Setting up Windows via USB flash drive
Setting up Windows via USB flash drive
If you possess a Windows 7 or 8.x installation media yet lack a CD/DVD reader on your machine, you can generate a flash drive for use during setup. Ensure your drive has a minimum of 4 GB of storage and includes the official product key with your software. You may produce a bootable USB on either a Windows or Mac OS X system. Caution: The instructions below will erase any existing data on the flash drive. Make sure to back up your information by copying it elsewhere before moving forward. As part of this task, you'll need a Windows 7 or 8.x .iso file, which compiles all necessary Windows components into one package. Simply copying the file onto a USB won't suffice; use dedicated software for proper formatting. Note: On Mac OS X, creating a Windows 7 or 8.x flash drive is only available if your computer lacks an optical drive. If you have one, the feature will be unavailable or hidden.
Sure, that's correct. The feature for making a Windows flash drive appears only on systems without optical drives, and it's hidden or grayed out on Macs with optical drives. If your Mac has an optical drive, you won't be able to create the bootable drive unless you use a different method.