Bootable USB flash drive with Windows XP. Running Windows from a flash drive Flash drive from which you can run Windows

Our task for today is to create a special build of Windows 7 that would work without installation and run directly from a flash drive. By including the necessary software in its composition, we will be able to solve various problems: solve problems with disk partitions, remove viruses, or, for example, use hacking tools in a familiar environment.

Having realized long ago that many problems are much easier to solve by booting from a Live media, I always try to have some kind of recovery distribution with me on a flash drive. Agree that this is, if not the best, then at least one of the most convenient ways to restore the system or, for example, deal with malware (especially if we are talking about a blocker). I've tried a lot. First these were Linux-based systems, then UBCD4Win, built on Windows XP, and then I made my own build using the notorious Bart’s PE Builder utility. Alas, the program has not been updated for a long time, which means that the list of supported systems available for transfer to bootable media remains the same: Windows 2000/XP/2003. This is a little upsetting: everyone has already gotten used to the “seven”, and it would be great to build your own boot system based on Windows 7. No sooner said than done.

Our assistant - WinBuilder

To replace PeBuilder, another, absolutely wonderful tool was found - WinBuilder. This is not even a program, but a real framework for creating Windows PE (this is the name of a lightweight version of Windows OS that allows you to boot from a removable CD/DVD/USB media). To do this, it extracts the necessary components from the distribution of the system itself, as well as the Windows Automated Installation Kit (WAIK) as the basis for the system and allows you to create additional scripts with which any third-party utilities are built into the system.

On the base WinBuilder Several projects have been built, here are just a few of them:

LiveXP - uses Windows XP as a file source and creates a system for administrators.
Win7PE - takes the Windows 7 distribution as the basis for the system.
VistaPE-CAPI - Creates a Vista-based build.
NaughtyPE is based on Windows XP and supports media playback out of the box.
MultiPE - assembles a bootable system from the Windows 7 distribution.

We will use Win7PE as the most proven and most suitable project for our tasks.

What do we need?

In order to build a bootable system based on Windows 7, we need the following:

1. Windows 7 x86 or x64 distribution, preferably with SP1 already integrated.

Using a flash drive for this purpose is convenient. Let's look at how to start a computer or laptop from a flash drive.

You need to start by choosing one of the alternative actions:

Changing the order of boot devices in the BIOS;
Selecting a boot device in the Boot Menu.

You must first get into the BIOS Utility settings. You get into them using the Delete (most often) or F2 (the most common cases) keys.

The BIOS call must be made before the OS boots - at the first black screen or reflection of the manufacturer's logo.

Sometimes what you need to click can be seen in the picture of the initial screen:

Changing Boot to UEFI

The UEFI software is graphical and changing boot devices is intuitive:

Most options usually involve changing the boot order by simply dragging and dropping the disk images with the mouse.

Actions in AMI BIOS

Before entering the Bios, the flash drive is connected to the PC in advance.

To start a computer or laptop from a flash drive, the following operational procedure is performed:

At the top of the menu, use the “right” button to select “Boot”;
By clicking “Hard Disk Drives”, press “Enter” under the “1st Drive” item in the menu that opens;
The list contains the name of the flash drive - the cursor is placed on it;
Press Enter and Esc alternately;
Then in “Boot device priority” you press “Enter” on “First boot device”;
The flash drive is indicated again:

We work in BIOS AWARD

Selecting a boot device in Award BIOS is done in the menu settings. You need to select “First Boot Device” with the cursor in “Advanced BIOS Features” and hit “Enter”:

In the list that appears, in order to boot a computer or laptop from a flash drive, install “USB-HDD” (“USB-Flash”).

After this, use the Esc button to move up a level and select the “Save/Exit” option:

Setting up in H2O BIOS

You can boot a USB flash drive into the InsydeH20 BIOS like this:

Use the right key to open “Boot” in the main menu;
"External Device Boot" must be "Enabled";
Use the control keys F5 and F6 to put “External Device” in the first position in the “Boot Priority” section;
Exit (“Exit”) from the menu when saving the settings.

