Boot Windows 7 from USB stick

I have MBA 2012. I would like to install on USB stick Windows 7 and use USB as the exteranal drive. The reason for this is that I don't have enough space on MBA to make partition for Windows. Could you describe steps how to do it? Thank you!

Search on Google for help. This is an Apple forum, not a Microsoft forum.

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IMacs can boot Linux or Windows from usb stick

iMacs 21' can boot Linux or Windows from usb stick? from Firewire 400 or 800 hdd/ssd? from USB HDD/SSD?
May boot fromCD/DVD/DVDDL in internal DVD DRIVE, too?
Exist Blu-ray drives able connect on Thunderbolt slot on iMac 21'?

Here is the memo of the steps I followed. Hope this helps.
<Create VHD image in temp folder at local drive>
diskpart
create vdisk file=C:\Temp\Win2go.vhd maximum=20480 type=fixed
select vdisk file=C:\Temp\Win2go.vhd
attach vdisk
exit
<Create partition in VHD, format in NTFS and assign drive letter "O">
diskpart
list disk
select disk n （n is a number of VHD）
clean
create partition primary
format fs=ntfs quick override
assign letter=o
active
attribute volume set NODEFAULTDRIVELETTER
exit
<Execute "DISM" utility in Windows DVD and extract installer image to VHD>
G:\sources\dism /apply-image /imagefile:G:\sources\install.wim /index:1 /applydir:O:\
** "G" is drive letter for Windows DVD
** "O" is drive letter for VHD partition
<Write boot program into VHD>
O:\windows\system32\bcdboot O:\windows /f ALL /s O:
** "O" is drive letter for VHD partition
<Detach VHD>
diskpart
select vdisk file=C:\Temp\Win2go.vhd
detach vdisk
exit
<Format USB thumb drive in NTFS>
diskpart
list disk
select disk n （n is a number of USB thumb drive）
clean
create partition primary
format fs=ntfs quick override
active
exit
** "E" is drive letter for USB thumb drive
<Write loader into boot sector>
G:\boot\bootsect /nt60 E:
** "G" is drive letter for Windows DVD
** "E" is drive letter for USB thumb drive
<Copy VHD file to USB thumb drive and mount>
copy C:\Temp\Win2go.vhd E:\
diskpart
select vdisk file=E:\Win2go.vhd
attach vdisk
exit
<Write boot info into USB thumb drive>
F:\Windows\system32\bcdboot F:\Windows /s E: /f ALL /v
** "E" is drive letter for USB thumb drive
** "F" is drive letter for VHD partition on USB thumb drive

Dual boot windows from USB via grub?

HI all:
I recently had a motherboard failure on an existing PC on which I dual-booted Windows XP and Gentoo. I replaced that box with a new HP PC preloaded with Vista. Wiped that immediately, and installed ARCH. But, I would like to also boot XP, and, since my old hard drive is still OK (I have it in an external USB adapter), I was thinking that I might configure grub to point at an external USB drive like this:
# Windows XP
title Windows XP
root (hd1,0)
makeactive
chainloader +1
where "hd1" (I hope) would point at my old drive, now connected via USB. In this way, I am really booting from my HDD (where grub lives), but "chain loading" from my USB external. Can this work??
-dvh

dvh wrote:
I configured as shown in the wiki, but when I try to boot XP, I get a message that says something to the effect of "missing or corrupted <windows root>\system32\ntoskrnl.exe". I checked the disk and it seems to be there and OK. I get the feeling that it is either NOT finding the hard disk (or partition) or it cannot interpret the NTFS file system (but grub was able to boot this before,...). So, two questions...
1) how do I know what the designator for the external USB hard disk will be? I have speculated that grub will find it at "hd1", but maybe not?
2) does the target disk NEED a windows boot loader? as I said earlier, I used to dual boot it, so there is a grub loader on that disk also.
...ok, three questions...
3) anything else that I should consider??
Thanks again for any help.
-dvh
1) i don'tknow a way to check this, but the
missing or corrupted <windows root>\system32\ntoskrnl.exe message comes from the windows boot process,
so it seems grub is configured correctly.
The main problem is that BOTH grub and windows boot need to have the correct settings.
Windows takes the settings for boot from the boot.ini file in the root of C:\ , and that probably needs to be changed.
You will need some way to get read/write access to the windows C-drive partition.
Install ntfs-3g in archlinux (see NTFS_Write_Support ) and post the contents of boot.ini .

