help please;copy windows 7 onto usb from disk for imac without disk drive help please

[samich08]

i just got a new iMac 2.7ghz i5 without a disk drive. I have a brand new copy of windows 7 on disk. i would like to know if/how i can use another computer (preferably my macbook) to copy windows from dvd to usb so i can set up bootcamp on my iMac. I tried searching for the answer but alas failed to word it briefly enough to find a solution.

thanks in advance!

 

[xcodeSyn]

i just got a new iMac 2.7ghz i5 without a disk drive. I have a brand new copy of windows 7 on disk. i would like to know if/how i can use another computer (preferably my macbook) to copy windows from dvd to usb so i can set up bootcamp on my iMac.

What you need to do involves two parts, first, convert the Windows DVD to an ISO file, second, "burn" or convert the ISO image file to create a bootable USB drive. Of course, if you could find or borrow an external DVD drive, then there is no need for this hassle.

The easier way is to do these two steps on a Wndows machine: 1. Use ImgBurn to read the DVD and create an ISO file as explained here. 2. Download Windows 7 USB/DVD download tool to finish the 2nd part as illustrated here. Edit: Unfortunately the USB created this way only works on Windows machines, but not on Macs without modifications, so don't follow the second step anymore. Use the Boot Camp Assistant's new option of "Create a Windows 7 Install Disk" on your Mac mentioned in another post.

You can also do the job on a Mac but it's more complicated. Do the first step using the guide here, and convert the ISO image to USB drive following the guide here, but it requires using terminal commands, especially for the second part. It's up to you how you want to do it.

 

[Dalton63841]

EDIT: nvm

 

[xcodeSyn]

You can also do the job on a Mac but it's more complicated. Do the first step using the guide here, and convert the ISO image to USB drive following the guide here, but it requires using terminal commands, especially for the second part.

Apparently Apple added an option to "Create a Windows 7 install disk" in latest Boot Camp Assistant versions as shown here, but only visible for Mac models without optical drives. This makes it much easier to create a USB install drive on a Mac as long as you have an ISO file ready. For Mac models with optical drives, you can still make some changes to enable this option as explained here. The USB drive created on a Windows machine using the Windows 7 USB/DVD download tool won't boot on a Mac without modifications, so scratch that option as I edited my earlier post.