The computer will restart from the desired drive.

Without visiting BIOS (for Windows 8, 8.1 and 10 with UEFI)

For such devices, you need to open the “Update and Recovery” tab through the panel on the right and select “Restart”. And in the “Special Options” panel on the “Select Action” screen, select “Use a USB device.” There will also be a choice of network connection and DVD.

The next screen will provide a list of devices from which the flash drive is selected.

If it is not in the list, click “View others”.

The choice you make will force the computer to reboot from the selected drive.

Booting through the Boot Menu

The Boot Menu is called up when the vast majority of laptop/computer models are turned on. Being one of the BIOS or UEFI tools, it allows you to select a drive to start the computer in this particular case.

This method is convenient to use for selecting a boot device once before starting the OS from a Live CD, using a flash drive to install Windows OS, and more.

After all, it’s not often that a computer starts from a flash drive - why change the BIOS settings?

IMPORTANT. Through the Boot menu in some laptops it is possible to restore the system.

Path to Boot Menu

Just like BIOS (or UEFI), the Boot Menu is called up by certain keys. Most often it is F12, F11 or Esc. Other options are possible. Sometimes (not always) this can be seen from the information that appears on the monitor screen when you turn on the computer.

Once in this section, you can see a list of connected devices from which you can start downloading (hard drive, flash drive, disks, etc.). You can choose to boot your computer over a network or start an OS recovery using a backup partition.

Features of logging into Windows 8, 8.1 and 10

Shutting down a PC running Windows 8, 8.1 and Windows 10 is not a “shutdown” in the strict sense (hibernation). Therefore, you may not be able to enter the boot menu using the above keys.

In this case, you need to do one of the following:

If you hold “Shift” while selecting the “Shutdown” option, the PC will turn off “completely” and the next time you turn it on, the keys will work;
Use the necessary keys when rebooting (and not during a preliminary shutdown);
In “Control Panel” (view - icons) / “Power Options” / “Actions of the power buttons” - disable enabling fast startup (sometimes you need to “change currently unavailable settings”):

One of the methods will definitely work.

Login to Asus

Desktop computers with Asus motherboards allow you to enter the boot menu by pressing the F8 key (the same time you press Del or F9 to enter the BIOS).

With laptops there is complete confusion:

Most modern ones use Esc;

You need to try all the options!

Login to Lenovo

With the Lenovo brand - almost the easiest way of all - we enter the treasured menu using the F12 key for almost all models of laptops / all-in-one computers.

There is also an arrow button next to power - other boot options are available on it:

We get to Acer

For Acer laptops/monoblocks, the F12 key works. But for some, in order to enter the menu to work, it needs to be turned on.

To do this, first enter the BIOS using the F2 key, and then switch the “F12 Boot Menu” parameter so that it takes the value “Enabled” (the default is “Disabled”).

Then the settings are saved before exiting the BIOS.

Other models

List of keys to enter the Boot Menu for other branded models:

HP - F9 or Esc key, and then F9;
Dell - F12;
Samsung - Esc;
Toshiba - F12.

For motherboards:

Gigabyte - F12;
Intel - Esc;
Asus - F8;
MSI - F11;
AsRock - F11.

After reading this publication, you are guaranteed to be able to launch your computer or laptop system from a flash drive.

Leave your comments, share your experience.

Sometimes you need to boot a computer with a damaged operating system in order to get files from the system disk and reinstall Windows. Most of the flash drives offered, unfortunately, do not work very adequately, for example they fall into a blue screen, etc. This flash drive does not pretend to be a full-fledged operating system, but as practice has shown, Windows XP boots from it on almost any hardware that supports booting from USB devices.

In order for the disk to be visible, it must work in IDE mode; if you have AHCI mode in your BIOS, then you need to at least temporarily change it to IDE.

(42MB) - A simple bootable USB flash drive with Windows XP. Allows you to extract files if your main system does not boot. It has a built-in GHost that allows you to make disk backups or cloning. There are problems with launching other programs and antiviruses... But it is simple and very unpretentious to hardware, and also has a microscopic size.

