How to make an external USB drive bootable with an older OS ( Win 7)

gundobaldo66 · Jan 7, 2025

I have an Literature app on CD's, originally designed for Windows 7. I have a Seagate 232 GB USB drive. I was thinking of installing Windows 7 on it ( I have the installation CD) and boot from it so that I can play my CD literature collection. Is this feasible? How?.

Thanks

Gundobaldo66

Bree · Jan 7, 2025

You could make a W7 bootable usb with WinToUSB.

The answer is Yes, Hasleo WinToUSB is designed specially to create Windows To Go USB drive. With it, you can not only create a Windows 11/10/8.1/8 To Go USB drive, but also create a Windows 7 To Go USB drive easily.

Please note that Windows 7 does not have built-in USB 3.0 support, so Windows 7 will have to be booted from a USB 2.0 port. And Windows 7 is not completely portable, so you may have driver problems when booting on different computers, therefore you should only use the same Windows 7 To Go on the same computer..

[Solved]How to install Windows 7 to an USB drive as Windows 7 To Go?

This tutorial will show you how to install Windows 7 to an USB drive as Windows 7 To Go with Hasleo WinToUSB, then you can use it to accomplish some special work, such as updating the BIOS, or running some old applications that are not compatible with Windows 11/10/8.

www.easyuefi.com

But as you have W11 Pro you have another option, you could create a Windows 7 Hyper-V virtual machine.

Bree · Jan 7, 2025

gundobaldo66 said:
I have an Literature app on CD's, originally designed for Windows 7.

Have you tried running them in Windows 11 using compatibility mode?

gundobaldo66 · Jan 9, 2025

Bree said:
You could make a W7 bootable usb with WinToUSB.

[Solved]How to install Windows 7 to an USB drive as Windows 7 To Go?

This tutorial will show you how to install Windows 7 to an USB drive as Windows 7 To Go with Hasleo WinToUSB, then you can use it to accomplish some special work, such as updating the BIOS, or running some old applications that are not compatible with Windows 11/10/8.

www.easyuefi.com

But as you have W11 Pro you have another option, you could create a Windows 7 Hyper-V virtual machine.

Unfortunately, I don’t have the Windows 7 ISO file, only the installation CD , but my BIOS is UEFI only and it does not have an option to switch to Legacy/CSM mode, therefore I cannot set the CD-ROM Drive or any other USB drive as 1st. boot priority in the BIOS. .

The USB drive I’d like to make bootable, whether with Windows 7 or as a BUP Windows 11 is a 235 GB Seagate drive, but the BIOS doesn't see it, only the Windows Explorer. .

I don't know if mounting the drive will solve the problem, but I am noy too familiar with this.

I’ll look into this ‘

Thanks for your help as usual

Gundobaldo66

Berton · Jan 9, 2025

As far as I've ever seen the install disc for Windows is bootable. However WinXP was the first to be available as either 32-bit or 64-bit, my CD is Dell-branded and can be used only on Dell hardware, other OEMs may be the same. For the Mount, it can be done and the install ran by double-clicking the setup.exe file, doesn't have to be booted.

Curious as to the name of the program involved, all I see is psp.exe and that isn't giving much useful.

Ghot · Jan 9, 2025

Berton said:
all I see is psp.exe and that isn't giving much useful.

That's a pic from @Bree ...and used as an example I guess.

psp.exe is Paint Shop Pro.

zbook · Jan 9, 2025

See if this link has any useful tips:

Clean Install Windows 10 without DVD or USB Flash Drive

How to Clean Install Windows 10 without any External Installation Media

www.tenforums.com

Berton · Jan 9, 2025

It always helpful to know the name of a program, Literature app doesn't help. That's akin to saying "I have this car that I don't know how to start".

gundobaldo66 · Jan 9, 2025

Berton said:
As far as I've ever seen the install disc for Windows is bootable. However WinXP was the first to be available as either 32-bit or 64-bit, my CD is Dell-branded and can be used only on Dell hardware, other OEMs may be the same. For the Mount, it can be done and the install ran by double-clicking the setup.exe file, doesn't have to be booted.

Curious as to the name of the program involved, all I see is psp.exe and that isn't giving much useful.

