How to create a Windows 7 installation USB from OS X?

Question

I'm trying to create a Windows 7 installation USB (for use on a PC) from OS X.

I've tried following these instructions from a similar question on superuser:

Insert the USB flash drive and run the command diskutil list to find out the disk name, we'll use /dev/disk1 as an example
Now unmount the disk using diskutil unmountDisk /dev/disk1
dd if=/path/to/Win7.iso of=/dev/disk1 bs=8192

But the instructions don't work. When I insert the created USB drive into my PC and try to boot from it, I get this message:

Reboot and Select proper Boot device or Insert Boot Media in selected Boot device and press a key

What am I missing?

score 9 · Accepted Answer · answered Aug 20 '11 at 12:41

9

Turns out OS X Lion ships with Boot Camp 4.0, the coolest feature of which appears to be the ability to create install USBs.

answered Aug 20 '11 at 12:41

rubergly

score 3 · Answer 2 · answered Aug 10 '11 at 11:19

I hope I am not offending you, but this issue may have something to do with your level of understanding of what that terminal command actually does.

You can't just copy and paste the command :

dd if=/path/to/Win7.iso of=/dev/disk1 bs=8192

.. and expect that to work.

You need to change the above command to point to the actual location of your "Win7.iso" file (if that is what it's named).

eg.

Say I have a file called "windo7.iso" and it's currently located on my desktop, then the command that you should be using is :

dd if=~/Desktop/windo7.iso of=/dev/disk1 bs=8192

Hope this helps.

Yes, I am aware, and have been entering the command with the correct path. — rubergly, Aug 15 '11 at 08:51

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Dec 26 '14 at 07:49

0

answered Dec 26 '14 at 07:49

michalzuber

score 0 · Answer 4 · edited Jun 05 '15 at 15:30

0

After dd, you should check if your new partitions on the USB device are marked as active. Do so using the fdisk utitlity.

edited Jun 05 '15 at 15:30

Jens Erat

answered Jun 05 '15 at 14:09

Joe

score -1 · Answer 5 · answered Aug 16 '11 at 05:19

-1

Right after turning on your PC press Del to enter Bios Setup and make sure that USB listed first in Boot Priority menu.

answered Aug 16 '11 at 05:19

Serith

1

I was selecting the USB drive as the boot device; this wasn't the problem. – rubergly Aug 16 '11 at 05:37
2

This is also pretty inaccurate since the key to enter Bios setup depends heavily on the PC manufacturer. – rubergly Aug 16 '11 at 18:01
1

That's true for a laptop, but for PC desktop station i can't remember any case where it was other then Del – Serith Aug 19 '11 at 16:21

5 Answers5