The traditional and common way to install an operating system in your computer using a bootable USB or optical disk. You can install both Windows XP and Windows 7 from a USB drive and a CD/DVD as well. But, if you want to install Windows 7 or Windows Vista in a computer which is already running with Windows XP, you can avoid the optical or USB drive. By having a copy of the installer at your hard disk, you can install the Windows 7 or vista directly from the hard drive.
Tip: Install Windows 7 from Usb Flash Drive.
This tutorial stands on the assumption that you are installing Windows Vista, 7 or 8 on a computer installed with Windows XP. The process I’m going to introduce does not work if you want to install the earlier version on a computer which is already running on a latest windows operating system.
The advantages of installing Windows 7 or Vista directly from hard disk
- The installation process is much faster than the same from a CD/DVD
- If you do not have any CD/DVD drive available, you can still try Windows 7 or vista in your computer
Let us assume that your existing operating system is Windows XP.
Read also: Install Windows XP From USB Flash Drive.
How to Install Windows 7 From Hard Disk
To setup the Windows 7 from your hard disk, follow the steps below:
- Install a virtual CD/DVD drive in your existing system. So many applications are available there. I recommend Magic Disc virtual DVD/CD Rom as itis free and easy to use
- Get the ISO image of Windows 7 or vista and mount it in the virtual CD/DVD drive
- Now, copy the entire files from the virtual disk to any of the available drives. But keep it in your mind that the drive must not be the drive in which you want to install the Windows. Suppose, you want to install Windows in the D drive then copy the files in the drives except D e.g
F:/Windows 7
- Copy the
bootmgr
file andboot
folder to your present root drive, generally C. By default, the boot folder is hidden. So, change the corresponding options in the Windows explorer to show the hidden files and folders as well as the system files - If you are using Vista then copy the file
bootmgr
to C (root directory) - Copy the file called as
Windows7bootboot.sdi
from F drive (as per as this example) to the folder ‘boot’ at the root drive. Similarly, copyWindows7bootbootsect.exe
to the root directory itself - Now, create a folder under the root directory and give the name as ‘sources’
- Copy the
boot.wim
file fromF: >Windows7sources
in the folder ‘source’ which you’ve just created - Once done, run the command prompt as administrator. For this, right-click on
Start menu > Accessories > Command Prompt
and selectRun As…
option. Select the user as Administrator by selecting the corresponding radio button(refer to the following screenshot) - Type the following command in the command prompt
For Windows 7: C:bootbootsect.exe /nt60 C:
For Vista: C:bootsect.exe /nt60 C:
and hit the enter key
- Now, you have to change the boot system partition name. You can choose any name that you prefer.You can do this by using the “label” command in the command prompt. For example:
E: label mynewdrive
. Remember the name you have put in the command prompt and restart you computer - The setup process will automatically start to run. In the upcoming option, you will see two options: 1) Install Windows 2) Repair my Computer. Chose ‘Option 2’
- In the ‘WinRE System Recovery Options’ window open the Command Prompt
- To format the E drive, type the command
format c: /q
. This will format the drive in FAT 32 file system - You can also format the drive in NTFS file system. To do so, type the command
c: /q/fs:ntfs
- You should be asked to enter the name of the partition. Enter it accordingly ( e.g mynewdrive) before the formatting process begins
- Now, you can proceed as usual
If any type of problem arises then contact us or put your problems as a comment.
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What do you mean avalible drives removable like a cd drive without a cd?
I always visit your blog and retrieve everything you post here but I never commented but today when I saw this post, I couldn’t stop myself from commenting here. brilliant mate!
Step 2: “Get the ISO image of Windows 7 or vista and mount it in the virtual CD/DVD Rom.”
“Get”? Hmmm…from where, exactly?
using dd in linux can copy the physical DVD if you have one to a ISO. Last i checked someone made a windows version of the same program
@T: What “from where, exactly”. I can’t understand exactly what do you want to know. Feel free to describe your query in details.
hi,
i tried on this method but i can not find the required files in windows folder ,
Please send me the all method of installing windows 7 directly from Hard Drive
Sir,
I want to install Windows 8 from my computer and i have earlier installed windows 7
Then How to install windows 8 consumer preview
Please solve my this Problem
I shall be very thankful to you
Regards
hi there!
Thanks for the guide, but i didnt fully get answer to my problem. I have bought a new mobo and therefore i need to reinstall my windows. I know well about the oem and i have a new windows copy on my drive. will it work to put this version on the hard drive and install windows.
Some steps are redundant and some are very inaccurate, especially the “format” step which got my windows setup files deleted and stoped my windows installation process.
I recommend this tutorial: http://www.instructables.com/id/Install-Windows-7-without-USB-or-DVD-without-upgra/
nice i will try this method thaks.
brilliant mate, love this post…………. keep it up
Great! can I use this method to install any os other than Windows….?
I’m trying to replace a Chinese version of Windows 7 with an English language version I downloaded by torrent. It’s currently sitting on my D: drive.
Do I just run it? Problem being, the options are presently in Chinese!!