I agree that one should always be able to boot from the Windows installation CD , but with a UEFI only BIOS this exactly the problem, because it doesn't allow to set the Cd/DVD ROM drive( or any other specific drive) as a 1st boot priorityI

Concerning your question about the name of that program designed only for Windows 7, it is an Italian Literature collection in 6 cd's ( published by Zanichelli, a well-known ,Italian publishing house). This collection is designed to be consulted in a re-created library environment, with Medieval illuminations and an antique look. Of course, I can always read the texts on the CD's as PDF on MS Edge, but it is not the same feel. as having a virtual, graphically attractive library in front of you..

Aside from the Windows 7 issue, the other reason of my post was that I want to install a 2nd Windows 11 on another drive ( in my case an external USB drive) and boot from it, if necessary, but I cannot do it because, as explained earlier, my BIOS is UEFI only. .

Gundo

Bree · Jan 9, 2025

gundobaldo66 said:
Unfortunately, I don’t have the Windows 7 ISO file, only the installation CD...

AnyBurn can make an ISO from the CD.

Copy disc to ISO file

AnyBurn Tutorials

anyburn.com

Berton · Jan 9, 2025

Quoting from my Dell Latitude 3340 BIOS, a rehab from back in '19 that came with Win10, probably had Win7 before that:

When in UEFI boot mode, the Enable Legacy Option ROMs Option will allow legacy option ROMs to load. Without this option, only UEFI option ROMs will load. This option is required for Legacy boot mode. This option is not allowed if Secure Boot is enabled.

I've not had an issue booting the MCT LiveUSB or the disc burned from the .iso file. The BIOS lists 5 choices of booting:
Diskette
Internal HDD
USB Storage Device
CD/DVD
Onboard NIC
The Diskette and CD/DVD will need to be USB.

The Boot options are Legacy and UEFI.

gundobaldo66 · Jan 10, 2025

I think I found out why I cannot work on my Seagate USB Flash drive to make it bootable: it is an older USB 2. I think I need a USB 3.0.
I do have a Seagate Free Agent 3.0 USB, but I keep it as a storage drive. Do I need to format it to put a bootable Windows 11 Pro on it or can I just add a WinPE file, without removing the rest of the storage ?

Thanks

Gundo

Berton · Jan 10, 2025

An issue I've ran into several times is that older computers will have USB 2 ports [black centers] and get support in the BIOS but have to wait for the installed Operating System to load installed drivers for the USB 3 ports [blue centers]. It was also a problem with some printers not supporting USB 3 but worked fine when plugged into USB 2 ports. Haven't had as many problems with the newer computers that have combination USB 2/USB 3 ports. I use a few different versions Linux LiveUSB Thumb drives without issue but I use the ImageWriter app in my Linux Desktop to create the USB from the downloaded .iso file.

SIW2 · Jan 10, 2025

I think I found out why I cannot work on my Seagate USB Flash drive to make it bootable: it is an older USB 2. I think I need a USB 3.0.

You dont need to , but it will be quicker.

Do I need to format it to put a bootable Windows 11 Pro on it or can I just add a WinPE file, without removing the rest of the storage ?

needs to be fat32 . Or create a separate fat32 partition on the usb stick. The install.wim is probably bigger than 4gb so the sources folder needs to go on an ntfs partition.

gundobaldo66 · Jan 10, 2025

Berton said:
An issue I've ran into several times is that older computers will have USB 2 ports [black centers] and get support in the BIOS but have to wait for the installed Operating System to load installed drivers for the USB 3 ports [blue centers]. It was also a problem with some printers not supporting USB 3 but worked fine when plugged into USB 2 ports. Haven't had as many problems with the newer computers that have combination USB 2/USB 3 ports.

THanks Berton
Mine is a new computer and has both 3.0 USB ports ( Blue center) and 2.0 ( black). However, I think I was right in saying that the problem is the USB 2.0 drive, because as soon as I connect the 3.0 it is immediately detected in the ADD ON's root list as a USB. The thing is that even so, I cannot add it to the Boot configuration with the ADD ON option.Why? . The items listed in the Boot configuration are , in order:

UEFI RST Micron_2450_MTFDKBA512TFK232541A2C119( God knows what it is,,)
UEFIHTTPS BOOT ( MAC:2088108509D9 ( Ditto above)
onboard NIC ( IPV6))
Onboard NIC (IPV4)
Windows Boot Manager

No trace of the USB 3.0 or CD/ROM drive or any other drive. T
The LEGACY was so much better !!!. Why did they do away with it or at least why didn't they give an option to chose betwenn Legacy and UEFI ?
Perhaps To keep the designer technocrats busy ? ( much in the same way as the Microsoft Updates often mess up the system to the point I have to remove them ( or some) ?

