Create Bootable USB or DVD with Windows 8 ISO

How to Create a Bootable USB or DVD with a Windows 8 or 8.1 ISO


This tutorial will show you how to create either a Windows 8 or Windows 8.1 bootable USB flash drive or DVD to use to install the Windows 8 or 8.1 with.

Windows 8 and 8.1 System Requirements
Windows 8 works great on the same hardware that powers Windows 7.

Processor: 1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster

RAM: 1 gigabyte (GB) (32-bit) or 2 GB (64-bit)

Hard disk space: 16 GB (32-bit) or 20 GB (64-bit)

Graphics card: MicrosoftDirectX 9 graphics device or higher

Additional requirements to use certain features:

• To use touch, you need a tablet or a monitor that supports multitouch.
• To access the Windows Store and to download and run apps, you need an active Internet connection and a screen resolution of at least 1024 x 768.
• To snap apps, you need a screen resolution of at least 1366 x 768.

This will not work to install Windows 8 or 8.1 for UEFI. For that, see this tutorial below instead.

UEFI Bootable USB Flash Drive - Create in Windows

OPTION ONE

Create Bootable DVD using "Burn Disc Image" Context Menu Item

1. For how, see:

How to Burn a "ISO" or "IMG" Disc Image file to a CD/DVD in Windows 7 and Windows 8

OPTION TWO

Create Bootable DVD/USB with "Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool

1. If you have not already, you will need to download a 32-bit or 64-bit Windows 8 or 8.1 ISO file, and save it to your desktop.

2. If you have not already, download and install the Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool.

(At sites)





3. Run the Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool, and click/tap on the Browse button. (see screenshot below)




4. Select the downloaded ISO file (step 1), and click/tap on Open. (see screenshot below)




5. Click/tap on Next, and do either step 6 or step 7 below. (see screenshot below)




6. Create Bootable Windows 8 or 8.1 Installation USB Flash Drive


A) Connect a USB thumb drive, and click/tap on the USB device button. (see screenshot below)




B) Select the drive letter of the USB thumb, and click/tap on the Begin copying button. (see screenshot below)
NOTE: If the drive letter is not listed in the drop down menu, then click on the refresh button and try again.




C) If prompted, click/tap on Erase USB Device. (see screenshot below)




D) If prompted, click/tap on Yes. (see screenshot below)




E) When finished, close the Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool, and go to step 8 below. (see screenshots below)







7. To Create Bootable Windows 8 or 8.1 Installation DVD
NOTE: If you are in Windows 7, then you could ause the built in Burn disc image feature to burn the ISO to a DVD instead if you like.

A) Insert a blank unformatted DVD into your DVD drive. Once it's recognized, click/tap on the DVD button. (see screenshot below)




B) Click/tap on the Begin burning button. (see screenshot below)




C) When finished, close the Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool, and go to step 8 below. (see screenshots below)







8. You are finished, and can now install Windows 8/8.1 with your bootable USB or DVD.

OPTION THREE

To Create a Bootable Windows 8 or 8.1 Installation USB with "Rufus"

1. Download the latest version of Rufus at the link below, and save it's .exe file to your desktop.

Rufus - Create bootable USB drives the easy way

   Note

This is a standalone exe file that doesn't install anything to your PC.
For Rufus FAQs, see: FAQ · pbatard/rufus Wiki · GitHub

2. Connect your USB flash drive if you have not already.

3. Run the rufus_v###.exe file, and click/tap on Yes if prompted by UAC.
NOTE: ### = latest version number.

4. Set Rufus with the settings below: (see screenshot below step 5)

• Under Device, select the USB flash drive you want to format and use.
• Under Format Options, check Create a bootable disk using, click/tap on the browse icon to navigate to and select your Windows 8 or Windows 8.1 ISO file.
• Under Partition scheme and target system type, select MBR partition scheme for BIOS or UEFI computers.
• Under File system, select NTFS.
• Under Cluster size, select the (Default) (ex: 16 kilobytes or 4096 bytes) it has listed.
• Under Format Options, check Quick format.
• Under Format Options, check Create extended label and icon files.
• Under New volume label, you can enter any name you like for the USB flash drive, or leave the default name.

5. When ready, click/tap on Start. (see screenshot below)




6. Click/tap on OK to confirm. (see screenshot below)




7. Rufus will now start creating the bootable USB flash drive. (see screenshot below)




8. When Rufus is "DONE", you can close Rufus. (see screenshot below)
NOTE: It could take a little while to finish.




9. You are finished, and can now install Windows 8/8.1 with your bootable USB.



That's it,
Shawn

Related Tutorials

---

• How to Boot from a USB Drive within Windows 8 and 8.1
• How to Boot from a USB Drive on Surface
• Enable or Disable Always Automatically Boot PC from USB Drive in Windows To Go Startup Options
• How to Create a Windows To Go Startup Options Shortcut in Windows 8 and 8.1
• How to Do a Clean Install of Windows 8 or Windows 8.1
• How to Upgrade from Windows 8, Windows 7, Vista, or XP to Windows 8 or 8.1
• How to Download and Run the "Windows 8 Upgrade Assistant"
• How to Create or Download a Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 ISO
• How to Do a Dual Boot Installation with Windows 8 and Windows 7 or Vista
• How to Create a Windows 8 VHD at Boot to Dual Boot with Windows 7 or Vista
• How to Create a Recovery USB Flash Drive in Windows 8
• How to Setup "Windows 8 To Go" on a USB Flash Drive or USB Disk
• Create a Bootable UEFI USB Flash Drive for Installing Windows 7 and Windows 8
• How to Open Device Manager During Installation of Windows 8 and 8.1

 

[Brink]

I dont know why yet but in step 5: it says: "The Selected File is not a valid ISO file. Please select a valid ISO file and try again"
and im trying the 64bit version. Any ideas?

