Installing an operating system from a USB drive can be a convenient and efficient method, especially when dealing with devices without optical drives or when you need to install multiple systems. While this process is commonly associated with Linux, it is also applicable to Windows. In this article, we will explore the steps to install both Windows and Linux from a USB drive on a Windows environment.

Examples:

1. Preparing the USB Drive:

• Connect the USB drive to your Windows computer.


• Open the Command Prompt or PowerShell as an administrator.


• Type "diskpart" and press Enter to open the DiskPart utility.


• Type "list disk" and press Enter to view the list of available disks.


• Identify your USB drive based on its size and type "select disk X" (replace X with the corresponding disk number).


• Type "clean" and press Enter to remove any existing partitions on the USB drive.


• Create a new partition by typing "create partition primary" and press Enter.


• Format the partition by typing "format fs=fat32 quick" and press Enter.


• Assign a drive letter to the USB drive by typing "assign" and press Enter.

2. Creating a Bootable USB Drive for Windows:

• Mount the Windows ISO file or insert the Windows installation DVD.


• Copy all the files from the Windows ISO or DVD to the USB drive.


• Open the Command Prompt or PowerShell as an administrator.


• Navigate to the USB drive by typing the corresponding drive letter followed by a colon (e.g., "E:") and press Enter.


• Type "cd boot" and press Enter.


• Type "bootsect /nt60 X:" (replace X with the drive letter of the USB drive) and press Enter to make the USB drive bootable.


• Your USB drive is now ready to install Windows on other computers.

3. Creating a Bootable USB Drive for Linux:

• Download a Linux distribution ISO file (e.g., Ubuntu, Fedora).


• Install a third-party tool like Rufus or UNetbootin on your Windows computer.


• Open the tool and select the downloaded Linux ISO file.


• Choose the USB drive as the target device.


• Configure any additional settings as required by the tool.


• Click "Start" or "Create" to begin the process of creating a bootable Linux USB drive.


• Once completed, the USB drive can be used to install Linux on other computers.