Gundo

SIW2 · Jan 10, 2025

I have a Seagate 232 GB USB drive. I was thinking of installing Windows 7 on it ( I have the installation CD) and boot from it so that I can play my CD literature collection. Is this feasible?

win7 does not natively boot over usb. It also does not contain usb3 drivers.

It is possible to install usb3 drivers into the installation media and then adjust the polling timeout and bootdriverflags in the registry so it can boot from usb.

the reg adjustments can be done with a .cmd file like this:

Code:

@echo off
setlocal EnableExtensions EnableDelayedExpansion
pushd %~dp0
rem thanks to cdob
echo Setting USB boot drivers &echo.
set installpath=D:\windows
copy "%installpath%\system32\config\system" "%installpath%\system32\config\system_%random%.sav"
reg.exe load HKLM\loaded_SYSTEM " %installpath%\system32\config\system"
pause

set ControlSetDefault=
call :setReg Default
call :setReg LastKnownGood

reg.exe unload HKLM\loaded_SYSTEM
popd

goto :eof

:setReg
 set ControlSet=001
 reg.exe query "HKLM\loaded_SYSTEM\Select" /v "%1" >nul 2>&1 && (
  for /f "skip=2 tokens=3" %%a in ('reg.exe query "HKLM\loaded_SYSTEM\Select" /v "%1"') do set /a ControlSet=%%a
  set ControlSet=000!ControlSet!
 )
 set ControlSetNNN=ControlSet%ControlSet:~-3%
 if %ControlSetDefault%.==%ControlSetNNN%. goto :eof
 echo. &echo ControlSet "%ControlSetNNN%" used.

 set Services=HKLM\loaded_SYSTEM\%ControlSetNNN%\Services
 set Control=HKLM\loaded_SYSTEM\%ControlSetNNN%\Control

 reg.exe add %Control%\PnP /f /v PollBootPartitionTimeout /t REG_DWORD /d 30000
 
 reg.exe add %Control% /f /v BootDriverFlags /t REG_DWORD /d 0x6

 set ControlSetDefault=%ControlSetNNN%
goto :eof

the easiest way for you to do that would be with winntsetup

the readme tells you what files you need to put in the Win7USB folder

WinNTSetup_v541_x64.rar

Alternatively you could use my 7updater on sevenforums to integrate usb3, nvme and sha2 support into the media first, and then use winntsetup to do the installing.

Update your Win 7 installation media - Windows 7 Help Forums

Here is how to get your installation media up to date: 1. Copy and paste your installation media to your hard drive 2. Run as admin on the the 7update.cmd 3. Browse to the folder containing your win 7

www.sevenforums.com

SIW2 · Jan 10, 2025

NOTE: If your bios does not have csm support, that is a separate issue. There are workarounds but not simple. Most modern consumer motherboards have it but oem machines usually do not.

If there is no csm support abandon the idea unless you are a geek.

gundobaldo66 · Jan 10, 2025

SIW2 said:
NOTE: If your biosdoes not have csm support, that is a separate issue. Ther are workarounds, but not simple.

Thanks

could I have a general idea of the workarounds available? I was thinking perhaps of installing a BIOS version which does have a CSM option, but I don't know which one and if it can work on my current Dell Optrex 3000 tower.

TKS

SIW2 · Jan 10, 2025

this is one example

GitHub - manatails/uefiseven: An EFI loader that emulates int10h interrupts needed for booting Windows 7 under UEFI Class 3 systems.

An EFI loader that emulates int10h interrupts needed for booting Windows 7 under UEFI Class 3 systems. - manatails/uefiseven

github.com

johnlgalt · Jan 10, 2025

Oooh, I like that. Thanks SIW2

How to make an external USB drive bootable with an older OS ( Win 7)

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