[ This article is originally published on www.elmajdal.net : http://www.elmajdal.net/Win8/How_To_Create_Bootable_USB_Disk_For_Windows_8.aspx ]


Many of today's laptops do not have a DVD drive anymore, so if one day you decided to format your laptop, then using the bootable USB will be your choice.

When you purchase Windows 8 or 8.1 from *Microsoft Store, you are able to instantly download its ISO image.

 

Whenever we purchase Windows, we always prefer to burn its ISO image on a USB or DVD. So that the next time we want to format a machine, or change its hard disk, we will have a bootable media. You will need a 4 GB USB Disk and to be an administrator on the computer you are installing the Windows 7 USB/DVD Download tool on.

1. Download the Windows 7 USB/DVD Download tool from here
   
   
   
   
2. The tool requires the Microsoft .NET Framework version 2.0 or higher. So if you don't have the minimum requirement, the utility will automatically ask you to download and install .NET Framework. Click Download and install this feature
   
   
   
   
3. The required .NET Framework will be downloaded and installed
   
   
   
   
   
   Once installation is completed, click Close
   
   
   
   
4. The Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool Setup will automatically start, click Next
   
   
   
   
5. Click Install to starting installing the utility
   
   
   
   
6. Once the installation is completed, click Finish
   
   
   
   A shortcut to the utility will be created on the Desktop, double-click to open it.
   
   
   
   
7. In the Source file box, click Browse and select the file from the Open dialog box, then click Next
   
   
   
   Browse to the path where you have stored your Windows 8 / 8.1 ISO file and then click Open
   
   
   
   Once selected, click Next
   
   
   
   
8. Select USB Device to create a copy on a USB flash drive or select DVD disk to create a copy on a DVD disk.
   
   
   
   
9. If you are copying the file to a USB flash drive, select your USB device in the drop-down list and click Begin copying. If you are copying the file up to a DVD, click Begin copying
   
   
   
   
10. The selected USB will be erased, so make sure that no needed files are stored on the disk. Click Erase USB Device
    
    
    
    
    
    
11. The USB disk will be formatted and the Windows setup files will be copied into it
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
12. Once the bootable USB device is created successfully, the status message will be Backup completed. Close the wizard and you are done.
    
    
    
    

Now whenever needed, and you want to format your machine, you will need to boot from this USB device. So what you will need to do is to make sure that the boot order is setup properly in the BIOS by setting the USB boot priority to be higher than the machine Hard disk.

Once this is properly configured, then plug your USB device into the computer and reboot so that your computer boot from the USB device. The Windows Setup wizard will start and you can continue reading  How To Install a Fresh Copy of Windows 8  to know how to step-by-step format your computer.

 

*Note : [ Windows 8 or, 8.1 are no longer available in Microsoft Stores. One can buy from online retail stores.]