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Windows install disk to ISO file to USB HDD to boot and install Windows on a PC that has no optical drive. Can it be done?

cn flag

If I put a Windows install disk in my Ubuntu desktop DVD drive, make an ISO file from it, can I then (somehow) use that ISO file to turn a USB connected HDD into something that will boot and install said Windows onto a PC that lacks an optical drive? I have install disks for Windows 98, ME, XP and 7. I don't care which version I end up with. Thanks!

cn flag
This is a windows problem not an Ubuntu problem. Your answer depends in whether windows allows this.
C.S.Cameron avatar
cn flag
As I understand you are doing this in Ubuntu, which makes it an Ubuntu topic. If you extract the DVD to a USB drive, UEFI should boot it. The target USB partition should be formatted FAT32.
user535733 avatar
cn flag
Windows install .iso images are **free** from Microsoft, so the need to extract an old, unsupported version using Ubuntu seems unnecessary.
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