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How to Install Windows 8 with a USB Flash Drive

Installing a Windows system with USB flash drive is fast and convenient. And still using Windows system previous to Windows 8? Want to give Windows 8 a try? This article teaches you how to install Windows 8 with a USB flash drive easily.

What’s needed?

To install Windows 8 with a USB flash drive, we have to prepare the following three things:

Step 1: Create Bootable Windows 8 Installation USB Disk.

1.  Download Finalbooster and install it on your computer.
Finalbooster is a professional and powerful ISO image burning tool which allows you to burn Windows 8/7/Vista/XP/Windows Server 2012/2008/2003/2000 ISO image file into a USB flash drive or CD/DVD disk to make a Windows Installation disk.

2. Run the Finalbooster. Click Browse button to select the downloaded Windows 8 ISO image file.

Select an iso image file

3. Locate the Windows 8 ISO image file and click Open button.

Locate iso image file

4. Insert the USB flash drive you prepared and select it from the pull-down list under Burn ISO image file to USB flash drive.
5. Click Burn to USB button to start burning Windows 8 ISO image file into the USB flash drive to create a bootable Windows 8 installation disk.

Burn to usb

6. Click Yes button when you get a warning message.

Confirm to burn

Wait about a few minutes until you get the prompt messages that Burning Successfully, you click OK button.

Burn successfully

Step 2: Install Windows 8 from Burned USB Flash Drive

1. Insert the USB flash drive burned with Windows 8 ISO image file to the computer on which you want to install Windows 8.
2. Start or restart the computer. Enter BIOS by pressing corresponding prompted BIOS key. And use arrow key to select USB HDD or Removable Devices as the first boot device to lead your computer boot from the USB flash drive.

BIOS setup

3. After your computer booted from the USB flash drive successfully, you are under way to install Windows 8. Click Next button to go on in Install Windows window.

Click Install now

4. Click Install Now to install Windows 8.

Click install now 

5. Enter valid product key to activate Windows 8 and click Next button to go on.

Enter product key

6. Check I accept the license terms and click Next button to go on.

Accept license terms

7. Click on Custom: Install Windows only (advanced) option but not upgrade your Windows when asking which type of installation you want.
Select a partition to install Windows 8. It is better an empty partition, or else Windows 8 will cover the previously installed Windows system.

Select a partition

9. Now it is installing Windows 8 and will take a while to configure settings.

Windows 8 is installing

10. When it finishing setup, it will restart automatically.

Finish setup

You have to remove your USB flash drive so that your computer will boot normally into Windows 8, or else it will boot from the USB flash drive again.
When it boots into Windows 8, you will be guided to use it and make some settings.
Till now, you have installed Windows 8 successfully with a USB flash drive only. It may totally take you about 30 minutes. With the graphical instructions, I believe that though you are fresh, you can also complete the installation of Windows 8 system with USB flash drive most easily.