Considering that trying to make a Windows bootable USB stick with a Mac requires tools that either don't exist any more or are not being developed any more. This second method will most likely prove more dependable. Link ---> WINDOWS 7 USB DVD DOWNLOAD TOOL FOR MAC Click to open the Windows USB/DVD Download Tool page. Click Download then. Windows XP SP2, Windows Vista, or Windows 7 (32-bit or 64-bit).
I'm having trouble here because of my PC got infected today and I've tried everything to get it back to normal, but the only option left for me now is to do a clean install.
Now, what happens is that I have MacBook Pro with 8GB USB.
I've downloaded Windows 7 from my college website [With license not pirated] and wanted to make a bootable USB, so I can format my PC to get it working again.
My question is how to create a bootable USB to install Windows on my Mac OS X without using DiskUtilities.
6 Answers
OK. Here are some instructions from Gizmodo that will put the ISO onto the flash drive with a Mac... they won't make it bootable though... read on...
Open a Terminal (under Utilities)
Run
diskutil listand determine the device node assigned to your flash media (e.g., /dev/disk2)Run
diskutil unmountDisk /dev/diskN(replace N with the disk number from the last command; in the previous example, N would be 2)Execute
sudo dd if=/path/to/downloaded.iso of=/dev/diskN bs=1m(replace /path/to/downloaded.iso with the path where the image file is located; for example, ./windows7.iso)Run
diskutil eject /dev/diskN, and remove your flash media when the command completes (this can take a few hours on slower drives)
Now... after you read all that, on the Gizmodo page it says that if you want to make it bootable you should use a utility called Live USB helper they link to (which isn't there any more) and use a Mac mounting tool (which isn't there either!) to force the ISO to mount on the Mac so you can copy the files over. So... that article may prove useful, but probably not. I can find other copies of Live USB helper out there, but they are all Windows executables.
One method that will work is to swap the hard drive out of the PC and into the Mac. Put your Windows 7 installation disc into the Mac optical drive, and install Windows 7 on that drive. Once it is up and running (don't worry about drivers yet), follow these steps.
- Run Command Prompt as administrator
- Type to Command Prompt:
%windir%System32SysprepSysprep.exe, and hit Enter - In sysprep dialog that opens, choose “System Cleanup Action” as “Enter System Out-of-Box-Experience (OOBE)”, select “Generalize”, and select “Shutdown Options” as “Shutdown”. Click “OK”
- Sysprep generalizes now your Windows 7 setup and shuts down your computer.Do not run any other programs during this phase!
- Remove the drive from your Mac. Put it back into the PC.
- Boot the PC from sysprep generalized hard disk. You will notice Windows booting as if it was the first boot after installation, installing default and updating registry. One or two reboots are needed, depending on your system specifications
- When Windows finally boots up, you will need to enter all information as if this really was a new, fresh installation
All that is from here, but it applies in this situation a well, since you would be moving a Windows 7 installation from one computer to another. Considering that trying to make a Windows bootable USB stick with a Mac requires tools that either don't exist any more or are not being developed any more... this second method will most likely prove more dependable.
ScottAssuming you have burnt your Windows CD into a ISO file with the tools like:
http://burn-osx.sourceforge.net/Pages/English/home.html
1. Jump into a folder here http://sourceforge.net/projects/unetbootin/files/UNetbootin/
2. Get the latest version of zip archive with the keyword 'mac' in the filename.
3. Download and open it up on your Mac OS X desktop.
4. On Unetbootin interface, choose [Diskimage]->[ISO] and then select the Windows ISO file on your local hard drive.
5. Select the right USB Drive and then click [OK] to start writing ISO data onto your USB drive.
Once done, you're ready to boot your computer with this bootable USB drive, like a DVD installation disk.
You could also use VirtualBox on your Mac and install Windows quickly, then use Windows to create the media for the PC. You just need to allow windows to read from the USB port.
Microsoft published free to use Windows virtual machines for Internet Explorer testing purposes, but you can also use them to create a bootable USB stick.
To allow Windows to read from the USB port you'll need to install the VirtualBox Extension Pack. Then you can enable the USB 2.0 (EHCI) Controller in the virtual machine's settings (Ports -> USB).
Then when you insert the USB stick, it will probably first be detected by OS X, and since only one OS at a time can acces the port, you should eject it in OS X. Then it should automatically show up in Windows. If it's not, try to click the USB cable connection icon at the right bottom in the virtual machine. The USB port should be listed there and when you click it it should be mounted.
Then you can use a tool such as Rufus to create a bootable USB stick.
MetaGuruMetaGuruThere is another method that I found myself that is also useful (for someone else too I hope)
If you have Windows installed on your mac like in Parallel or Vmware
You can download those software like Windows 7 USB DVD Download Tool which is from Microsoft website. This will make a bootable for you and you can use it with your PC.
And there are plenty to choose out there, but you still need windows.
AliAliAs none of the answers I found on the internet worked for me, here are the steps that I ended up following.
First of all, brief description of my setup:
- I want to install Windows 7 (32-bit) on a PC (not on a Mac) using a USB removable media (8GB)
- I have an ISO image of the installation DVD
- I want to prepare the USB media on my Mac (OS X 10.10 Yosemite)
- my MacBook Pro only has USB 3.0 ports
What I tried:
- the typical suggestion of using
hdiutilto convert ISO to UDRW IMG and then usingddto copy it to the USB. While I did not encounter any errors, the resulting USB media was not bootable. - using
UNetbootinto create the media (supplying Windows installer ISO as custom ISO). While I did not encounter any errors and the resulting USB media seemed to be bootable, it just crashed during boot (started to boot then halted the system, no error). - using Windows inside VirtualBox to write to the USB stick did not work either, as VirtualBox does not support USB 3.0 yet (I even updated by VirtualBox to 5.0.0 RC1 but still no luck. Maybe newer versions will work)
SOLUTION
As none of the above worked, I ended up first installing Ubuntu and then used that Ubuntu installation (it has GRUB2!) to create a bootable USB stick.
