Create a bootable USB to install Windows 8 Server or Hyper-V Server 8

Not all servers nowadays have DVD player installed. Sometimes it is handy to boot from USB and install for example Windows Server 8. Here’s a example how to make the USB stick bootable for the following OS versions:

– Windows Server 8

– Hyper-V Server 8

– Server 2008 R2

– Hyper-V Server R2

Preparation:

– Need 4 GB USB memory stick or more

– Download the desired ISO and save it

Stick the USB stick on a  free USB port on your computer equipped with a Windows OS. For this example I used Windows7 as Operating System. Clear the USB stick and create a partition on it by using the following command’s:

Open the command prompt ((make sure you run the cmd prompt as administrator)

Commands:

diskpart 
list disk "list the disk in your system including the USB"
select disk "USB number"
clean
create partition primary
active
format fs=fat32 quick
assign
exit

Mount the ISO  and copy all the content of the desired ISO to USB stick. For mounting the ISO I used “Deamon Tools Lite”.

Now the bootable stick is ready for use.  Boot your server with the stick and your able to install Windows 8, Windows 8 Server, 2008 R2 or Hyper-V server 8.

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5 thoughts on “Create a bootable USB to install Windows 8 Server or Hyper-V Server 8”

  1. Hey, I’m trying to create a virtual machine on my windows 8 with hyper-v, how can I make the virtual machine read from usb ? it asks for dvd

  2. Worked like a charm using Win7 home premium and DAEMON Tools Lite. Currently installing hyper-v on an AMD+ ASRock 970 Extreme3 MB with AMD FX 6100 using a Patriot 8GB flash drive. Thanks for posting these instructions.

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