+ Reply to Thread
Results 1 to 6 of 6

Thread: Boot from USB     submit to reddit submit to twitter

  1. #1
    Salvage Bans
    Join Date
    Jun 2011
    Posts
    927
    BG Level
    5
    FFXI Server
    Sylph

    Boot from USB

    I have a HP laptop with windows 8 that i'm trying to down grade to windows 7. The computer doesn't have a desk drive so i've transferred all the files to a USB stick (the usb is formatted as FAT32). My problem arises when I try to boot from the usb. How the fuck do i get it to do it? The bios for this computer are retarded as shit and wont let me strait up change my boot order like im use to. This is where i'm at so far (enabled the legacy boot but just loads strait into windows 8 still).


  2. #2

    Maybe a stupid question... but did you make your USB drive bootable?

    Programs like Rufus can do it: http://rufus.akeo.ie/

  3. #3
    Salvage Bans
    Join Date
    Jun 2011
    Posts
    927
    BG Level
    5
    FFXI Server
    Sylph

    Wasnt aware that I need to do that. I'll do that now, thx for the suggestion

  4. #4
    Salvage Bans
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Posts
    811
    BG Level
    5
    FFXIV Character
    Orinthia Warsong
    FFXIV Server
    Excalibur
    FFXI Server
    Bahamut

    The order seems right from your screenshot. Insure the usb drive is not plugged into a usb3 port, as those like to not work for this purpose. USB3 ports usually have a blue tongue instead of a black one (I have no idea how else to describe that little thing in the port; it's blue though!).

    As with octopus's suggestion, stuff needs to be bootable in order for it to work. There's also a microsoft tool to convert a windows iso into a usb bootable form, so something else to try: http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/...usbdvd_dwnTool

  5. #5

    Just to add another option to making your USB bootable, you can do it all with native Windows functions (except for XP, or mounting an ISO pre-Windows 8). I wrote this up a couple years ago, but I still use it so nothing major has changed. If you're copying the files from a physical disc, just replace the portion where I mention mounting the ISO. Hopefully my instructions make sense.

    Code:
    From Windows 8 / 7 / Vista:
    Open CMD prompt:
       diskpart
       list disk
    
       select disk x
    	(where x = disk number of thumb drive from "list disk" output)
       clean
       create partition primary
       select partition 1
       active
       format quick fs=fat32
       assign
       exit
    
    **Mount ISO (WinCDemu or other tool if not in Windows 8)**
    
       xcopy x:\*.* /e/f y:
    	(x = mounted iso drive letter, y = thumb drive letter)
    
    From XP:
    
    Open Device Manager:
    
    Under Disk drives, find your thumb drive. Right click > Properties. Under Policies tab, Select Optimize for performance.
    
    Format drive as NTFS
    
    Open CMD Prompt:
    
    bootsect /nt60 y:
    
    xcopy x:\*.* /e/f y:
    Hopefully you're not doing this from an XP machine, but if you are just note that bootsect will have to be downloaded since it is not native to XP.

  6. #6
    Nidhogg
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Posts
    3,792
    BG Level
    7
    FFXIV Character
    Tsugaru Mifra
    FFXIV Server
    Hyperion
    FFXI Server
    Ragnarok

    most computers have a boot option key you can press at startup. but yeah you have to make your flash drive bootable before any of that will work. rufus is the best fucking thing.

Similar Threads

  1. Computer not booting from disk or usb drive
    By Cream Soda in forum Tech
    Replies: 14
    Last Post: 2012-08-29, 00:12
  2. Replies: 9
    Last Post: 2010-07-15, 21:12
  3. Booting from Ipod
    By Zilong in forum Tech
    Replies: 4
    Last Post: 2010-05-27, 14:28
  4. Win7 64bit boot from partition.
    By guartz in forum Tech
    Replies: 7
    Last Post: 2009-06-17, 13:12
  5. Cant get a laptop to boot from CD...
    By ClassicRed in forum Tech
    Replies: 12
    Last Post: 2009-04-08, 11:55
  6. Replies: 8
    Last Post: 2008-12-03, 19:52
  7. Boot from cd: Disk Boot error
    By Eaglestrike in forum Tech
    Replies: 9
    Last Post: 2008-01-28, 02:02