Install Windows 7 from a USB drive

There comes a point in your life, where do you don't stock up on blank DVD's or CD's, and all you have are external hard disks and flash drives. Now, what happens when you need to re-install Windows and you have no proper disc to do it with? Perhaps the original disc is damaged (but can be recovered), or you only have the ISO version (which is completely legal, so long as you plan to register it with a valid key) of it?

This happened to me recently, and I managed to figure out how to do it. Its possible to install Windows 7 (or Windows 8, if you want to) from a USB drive, be it an external hard disk or a small flash disk. This post is about how its done.

You'll need:

• Another PC with Windows on it (at least XP), or if you haven't re-installed on the current PC, don't (at least not yet). You'll need it.
• An external hard drive, or a flash disk. They must have at least 4GB of capacity IN TOTAL.
• Your Windows 7 (or Windows 8) disc or ISO (must be mounted).

Now on to the juicy parts:

PART 1

Fig. 1

Fig. 2

1. Plug in your flash disk or hard drive into a USB port of the computer with Windows on it, and back up all of the data into a safe place, because we need to erase and format it.
2. Open the command prompt with administrator rights. You can do this by navigating to C:\Windows\System32, right clicking on cmd.exe, and then clicking on Run as Administrator. Note that if you don't have Windows installed to drive C:/ you will have to navigate to the drive its installed on. Alternatively, you can go to your Start Menu, click on All Programs, then Accessories, and then right click on Command Prompt and select Run as Administrator.
3. Once the command prompt is open, type DISKPART and press enter. Refer to Fig. 1. 
4. Type LIST DISK and press enter. Remember the disk number of the drive you plan to boot from. The size and free space of the disk will give you a clue as to what is what.
5. Now you need to type the following commands IN ORDER,  like you did for the ones above. 

• SELECT DISK ### (where ### is the disk number you noted earlier)
• CLEAN
• CREATE PARTITION PRIMARY
• SELECT PARTITION 1
• ACTIVE
• FORMAT FS=NTFS (Note that if you are working in XP, this command won't work. You need to navigate to the drive in my computer, right click on it, and click on format. In the new window, make sure you format to NTFS and not FAT32 or exFAT)
• ASSIGN
• EXIT

PART 2

1. Keep the command prompt open.
2. Insert your Windows disc into your DVD drive or mount the image. Make a note of the drive letter of your Windows disc, as well as the drive letter of the drive you want to boot from.
3. Go back to the command prompt and type #: CD BOOT (where # is the drive letter of your Windows disc) and press enter.
4. Type BOOTSECT.EXE /NT60 #: (where # is the drive letter of the disk you want to boot from) and press enter. This fancy pants command makes the drive boot-able. Almost there!
5. Copy the contents of the Windows disc onto the empty boot-able drive. Once that is done, your device is ready to be booted from, and installed.
6. Now this step is hardware specific, and I cannot help you during this because there are literally hundreds of motherboards out there. You need to make sure that your computer can boot from a USB device, and there is usually a setting for this in your BIOS. Refer to your motherboard manual for this. If you don't want to do this, you can always risk it and hope that your computer is already configured to boot from USB.
7. Proceed to install Windows as you normally would. \:D/

I hope this helped you in some way. Enjoy!

Fix for Origin

Several months ago, I managed to get my hands on Battlefield 3 for PC, which was awesome. Eventually I found out that it required EA's new Origin service to install and play. I don't have the best internet connection out there, so being forced to download numerous patches (over 3GB in size) through Origin and not from anywhere else, was a horrible experience for me.

What made it even more horrible was that Origin didn't function properly.

Sure, its in beta, and one can expect bugs, but its main function is to allow people to digitally download their paid for game, allowing him or her to install the game on any PC with an internet connection, without the need for a disc. However, after installing (from the disc) I was told that it needed to download a 3GB patch in order for me to play online, and Origin had issues downloading this patch (as well as a host of other games and patches). When I attempted to start the download, it was stuck in a never ending loop that went in this order:

1. Preparing
2. Downloading 0kb out of 0.00kb (it would stay stuck like this for a few minutes)
3. Preparing

Throughout this time, it was using up my bandwidth, and yet again, this was not a good thing. After doing some research, I found out that others have also been experiencing this issue, and up until now, there has been no fix. Reading through forums, it would seem that there was some conflicting software involved, as well as network settings that could be interfering.

I managed to get Origin to work, using the last option. However, it is advisable to try out the first few options as well, because they have worked for some users, and it may work for you too.

OPTION 1 - Run Origin with administrator rights
For some people, Origin might be trying to write to a directory that is write protected from unauthorized users, so by running Origin as an admin, or by changing the directory's write privileges, the problem may be solved. To do this, right click on the Origin shortcut or executable, and click on Run as Administrator. If you need to enter a password, do so when it asks you. Hopefully this method fixes your problem.

OPTION 2 - Use a VPN or PROXY
Your ISP might be blocking Origin from connecting, or the network you are on might be restricting Origin as well. This is usually the case with universities or public networks. Forums have recommended Hotspot Shield. Download this and install it. Run it, and once the VPN/Proxy is activated, use Origin and try it again.

OPTION 3 - Boot Windows into Safe Mode with Networking

Windows 7 Advanced Boot Options

This is the option that worked for me, after the previous two options failed to fix the problem. When you boot Windows into safe mode, Windows only loads the core processes, drivers and services that are required for Windows to function, so the user can diagnose/fix the problem without being limited by other programs. To do this, restart your computer, and as soon as your PC finishes showing you the BIOS screen, keep tapping the F8 button on your keyboard. You will eventually be led to a black and white screen with numerous boot options for Windows. Make sure you select Safe Mode with Networking and not plain old Safe Mode, because your computer needs to be connected to the internet for Origin to work. Once that is done, login and proceed to use Origin. This HAS to work, if the previous options didn't. If not, then there is a problem with the network or your PC.

If you have any other fixes for this, please share it! And good luck!