UEFI Bootable USB Flash Drive - Create in Windows

visibility · Mar 8, 2013

This is great and I am very appreciative of the effort you have put into creating this tutorial. But I have a problem.
I have followed the instructions letter for letter for a clean install of Win 8 on a new system except I formatted the USB as NTFS. Why? Because another guide that I am following in the latest edition of Australian APC mag says to do so. But here's the problem: I insert the USB drive and reboot but the drive does not appear in the BIOS/UEFI boot menu. The USB controller is working because my USB keboard and mouse are working fine. I have tried all available USB ports. Consequently I have no access to the USB. I doubt that this is a FAT32/NTFS issue but please correct me if I'm wrong. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Relevant System Specs:
--------------------------------------------
# Intel Core i7 3770 processor
# Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD5H-WB mother board

Brink · Mar 8, 2013

Hello visibility,

Yep, the USB flash drive will need to be formatted as FAT32 to install with UEFI at boot.

pparks1 · Mar 8, 2013

Will confirm that you have to use fat32. I created an uefi boot following this guide and it worked just fine.

visibility · Mar 8, 2013

Brink said:
Hello visibility,

Yep, the USB flash drive will need to be formatted as FAT32 to install with UEFI at boot.

Thanks Brink. So I re-created the bootable USB flash drive with FAT32 and I was able to commence installation with UEFI. But the same problems arose that led me to your tutorial in the first place - black screening before the installation completes. I won't repeat my woes here becuase I have another post where they are covered here.

Thanks very much for your help and patience.

aneesh · Mar 8, 2013

Its a great tutorial. Just what I was looking for. I did everything you mentioned. But whenever i start the booting process, I get the following error:
The application or operating system couldn't be loaded because a required file is missing or contains errors.
File: \windows\system32\winload.efi
Error Code: 0xc0000359

I tried many times and always get the same error. Is it something I am doing wrong?

btyanks · Mar 11, 2013

Hello everyone. I'm new to this forum and to windows 8 as well. I wanted to create a bootable windows 7 usb drive and I followed every step. I went to boot from the usb drive using the secure boot and then I get into a red screen that says, "Secure boot violation. Invalid signature detected. Check Secure boot policy in setup." I'm not sure what is causing this error. If you can help me out I would appreciate it. Thanks!

Brink · Mar 11, 2013

btyanks said:
Hello everyone. I'm new to this forum and to windows 8 as well. I wanted to create a bootable windows 7 usb drive and I followed every step. I went to boot from the usb drive using the secure boot and then I get into a red screen that says, "Secure boot violation. Invalid signature detected. Check Secure boot policy in setup." I'm not sure what is causing this error. If you can help me out I would appreciate it. Thanks!

Hello btyanks, and welcome to Eight Forums.

You will need to disable secure boot to be able to install a 64-bit Windows 7 with UEFI.

UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) - Install Windows 7 with - Windows 7 Help Forums

Hope this helps,

Shawn

Brink · Mar 11, 2013

aneesh said:
Its a great tutorial. Just what I was looking for. I did everything you mentioned. But whenever i start the booting process, I get the following error:
The application or operating system couldn't be loaded because a required file is missing or contains errors.
File: \windows\system32\winload.efi
Error Code: 0xc0000359

I tried many times and always get the same error. Is it something I am doing wrong?

Hello Aneesh, and welcome to Eight Forums.

Sorry about the late reply.

Is this for Windows 7 or Windows 8?

Where did you get your ISO file from?

aneesh · Mar 12, 2013

oh sorry about that.

it's for windows 8. the thing is i got this new laptop recently lenovo G580 with windows 8. i wanted to change the partition size. i used easeus partition master to do so. but during the process the computer crashed and i had to format the whole drive and lost everything. also i live here in Nepal and i had this laptop delivered to me from the US by my relative. the other thing is that initially my hard drive was formatted in GPT but i converted it to MBR to install windows 8 from a dvd. so key stored in BIOS was also not detected. and i was thinking maybe if i installed in UEFI mode the key will be detected.

is UEFI firmware stored in harddisk?

and about that ISO file, its a 6 in 1 iso. may be something wrong with iso?

i would really appreciate any of your help.