If you search the web for 'windows 7 unetbootin', there are various hits that claim that UNetbootin works fine for installing Windows 7, even though this utility is typically used for installing Linux distributions via USB. You may want to give it a try. UNetbootin is supposed to run on Mac OS X, though I have no direct experience with that.
jjlinjjlinBootable Usb Tool Download
protected by Community♦Sep 7 '12 at 10:54
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If you need to install Windows or Linux and you don’t have access to a CD/DVD drive, a bootable USB drive is the solution. You can boot to the USB drive, using it to run the OS setup program, just like a CD or DVD.
We have collected some links to free programs that allow you to easily setup a USB drive to install Windows or Linux on a computer.
NOTE: If you have problems getting the BIOS on your computer to let you boot from a USB drive, see our article about booting from a USB drive even if your BIOS won’t let you.
Windows USB/DVD Download Tool
Editor’s Note: if you want to create a bootable Windows install USB, this is the tool you should choose.
The Windows USB/DVD Download Tool is an official, freeware tool from Microsoft that allows you to install Windows 7 and Windows 8 and Windows 10 without having to first run an existing operating system on your computer. You can change the boot order of the drives in your computer’s BIOS so the Windows installation on your USB drive runs automatically when you turn on your computer. Please see the documentation for your computer for information about how to access BIOS and change the boot order of drives.
Rufus
RELATED:How to Create a Bootable Linux USB Flash Drive, the Easy Way
Rufus is a small, portable program that allows you to create bootable USB drives for Windows and Linux. It also allows you to check the USB device for bad blocks, using up to four passes. Rufus runs in both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8. You can create bootable USB drives for the listed versions of Windows, as well as almost all popular Linux distributions, such as Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Fedora, and OpenSUSE. It’s our current preferred way to create Linux Live CDs and USB drives.
Rufus is very easy to use and the program looks like the default format window shown in Windows when you format a hard disk partition, USB drive, or other external drive.
In addition to Windows and Linux systems, you can also use Rufus to put utilities on USB drives, such as Parted Magic, Ultimate Boot CD, and BartPE.
UNetbootin
UNetbootin is a free program for both Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X that allows you to create bootable Live USB drives for Ubuntu, Fedora, and other Linux distributions instead of burning a CD. It runs on both Windows and Linux. Either use UNetbootin to download one of the many Linux distributions it supports or provide the location of your own Linux ISO file.
NOTE: The resulting USB drive is only bootable on PCs, not Macs. In addition, UNetbootin isn’t as reliable as it once was—we now recommend one of the other tools mentioned here, like Rufus.
Ubuntu Startup Disk Creator
The Ubuntu Startup Disk Creator allows you to convert a USB flash drive or SD card into a drive from which you can run your Ubuntu system. You don’t have to dedicate the whole drive to the Ubuntu system. You can store other files in the remaining space.
The program also allows you to create a drive for Debian, or any other Debian-based OS for which you have a CD or .iso image.
Universal USB Installer
Universal USB Installer is a program that allows you to choose from several Linux distributions to install on a USB flash drive. Select the Linux distribution, provide a location for the appropriate ISO file, select your USB flash drive, and click Create.
NOTE: The USB flash drive must be formatted as a Fat16, Fat32, or NTFS drive.
WiNToBootic
WiNToBootic is another free tool that allows you to create a bootable USB flash drive for installing Windows 7 or Windows 8. It supports an ISO file, a DVD, or a folder as the boot disk source. It’s a standalone tool that doesn’t require installation and it operates very fast.
Note: this tool doesn’t appear to be developed anymore.
Windows Bootable Image (WBI) Creator
Update: this tool doesn’t seem to exist anymore.
WBI Creator is a free program that allows you to create a bootable ISO image from Windows XP, Vista, and Windows 7 setup files. It’s a portable tool that’s easy to use. Simply tell the tool where the Windows setup files are and select a target folder for the new ISO file that will get created. Then, you can use one of the other tools mentioned in this article to setup a bootable USB flash drive or CD/DVD for use in setting up a Windows system.
WinToFlash
Update: we’ve been told by our readers that this application has a lot of adware so we’re removing the link.
WinToFlash is a free, portable tool that allows you to create a bootable USB flash drive from a Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7, Server 2003, or Server 2008 installation CD or DVD. It will also transfer a Windows pre-install environments (WinPE), which are handy for troubleshooting and repairs, to a USB flash drive. You can even use WinToFlash to create a MSDOS bootable USB drive.
XBoot
Update: this tool hasn’t been updated in a very long time.
XBoot is a free utility for creating multiboot USB flash drives or ISO image files. This allows you to combine multiple ISO files (Linux, utilities, and antivirus rescue CDs) onto one USB drive or ISO file, allowing you to create a handy utility drive. Simply drag and drop the ISO files onto the XBoot window and click Create ISO or Create USB.
NOTE: XBoot requires .NET Framework 4.0 (Standalone installer or Web installer) to be installed on your system to run.
Windows 7 Usb/dvd Download Tool For Mac
If there are any other free tools you’ve found useful for creating bootable USB flash drives, let us know.
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