Boot ISO from USB-stick!

Hi,
I have found a very nice utility that allows you to put an ISO on an USB-stick and boot from it like it's a real CD/DVD player:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/unetbootin/

This program is great and actually just saved a brand spankin new MSI GX660 from certain death, I had it packed and ready to ship back to newegg hours after I got it because recovery would not work. But a fresh win 7 iso image and a 4gig flash drive and unetbootin saved my laptop and weeks of certain stress.
All I wanted was my GX660 to run out of the box and unetbootin assisted in the processs immensely!

How can I boot linux from usb drive and/or dvd drive on a windows 8 laptop please?

Hi all,
Could someone describe how to set my windows 8 laptop to boot linux from usb and or dvd drive step by step please? I have HP laptop. Thank you.

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/modules/ps6247/prod_qas0900aecd80232483.html
     Q. What sizes of USB Flash sticks are supported?
     A. USB Flash sticks are supported in 64, 128, and 256 MB sizes. No other sizes are supported.
     Q. Can I use any USB memory stick for this application?
     A. No. Only Cisco USB memory sticks are supported.
Q. Can I boot an image directly from the USB Flash module?
A. Yes. USB drivers have been added to rommon, starting with version 12.4(13r)
     Q. Can I format the USB Flash module on the router?
A. Yes. You can format the module on either a router or a PC. You must specify "FAT16 file system" as the file system for the PC format process to use.
If your setup satisfies above conditions you can get the router to boot up with the IOS on the USB flash
If you are in ROMMON mode, use 'dev' to find out the name of the USB Flash (should be usbflash0).
set BOOT=usbflash0:
If you are in the router,
boot system flash usbflash0:

Howto boot recovery discs from usb stick

hi.i have t40 and i just bought recovery media(because predesktop area is dead).i tried many ways but i cant afford to boot recovery medias from usb stick.which tool should i use?? i dont have optical drive??

Hello mate,
What version of windows are using ? It's possible with windows 7.
http://forum.lenovo.com/t5/X-Series-ThinkPad-Laptops/Making-a-usb-stick-with-the-Lenovo-recovery-par...
Knowledge is of two kinds. We know a subject ourselves, or we know where we can find information on it.
ThinkPad T510 4313-CTO Windows 8 x64 - Intel Core i7-620M - NVIDIA NVS 3100M - 8GB RAM - 240GB SSD- Intel Centrino Ultimate-N 6300 - Gobi 2000.
ThinkPad Helix 3697-CTO Windows 8.1 x64 - Intel Core i7-3667U - Intel HD Graphics 4000 - 8GB RAM- 256GB SSD - Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6205 - Ericsson C5621gw

Can all macbooks boot from usb(stick,hdd) and firewire(hdd) an os: linux, win, mac os x, opensolaris, etc

Subject: BOOT FROM EXTERNAL STORAGE DEVICE - After this setup properly
Can all macbooks boot from usb(stick,hdd) and firewire(hdd) an os: linux, win, mac os x, opensolaris, etc?
what about:
Apple MacBook Pro MB133LL/A 15.4-inch Laptop(OLD VERSION) (4GB RAM 120G HD 2.33 GHz Core 2 Duo processor, 15.4" Matte Screen, 4GB memory, 120 GB 7200 rpm hard drive) White

