Windows 7 Installing without DVD/thumb drive

My guess is that after the first reboot its going to want access to files on what would normally be a DVD drive. Once Windows 7 loads there will be no VCD so it can't get the files it wants. Try extracting the ISO to a folder on your hard drive and run the install from there. It would be similar to running it from a thumb drive.

Why would you choose to use a 3rd party program to install?

Try the ISO itself in the DVD Rom.

Are you trying to do a "clean" install or an upgrade?

reghakr said:

Why would you choose to use a 3rd party program to install?

Try the ISO itself in the DVD Rom.

Are you trying to do a "clean" install or an upgrade?

Click to expand...

Agreed, installing from a 3rd party program is just a bad idea.. (unless of course that's your only option..)

I used MagicDisc to emulate the disc, and you can install it directly though there (I did a clean install, although upgrades might not work?), although I noticed that the rate of installation is faster if you copy it (even if you include the time to copy the contents of the ISO to another place in the hard drive)

If the above still doesn't work for you for some odd reason, shrink your main partition and create a small 4 GiB partition where you can copy the files from the ISO there. After installation, you can delete this partition and extend the original partition.

Carterman32 said:

Hello,

I read that you can install W7 without using a thumb drive/DVD by simply using Virtual Clone Drive. I downloaded the 7127 iso, mounted it using VCD, and started the installation on a new partition. However, the setup expands the installation files, it stops and gives me the error message, "Windows could not prepare the computer to boot into the next phase of installation."

Basically, the computer wants to restart, but something isn't allowing it to. From my research, it seems that a clean install onto a new partition should work using VCD. Why then, am I getting this message?

I'm running this installation out of Windows XP. What am I doing wrong and how do I fix the problem?

Click to expand...

Do you have a DVD drive? If so why not burn a DVD using the .iso?

If you can boot from a thumb drive you can create a installer using the mounted .iso in VirtualCloneDrive.
Using the raw files from the mounted .iso is quicker than using a burned DVD to create the bootable thumb drive.

I don't see how you could successfully install Win 7 from an .iso running in a Virtual Drive program running in a mounted and operating OS.

The install routine is meant to be run at boot, either by DVD or USB thumb device.

I don't know how you would boot from a separate (small) partition as has been suggested here, I know my computer BIOS wont support booting from a partition, only from the drive the partition is part of.

A lot of Linux distributions are available as Live CD and can be setup as Live USB drives so to speak.

When you boot a LiveCD you are running the distro OS in a live mode, that is it runs in ram only.
No changes are made to your HDD unless you choose to.

This allows you to try out the OS with your hardware without affecting any thing on your HDD.

Most Live CD's/USB thumb drives allow installing (usually via GUI) from within a Live session.

Since the live session is completely in ram and on the CD or USB drive the install is completed without shutting down or rebooting.

Win 7 is not a Live installer although it would be nice if it was.

Dude, you can initiate the installation from an existing operating system...
The only restriction that I've seen is that you can't initiate a x64 installation through x86 OS
I remember when I started the install on one of the older builds, there was an option to copy the installation files to the local disk. It makes sense that this can be initiated, since not all DVD drives can be loaded at boot, especially if its external. Yes, I know that contradicts the Windows requirements, but hey, it works

And, when I was talking about the other partition, it was simply to have a place that isn't affected by installation changes, but I was intending to make that only clean installs, where you can start the installation from those files on that partition, and then once the computer restarts, choose to format/repartition the rest of your hard drive (except the partition with the files obviously) and then continue with the install.

However, you can also theoretically make it boot from a partition by itself, especially on some of the newer computers, such as the HPs, which have a dedicated recovery partition... I was lazy so I just removed all the files from there and then stuck the installation files for Windows 7 in there and started the install as if it was a recovery process

vdude said:

Dude, you can initiate the installation from an existing operating system...
The only restriction that I've seen is that you can't initiate a x64 installation through x86 OS
I remember when I started the install on one of the older builds, there was an option to copy the installation files to the local disk. It makes sense that this can be initiated, since not all DVD drives can be loaded at boot, especially if its external. Yes, I know that contradicts the Windows requirements, but hey, it works

And, when I was talking about the other partition, it was simply to have a place that isn't affected by installation changes, but I was intending to make that only clean installs, where you can start the installation from those files on that partition, and then once the computer restarts, choose to format/repartition the rest of your hard drive (except the partition with the files obviously) and then continue with the install.

However, you can also theoretically make it boot from a partition by itself, especially on some of the newer computers, such as the HPs, which have a dedicated recovery partition... I was lazy so I just removed all the files from there and then stuck the installation files for Windows 7 in there and started the install as if it was a recovery process

Click to expand...

I didn't know this.

My Acer came with a ~4 GB recovery partition but it depended on a relationship between a feature in BIOS and the actual
recovery files. At least with, my machine anyway removing the files from the recovery partition and placing the Win 7 files there would not work.

I found it easier to install from a prepared USB drive installer as my BIOS supports it.

It doesn't seem that MS touches on the methods you outline, I'll take your word that it will work.

I wonder, since I have XP installed on my drive (multiboot) if an install could be done to a different (empty) NTFS partition by mounting the .iso using VirtualCloneDrive in XP and running the instalation from there.
I don't think I will spend any time trying this though.

I opened up my recovery partition, and I noticed files that had a strange similarity to what Windows has, and to some extent, what the installation disc has as well.

Installation from the OS has been possible for as long as I can remember. I remember installing Windows 95 on my 3.11 machine back in the day like that...

Both methods do the same thing though I believe. When you're in the OS, you copy all the required setup files for installation, and then the computer restarts to continue setup. When installing from boot, remember that point when the computer restarts in between? That would theoretically be the equivalent to when it restarts in the other scenario.