How To Make Windows 7 OS On USB Flash Drive

As you all know creating a bootable USB, or installing Windows 7 or Vista using USB is a piece of cake. It doesn’t take much time and effort to have a bootable USB. Now, after replying to several e-mails about installing Windows 7 or Vista on a USB drive, I have decided to write this detailed guide.

Requirements to install Windows 7 on USB:

# An USB flash drive with a minimum of 6 GB disk space to install Windows 7 or Vista. You can use a 4 GB drive to install XP.

# Bootable Windows 7 USB or DVD.

# Free time

So let’s begin with the installing Windows 7 on USB procedure:

1. First of all, connect your USB to the machine and backup all the data from the USB drive.

2. Download VirtualBox portable here, double-click on the executable file and extract the contents to your USB.

3. Now, go to the VirtualBox portable folder in USB, and execute the Portable-VirtualBox (.exe) file.

4. From here onwards, you need to follow the onscreen procedure to create a virtual disk and install Windows 7 on USB. Follow the install Windows 7 on VirtualBox guide to complete the process.

5. Once you finish the installation process, you can safely close VirtualBox and remove your USB drive.

6. You can now use this Windows 7 USB drive on any Windows machine that you want. To use Windows 7 on other machine, connect the Windows 7 USB, open USB drive, and run portable-VirtualBox file.

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How To Convert Windows 7 OS To A Virtual Machine

In this guide, we will cover how to create a virtual Windows machine by cloning your existing Windows operating system. And once you have a clone of your OS in the form of virtual drive you can use free virtualization solutions like Virtual Box, VMware Player or Microsoft Virtual PC to carry and access your personalized Windows OS on any machine.

Here are the steps that you need to follow in order to clone your Windows OS. In this guide, we are cloning our Windows 7.

1. First download and install Paragon Go Virtual software. Paragon Go Virtual is available for free of cost, but you need to register (free) with Paragon software to avail the free license. During installation, click Get free serial button to head over to the official registration page and enter particulars to get the license via email. Enter the product key and serial key, and complete the installation.

2. Once installed, you will be asked to reboot your machine to complete the procedure.

3. Run Paragon Go Virtual application and click P2V Copy option to start the P2V Copy Wizard.

4. Once the wizard is launched, click Next button to see disk volumes and external hard drives, if any.

5. Check the box next the Widows installation drive and click on the Next button to proceed further.

6. The wizard will detect the OS present in the selected drive and prompts you select a virtual software that you want to use to run the virtual machine. Select a virtual software from the available three (VMware, VirtualBox and Microsoft Virtual PC) that you are familiar with and then click Next button (we have selected Oracle VirtualBox).

7. In the properties page, enter a name for your virtual machine and change the memory allocation before hitting the Next button.

8. In the next window, you can change the properties of virtual disks. Click Next button to go with the default one.

9. On this screen you need specify the location where you want to save the virtual machine. You are almost done. Click Next button again to the start the process of virtual machine creation.

10. Depending on the amount of data present on your Windows drive, it might take a few minutes to hours. Once the process is completed, install a virtual machine and then open the virtual machine by clicking the appropriate option. You are done!

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How To Backup VirtualBox Disk Image

VirtualBox is one of the best free virtualization software out there, if not the best. Users who have used VirtualBox for some time probably know how difficult it is to clone or move a virtual machine as VirtualBox assigns a unique identity number (UUID) to each virtual machine.

Even though there are guides available to backup or move a VirtualBox virtual machine (.VDI) without using third-party tools, you need to follow a very lengthy procedure. So, here we are to share a free utility to backup virtual machine in a few steps.

CloneVDI is a free utility that lets you backup VirtualBox virtual machine (VDI) with ease. Other than backup, you can use this tiny tool to increase virtual drive size, view virtual drive info, and header info as well.

Here are the key features of CloneVDI:

# Reads VDI, VHD, VMDK, Parallels HDD, RAW files and physical drives, writes VDI

# Ability to compact the clone virtual machine

# Ability to enlarge the maximum size of a virtual disk

# Generate new UUID for the clone

# Information about the source VDI, internal file system, & partition map

How to use CloneVDI tool:

Step 1: Make sure that your virtual machine is shut down and powered off.

Step 2: Download CloneVDI zip file and extract the zip file contents to a folder on desktop.

Step 3: Run CloneVDI (.exe) file. Select the VDI file that you want to clone and then select the destination.

Step 4: Use the option Increase virtual drive size to option if you need to enlarge the clone virtual machine.

Step 5: Click Proceed button and wait for a few minutes to complete cloning process.

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How To Setup DD-WRT on Virtualbox

Maybe you are interested to use/try DD-Wrt for your hotspot or using it for our hotspot billing software, unfortunately but you don’t have a compatible router hardware or don’t have any brave to flash your factory router firmware with DDWRT to avoid any unwanted things.