Hello VRchaos, and welcome to Eight Forums.

Did you download the ISO from here? Windows 8 Consumer Preview ISO formats

It may have been corrupted during download if interrupted. You might see if downloading another copy may work.

Hope this helps for now,
Shawn

 

[Mirac7]

i can't run windows 7 usb/dvd download tool on dp... can somebody help?

 

[Brink]

Hello Mirac,

Are you able to do so in a Windows 7 to create it instead?

In Windows 8, you might see if you may be able to use PowerISO instead.

Hope this helps,
Shawn

 

[Atari800xl]

Thanks for this great forum and wonderful tutorials. Just wanted to let you know about this program:
Rufus - Create bootable USB drives

I used it to put the Windows 8 Consumer Preview ISO on USB. Seems to work perfectly: fast, simple, free.
The thing I really like about it that is also works from Windows XP. So no more Diskpart, Bootsect, ISO extract and copy, it's all integrated in this nice utility. Maybe this looks like an advertisement, but I can assure you that I have nothing to do with this program (just wished I could be that smart....)

Again, thanks for this site!!

 

[Mirac7]

i liked dp better

 

[smylp]

Hello, I wanted to install a 64 bits windows 8 consumer preview in dual boot with a vista 32 bits. I followed the steps in the tutorials to create a bootable usb but it fails because of a missing bootsect.exe. The procedure to get bootsect.exe on microsoft.com only applies to those who bought windows 7 on the store. Is there an other recommended way to get bootsect.exe ?
Thanks

 

[Brink]

Hello Smylp, and welcome to Eight Forums.

When you restart the computer with the USB flash drive connected, did you open the boot menu and selecting to boot from the USB flash drive? Usually you'll have to press one of the F# keys to open the boot menu.


You could also use step 6 in the tutorial below to dual boot Windows 8 CP and Vista if you like.

http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/2344-dual-boot-installation-windows-8-windows-7-vista.html

Hope this helps,
Shaw

 

[smylp]

When I run setup.exe from the sources folder, the application raises an error panel because it's a 64 bits application run from a 32 bits vista.
When I was trying (see previous post) to make a 64 bits Windows 8 USB drive (I mean the step to create the USB bootable drive, not the W8 installation itself), the application said that it could not create the boot on the USB drive because bootsect was missing to create a 64 bits boot header from a 32 bits vista OS.
I guess that unless I can get bootsect.exe to create a 64 bits boot from a 32 bits OS, I can only install W8 32 bits.
Thanks.

 

[Brink]

Sorry smylp,

I forgot about that. I'm more awake now

If you have a friend with a 64-bit Windows, you could use it to create the 64-bit Windows 7 bootable USB with.

 

[smylp]

Thank you Brink, I am trying.

 

[DJC]

I downloaded the 32 bit ISO file of Windows 8 CP and tried the steps in the tutorial, but i get this error. Why?

thnx in advance for your help and support.

 

[Brink]

Hello Kostas,

The ISO you downloaded may have been interrupted while downloaded and/or got corrupted. You might see if downloading a new copy may work.

In addition, if it's a linux type ISO, then you would not be able to use it since it's not Windows OS based.

 

[noone]

I don't know why, but I've done like you said. I put the usb in the USB port, and in the boot menu I've tried them all (USB-HDD, USB-CDROM,USB-ZIP, USB-FDD). None of them worked. What can I do?

 

[GMan]

USB-HDD is the one you want. If it didn't work, then that's because it wasn't made well, for some reason or another.

Or you could try another USB slot. Choose one directly attached to the motherboard, and not the system case or a hub.

If you're trying in 3.0 port, use a 2.0 instead to try.

 

[noone]

Ok, I'll try.

 

[Mirac7]

I'd say try different USB. Cuz I can boot from any port and with any setting.

 

[Cly]

When I issued the "clean" command on my 64GB USB drive, I got this message:

DiskPart has encountered an error: Access is denied
See the System Event Log for more information.

It did delete the existing partition. I don't know if it's related, but this drive shows up as having only 58GB, even in diskpart.

 

[Brink]

Hello Cly,

Does the USB flash drive have any sort of write protection (hardware/software) enabled on it?

Could you also post a screenshot showing the USB in Disk Management (diskmgmt.msc) to see if it may help?

 

[Cly]

Hello Cly,

Does the USB flash drive have any sort of write protection (hardware/software) enabled on it?

Could you also post a screenshot showing the USB in Disk Management (diskmgmt.msc) to see if it may help?

I don't know of any write protection. It is a Team X101 64GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive (Blue) Model TG064GX101LX which you can find here: Newegg.com - Team X101 64GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive (Blue) Model TG064GX101LX

I attach a screenshot from Disk Management. It only shows one partition. Diskpart also shows only partition.

 

[Brink]

Cly,

It doesn't mention that it has a write protection option. I don't see a screenshot in your post though.

Have you tried to format the USB flash drive?