How to create Windows 8 / Windows Server 2012 bootable USB media for deployment on UEFI based systems

How to create Windows 8 / Windows Server 2012 bootable USB media for deployment on UEFI based systems (by Paul Marquardt)

This article describes a process to create a bootable USB drive which can be used to install the operating system. Have you ever noticed how long it takes to load the operating system when using a DVD? Transferring your files over to a USB drive makes loading the operating system faster and  gives you the ability to load the operating system on devices like tablets that don’t support optical media.

You will need the following items to create a bootable USB drive:

• USB drive
• Administrative privileges on the system used to create the bootable drive
• Installation media

The following steps  guide you on how to make the USB drive bootable and get the contents onto the drive.

1. Insert the USB drive.
2. Open a CMD prompt using the Run as Administrator option.
3. Start the DISKPART tool by typing Diskpart and pressing ENTER.
4. List all disks recognized by the system by typing  list disk and pressing ENTER.

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5. Select your USB drive from the list returned (Disk 2 in this example) by typing Select Disk 2 and pressing ENTER.

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6. Remove all data from the disk by typing: clean (Note: This will destroy all of the data on the USB drive)and pressing ENTER.

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7. Create a primary partition by typing create partition primary and pressing ENTER.

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8. Create a bootable partition by typing active and pressing ENTER.

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9. List all volumes recognized by the system by typing list volume and pressing ENTER.

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10. Select your volume from the list (Volume 3 in this example) by typing select volume 3 and pressing ENTER.

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11. Quick format the disk using Fat32 by typing format f s=fat32 quick and pressing ENTER.

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12. Insert your desired operating system media or mount your ISO.

13. Copy the entire contents of the installation media from the installation media to your USB drive.

You’re now ready to use the USB drive as installation media on your system. Just boot to the USB drive and setup will begin, or just insert the USB drive and allow setup to auto run, or open setup from a file explorer window.