Yes,
Disconnect everything hooked up to the PC except the keyboard, mouse and monitor.
Then use this method to flash the BIOS. It is the safest way to go.
USB Device BIOS Flashing in DOS
DOS Flash (DOSFlash.exe, FlshUefi.cpu) is the DOS-compatible System BIOS flash utility that can be used from a DOS bootable storage device (where "DOS" refers to any of a number of compatible operating systems such as FreeDOS, MS-DOS or DR-DOS). FlshUefi.cpu is the required driver for DOSFlash.exe. To flash the System BIOS from a bootable USB storage device, you will need to copy the contents of the DOS Flash folder to the USB device, boot the PC from the USB device, and execute the DOSFlash application. To see a more complete description of the DOS flash utilities, view DOSFlash.txt located in the DOS Flash folder. This folder also contains the required binary image of the BIOS. The binary image file is named xxx_MMmm.bin where "xxx" is the BIOS family, "MM" is the major version number, and "mm" is the minor version number. This file can be copied to the root directory of any USB removable medium for use with the F10 setup "Flash System ROM" option
View Contents of DOS Flash Folder
The links on this post don't work. I copied the section from the BIOS flashing instructions for the specific section you need.
Paul

Boot from usb stick a usb stick OS like Linux

The below can boot from usb stick a usb stick OS like Linux on stick?
Apple MacBook MB403LL/A 13.3-inch Laptop (2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Processor, 2 GB RAM, 160 GB Hard Drive) White
Apple's Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard operating system can upgraded to Lion? If yes this has any impact in this laptop (Is it best leave like is the Leopard?)?
memory can upgraded with this[15' or 13' RAM is the same?]:
Kingston Apple 4GB Kit (2x2GB Modules) 667MHz DDR2 SoDimm iMac and Macbook Memory (KTA-MB667K2/4GR)
http://www.amazon.com/Kingston-Modules-Macbook-KTA-MB667K2-4GR/dp/B001265GI2/ref =pd_sim_pc_2

Hmm, when you mean "bootable" are you meaning booting a operating system from the USB to run the computer with?
Because that's what "booting" means, not mounting, which is what I think you mean.
I say this is because you mentioned a PC, and a generic PC can't normally boot from a USB with OS X installed without a LOT of extra help of the hacking/breaking software agreement kind which is beyond the capability of most.
If you mean your USB thumb drive is not mounting or showing up on the computer to trade files, then please tell us how you formatted the USB or if you didn't or not and it's volume size.
Also if it does have OS X on it, what version and where did you install it from, because it might be lacking the hardware drivers for the other Mac.

