Tag Archives: bootable

HP Intelligent Provisioning Cant See USB Media?

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3

KB ID 0001555

Problem

Life was simpler when we had DVD Drives and a wallet full of CD/DVDs! I was building an HP DL360 This morning and needed to install Windows. I created a bootable USB with Unetbootin and selected a Windows Server ISO, it wouldn’t boot. So I thought ‘Fine I’ll play the game” I pressed F10 for Intelligent Provisioning.

After selecting USB media – the system could not see my USB Drive? 

After a couple of seconds head scrathing the penny dropped, it wants the iso not a bootable drive, (doofus!) So I used a FAT formatted USB and that didn’t work either?

Option 1: Use iLO

Before you all start emailing me, you can install an operating system from virtual media WITHOUT and advanced iLO licence! Annoyingly I was building the server on the bench, so I had to connect my laptop into the iLO with a crossover cable but, here’s me proving it works.

Option 2: Use ExFAT

Format your USB drive using ExFAT, luckily I use macOS and Disk Utility will format a drive using ExFAT for me.

Note: Windows will also format as ExFAT 🙂

Then simply put your install .iSO file(s) on the media.

Now you can see your install media.

Option 3: Use the HP Media Creator

I didn’t try this option, but feel free to download it and give it a try, comment below to let me know how you get on.

HP USB Key Utility for Windows v3.0.0

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Windows USB Install Error 0x80070026

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2

KB ID 0001485

Problem

Now physical servers don’t really come with DVD drives any more, Im forever deploying Windows, ESX, or some other Linux OS via a bootable USB drive.

I generally use Unerbootin, and just point it at the .iso file and away we go, which I did this week when trying to deploy Window Server 2016. However when I did that, this happened;

Windows cannot open the required file {Drive}:\Sources\install.wim. Make sure all files required for installation are available, and restart the installation. Error code: 0x80070026

Solution

I assumed there was a problem with my .iso, so I downloaded a new one, same problem. I then put the drive in another machine and went to make sure that install.wim was there, (in fact I was going to copy the install.wim from the .ISO onto the drive,) when I noticed something. The install.wim on the drive was 4 GB and the source file was over 5GB.

Only at this point did I realise what was happening! The USB drive is formatted at FAT, and that file is too big to be supported in that file system?

Format the drive at NTFS;

Then recreate it

And Windows Server 2016 installed fine! (I’ll put that one down to experience!)

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Booting USB: Boot VMware Guest from USB

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KB ID 0000250

Problem

Booting USB: Last week I wrote an article about installing Windows PE on a USB thumb drive, after making several trips across the room to test my progress by booting the spare PC with said USB drive, I thought “there must be a simpler way to do this?”.

VMware Workstation guest VM’s do not support booting from USB devices, (its not built into their “BIOS”). However there’s nothing to stop you booting to CD then using that to boot to USB.

Booting USB

1. Download the PLoP Boot manager.

2. When you have downloaded the .zip file extract it, and inside you will find an ISO image called plpbt.iso that’s all we need you can get rid of everything else.

3. Set your virtual machine to use this .iso file as its CD drive.

4. Connect your USB drive to the guest VM by clicking VM > Removable Devices > The device you wish to connect > Connect.

5. Boot the VM with your PLoP CD, image and select USB from the boot options.

 

 

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Installing Windows From USB

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KB ID 0000191

Problem

This weekend I needed to install Windows 7 on my shiny new Acer HTPC, but having no internal CD/DVD drive I needed to do this via USB.

Quite a few times now I’ve needed to install Windows (Particularly Server 2008), on a machine that has no DVD Drive. You can now install both products from a bootable USB drive by doing either of the the following.

Note: You will need a USB Drive with enough free space on it to hold the Windows setup files (Windows 7 and Server 2008 require 4GB ish, depending on versions).

Solution

Option 1 (The quick and dirty techie way!)

1. Pop in your USB Drive > open a command windows and execute the following commands:

[box]diskpart {enter} [launches the disk partition program]
list {enter}[Displays all the disks you can work with]
select disk x {enter}[Select the USB Drive number]
clean {enter}[Wipes the USB Drive][/box]

2. Execute the following commands:

[box]create partition primary {enter} [Creates a new primary partition]
select partition 1{enter}[Select the partition you have just made]
active {enter}[Makes the partition bootable]
exit {enter}[Closes diskpart][/box]

3. Now use a utility like 7-Zip to extract the Windows Install media .ISO file to your USB drive.

4. Now boot your device from USB, (Enter the BIOS boot section and change the boot order), or press the key the machine says will load the boot options when you first turn it on.

Note: Some machines require you to change USB emulation before you can boot from them like so.

Option 2 (The lazy way!)

Download Novicorp WinToFlash

7-Zip

Related Articles, References, Credits, or External Links

Also see Windows 7 USB/DVD Download tool (Thanks to Fred de Jonge)