Windows 7 is the perfect OS to run on a Netbook but how do you install it without a CD drive? Use a USB flash drive in place of the DVD. In this article I will show you how to create a bootable USB flash drive that will install Windows 7.

Before we get started you will need:

• Windows 7 ISO file and WinRAR or a burned DVD with the install source files
• 4GB USB flash drive. You can buy one on eBay for around $10 with free shipping.

Step 1 - Preparing the USB flash drive

Let’s get started. First we need to format the USB flash drive to erase any existing data on the drive.  Click on the Start Button and then Computer to bring up your drives. 

Next, right click on the removable USB flash drive and select Format.

Click Start and the USB flash drive will be formatted.

Step 2 - Preparing the source files

Now it is time to extract the setup from a Windows 7 ISO CD image file.  If you have a physical Windows 7 install DVD then skip to step 3. 

To extract the files from the ISO file you will need WinRAR. If you do not already have WinRAR download and install that now.

Once you have WinRAR installed navigate to the ISO file in explorer and right click on the file and select the bottom Extract to <folder name> option.

The ISO file will now be extracted to a sub-folder with the same name as the ISO file. This can take a few minutes to complete.

Step 3 - Copying source files to USB flash drive

The final step is to copy the install source onto the USB flash drive in a way that will allow the Windows 7 install to boot up. The trick here is to use XCopy.  Depending on where your source files are located there are two different methods to copy the files onto the flash drive.

Using extracted source files

Open up command prompt and navigate to the directory you extracted the source files from the ISO file with the CD command. Then, run XCOPY *.* J: /e and hit Enter to start the copy. Be sure to replace J with the drive letter of your USB flash drive.

Using a physical Windows 7 install DVD

The instructions are slightly different when using a physical DVD.  Open up command prompt and type XCOPY D:  J: /e and hit Enter. Replace D with the drive letter of your CD-ROM drive and replace J with the drive letter of your USB flash drive.

Step 5 - Installing Windows 7 from the USB flash drive

Once the file copy has completed you are ready to plug the USB flash drive into your Netbook. Turn it on and hit the keyboard shortcut to bring up the boot menu for your model. Typically it is F12 or F1. After you select your USB flash drive the Windows 7 installation should begin to load. At this point, installing Windows 7 is the same as on a normal laptop or a desktop.