[GUIDE]WINDOWS 8 LIVE USB : install it on a USB KEY - UPDATE 11/01/13 - RTM TOO !!!

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urboy4mbx

urboy4mbx

Senior Member
Oct 13, 2010
96
9
New York
PYCON said:
:D:D:D

No man, u can't format the usb key on which u've installed Win 8.

'cause for the system, it's the C: and so the system partition, u
can't format it, resize it, remove it from usb tray icon...

:D:D:D
Click to expand...
Click to collapse


Hey man...Thanks for the TUT. I got it working fine :cool:

Question...when you said

"where X is the letter of the partition used in the USB stick. Reboot and ensure that the PC starts from USB stick. In figure 01 you can see my 8 partitions on the same USB drive where I have Windows 7 32 & 64 BIT, WINDOWS 8 32 & 64 BIT, LINUX Pinguy 32 & 64 BIT, Easeus Todo Backup Recovery with Linux shell"

Do you mean that you can boot to all of these from the same drive? if the answer is yes, which bootloader you're using and how the hell you did it? :confused:

Thanks!!!
 
PYCON

PYCON

Senior Member
Nov 1, 2006
1,532
312
urboy4mbx said:
Hey man...Thanks for the TUT. I got it working fine :cool:

Question...when you said

"where X is the letter of the partition used in the USB stick. Reboot and ensure that the PC starts from USB stick. In figure 01 you can see my 8 partitions on the same USB drive where I have Windows 7 32 & 64 BIT, WINDOWS 8 32 & 64 BIT, LINUX Pinguy 32 & 64 BIT, Easeus Todo Backup Recovery with Linux shell"

Do you mean that you can boot to all of these from the same drive? if the answer is yes, which bootloader you're using and how the hell you did it? :confused:

Thanks!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

No mate, no... WIN 7 is impossible to boot from an USB key directly...

I mean that I can boot WIN 7 32 & 64 BIT for INSTALLING ON THE PC
FROM THE USB KEY, THE SAME AS INSTALLING IT FROM THE DVD.....

WIN 7 doesn't run from USB, only WIN XP & WIN 8 I suppose...

While LINUX yes, LINUX runs from USB key...
 
urboy4mbx

urboy4mbx

Senior Member
Oct 13, 2010
96
9
New York
PYCON said:
No mate, no... WIN 7 is impossible to boot from an USB key directly...

I mean that I can boot WIN 7 32 & 64 BIT for INSTALLING ON THE PC
FROM THE USB KEY, THE SAME AS INSTALLING IT FROM THE DVD.....

WIN 7 doesn't run from USB, only WIN XP & WIN 8 I suppose...

While LINUX yes, LINUX runs from USB key...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Not true...Windows 7 does run from a USB. I got it myself.



---------- Post added at 07:39 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:36 AM ----------

I'm running Windows 7, Vista, XP, Acronis, Norton Ghost and other nice application on the same 16GB USB drive.

With grub4dos as bootloader.
 
Last edited:
urboy4mbx

urboy4mbx

Senior Member
Oct 13, 2010
96
9
New York
PYCON said:
Yes but only for the purpose of installing it. 7 can't be installed onto
an USB memory and running as primary O.S. from it. I've never seen
it in 3 years... :D:D
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

it starts with Windows PE 3.0 (Windows 7 based PE) and ends almost with the same process you use for Windows 8 USB boot :)

Back on topic...Did you created the .exe on your OP???

Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using XDA Premium HD app
 
Last edited:
O

ov2rey

Senior Member
Feb 6, 2008
420
12
i boot into windows 8 from the thumb drive "64Gb" but couldn't run windows update
 
O

ov2rey

Senior Member
Feb 6, 2008
420
12
PYCON said:
Tell me exactly the type of error... :rolleyes:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

e2c7b48f618cb2fc41060d83ddad06dd1015754ae53edd21aa9870ba5bf57e6b6g.jpg


i able to surf net but couldn't update windows :(
 
O

ov2rey

Senior Member
Feb 6, 2008
420
12
No. I also fail to install Silverlight 5

Sent from my 7 Trophy using XDA Windows Phone 7 App
 
urboy4mbx

urboy4mbx

Senior Member
Oct 13, 2010
96
9
New York
I had a similar issue before which was fixed by doing the following

1. Stop the Windows Update service.
2. Rename folder c:\windows\SoftwareDistribution
3. Create folder c:\windows\SoftwareDistribution
4. Restart Windows Update service

Where did you get Windows 8 from? if is not directly from Microsoft, I suggest checking for virus with Microsoft Security Essentials

it could be that Windows updates are being blocked by your internet connection.