Due to the enormous popularity of this article, I offer another flash drive.

or download in parts - There are many differences. This flash drive contains a lot of utilities for restoring your computer. You can run your own programs, for example, the latest antiviruses. It is also possible to install drivers for your equipment, set up network connections, edit the registry, restore information from a hard drive, utilities for cloning and backing up data, etc. Tested on computers from the Pentium 4 generation and higher, as well as on a couple of netbooks. To run you need 512MB of RAM and a flash drive of at least 1GB. Unpacking to a flash drive is completely similar to that described below, only the image name has changed to mega_flash.gho. If possible, write in the comments about the results of use. If this flash drive does not boot, then the treatment recipe is described at the very end of the article(Missing MBR Helper error)!

Actually, the archive contains an image of a flash drive and a Windows version of the GHost program.

So, from the flash drive (512MB in size or more) we remove everything useful, because... it will be formatted into the NTFS file system when the image is deployed to it and we run the file ghost32.exe and click OK.

The interface is very ascetic, select Local -> Disk -> From Image. That is, we will expand the disk from the image.

By default, the same folder in which you unpacked the downloaded archive should open, you need to select the file flash.gho - this is the image of the flash drive.

Now the most important moment! We choose where to unpack this image. There are no drive letters here, there is only the size, so be guided by it so as not to accidentally ruin another drive!

Here in the New Size field you need to select the maximum size of the flash drive, if suddenly the number does not correspond to the size of the flash drive, then write the size larger than your flash drive, then the number will automatically adjust to the size of your flash drive.

That’s it, now when you click “Yes” the unpacking will begin.

If such an error suddenly appears, it means that the flash drive is in use. Either you have some program open from it, or it can, for example, be used by a player like Winamp. Click “Yes” and then the process will forcibly close everything that was connected to the flash drive.

The image is unpacked, click "Continue"

And click "Quit"

All that remains is to boot from the created flash drive. The space on the flash drive takes up about 150MB, so you can leave it like that just in case. In addition, Norton GHost can be used to back up data, as well as Acronis True Image. For example, to backup the system partition, select Local -> Partition -> To Image, and to unpack the image back to disk, respectively, Local -> Partition -> From Image.

If when you try to load a mega flash drive (the big one) an error occurs, then . After unpacking the archive, run the file “grubinst_gui.exe” where it says DISK, select a disk that matches the size of your flash drive and click on the Install button. The bootloader will write this to it. Thanks to Deimos for looking into this issue. I’ve already tried unpacking on many flash drives, but no errors arose anywhere to fix anything. Good luck everyone!

Sometimes, if the hard drive is damaged or the computer is infected with a virus, it becomes necessary to launch the Windows operating system from a flash drive. Most often, such an operation is needed when the user needs to save information by copying it to storage media or restoring it using special programs, and Windows on a laptop or computer does not boot even in safe mode.

Also, the Windows operating system installed on a portable drive is often used as a great way to avoid account restrictions on a work computer. But there is another popular option for working with such a flash drive - installing test versions of an operating system on them, for example, Windows 10 TR, which is currently in user testing mode. It is impossible to install it as the main one, since it contains many shortcomings, but there is no desire to allocate a separate section of the hard drive of a computer or laptop for it.

Preparing for launch

In order to run Windows from a flash drive, you need to first prepare it and make it bootable. Some assemblies along with Windows contain healing utilities and programs for file recovery. In this case, there most often is either a bootable shell or a launchable image of the Windows operating system, which is called a Live CD.

In addition, there are prepared images of installed Windows that contain all kinds of drivers for laptops and computers and do not require installation. In this case, download programs that do not require installation to restore files or cure viruses. It is very easy to record such an image using the UltraISO program or analogues. To do this you need to do the following:

Download an image with installed Windows from a torrent;
Open it using the UltraISO program;
Select the “Boot” item in the menu and the “Burn hard disk image” option;
Burn Windows to a USB flash drive, first checking that the selected image and recording device are correct.