How do I install windows from USB on Macbook pro 3,1

How do I install windows from USB on Macbook pro 3,1 ?
My Superdrive is far from super anymore, So I managed to make an extern drive with both Snow Leopard Partition, Lion Partition (Since I thought Boot Camp 4,1 would bypass my problem), and Time Machine partition, Since I got 1. USB drive that works.
- My general issue is that Boot camp Refuse to see the USB drive - (Many "how to"´s though show how they install windows perfectly through the USB port, but they use airbooks!, and somehow the Macbook will not ?)
I fix that issue with >> rEFIt <<, that suddenly makes it possible for the Mac to see the USB drive, and partitions.
Which was very strange since I could use an extern HD with the whole installation to start up wipe the whole disk, and then use my extern drive with partitions to install Snow Leopard and get everything as before with timemachine. Very smart with timemachine, but very lucky that I have a extern drive that runs the whole system and that I made the partitionsdrive before. DVD-drives are the past!
Point: So the original system could see the Snow Leopard installation USB disk, but boot camp cannot find the USB drive ?????????
After rEFIt I booted and then I got this error:
Starting bootmgr.efi
Error: Unsupported while loading bootmgr.efi
I read it could be a problem with the Windows software, so I purchased an extern DVD drive, Used Disk Utility to make an image (.DMG), then used another program to convert the .dmg to .ISO.
Then downloaded a trialversion of vmWare fusion, and installed windows from the iso. Everything worked brilliant, except and that is why I want to use boot camp, Running windows in another program while running the mac system is a little hacky and slow.
Point: Nothing is wrong with the windows software, and windows runs fine.
I then downloaded the Windows DVD / USB Tool, reformatted a USB drive as Master Boot Partition, MS-Dos Fat partition, then after lots of struggling got Vmware, windows to recognise the USB drive. And installed the windows software on the USB drive, as all the walkthroughs recommend.
Then I tried for "fun"! to just install windows form the extern USB drive, and with rEFIt it will see the drive and start to do something, but then when it starts to boot, the screen just turns into black and nothing happens, and you can see the drive does NOTHING. (I think it is because I only have 1 USB drive and the Extern DVD drive does not get enough power, but again the mac refuse to see the USB drive unless it is a Snow Leopard installation USB-drive!
Well trying to install Windows Ultimate 64 Bit, which worked great in vmware, because that program installed from the .ISO file that I had on the desktop, but trying with Boot Camp did not get anywhere, what kind of **** program is this boot camp anyway!?, but then I try the new USB disk with windows made from windows, thorugh rEFIt, it sees the disk and then starts and then I get this ERROR:
rEFIt - Booting Legacy OS
Starting legacy loader
Using load option ´USB´
Error: Not found returned from legacy loader
Error: Not found from LocateDevicePath
(x 9 times)
Error: Load Error while (re)opening our installation volume
The firmware refused to boot from the selected volume. Note that external hard drives are not well-supported by Apple´s firmware for legacy OS booting
(Hey Apple please send out a updated firmware that fix this issue?!)
So how do I do it ? - or is the only option to fix the partition running the system from the extern disk. Format the whole drive in 2 from the "bottom" and install windows and then afterwards install Mac on the other partition ? Or just run windows on the mac and forget about mac software ? What a stupid solution...

There are strings in the pliist file to add other Macs so that you can use some USB-DVD drives.
This is 5 page thread, so a little more 'meat' to it:
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3410900?start=60&tstart=0
And on PC booting Windows from a USB DVD to do the install is usually a piece of cake, sometimes you just need to specify that USB in the BIOS boot order and sometimes select via F12 (or another Fkey) and that is it.
What you have here seems to be everything and everyone is excluded unless there is a mac-model device ID string that specifies yes. An unnecessary hurdle.

Portege P3500: It's possible to start from USB-stick?

Is it possible to start from usb-stick? i have tried to make a bootable usb-stick , and it really worked on my pc at home , but not on the laptop ..bios settings are ok , as far i know (usb-fdd legacy enable , first boot device fdd)
where is the problem ?

Try to update bios. Even though it has that option does not mean that it will. Make sure in BIOS that legacy emulation is enabled as well. Then connect your USB and turn on the computer. Go into bios and check to see if your USB keystick is located under boot devices, which it should be. Other then that, you might have installed the boot program wrong. CD's etc have a boot.ini file. Basically an ini means initiate. So boot.ini initiates boot process. If this is configured wrong, or doesnt exist on the boot device you are using, it will not boot from the device even if configured in BIOS.

Trouble opening Jar from USB stick on a Mac

Hi all,
Has anyone else had any problems running Jar files from a USB stick on a Mac -- directly clicking on them in the finder?
What I've found:
- I cannot run any Jar file I try if it is on a USB stick and I double-click on the jar file in my Mac
- I CAN run jar files from a CD by double-clicking
- I CAN run jar files from USB sticks on Windows directly from the window
- I CAN run jar files from a USB stick on a mac if I call "java -jar" directly from the terminal
I have tried running from USB sticks on several different Macs, and I've tried a number of different Jars that I've created over the years -- nothing works. The Java code isn't doing any path-based finding of files or anything like that.
Anyone else tried this? Are there any solutions?
Thanks,
Sam

Try this:
With the stick plugged in, go to Finder->Applications->Utilities->Disk Utility. From there, you should see your memory stick appear in a sidebar on the left. Click on it, then click on the "erase" tab and follow the instructions.

HT1846 gtp error while installing windows from usb! how to solve it.

gtp error while installing windows from usb! how to solve it.

