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10-15-2009, 05:54 PM
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#1
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LQ Newbie
Registered: Oct 2009
Posts: 3
Rep:
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creating windows 7 bootable usb from linux
I only have linux machines in my home right now and was wondering if it is possible to create a bootable Windows 7 USB flash drive from within linux using only a .ISO file.
Is there some utility that can do that, or am I stuck without WoW until I can get to a windows machine and use that to make the disk? (^.o)
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Click here to see the post LQ members have rated as the most helpful post in this thread.
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10-17-2009, 02:59 AM
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#2
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LQ 5k Club
Registered: May 2001
Location: Belgium
Distribution: Arch
Posts: 8,529
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AFAIK windows doesn't boot from USB
You can however install windows in a virtual machine in linux.
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04-24-2010, 02:25 AM
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#3
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Member
Registered: Feb 2009
Distribution: Slackware, Arch
Posts: 519
Rep: 
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I know this is an old thread, but I was also wondering how to do this and figured it out.
Format your USB drive as NTFS (also make sure the partition is marked bootable)
Mount your Windows 7 ISO and copy the files to the USB drive
Download ms-sys
Install it
Code:
tar xvf ms-sys-2.1.5.tar.gz
cd ms-sys
make
make install #as root
Write a Windows 7 MBR to your USB drive (as root)
Replace 'X' with your USB drive letter
You now have a bootable USB Windows 7 installer
Last edited by piratesmack; 04-24-2010 at 02:29 AM.
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4 members found this post helpful.
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05-26-2010, 08:21 AM
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#4
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Member
Registered: Sep 2003
Distribution: slackware
Posts: 85
Rep:
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Thanks heaps for this i dont have any windows installs and been looking for a guide as i need to do this exactly I havent tried it yet will edit this Thanks post to confirm it works
EDIT: works well I tried FAT32 at first but it didnt work
Last edited by oobe; 05-27-2010 at 12:02 AM.
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05-26-2010, 04:47 PM
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#5
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Moderator
Registered: Mar 2008
Posts: 22,361
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All you have to do is make it active and copy the files to it. See here for exact ms page. http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/m.../dd535816.aspx
Follow steps in page using linux commands.
Follow this.
format in fat32 if not already.
mark as active. (may have to use hp tools or syslinux to get it to be active some usb devices are real stinkers)
copy dvd to flash and reboot.
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05-27-2010, 12:06 AM
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#6
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Member
Registered: Sep 2003
Distribution: slackware
Posts: 85
Rep:
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Jefro i saw that guide and many others as you can see its for people who already have a working windows install which of course I proudly do not.
all that guide really tells you is to format the stick and copy the files over I already knew that before researching the subject the problem was installing a reliable boot sector.
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1 members found this post helpful.
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05-27-2010, 03:35 PM
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#7
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Moderator
Registered: Mar 2008
Posts: 22,361
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(may have to use hp tools or syslinux to get it to be active some usb devices are real stinkers)
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05-12-2012, 08:23 PM
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#8
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LQ Newbie
Registered: Nov 2011
Posts: 2
Rep: 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by piratesmack
I know this is an old thread, but I was also wondering how to do this and figured it out.
Format your USB drive as NTFS (also make sure the partition is marked bootable)
Mount your Windows 7 ISO and copy the files to the USB drive
Download ms-sys
Install it
Code:
tar xvf ms-sys-2.1.5.tar.gz
cd ms-sys
make
make install #as root
Write a Windows 7 MBR to your USB drive (as root)
Replace 'X' with your USB drive letter
You now have a bootable USB Windows 7 installer
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I also found this to be helpful, but I could not get it working at first. The comment "mark as active." was misleading. Instead, I just set the boot flag in gparted after formatting to ntfs. Copied the files over, installed the boot loader and it boots now.
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1 members found this post helpful.
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08-18-2012, 04:27 PM
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#9
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LQ Newbie
Registered: Aug 2012
Posts: 1
Rep: 
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Works nicely as described. The same trick can be used on regular Windows 7 installs after cloning them with partclone.ntfs.
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09-01-2012, 03:01 PM
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#10
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LQ Newbie
Registered: Sep 2012
Posts: 2
Rep: 
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almost
This worked for me, except I needed to run the ms-sys program *before* formatting the usb stick NTFS, and then copying the iso data to it.
Otherwise it seemd to wipe out the data.
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09-01-2012, 04:07 PM
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#11
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Moderator
Registered: Mar 2008
Posts: 22,361
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You copied the iso as a file and not as mounted iso to get the files off of it maybe.
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09-01-2012, 05:21 PM
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#12
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LQ Newbie
Registered: Sep 2012
Posts: 2
Rep: 
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Nope. *shrug*. Just putting it out there in case anyone else has trouble.
I did have trouble with some files being corrupted on the USB. But presumeably that is an issue with my USB stick.
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10-05-2013, 05:10 AM
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#13
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LQ Newbie
Registered: Oct 2013
Posts: 1
Rep: 
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Problem with ms-sys
What worked for me was:
1. Formatting the USB with NTFS (marked it as bootable)
2. Copying the CD or iso to the USB
3. Used the following command
Code:
# ms-sys -n /dev/sdbx
It worked beautifully.
I had problems with:
Code:
# ms-sys -7 /dev/sdbx
It asked me to use -f to force the writing, I did used -f but it didn't boot. After I changed -7 for -n it worked perfectly, didn't need to use -f.
Thanks for the help!
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1 members found this post helpful.
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10-05-2013, 10:32 AM
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#14
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Senior Member
Registered: Feb 2002
Location: harvard, il
Distribution: Ubuntu 11.4,DD-WRT micro plus ssh,lfs-6.6,Fedora 15,Fedora 16
Posts: 3,233
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