If ready-made images distributed on torrents are not suitable for you, and you want to install your version of Windows on a flash drive, you will need a special program. You can use software from Microsoft called . However, this is not the best option.

The development team created a special program PWBoot, which is capable of installing Windows onto a flash drive from the corresponding archive with files. We can say that it simply unpacks the archive with prepared data into the required folders.

Using this software, you can not only install Windows on a USB flash drive, but also add the necessary updates.

The program works with an image of a slightly different format: not a distribution kit, but a virtual hard drive of a laptop or computer. OS Windows 7 allows you to create one for instant system recovery. You will need to unpack it using PWBoot onto a flash drive.

Running from a drive

Installing the operating system is not enough; now you need to set the boot priority to start your computer or laptop from a flash drive. To do this, you need to go to the Boot section of the Bios firmware and select the drive as the main device.

To launch the Bios setup, you can use the Del key for a computer or F12 and F10 for a laptop. Also, for different models, there are different boot menu shortcut buttons for changing the computer boot priorities.

Parameter changes must be confirmed with the “F10” button. After restarting the computer, the system should start Windows from the flash drive on the laptop. If this does not happen, it means that some step was missed or performed incorrectly. Also, the problem may be in the image of Windows installed on the computer itself.

Result:

Installing and running Windows from a flash drive on a laptop or computer is no more difficult than performing this operation on a hard drive. It is imperative to take into account that the drive is slower when receiving and transmitting data, which means that installation on a flash drive will take longer than on a hard drive, which can affect the operation of a laptop or computer.

Our assistant - WinBuilder

Several projects have been built on the basis of WinBuilder, here are just a few of them:

LiveXP - uses Windows XP as a file source and creates a system for administrators.
Win7PE - takes the Windows 7 distribution as the basis for the system.
VistaPE-CAPI - creates a Vista-based build.
NaughtyPE is based on Windows XP and supports media playback out of the box.
MultiPE - assembles a bootable system from the Vista or Windows 7 distribution.

We will use Win7PE as the most proven and most suitable project for our tasks.

What do we need?

In order to build a bootable system based on Windows 7, we need the following:

Windows 7 x86 or x64 distribution, preferably with SP1 already integrated.

Driverpacks are cool sets of drivers that support a huge amount of hardware. Assemblies for various types of devices are available on the site; we will not need many, namely, assemblies for the categories Chipset, LAN, WLAN Mass Storage driver.

Preliminary preparations

When all the files are at our disposal, we can begin preparations.

First, we need to install the Windows Automated Installation Kit for Windows 7. Of course, it is not necessary to burn the ISO to a disc: you can simply unpack the files from KB3AIK_EN.iso and run StartCD.exe. In the autorun menu that appears, select Windows AIK Setup and perform the most standard installation. This equipment weighs a lot, but after the WinBuilder scripts extract the necessary files from there, WAIK can be deleted (keep this in mind).

Installing WAIK

Next, copy the Windows 7 files from the disk or from the ISO image to some directory.

We place the downloaded WinBuilder.exe in some folder (for example, C:WinBuilder) - just not in the directory with the user profile. And we launch the binary under an administrator account: otherwise the program will honestly warn you about possible problems.

WinBuilder in its pure form is of little use - it requires scripts and auxiliary files to create a bootable distribution. Therefore, the first thing you will see after launching is the “Download Center”. The program will prompt you to select the projects that need to be downloaded.

Check the boxes:

updates.boot-land.net (these are updates);
win7pe.WinBuilder.net/SE (Win7PE project files).

In the upper left corner you can select the download mode (by default it is set to "Recommended"). Select "Complete" from the menu and start downloading files by clicking on the "Download" button.

