Installing Windows from a bootable USB flash drive is one the safest and fastest installation methods available to install Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7, and as well as Windows 8/8.1. We already have a guide to install Windows 8 from USB flash drive, but the guide requires the basic knowledge of Command Prompt.
As we already have a detailed guide to create a bootable USB to install Windows 8 from the USB flash drive using the Command Prompt method, we are going to use a third-party tool named WinToFlash (free) in this guide. This guide is for novice Windows users who are not familiar with Command Prompt.
If you don’t want to use third-party tool to create a bootable USB, just follow our step-by-step and 100% working how to install Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 from USB flash drive guide to create a bootable drive using Command Prompt.
Required items:
# Windows 8 DVD or ISO
# A 4 GB+ USB flash drive
# WinToFlash
Preparing Windows 8/8.1 bootable USB
Step 1: Start the procedure by connecting your USB flash drive to your Vista or Windows 7 machine and back up all data from the flash drive as the drive will be formatted in step 6.
Step 2: The next step is to download and run the WinToFlash program. It’s a portable utility, which means that it doesn’t require an installation. The program is packed in a zip file. So extract the downloaded zip file to a folder to get WinToFlash.exe and other files.
Step 3: Run the WinToFlash.exe file to start the actual procedure. On the first run, you will see the First Start wizard box. Click Next button, accept the program license agreement and then click the Next button. Please note that a paid version of WinToFlash is also available with additional features. But the free version is more than enough to create a Windows 8 bootable flash drive.
Step 4: In the main screen, click the check button next to the Windows Setup transfer wizard to start WinToFlash wizard. Click the Next button to continue.
Step 5: In this step, you need to select the Windows 8/8.1 installation files folder and USB drive which you want to make as bootable. Click on the Select button next to the Windows file path and browse to the folder containing Windows 8 installation files.
Note: If you have the Windows 8/8.1 ISO file, please use 7-Zip (free) software to extract the installation files to a folder. Then browse to the new folder to select it as the Windows files path.
Then click the Select button next to USB drive box to select the USB flash drive.
Step 6: Once you have selected the Windows 8 installation files path and USB drive letter, click the Next button to begin transferring installation files on to USB. Clicking the Next button will launch the Windows License Agreement box. Select I accepted the terms of the license agreement and click the Continue button.
You will see the Format Warning message. As we have mentioned in step 1, the software will erase all contents on your USB flash drive. So, move all data from the USB drive to a safe location before starting the procedure.
Click the Ok button to begin transferring Windows 8.1 installation files onto the USB drive. You can relax now as you won’t have to do anything for the next 25-30 minutes. Once the moving process is done, you will see the Finished message. Click the Next button to complete the procedure.
You have just created a bootable Windows 8/8.1 USB flash drive. Reboot your machine, enable USB boot in BIOS, and start installing Windows 8 on your machine. Good luck!
Dave Jenkins says
For a file that large, you may need to reformat your pen drive in NTFS before trying use it with WinToFlash. If the drive is formatted in FAT or FAT32, it is limited to a 4GB file size.
Ihtisham Qabid says
I tried with other 8 GB pendrives as well. But everytime the case was the same.
Ihtisham Qabid says
I used a 8 GB pendrive (actually 7.43 GB available)to make a Windows 8 Bootable pendrive using wintoflash.Earlier I created windows XP,Vista,7 and it was fine. But for win 8 it didn’t work. wintoflash didn’t copy the install.wim file which is 4.25 GB. When I tried to copy the file manually it said there wasn’t enough space. even the file couldn’t be copied in the formatted poendrive which had no used space. It wasn’t because of virus ‘cos I tried copying in ubuntu OS as well but failed.What to do now!