that you can download from here

Now we all set and let’s rock and roll

First you need to install the Windows 7 USB DVD Download Tool by following the steps in the setup dialogs. If you don’t know how to do this, you shouldn’t really mess up with your computer, just make a cup of tea and ask you grandchildren to handle the rest.

Run the Windows 7 USB DVD Download Tool by click the Windows 7 USB DVD Download Tool icon on your desktop or run it from the start menu.

Click browse

Find you downloaded .ISO file

Double click the file and move to the next step and select USB devices

Select the device on which you want to write the ISO file then click begin copying

It will warn you that all data on the device will be deleted, if you are sure, click erase USB device.

Now you just sit back and wait for your USB windows installation drive to be ready. It will take around 10-20 minutes depends the write speed of your USB drive.

Installation of Windows.

Shut down your computer. Plug in the USB drive and make sure your computer is set to boot from USB drive.

The easiest way would be if your computer gives you a choice to do a 'One Time Boot' when you first turn on your computer before it starts to boot into Windows. It should say some variation of ‘Press <F11> to load boot menu’ on the start-up screen, the one with your computer vendor’s logo Unfortunately there is no default key that will bring up this menu, it will be different on most computers, so if there is nothing showed on your start-up screen, you may want to contact the laptop manufacturer or consult the notebook manual for this information. Google is always a good place to look as well.

If your computer has this capability, you may skip direct to installation.

Turn your computer on and enter into the BIOS. This is different depending on your computer, but the most common key triggers to get you into the BIOS are 'delete', 'F2', 'F2', or 'F12.' The start-up screen should tell you how to enter setup; if it does not, and none of the keys work, you may need to contact the laptop manufacturer or consult the notebook manual for this information. Again, Google is a good place to look as well.

In most BIOS' you will see a tab that indicates 'Boot' 'Boot Sequence' or 'Boot Device Priority'

Make sure the first boot device is the USB drive. After saving this you may restart the computer.

NOTE: The USB drive must be plugged in before entering the BIOS to be able to choose this option.

Now restart your computer and start installing windows. If you don’t know how to do this, please refer to this handy tutorial.