For some reason, WinBuilder cannot correctly extract absolutely all the files needed to create the assembly, so you will have to do a little manual work. You need to find the bcdedit.exe file on your system (Windows 7) and copy it to C:WinBuilder ProjectsToolsWin7PE_SEx86 (or C:WinBuilder ProjectsToolsWin7PE_SEx64 for a 64-bit system). You also need to copy the following files there:

imagex.exe
wimgapi.dll
wimmount.inf
wimmount.sys
wimserv.exe

Initially they are located in the WAIK folder. You can try skipping this step. My automatic WinBuilder scripts were unable to grab these files, but perhaps you will have better luck.

Collecting the distribution

Now that we have everything necessary for assembly and are ready for use, there is no point in delaying the creation of the distribution kit. Again, I’ll break it down point by point.

So, in the left panel we see the Win7PE SE project tree. Click the "Source" button: here you need to specify the location of the Windows 7 distribution files. Everything else can be left as default.

Next, you need to connect the drivers that the system will use to create the assembly. This is done in the "Drivers" section. The default path here is %GlobalTemplates%Drivers_x86. The easiest way is to click on the "Explore" button and copy all the necessary drivers into the folder that appears. We simply unpack here the Driverpack archives that we previously downloaded. Since scanning of subdirectories is supported, there is no need to shove everything into one crazy pile: feel free to post the contents of the archives “as is”.

If you go through the "Tweaks" section, you can additionally make various cosmetic settings for the future system. For example, change the wallpaper, customize the Start menu, change shortcuts. Everything is very clearly configured through the appropriate options.

Now you can press the “Play” button and trust that everything will go without a hitch. Creating an assembly obviously takes some time: in the process, you can see how one system script after another is executed (it is difficult to imagine how much time it would take to do such work manually). Accordingly, the more scripts you select for execution, the longer WinBuilder will fiddle around. In case of an error, the program will tell you what the problem is and, most likely, will provide help in the browser with a possible solution to the problem.

I am compiling this instruction taking into account all the difficulties I have encountered, so you should not step on my rake. Everything should be fine, and as a result you will receive a Win7PE_x86.ISO file in the WinBuilderISO folder.

Before uploading files to a flash drive, you can first check the functionality of the assembly in a virtual machine, and here again everything is automated. In the VirtualTest section you can select a virtualization system (the test can be arranged using qEmu, VirtualBox, Virtual PC, VMware). I left the default mode (Best Emulation), and WinBuilder launched the resulting image in the installed VMWare Workstation, which suited me quite well. You can choose a more suitable scenario. You can leave everything as is and install a free and lightweight one into the system.

Checking the build for VMware

Now let’s talk about what transferring the system to a flash drive looks like. First, WinBuilder launches HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool - the most correct utility for formatting USB drives. Here we select FAT32 (if you want to add the ability to boot from a flash drive of another system in the future) or NTFS. Let's format it. After this, the Grub4Dos utility comes into play, which has an important purpose - to install a bootloader on the flash drive. Here you need to: firstly, select the disk correctly (since the letters are not displayed, look carefully at the size), secondly, select "Part List - Whole disk (MBR)" as the parameter value and check the Don't search option floppy. After this, all that remains is to click on the “Install” button, instantly receive a message about installing the bootloader and, mentally thanking Gbur4Dos, close its window. That's it: after this, WinBuilder will quickly transfer all files to the USB drive.

Our bootable USB flash drive with Windows 7 is ready.

It’s a sin here not to boot from a USB drive to make sure that the system works not only in a virtual environment, but also in a real, most ordinary environment. But I want to warn you right away: this is a greatly stripped-down variation of Windows 7, in which a minimum of components are left. No Aero or beautiful effects for you: all this is disabled. And from the software, by default you get some standard Windows utilities (like regedit), as well as several bonus programs like PENetwork for setting up a network (including a wireless adapter) and Opera USB for browsing. All this is not bad, but clearly not enough - the system needs to be equipped.

