The question of installing a new operating system on a netbook is very relevant. Indeed, as a rule, Microsoft supplies Windows of different versions only on a bootable disk, but the floppy drive is not present in the design of netbooks - there are only USB ports. Therefore, the easiest way is to install an operating system on a netbook from a regular flash drive.
Unfortunately, at present, operating system manufacturers do not supply installation USB drivers, so the user will have to create such a USB flash drive on his own. However, this is not difficult.
Using the method described in the article, you can install different versions of Windows on a netbook: XP, Vista, 7, 8. To do this, you will need a flash drive with a memory capacity of more than 1 gigabyte, an image file of the required operating system (the extension of such files is.iso) and the UltraISO utility (a link to a free download of the utility is attached to the article).
How to create a bootable USB flash drive
1. Download the UltraISO utility from the official website of developers, install and open it.
2. Open the "Boot" tab -> "Burn hard disk image".
3. In the window that appears, select the USB drive that you want to make the installation, then select the image file with the operating system and make sure that the USB-HDD + recording method is set.
4. Click on the "Burn" button and wait for the end of the process.
How to install on a netbook via My Computer
So, the bootable USB drive is ready. If the files and programs you needed were on the netbook, make a backup. Although usually after completing the installation of a new operating system, all old files are saved in the Windows. Old directory on the C drive, it is nevertheless better to be safe.
1. Insert the installation USB stick into the netbook.
2. Open the My Computer section and go to the installation flash drive.
3. Run the Setup.exe file in the root of the flash drive.
4. In the window that appears, select the Windows installation.
5. The standard installation of the operating system will then begin. Follow the instructions on the screen and wait for the installation process to complete. During installation, your computer may restart several times. As soon as you see the picture with the new Windows logo at boot time, this will mean that the installation was, in principle, successfully completed.
The disadvantage of this installation method is that you will not be able to format the disk on which the old version of the operating system is running. If this option does not suit you, use the following method.
How to install on a netbook via BIOS
As in the previous method, back up your data before proceeding with the installation.
1. Insert the installation USB stick into the netbook.
2. Restart your computer and enter BIOS.
To enter the BIOS, you need to press the DEL button on the keyboard when the computer boots up, when the first graphic images appear on the screen, until the settings screen appears. This is the BIOS.
3. If the BIOS has a blue background - find the Advanced BIOS Features section on the left side, use the arrows on the keyboard to move the pointer and press Enter. A window will appear with the boot options for your computer. Put in First Boot Device - USB-HDD, Second Boot Device - CDROM, Third Boot Device - Hard Disk or HDD-0.
4. If the BIOS has a gray background, go to the Boot tab, then use the arrow keys to move the pointer to Boot Device Priority and press Enter. The order for booting devices on the computer appears. Change the order so that USB is first in the list, CD / DVD Disk is second, Hard Disk is third.
5. After setting the desired order, press F10 and Enter.
At this stage, the reader will set the boot order in which the flash drive is loaded first, then the floppy drive, and only then the hard drive. In the future, it is not necessary to return this order to its previous state.
6. After that the computer will reboot, then the message Press any key to boot from CD or DVD will appear on the screen. The reader has to press any button, and the new version of "Windows" from the previously inserted USB flash drive will begin to be installed.
7. Follow the Windows Installer instructions that appear on the screen and wait for the installation process to complete. During installation, your computer may restart several times. As soon as you see the picture with the new Windows logo at boot time, this will mean that the installation was, in principle, successfully completed.