Brink · Mar 12, 2013

Aneesh,

The product key is imbedded in the UEFI firmware chip on the motherboard.

Most likely, the 6 in 1 ISO will not work to install using UEFI. That could have something to do with the key not being detected as well.

If you have Windows 8 installed, activated, and running how you like using "Legacy BIOS", then I wouldn't worry about it.

theog · Mar 12, 2013

aneesh said:
oh sorry about that.

it's for windows 8. the thing is i got this new laptop recently lenovo G580 with windows 8. i wanted to change the partition size. i used easeus partition master to do so. but during the process the computer crashed and i had to format the whole drive and lost everything. also i live here in Nepal and i had this laptop delivered to me from the US by my relative. the other thing is that initially my hard drive was formatted in GPT but i converted it to MBR to install windows 8 from a dvd. so key stored in BIOS was also not detected. and i was thinking maybe if i installed in UEFI mode the key will be detected.

is UEFI firmware stored in harddisk?

and about that ISO file, its a 6 in 1 iso. may be something wrong with iso?

i would really appreciate any of your help.

Did you make the Lenovo Windows 8 USB Drive Recovery?

Methodology to create Recovery Media and reload a Lenovo Think system with Microsoft Windows 8 preload

Guiri · Mar 12, 2013

OK, great! I just spent a week assembling my new system, installing Windows 8 and all programs on the new SSD and now I read this.

Windows 8 was installed via USB stick the normal way, has created 2 partitions and thus is not UEFI enabled. Would it be benefitial to start all over again? Compared to the old computer the start-up is already superfast and besides that I tend to use Sleep and so I hardly ever reboot. Would it still make sense to reinstall? Are there any other benefits besides even faster boot? If yes, would it, as an alternative, be possible to make a backup using the included Windows 8 tools, reinstall Windows in UEFI mode and then restore my current C: drive? Would that then be an image or just all folders on C: selected? TIA.

Brink · Mar 12, 2013

Hello Guiri,

To be honest, I haven't noticed much difference using a UEFI vs "Legacy BIOS" installation with Windows 8.

If you wanted to use UEFI, you would have to start from scratch again. Restoring an image would just replace the new UEFI installation with what you have (non-UEFI) when you created the image. You could manually copy and paste anything (ex: music, documents, etc...) you do not want to lose to another location as a backup, and copy it back afterwards though.

If you're happy with you current installation, then I wouldn't worry about UEFI unless you just wanted to.

The video below can help show you more about UEFI vs Legacy boot.

[video=youtube;dRMIvY7BiL4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRMIvY7BiL4[/video]

Hope this helps,

Shawn

KenVolder · Mar 13, 2013

I create a UEFI Windows 7 Install USB flash drive.
I select the USB drive and the initial loading windows progress bar finished, it hangs at the "Starting Windows" screen.
(Secure boot disable, Fast boot enable.)
Is there something wrong with my steps?

Guiri · Mar 13, 2013

Brink said:
To be honest, I haven't noticed much difference using a UEFI vs "Legacy BIOS" installation with Windows 8.

If you wanted to use UEFI, you would have to start from scratch again. Restoring an image would just replace the new UEFI installation with what you have (non-UEFI) when you created the image. You could manually copy and paste anything (ex: music, documents, etc...) you do not want to lose to another location as a backup, and copy it back afterwards though.

If you're happy with you current installation, then I wouldn't worry about UEFI unless you just wanted to.

The video below can help show you more about UEFI vs Legacy boot.

Thanks for the reply, Shawn, and thanks for the video link.

Although I was aware that UEFI is a mousable BIOS and has some other advantages, the video was very helpful in getting more insight.

What I do not understand, however, is why Windows 8 is not able to check for itself what the best way to install is on a modern motherboard, or at least give the option to choose (and explain why to choose one over the other). I still don't get that you have to make changes to a bootable USB stick in order to make a UEFI install possible at all (although I must admit that I didn't read the whole thread, and maybe it is mentioned somewhere?). Also, I think it is a pity that board manufacturers still don't explain well what all the options in the BIOS do (but maybe that's just to scare away less-knowledgeable people).