Network configuration

Scripts (plugins)

Additional programs that you can include as part of your system build are distributed in the form of scripts (or plugins, as they are also called). Connecting them is easy. It is enough to copy them to WinBuilderProjectsWin7PE_SEApps and then activate them through the WinBuider GUI interface. True, in order for them to appear in the script tree, the program has to be restarted, although it is possible that updating the list of plugins could be somehow easier. In some cases, the plugin is distributed as a single file - a script. There are two options here. The developer could include the necessary files directly in this file by encoding them in base64. Or, no files are included in the script, and you need to copy them to the folder with the script yourself (this should be described in detail in the plugin manual). The latter especially applies to commercial software (the same Total Commander), the files of which plugin developers simply do not have the right to distribute.

Now I’m answering the question you probably have: “Where can I get these plugins?” There are many sources - for example, here:

For example, you can download the Wireshark plugin and Winpcap necessary for its operation (available from here). We move it to the Apps/Network directory, activate it through the tree - and we get an assembly with a full-fledged sniffer. I have provided links to some useful plugins below:

Despite the fact that there are quite a lot of ready-made plugins, it is useful to be able to write a script yourself to add the necessary programs to the system. When you add a new script via "Tools .. Create script...", WinBuilder offers a simple script template. As an example, I will give a simple script that installs Softperfect Netscan, and explain the logic using comments:

//Section with information about the application being added
Title=NetScan
Description=Netscan from Softperfect
Selected=True
Level=5
Version=1
NoWarning=False
Download_Level=0
//Important variables, including the path to the executable file
%ProgramTitle%=Netscan
%ProgramEXE%=netscan.exe
%ProgramFolder%=netscan
// Commands to install the application
// Copy the necessary files from the netscan subdirectory in the folder where the script is located (you must first transfer here what is necessary for the program to work)
CopyProgram,%ScriptDir%%ProgramFolder%
//Add shortcuts
Add_Shortcut,StartMenu,Netscan
Add_Shortcut,Desktop,Netscan
//Indicate the DLLs that are necessary for the program to work.
WinBuilder will include them in the build
Require_FileQ,mgmtapi.dll
Require_FileQ,msvcrt.dll
Require_FileQ,KERNEL32.dll
Require_FileQ,snmpapi.dll
Require_FileQ,USER32.dll
Require_FileQ,WS2_32.dll
Require_FileQ,wsnmp32.dll

A huge number of scripts are available on the reboot.pro forum; they can be viewed as examples and used as a basis. In any case, there is nothing difficult in creating your own scripts. If there is a need to simply add some files to the assembly, then it is not necessary to create a plugin for this. In this situation, the "Components .. Additional Files" section will help, which is necessary just for such a situation. If you click on the "Directory Example" button, you will see the structure of the folders used in the assembly so that you can understand where exactly the files will be added.

What did we get?

How well does such a system work? Very good! When loading on my laptop, the necessary drivers are immediately attached, including for the wireless module. Thus, I immediately have access to the Internet. All programs, if integrated correctly (that is, by fulfilling all their dependencies), launch and work with a bang. And this includes software for system recovery, working with partition tables, backup, editing the registry, as well as hack tools. After all, what could be more convenient as an auxiliary system that you can always take with you and, if necessary, boot from it?

As I already mentioned, it is better to take a Windows 7 image with Service Pack (SP1) already included as the initial distribution. Using a distribution that does not yet have a service pack, I had problems finding some libraries. Although, I must say, this is not critical, because WinBuilder gives specific ways to solve the problem.

If there are any problems, the scripts usually produce errors. If something went wrong, but what exactly the problem is is not clear, logs will help. The option is activated in the "Finalize .. Save log file" script and is enabled by default. WinBuilder writes logs in great detail: you can fully study the process of creating an assembly, trace the logic of script execution and, in case of any problem, try to fix errors.

An optional, but very useful project is www.paraglidernc.com/WinBuilder (I recommend that you immediately select it for download during the first launch of WinBuilder). It includes detailed instructions for creating scenarios. After installation, look for it in the ProjectsParagliderWinBuilder.chm folder.

The easiest way to include an application in the assembly is to find its Portable version (for example, on the website portableapps.com), which already includes all the necessary files for working on a “foreign” system.