I almost forgot, your first try should be running troubleshooter if you haven't

---> Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Troubleshooting\System and Security "Fix Problems with Windows Update"
 

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Last edited:
PYCON

PYCON

Senior Member
Nov 1, 2006
1,532
312
urboy4mbx said:
I had a similar issue before which was fixed by doing the following

1. Stop the Windows Update service.
2. Rename folder c:\windows\SoftwareDistribution
3. Create folder c:\windows\SoftwareDistribution
4. Restart Windows Update service

Where did you get Windows 8 from? if is not directly from Microsoft, I suggest checking for virus with Microsoft Security Essentials

it could be that Windows updates are being blocked by your internet connection.

I almost forgot, your first try should be running troubleshooter if you haven't

---> Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Troubleshooting\System and Security "Fix Problems with Windows Update"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Thx for how to. Hope this helps to other users... :)
 
O

ov2rey

Senior Member
Feb 6, 2008
420
12
i don't understand this step
2. Rename folder c:\windows\SoftwareDistribution <<< [rename this folder to?]
3. Create folder c:\windows\SoftwareDistribution <<< [create a new empty folder?]
then rename it to SoftwareDistribution?
 
urboy4mbx

urboy4mbx

Senior Member
Oct 13, 2010
96
9
New York
ov2rey said:
i don't understand this step
2. Rename folder c:\windows\SoftwareDistribution <<< [rename this folder to?]
3. Create folder c:\windows\SoftwareDistribution <<< [create a new empty folder?]
then rename it to SoftwareDistribution?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Rename it to softwaredistribution.old or whatever you want then create a new folder and name it SoftwareDistribution
 
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    PYCON
    PYCON
    Hello to all ...

    I have received many requests from some other forum users with whom I collaborate x and I am here today to explain how I solve a problem that does not yet seemed to have a solution ...


    I WANTED TO INSTALL WINDOWS 8 ON A USB KEY AND ON THIS
    THEN IT RUNS DIRECTLY !!!


    I'm not talking about putting the ISO on a USB Key and then install it on your hard disk of a PC but installing it directly on it so it's ready to run on every PC on which we put the key.


    NB I would like to remind everyone that the version of Windows 8 used from myself for these experiments is Windows Customer Preview 8 32 BIT, it is freely and can be found on Microsoft's site and downloading is free. This is not the ultimate version 'cause Win 8 is not out yet (due out in late 2012, perhaps) or a pirated copy. Therefore I don't intend to encourage or push someone to piracy. All of following is perfectly legal.


    A few simple steps and an afternoon of testing. Here's how I did:

    01) download the ISO of Windows 8 Customer Preview from Microsoft's Site (English)

    02) note the relative activation KEY (always English)

    03) unzip the ISO of windows with WinRAR to any folder on your PC

    04) unzip the file /SOURCES/INSTALL.WIM with "UniExtract" (universal extractor) in any folder on your PC

    05) have a partition of at least 12 GB free on your USB stick

    06) format it, if u want, as NTFS format with Cluster Size = 1.024 bytes or 2.048 bytes

    07) from the disk management of windows on that partition, run the "mark partition as active" so that the PC can then use it to boot

    08) copy the entire contents of extracted INSTALL.WIM to that partition (except the trash folder, RECYCLE.BIN)

    09) open the attachment that I put here in RAR, copy the 2 files on the USB KEY and from the DOS command line ( if not works, run DOS Shell as administrator ):

    10) bcdboot.exe X:\windows /s X:

    11) bootsect /nt60 X: /force


    where X is the letter of the partition used in the USB stick. Reboot and ensure that the PC starts from USB stick. In figure 01 you can see my 8 partitions on the same USB drive where I have Windows 7 32 & 64 BIT, WINDOWS 8 32 & 64 BIT, LINUX Pinguy 32 & 64 BIT, Easeus Todo Backup Recovery with Linux shell.


    NB The above guide works with the English version of Win 8 Customer Preview 32 BIT as well as the same 64 BIT only that the second requires a bit' more size (about 3 GB +). My guide is the minimum requirement under the which wraps everything but if u want it running more lean, fast and efficient, then we say that the ideal is 16 GB free for the 32 BIT and 20 GB for the 64 BIT.