Actually DD-WRT provides X86/ PC Version for free, that installable on your own PC. The problem is , that it is not in virtualbox compatible image. Therefore you won’t able to install it directly to virtualbox, unless you convert it to virtualbox disk (vdi) image first, with vboxmanage command. But the problem does still exist, you may be able to install it to your virtualbox, but the converted image is read only. It won’t save the changes you have made. Once you reboot the router, you will be losing any changes/settings that you have made. The good news is we have fully functional(read/writeable) ddwrt in Virtualboxdisk image (vdi).

Just do the following steps to get fully working DD-WRT on virtualbox with network setup

1. Download our ddwrt-vdi image compressed file from here
2. Extract the compressed file
3. Create the new virtual machine (OS: Linux, Version: Other linux) and Use existing virtual disk: DDWRT-X86.vdi that we have provided earlier
4. Virtualbox Network settings: adapter 1 attached to Host-Only adapter
5. Go to File > Preferences > Network > Select “VirtualBox Host-Only Ethernet Adapter” > Edit , IPv4 Address: 192.168.1.254 IPv4 Network Mask: 255.255.255.0
6. Use your web browser to access http://192.168.1.1/ username: admin password admin , after that you can setup your WAN Connection to DHCP/Static IP address and configure the router as needed
7. Once you have done configuring the router, you would need to change the network settings in virtualbox : Adapter 1 attached to Bridged adapter (select your WAN ethernet interface card that connected to your ADSL modem/gateway router), Adapter 2 attached to Bridged adapter( Select your LAN ethernet interface card that connected to your Access Point)

Note: The default console login username is root and password admin, You would need to have 2 ethernet cards on the Host PC.

Network Layout:

(ADSL Modem/Gateway router) ——DHCP/Static IP WAN[[DDWRT X86 on virtualBox]] LAN—Wireless AP ——Client

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Trouble setting up more than 4 network adapters in VirtualBox

I've been trying to setup the 8 network adapters that VirtualBox is supposed to support, through the command line. I need them as bridged networks (because I use them to forward ports from a server installed in the VM).

So, the commands I've used go like this:

VBoxManage modifyvm  --nic5 bridged
VBoxManage modifyvm  --bridgeadapter5 "Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller"
VBoxManage modifyvm  --nicpromisc5 allow-all

And so on for the other 3. I set them up as bridged, set the adapter name to my host network adapter name, and set promiscuous mode to allow all. They use the adapter PCnet-FAST III (Am79C973). Checking with the showvminfo command, I get this:

