How to Create A Bootable Windows 8 USB Drive from an ISO Image

It has been almost a year regarding the launch of Microsoft Windows 8 operating System. Since from the day of release, it’s gaining huge popularity among its users day by day. In the matter of popularity it not only has surpassed its predecessor Windows Vista and Windows 7 but also has recently surpassed Apple Inc’s OS X as far as the number of current users is concerned and this is because of its various exciting apps.

The necessity to install Windows 8 from a USB device, like a flash drive, is now a common one due to the fact that many computers, especially tablets and smaller laptops and desktops, no longer have optical drives.

So today here in the following post, I’m going to explain you the easy steps to create a bootable Windows 8 USB Drive from an ISO image.

Necessary Requirements:

Requirements for your System to Support Windows 8:

Before creating a Bootable Windows 8 USB Drive, be ensure that the following two requirements you should have. Windows 8 works great on the same hardware that powers Windows 7.

Processor: 1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster
RAM: 1 gigabyte (GB) (32-bit) or 2 GB (64-bit)
Hard disk space: 16 GB (32-bit) or 20 GB (64-bit)
Graphics card: MicrosoftDirectX 9 graphics device or higher

Additional requirements to use certain features:

• To use touch, you need a tablet or a monitor that supports Multi-touch.

• To access the Windows Store and to download and run apps, you need an active Internet connection and a screen resolution of at least 1024 x 768.
• To snap apps, you need a screen resolution of at least 1366 x 768.

Requirements for your System to Support Windows 8:

• A flash drive (4 GB or more).
• A Windows 8 DVD or ISO.
• Access to a working computer, with a DVD drive if you have a Windows 8 DVD instead of an ISO image, with Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista, or Windows XP installed.

Steps to Create Bootable Windows 8 USB Drive:

• If you have not already, you will need to download a 32-bit or 64-bit Windows 8 ISO or Windows 8.1 Preview ISO file version you want and save it to your desktop in Windows 7 or Vista or XP installed. You can save it as the .iso file or can write it on a DVD.
• Now download the Download the Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool from Microsoft and then install it.

This free program from Microsoft properly formats your flash drive and then copies the contents of the Windows 8 installation ISO file you have to that flash drive.
Note: Don't worry that this program has Windows 7 in the title. This program works perfectly well with Windows 8 ISO files and can be installed in Windows 8, Windows 7,Windows Vista, or Windows XP.

• Start the Windows 7 USB DVD Download Tool program. You should be able to find the shortcut on the Desktop, as well as in your Start menu or on your Start screen, depending on which version of Windows you installed the program on.
• Click Browse on the Step 1 of 4: Choose ISO file screen.

• Locate, and then select, your Windows 8 ISO file. Then click or tap Open.
• Click or tap Next.
• Choose USB device on the Step 2 of 4: Choose media type screen.
  Note: As you can see here, there is also a DVD option. Apart from files on a flash drive, you could also use this tool to burn a Windows 8 ISO image to a DVD or BD disc.
• On the Step 3 of 4: Insert USB device screen, choose from the drop-down box the flash drive or USB-connected external hard drive you want to put the Windows 8 setup files onto and then touch or click Begin copying.

Note: Suppose you haven't yet plugged in the USB storage device that you're planning to use, don’t worry, you can do that now and then tap or click the blue refresh button to make it show up in the list.

• Click or touch Erase USB Device if you're prompted to do so on a Not Enough Free Space window. If you don't see this, don't worry, it just means that your flash drive or external hard disk is already empty.
• On Step 4 of 4: Creating bootable USB device, just wait for the Windows 7 USB DVD Download Tool to prepare the drive and copy the Windows 8 installation files to it.
  The first Status you see will be Formatting, which will take anywhere from a few to several seconds, depending on how large the USB drive is that you're using. Next status will be seen as Copying files which could take anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes, possibly longer, depending on which Windows 8 ISO file you're working from, as well as on how fast your flash drive, USB connection, and computer is.
  Note: Don't worry if you’ll find the percentage indicator shown on the screen jumps ahead quickly but then sits on a single number for a very long time. While it might not make a lot of sense to behave that way, it doesn't necessarily mean anything is wrong.
• Assuming everything went as planned, the next screen should say Bootable USB device created successfully with a Status that says Backup completed.
  You can now close the Windows 7 USB DVD Download Tool program window. The flash drive, or other external USB drive you're using, now has the necessary files on it to install Windows 8 and is also properly configured to be booted from.
• Now your bootable drive is ready. You can Boot from the USB device that you just created to start the Windows 8 install process.
  Note: If the Windows 8 setup process doesn't start, it's very likely that you'll need to make boot order changes in the BIOS. Make your USB-Drive as first bootable device by changing the Order in Boot Priority section in BIOS Setup.