How to burn a bootable Windows 7 disk from scratch

Of course, it's best to install Windows from a bootable DVD. However, if you do not have one at hand, you can use Windows files from your computer and get your own drive. The question of how to burn a boot disk by one's own efforts, by assembling an ISO image from scratch, is not really difficult. You can do this with a few simple commands.

In order to do this, you can use the various Microsoft tools that are included in the AIK (in other words, the unattended installation package) designed for Windows 7 (you can use it similarly to Windows Vista). The following example will show you how to burn a boot disk with the seventh version of the Windows operating system.

First, copy the Windows files to a separate folder on your hard drive. Create a separate folder and give it a simple name, preferably from numbers and Latin letters. In addition to the operating system files, you can add additional user files, such as drivers or programs that are constantly used by you. Now they will be copied to a specific address, for example, to the "x86fre" folder on the C drive. The next step to how to burn the boot disk will be the generation of an ISO file. To do this, you must do the following:

Open the console command prompt window (with administrator rights) and go to where the AIK tools are loaded. Then enter the appropriate command.

During the execution of the command, you will receive messages similar to the following:

Oscdimg 2.55 DVD-ROM and CD-ROM pre-mastering utilities

All rights reserved.

License is for Microsoft products only.

Scanning the source tree (500 files in 49 directories).

Scanning a full source tree (810 files in 159 directories).

The image file is 2825107456 bytes.

Writing 810 files in 159 directories.

100% complete.

The final image file is 2825107456 bytes.

Done.

After the appearance of these entries, you will receive a new ISO file for Windows 7 (or for Vista).

If you want to burn a Windows 7 64-bit boot disk, just use other file types. In this case, the entry in the command line should be changed.

If we talk about how to write a bootable disc, the value of the commands will be:

- "B" indicates the boot sector location file (etfsboot.com). This file will make a bootable DVD. Do not use a space between "B" and the path!

- The second path points to the directory in which the ISO file will be created.

- "N" allows you to use extended file names.

- "M" allows you to create ISO files larger than the CD format.

After completing this process, you only need to write your ISO file to any media. You can write an image to a Nero disc or by using another similar program (for example, Roxio ImageBurn). Of course, it is desirable to write to a DVD-ROM, as this will greatly facilitate the installation of the OS.

In addition, many users are wondering how you can install Windows 7 on a device without a DVD drive. There are a number of resources on the Internet (including Microsoft's official website), through which you can configure the bootable USB-flash drive Windows 7 with almost one click. Strangely enough, but installing the seventh version of the OS is much easier than installing the previous versions. Just remember that to format and write the bootable USB flash drive, its memory capacity should be at least 4 GB.