My laptop’s dvd drive is no longer operational. Yesterday, I accidentally deleted a system file and I cannot seem to fix it with windows recovery. I got myself a backup of my windows version and heard that a USB stick can be used to reinstall windows. Can anyone walk me through that process?
Hello,
Installing Windows from USB drive is easier and faster than installing with CD/DVD. The data reading speed of a particular CD/DVD is highest 1-2 MB/s where USB drive speed varies up to 10-50 MB/s or higher.
In order to install Windows from USB drive, you have to follow certain steps.
The best solution to this technique is to use third-party software that’ll create a bootable USB flash for you. Rufus, WiNToBootic are best of them. Windows installation source might be from ISO or CD/DVD but USB drive will be ready from it.
Manual method is also available but sensitive as if anything goes wrong, serious trouble might occur. This tutorial covers the entire technique.
After that, restart your PC and boot into the USB drive. Windows installation is as simple as general. Learn how to to install Windows 7.
Before thinking of reinstalling your operating system, try using the System File Checker utility first. Click “Start,” “All Programs,” “Accessories” then right-click “Command Prompt” and select “Run as administrator” to open an elevated command prompt. In the command prompt window, type without quotes “sfc /scannow” then hit Enter. When you are prompted to insert the Windows setup DVD, insert the disc on your optical drive and continue.
This may take several minutes so wait until it is finished. When it is finished, close the command prompt and restart the computer. See if this works. If this doesn’t work, you may now continue reinstalling the operating system. If the optical drive is really not operational, using the USB flash drive is a good idea.
But before you can do this, you need the ISO image of your Windows setup DVD. If you don’t have it, you can download a copy of the ISO file from Microsoft: Windows 7 Disc Images (ISO Files). You need to provide your Windows 7 product key to download the ISO image. Once the ISO file is downloaded, download Rufus.
Once downloaded, insert your USB flash drive on the USB port and start Rufus. Make sure “Create a bootable disk using” is checked then select “ISO Image” from the dropdown list. Click the optical drive icon next to it and select the ISO file you downloaded. In “File system,” make sure “NTFS” is selected.
Leave the rest of the options as is then click “Start” to begin creating the bootable USB flash drive. This may take awhile to finish. When it is finished, you may now use it to reinstall your operating system. Jus restart your computer and boot from the USB flash drive. Follow the normal process when installing Microsoft Windows.