Although I would not be worried about getting my docs etc. back after a new install, I tend to spend a lot of time reinstalling all programs and tweaking their settings. I don't have any experience with the built-in functionality to save and later import settings, and I am not even sure if that would work for self-installed programs. I think I'll leave it as it is.

My current boot (non-Fast, from button press to lock screen) is 20 seconds and as I said, I normally use Sleep for weeks, unless away for longer than a few days or Windows Update requests a restart.

I'll also try Fast Boot. At first I wanted to avoid that in order to prevent wearing out my SSD but I since learned that I should not be too worried about that.

Brink · Mar 13, 2013

KenVolder said:
I create a UEFI Windows 7 Install USB flash drive.
I select the USB drive and the initial loading windows progress bar finished, it hangs at the "Starting Windows" screen.
(Secure boot disable, Fast boot enable.)
Is there something wrong with my steps?

Hello Ken, and welcome to Eight Forums.

You'll want to disable Fast boot as well until installation is finished.

Brink · Mar 13, 2013

Guiri said:
Brink said:

To be honest, I haven't noticed much difference using a UEFI vs "Legacy BIOS" installation with Windows 8.

If you wanted to use UEFI, you would have to start from scratch again. Restoring an image would just replace the new UEFI installation with what you have (non-UEFI) when you created the image. You could manually copy and paste anything (ex: music, documents, etc...) you do not want to lose to another location as a backup, and copy it back afterwards though.

If you're happy with you current installation, then I wouldn't worry about UEFI unless you just wanted to.

The video below can help show you more about UEFI vs Legacy boot.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply, Shawn, and thanks for the video link.

Although I was aware that UEFI is a mousable BIOS and has some other advantages, the video was very helpful in getting more insight.

What I do not understand, however, is why Windows 8 is not able to check for itself what the best way to install is on a modern motherboard, or at least give the option to choose (and explain why to choose one over the other). I still don't get that you have to make changes to a bootable USB stick in order to make a UEFI install possible at all (although I must admit that I didn't read the whole thread, and maybe it is mentioned somewhere?). Also, I think it is a pity that board manufacturers still don't explain well what all the options in the BIOS do (but maybe that's just to scare away less-knowledgeable people).

Although I would not be worried about getting my docs etc. back after a new install, I tend to spend a lot of time reinstalling all programs and tweaking their settings. I don't have any experience with the built-in functionality to save and later import settings, and I am not even sure if that would work for self-installed programs. I think I'll leave it as it is.

My current boot (non-Fast, from button press to lock screen) is 20 seconds and as I said, I normally use Sleep for weeks, unless away for longer than a few days or Windows Update requests a restart.

I'll also try Fast Boot. At first I wanted to avoid that in order to prevent wearing out my SSD but I since learned that I should not be too worried about that.

You're welcome.

Hopefully the next generation of UEFI motherboards and OS will be more seamless with each other without having to jump through a few hoops first.

Personally, I wouldn't worry about installing with UEFI until you just happen to need to reinstall anyways, and if you wanted to.

KenVolder · Mar 13, 2013

Brink said:
KenVolder said:

I create a UEFI Windows 7 Install USB flash drive.
I select the USB drive and the initial loading windows progress bar finished, it hangs at the "Starting Windows" screen.
(Secure boot disable, Fast boot enable.)
Is there something wrong with my steps?

Click to expand...

Hello Ken, and welcome to Eight Forums.

You'll want to disable Fast boot as well until installation is finished.

Hi Brink,
Installation finished success, I logged Win 7 success after I set Fast boot enable but it hangs at the "Starting Windows" screen.

Brink · Mar 13, 2013

What happens when you leave Fast boot disabled?

KenVolder · Mar 13, 2013

Brink said:
What happens when you leave Fast boot disabled?

It boots slower window 8.

UEFI Bootable USB Flash Drive - Create in Windows

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