If you are using a new computer with UEFI/EFI, make sure that the Boot Legacy option is enabled: A Boot Device menu can look like this, depending on your computer model and Windows version: If a Boot Device menu doesn't appear on your screen where the USB drive is plugged-in, check the BIOS/UEFI settings. To make sure that your BIOS/UEFI is configured to boot from a USB drive, follow our Boot from USB drive guide. The USB drive you want to make bootable should have at least 4 GB in available size. Software needed to write the ISO image to the USB drive or alternatives, such as Easy USB Creator 2.0 by NeoSmart or the Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool by Microsoft.

If you have the original Windows installation disc, you can use that instead of the ISO image. You have the ISO image of Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8 or 8.1. Your BIOS/UEFI is properly configured to boot from the USB flash drive first The USB drive is empty and properly formatted

If you don't have either, you can instead download an EasyRE ISO image that can be made into a bootable USB or CD to restore your PC.īefore you start creating a bootable USB flash drive to install Windows (XP, Vista, 7, 8, 8.1, 10), you need to make sure that: Or the original installation disc of the Windows version To be able to install Windows from a USB, you need have one of the following: This guide explains how to create a Windows bootable USB drive for the following Windows versions: Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows 10, and Windows 11.Ĭreating a bootable USB drive will allow you to install Windows from the USB drive directly.

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