Create a bootable USB drive

    0





    Descrption:

    I had to search all over for this information, so I stole a little
    here, borrowed a little there, and made up what I couldn't find, to get
    it all in one place.

    Hopefully, this will save everyone some time.



    First, this is PE version 2.0, and earlier versions will not work. I do
    not/will not work with BartPE, so I haven't a clue what needs to be
    done in that environment.



    Your USB and the port it is using must be USB 2.0. I don't know if USB 1.0 will work slowly, or not at all.



    I'm assuming you've created a bootable PE Version 2.0 CD.

    I used the drive letters that my computer assigned to the devices. Yours may be different.

    C:=local hard drive

    D:=CD/DVD drive

    E:=USB Thumb drive

    X:=PE's RAM disk



    You need to assure that you select the proper disks, as you will be
    erasing and formatting the thumb drive. I will not be responsible for
    any data loss or woes you encounter!



    You'll need MagicISO, to extract all folders and files (including
    hidden files) from your CD to a file on your C: drive (I used
    c:\bootusb)

    (You probably already have these files in a folder, somewhere... you
    needed to use them to create the ISO. If not, extract them before you
    boot the PE CD).



    Boot your PE version 2.0 CD

    type these commands:

    disk part

    select disk 1 (this was my USB drive. type in "detail disk" to be sure you've selected the USB drive)

    clean (you are erasing the selected disk. I hope you got it right!)

    create partition primary

    select partition 1

    active

    format fs=fat32 (this takes a while)

    assign

    exit



    You're now back at the command prompt, and need to copy the files from
    the folder you created on your hard drive to the USB drive.

    xcopy c:\bootusb\*.* e: /h /e (this also takes a while)



    You can't copy the files from the RAM drive, as they're in use by PE

    I don't think (but haven't tried) you can copy them from the CD, as they're compressed... (?)



    Good luck, and I hope to have saved someone a bit of trouble figuring this out.

    RSS Feed Subscribe to our RSS Feed

    Posted on : Sunday, February 24, 2008 | By : Rajat | In : ,

    One Response to "Create a bootable USB drive"

    Write a comment