Hello mmarti,
Thanks for using Apple Support Communities.
Please ensure you are following the Boot Camp installation guide, as you should be selecting the partition named "BOOTCAMP" when you are at the Windows installer screen. See page 6 of the following PDF:
http://manuals.info.apple.com/MANUALS/1000/MA1636/en_US/boot_camp_install-setup_ 10.8.pdf
Take care,
Alex H.

Dual boot Windows from Toshiba Recovery CD

Is it possible to dual boot Windows from a Toshiba Recovery CD?
I have a Satellite A45-S120 with a Toshiba Windows XP Recovery CD.
I have XP installed on one partition. I partitioned the hard drive using GParted, and installed Linux on several partitions. I want to install XP on a 2nd partition, so I can dual boot 2 versions of Windows from the same hard drive.
When I go to install Windows, the Toshiba Recovery CD says the entire hard drive will be deleted. Is this the case, or will it only reformat a partition? I went into GParted and was able to change the first Windows XP ntfs partition to hidden, and now successfully can not boot Windows from the Grub Boot Manager. However, I worry that if GParted can see the partition, then the Toshiba Recovery CD might be able to. In addition, the Linux ext partitions could not be set to hidden. Will the Toshiba Recovery CD overwrite all the partitions, or can it maybe only install itself on the one ntfs partition available?
I read at http://www.vistax64.com/general-discussion/193560-install-xp-toshiba-recovery-disk-d.html that there may be a way possible, any advice?
Specs are:
1.26 Ghz Celeron
1.256 GB Ram
40 GB HD

Satellite A45-S120
I want to install XP on a 2nd partition,
So far as I know, that recovery disc will install nothing. It will restore the entire hard drive (master boot record and all) by writing all the bytes that were on the original drive (byte-by-byte).
-Jerry

NEED HELP! - Installing Camera raw presets from USB Stick

NEED HELP! -installing Camera raw presets from USB Stick.
I am attempting to install the Camera Raw Presets.
It says to put them into User Name/Library/Application Support/Adobe/CameraRaw/Settings...
When I get to CameraRaw the ONLY folders in there are CameraProfiles & Lens Profiles.
I have searched everywhere looking for a CameraRaw-Settings folder and cannot find one.
I have latest version of CameraRaw installed and still no settings folder.
I even attempted to find it by looking in camera raw where it has saved the custom settings I made as presets and it shows that they are saved but will not show me where.
I am using CS5 specifically Photoshop v12.0.4 and Bridge. I have Lightroom 4. I have iMac OS 10.7.3
Do I need to reinstall Camera Raw and how do you do that?
Will I then lose my presets that I made in CameraRaw?
Thanks for your help

Here is a note from the ACR 7.1 beta release. http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/cameraraw7-1/?tabID=details
Perhaps this answers question.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is it no longer required to place the plug-in file in the specified directory on my hard drive?
The Camera Raw update process has grown to include lens profile and camera profile files which are easiest to install via a single installer process instead of updating several different directories manually.

OS X Lion USB Thumb Drive can run from usb stick?

OS X Lion USB Thumb Drive can run from usb stick[no install]?

Your questions are easily answered by means of a web search, which you can do as well as I can. You can order a Lion installer on a USB stick. I don't know how big it is, and it doesn't matter, because all you can do with that stick is install Lion, which is what you don't seem to want. If you have a Mac and want to be able to run Lion from an external storage device, the capacity of the device has to be at least 7 GB.
Apple - OS X Lion - Technical specifications
I hope you understand that if you buy the Lion USB installer with the intention of installing onto a PC, or running Lion on a PC without installing, you'll be wasting your money. It won't work.

Can i start mba from usb-stick ?

hi
is it possible to start a mba from usb-stick with osX ?
thanks for response.

is it possible to start a mba from usb-stick with osX ?
Yes, if the stick's large enough and formatted as Mac OS Extended (Journaled).
(53239)

Boot Windows 7 from USB stick

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