C:\Program Files>cd Oracle

C:\Program Files\Oracle>cd VirtualBox

C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox>VBoxManage showvminfo XP2
Name:            XP2
Groups:          /
Guest OS:        Windows XP (32 bit)
UUID:            b53a67f9-7fba-43a0-9f2c-a13e9f1249ab
Config file:     C:\Users\MyUserName\VirtualBox VMs\XP2\XP2.vbox
Snapshot folder: C:\Users\MyUserName\VirtualBox VMs\XP2\Snapshots
Log folder:      C:\Users\MyUserName\VirtualBox VMs\XP2\Logs
Hardware UUID:   b53a67f9-7fba-43a0-9f2c-a13e9f1249ab
Memory size:     256MB
Page Fusion:     off
VRAM size:       18MB
CPU exec cap:    40%
HPET:            off
Chipset:         piix3
Firmware:        BIOS
Number of CPUs:  1
PAE:             off
Long Mode:       off
Synthetic CPU:   off
CPUID overrides: None
Boot menu mode:  message and menu
Boot Device (1): Floppy
Boot Device (2): DVD
Boot Device (3): HardDisk
Boot Device (4): Not Assigned
ACPI:            on
IOAPIC:          off
Time offset:     0ms
RTC:             local time
Hardw. virt.ext: on
Nested Paging:   on
Large Pages:     on
VT-x VPID:       on
VT-x unr. exec.: on
State:           running (since 2014-04-30T11:22:59.596000000)
Monitor count:   1
3D Acceleration: off
2D Video Acceleration: off
Teleporter Enabled: off
Teleporter Port: 0
Teleporter Address:
Teleporter Password:
Tracing Enabled: off
Allow Tracing to Access VM: off
Tracing Configuration:
Autostart Enabled: off
Autostart Delay: 0
Default Frontend:
Storage Controller Name (0):            IDE
Storage Controller Type (0):            PIIX4
Storage Controller Instance Number (0): 0
Storage Controller Max Port Count (0):  2
Storage Controller Port Count (0):      2
Storage Controller Bootable (0):        on
IDE (0, 0): E:\Programas\VirtualBox\Guindous XP.vdi (UUID: 70549b55-f222-4b47-be
78-52ba486e880d)
IDE (1, 0): Empty
NIC 1:           MAC: 08002780847C, Attachment: Bridged Interface 'Realtek PCIe
GBE Family Controller', Cable connected: on, Trace: off (file: none), Type: Am79
C973, Reported speed: 0 Mbps, Boot priority: 0, Promisc Policy: allow-all, Bandw
idth group: none
NIC 2:           MAC: 080027B2180A, Attachment: Bridged Interface 'Realtek PCIe
GBE Family Controller', Cable connected: on, Trace: off (file: none), Type: Am79
C973, Reported speed: 0 Mbps, Boot priority: 0, Promisc Policy: allow-all, Bandw
idth group: none
NIC 3:           MAC: 080027803511, Attachment: Bridged Interface 'Realtek PCIe
GBE Family Controller', Cable connected: on, Trace: off (file: none), Type: Am79
C973, Reported speed: 0 Mbps, Boot priority: 0, Promisc Policy: allow-all, Bandw
idth group: none
NIC 4:           MAC: 080027DE9E9D, Attachment: Bridged Interface 'Realtek PCIe
GBE Family Controller', Cable connected: on, Trace: off (file: none), Type: Am79
C973, Reported speed: 0 Mbps, Boot priority: 0, Promisc Policy: allow-all, Bandw
idth group: none
NIC 5:           MAC: 080027918504, Attachment: Bridged Interface 'Realtek PCIe
GBE Family Controller', Cable connected: on, Trace: off (file: none), Type: Am79
C973, Reported speed: 0 Mbps, Boot priority: 0, Promisc Policy: allow-all, Bandw
idth group: none
NIC 6:           MAC: 08002719AAFC, Attachment: Bridged Interface 'Realtek PCIe
GBE Family Controller', Cable connected: off, Trace: off (file: none), Type: Am7
9C973, Reported speed: 0 Mbps, Boot priority: 0, Promisc Policy: allow-all, Band
width group: none
NIC 7:           MAC: 08002739E2E1, Attachment: Bridged Interface 'Realtek PCIe
GBE Family Controller', Cable connected: off, Trace: off (file: none), Type: Am7
9C973, Reported speed: 0 Mbps, Boot priority: 0, Promisc Policy: allow-all, Band
width group: none
NIC 8:           MAC: 0800277BD34B, Attachment: Bridged Interface 'Realtek PCIe
GBE Family Controller', Cable connected: off, Trace: off (file: none), Type: Am7
9C973, Reported speed: 0 Mbps, Boot priority: 0, Promisc Policy: allow-all, Band
width group: none
Pointing Device: USB Tablet
Keyboard Device: PS/2 Keyboard
UART 1:          disabled
UART 2:          disabled
LPT 1:           disabled
LPT 2:           disabled
Audio:           enabled (Driver: DSOUND, Controller: AC97)
Clipboard Mode:  Bidirectional
Drag'n'drop Mode: Bidirectional
Session type:    GUI/Qt
Video mode:      1920x1002x16 at 0,0
VRDE:            disabled
USB:             enabled
EHCI:            disabled

USB Device Filters:



Available remote USB devices:



Currently Attached USB Devices:



Bandwidth groups:  

Shared folders:  

VRDE Connection:    not active
Clients so far:     0

Video capturing:    not active
Capture screens:    0
Capture file:       C:\Users\MyUserName\VirtualBox VMs\XP2\XP2.webm
Capture dimensions: 1024x768
Capture rate:       512 kbps
Capture FPS:        25

Guest:

Configured memory balloon size:      0 MB
OS type:                             WindowsXP
Additions run level:                 3
Additions version:                   4.1.10 r76836


Guest Facilities:

Facility "VirtualBox Base Driver": active/running (last update: 2014/04/30 11:23
:09 UTC)
Facility "VirtualBox System Service": active/running (last update: 2014/04/30 11
:23:15 UTC)
Facility "VirtualBox Desktop Integration": active/running (last update: 2014/04/
30 11:23:25 UTC)
Facility "Seamless Mode": active/running (last update: 2014/04/30 11:23:09 UTC)
Facility "Graphics Mode": active/running (last update: 2014/04/30 11:23:09 UTC)

So all of the adapters have the exact same configuration, except for the MAC addresses, which is all right.

But on opening the VM (which uses Windows XP), it seems unable to manage more than four network adapters at once. Whatever four adapters were the last to connect show an error icon and don't work.

So at this point, I don't know what else am I supposed to do. I don't find any info saying I should touch any more settings in VirtualBox, and I'm unsure if this is a VBox error or a Windows XP error.

I failed to find any official reference to a maximum number of nics supported by XP. However, I found this thread, where a user claims:

I've seen as many as eight working as a result of VMWare Workstation being installed (they were virtual NICs). I expect it depends on your selected hardware more than anything.

So technically what I'm trying should be viable.

I played around with the virtual hardware type a little bit, but they just wouldn't work.

Finally it works correctly in a Windows 7 guest, probably because it uses a different virtualized network card (Intel PRO/1000 MT Desktop).

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