Required to proceed

• 8GB USB Flash Drive
• Windows 7 or Windows 2008 R2 install disc or mounted ISO file
• Computer running Windows 7

Step 1 – Format / create boot partition on the USB flash drive

• Plug in your USB Flash Drive.
• Open a command prompt as administrator (Right click on Start > All Programs > Accessories > Command Prompt and select “Run as administrator”.
• Find the drive number of your USB Drive by typing the following into the Command Prompt window, “diskpart”.

DISKPART> list disk

The number of your USB drive will listed. You’ll need this for the next step. I’ll assume that the USB flash drive is disk 4. Format the drive by typing the next instructions into the same window. Replace the number “4” with the number of your disk below.

DISKPART> select disk 4
DISKPART> clean
DISKPART> create partition primary
DISKPART> select partition 4
DISKPART> active
DISKPART> format FS=NTFS QUICK
DISKPART> assign
DISKPART> exit

Your drive is now formatted and marked bootable.

Step 2 – Copy the install files from DVD or mounted ISO to the USB drive

Start up cmd.exe again or use Windows Explorer to perform the same action.  Drive D is the mounted ISO image. Drive G is the bootable USB stick.

robocopy D:\ G:\ /MIR
Note:  The "MIR" switch creates a MIRROR or the source directory tree

Step 3 – Make the USB flash drive bootable

• From the Windows 7 or Windows 2008 R2 DVD or mounted image:
• Open a command prompt as administrator (Start > All Programs > Accessories > Command Prompt and select “Run as administrator”.
• Change your directory to the DVD’s boot directory where bootsect.exe is located.

D:
cd boot

The bootsect.exe application will be used to set the USB as a bootable NTFS drive. The USB has been labeled disk G:\ by your computer in this example.

bootsect.exe /nt60 G:

That's it!