    The first start will make the whole configuration of the system, will ask for the key to activate the free copy of the system, your name, a password that you
    can create, etc. From second boot, windows 8 will start in half a minute on a dual core processor with 2 GB of RAM. I remind you that booting from USB, will never be as fast as if it were installed on the hard disk, unless you have a USB 3.0 and never the same also in this case...


    THIS IS A PREVIEW, THIS METHOD IS NOT YET FOUND IN THE WEB. I CREATED IT ONLY YESTERDAY AFTERNOON BEING ABLE TO DO IT WORKS. MY PROBLEM WAS THE COMMAND LINE FROM DOS BUT NOW IT'S PERFECT AND WORKS PERFECTLY ... SHARE THIS HOW TO IF YOU WANT, JUST PLEASE REMEMBER TO WRITE MY NAME ... PYCON IS ALWAYS QUALITY !!

    01.jpg


    02.jpg



    UPDATE 11/01/2013 => WINDOWS 8 RTM 32 & 64 Bit

    Hello everyone ... After a while 'on the run, I remembered having to try again with the release of Windows 8 RTM Build 9200, then finally ... 2 little hours for testing a program of which I already knew the existence ( not new, just some persons often combine this program with wrong DOS command or not right card format ) et voilà ! IN A FEW STEPS, WINDOWS 8 LIVE USB ... RTM VERSION AND PREVIEWS TOO ( I tried with my old Consumer Preview, I assume that it might work with the very old Developer one ). However, if the preview doesn't work, my previous method still works for sure with the previews...

    Pre-requisites:

    A) have the ISO Microsoft Windows 8 RTM ( remember men... the free trial is 90 days)

    B) have a PRIMARY partition at least 12 GB free space on the USB drive formatted in NTFS with the choice between

    - Cluster Size = 512 bytes
    - Cluster Size = 1024 bytes
    - Cluster Size = 2048 bytes

    C) have the two little programs WINRAR (including trial version) & GIMAGEX (opensource)


    Here's how:

    01) open with WINRAR the ISO of Windows 8 RTM ( or the release u want to use )

    02) extract the file /SOURCES/INSTALL.WIM to the hard disk ( where you want )

    03) open with GIMAGEX ( Image Extractor Tool ) the file INSTALL.WIM... This's a small portable utility, download it, unzip it where you want and open the executable in 32-bit or 64-bit EXE depending on your system:

    - go to 2nd tab "APPLY"
    - in the 1st field "Source", click once on Browse and select your file INSTALL.WIM
    - in the 2nd field "Destination", click once on Browse and select the root of your USB drive (eg X: )
    - in the 3rd field "Image" you can check by clicking on Select that it's the NUMBER 1
    - "Verify" not flagged
    - "Check" not flagged
    - click on APPLY and wait ... here it's stolen to me about 20 minutes ... depends on key and system ...

    04) from disk management builted in windows, choose the partition of the USB key used and right click to "mark partition as active" so that the PC can then use it to boot

    05) open a DOS command line with administrator privileges

    06) go to the directory of the key X: \ Windows \ System32 where X: is the partition of the USB key

    07) bcdboot.exe X:\windows /s X: /f ALL

    FINISHED!

    ENJOY IT !!! PYCON RULEZ !!!
    View
    3
    PYCON
    PYCON
    Working on RTM version... :cyclops:

    Update soon ! :good:
    View
    2
    H
    hassanselim0
    @pycon: I think he meant that he wanted to format it from Windows 7 (or whatever his other OS is), and I think it's safe to do that.

    @k.janku1: That's because Windows 8's dual boot screen is shown AFTER Windows 8 actually boots, so before deleting Windows 8 you first have to remove it from the boot list in "msconfig" (just type that in the search), and if you already formatted your HDD partition where Windows 8 is installed, then your only solution is to repare your MBR using a Windows DVD or some other boot tool like SuperGRUB (it can restore Windows MBRs too, not just Linux!)
    View
    2
    D
    danvsullivan
    I'm stuck at 11. I ran command prompt as an admin and completed step 10, but whenever I enter the command, or anything like it, for step 11 it gives me this, "'bootsect' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file."
    I've tried downloading the files again and it still doesn't work. Help?
    View
    1
    k.janku1
    k.janku1
    KingGong said:
    is this also working, when i plug the usb stick in my transformer prime?
    that would be awesome! :D
    Click to expand...
    Click to collapse

    No, because the proccesor in your prime has an ARM architecture so it wan't boot a 32 bit system. It also doesn't have BIOS to boot from USB. :(

    Sent from my U20i using XDA
    View

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