How to Install Windows 7 From a USB Drive

Installing Windows from a USB flash drive has several advantages – First of all, the overall speed of the installation process will increase significantly, carrying a USB stick is much more convenient than a DVD, and finally it becomes possible to install the OS even on those systems that do not have a DVD drive, such as a netbook.

In this post, I will show you how to load the Windows installation on to your USB flash drive and make it bootable just like the DVD.

Tools Required to Load Windows 7 Installation Files:

1. USB flash drive with a minimum capacity of 4 GB.
2. Windows 7 set-up DVD.

Now, just follow the steps below:

Step-1:

Plug-in your USB flash drive and backup all the existing data in it.

Open the command prompt. If you are using Windows 7/Vista then open it with administrator rights.

ie: Go to Start -> All Programs -> Accessories -> Right-click on “Command Prompt” and select “Run as Administrator”.

Step-2:

In the command prompt, type in the following command:

DISKPART

Step-3:

Now issue the following command:

LIST DISK

This will show you a list of  available disks on your system. Disk 0 is usually the hard disk. In my case, Disk 5 is the USB drive (this can be a different one in your case). 

SELECT DISK 5

NOTE: In the above command, 5 is the USB drive number on my system. If you have a different number on your system, then you need to replace 5 with that number.

Step-4:

Now issue the following list of commands one by one as shown below:

CLEAN

CREATE PARTITION PRIMARY

SELECT PARTITION 1

ACTIVE

FORMAT FS=NTFS QUICK

ASSIGN

EXIT

Minimize the command prompt and proceed to the next step.

Step 5:

Insert the Windows 7/Vista installation disc and note down the “drive letter” of your DVD drive. In my case, it is “H:”. Now type the following list of commands as shown below:

H: CD BOOT

CD BOOT

BOOTSECT.EXE /NT60 M: (NOTE: M: is your USB drive letter)

EXIT

Step-6:

Copy the contents of your Windows 7/Vista installation disk into the USB flash drive.

That’s it! Your USB stick is now ready to boot and install the Windows 7 for you. Don’t forget to enable the “USB Boot” option and change the “boot priority to USB device from hard disk” in your BIOS settings.

How to Trace Mobile Numbers

With the rapid growth of mobile phone usage in recent years, it is often observed that it has also become a part of many illegal and criminal activities. So, in most cases tracing the mobile number becomes a vital part of the investigation process. Also, sometimes we just want to trace a mobile number back to the caller for reasons like annoying prank calls, blackmails, unknown number in a missed call list and so on.

How to Trace Any Mobile Number?

Well, there are several ways to do this. The easiest way to gain access to the details of any mobile number is by using a reliable paid service that has records of over millions of mobile and landline users in its database. If you’re really serious to find out the name and address of the person behind the mobile number, then this is the right choice. You can use the following service to get the details of any phone number (mobile and landline):

Cell Phone Registry – Trace Any Mobile Number

Please note that the above service works only for the “United States” telephone numbers.

Other Possible Ways to Trace a Mobile Number:

Now let us look at some of the free options that are available. Even though it is not possible to trace the number back to the caller using the free services, it is possible to trace it to the location of the caller and also find the network operator. Just have a look at this page on tracing Indian mobile numbers from Wikipedia. Using the information provided on this page, it is possible to certainly trace any mobile number from India and find out the location (state/city) and network operator (mobile operator) of the caller.

All you need for this is only the first 4-digit of the mobile number. In this Wiki page you will find all the mobile number series listed in a nice tabular column where they are categorized based on mobile operator and the zone (state/city). This Wiki page is updated regularly so as to provide up-to-date information on newly added mobile number series and operators. I have used this page many a time and have never been disappointed.

If you would like to use a simpler interface where in you can just enter the target mobile number and trace the desired details, you can try this link from Numbering Plans. With this, you cantrace any number in the world.

UPDATE: After the introduction of Mobile Number Portability (MNP) in India, methods discussed above are not found to be very much accurate.

By using the above free services, you can only know “where” the call is from and not “who” the caller is. Only the mobile operator is able to tell you ”who” the caller is. Unfortunately in India, there is no such paid service that gives you more accurate details about the caller. So, if you are in an emergency and need to find out the actual person behind the call, I would recommend that you file a complaint and take the help of the police. I hope this information has helped you!