A common use of a bootable USB flash drive is to use it for booting 
     into Windows. This can allow you to perform diagnostics on a 
     computer that has hardware issues or can't boot into Windows. You can also use the flash drive to install 
     Windows, instead of using the Windows installation CD.
      
            This guide will outline making a bootable USB flash drive with 
      Windows XP, Vista, and 7. Before we begin, it's 
      important to note that the computer you want to use your bootable 
      USB drive in will need to have the capability of booting to a USB 
      drive. Most recent computers built since Windows Vista was released are 
      capable of booting to a USB device. Prior to the Windows Vista 
      timeframe, it's hit or miss with motherboards.
      
         
            To determine if a computer is capable of booting to a USB device, 
      access the computer's BIOS and check the bootable device list. If 
      a USB device is listed, set the USB drive to be the first boot 
      device. If you do not see a USB device in the list of bootable 
      devices, your BIOS is not capable of booting to a USB device. 
      (NOTE: You may need to have your USB flash drive plugged in when 
      you access the BIOS).
      
            Windows Vista and Windows 7 users
      
            To make the bootable USB drive for Windows Vista or Windows 7, you 
      need to have Windows Vista or 7 installed on your computer. It is 
      recommended that you have a flash drive of at least 4 GB in size, 
      in order to store all the necessary files.
      
            Note: Before you start, plug in the USB 
      drive and backup any files you have stored on the USB drive. The 
      drive will be formatted during this process and all files on it 
      will be deleted.
      
            Tip: You will need a Windows Vista or 
      Windows 7 disc for these instructions to be successful.
      1. Open an 
      elevated Windows command line window by clicking
      Start, typing in cmd in 
      the search text field, then pressing CTRL + Shift + Enter 
      on your keyboard (at the same time). You can also access this by 
      navigating to Start, All Programs, Accessories, right-click with 
      your mouse on the Command Prompt menu item and select Run as 
      Administrator.
      2. At the command prompt, type cd 
      c:\windows\system32 to change the directory to the Windows 
      system32 directory. Ensure your USB drive is plugged in and type
      DISKPART and press Enter. Then type LIST DISK and 
      press Enter.
      
      3. You will see a listing of the disk drives 
      connected to your computer. Find the disk number of your USB drive 
      and type SELECT DISK [USB disk #], where "[USB disk #]" is 
      the disk # for your USB drive. It should now state that your USB 
      drive is the selected disk. If you're not sure what disk is the 
      USB disk, eject the USB drive, perform step number 2 again, 
      connect the USB drive again, and compare the results. Usually the 
      USB drive will be the last drive.
      4. Type in the following commands, one by one, 
      pressing Enter after each command.
      CLEAN
CREATE PARTITION PRIMARY
      SELECT PARTITION 1
ACTIVE
FORMAT FS=NTFS 
(may 
      take a couple minutes, depending on the USB drive size)
      ASSIGN
EXIT
      Keep the command prompt window open, but you can 
      minimize it for a little bit.
      5. You will now need your Windows Vista or 7 
      Installation DVD. Put the DVD in your computer's DVD drive. Open 
      up My Computer and note 
      which drive letter is assigned to your DVD Drive and your USB 
      flash drive.
      6. Go back to the command prompt window and type in 
      D: CD BOOT (substitute your DVD drive letter for "D:" if 
      necessary) and press Enter. Type CD BOOT again and press Enter. 
      Lastly, type BOOTSECT.EXE /NT60 H: (substitute your USB 
      flash drive letter for "H:" if necessary) and press Enter.
      7. The last step is to copy the entire contents of 
      the Windows DVD to your USB flash drive.
      Your USB flash drive is now set up to be a bootable 
      USB drive for Windows Vista or 7.
      
            Windows XP users
      
            To make the bootable USB drive for Windows XP, it is recommended 
      that you have a flash drive of at least 4 GB in size, in order to 
      store all the necessary files. You will also need to download 
      Windows Server 2003 SP1 and a program called PE Builder 
      (also known as Bart PE).
     
      
            Before you start, plug in the USB drive and backup any files you 
      have stored on the USB drive, to ensure you do not lose any of 
      them.
      
            1. Install PE Builder on your computer. For the sake of ease, 
      install the program to a C:\PEBuilder folder. After you've 
      installed PE Builder, create a folder titled SRSP1 in the 
      PEBuilder folder.
      
            2. Now you need to extract two files from Windows Server 2003 SP1. 
      The filename is quite long, so it is recommended that you
      rename the file to something shorter, 
      like WS-SP1.exe. Open a command prompt (Start 
      > Run, type cmd and press Enter) and use the
      cd command to change to the folder 
      where you downloaded the Windows Server 2003 SP1 file to (i.e. cd 
      c:\downloads to change to the c:\downloads folder). Then, type 
      WS-SP1.exe -x to extract the files. A window will open, asking 
      where to extract the files. You can enter the same folder where 
      the file was downloaded.
      
            3. A new folder titled i386 will be created by the extraction 
      process. Type cd i386 to change to that folder. You now 
      need to copy the setupldr.bin file to the SRSP1 folder you created 
      in the PE Builder folder. Type copy setupldr.bin c:\PEBuilder\SRSP1 
      to copy the file. 
      
            4. You also need to expand the ramdisk.sys file to the SRSP1 
      folder.
Type expand -r ramdisk.sy_ c:\PEBuilder\SRSP1
      
            5. Open My Computer and 
      navigate to the c:\PEBuilder\SRSP1 folder and verify the two files 
      are there.
      
            6. Next, you need to create a compressed version of Windows XP 
      using PE Builder. Make sure you Windows XP Professional CD is in 
      your computer's CD drive, then launch the PE Builder program. In 
      the Source field, type in the drive letter assigned to your CD 
      Drive (you can check in My Computer if you are not sure) (e.g. 
      "d:"). In the Output field, type BartPE. Make sure the 
      None option 
      is selected in the Media output section. Then click the Build 
      button.
      
            
      
            A progress report will be displayed, showing the progress of the 
      bootable image build. When the build process is complete, click 
      the Close button.
      
            7. Now, you can create the bootable USB flash drive. Open a 
      command prompt again and type cd c:\PEBuilder to change to the 
      PEBuilder folder. Make sure your USB drive is plugged in to your 
      computer and type pe2usb -f e: (change "e:" to the drive letter 
      assigned to your USB flash drive, if necessary) to create the 
      bootable drive. You will be prompted to type YES to begin the 
      process. When the process is complete, press any key to exit the 
      program.
      
            Your USB flash drive is now set up to be a bootable USB drive for 
      Windows XP using the Bart PE interface.