Despite the completion of official support from the developer, Windows XP is still popular. Millions of people around the world are abandoning the advanced G7 and G8, wanting to continue working with their favorite operating system. Unfortunately, like any other OS, XP eventually overgrows with many minor malfunctions and, in the end, becomes unusable. This article provides a detailed guide on how to record windows image XP on a flash drive for later installation.

The XP version still has the right to life on many office computers that are not very demanding on hardware. Excellent Windows XP shows itself on old home devices that are used for Internet surfing, watching movies and especially installing and running outdated video games, which on later versions may simply not work.

Install UltraISO

To record the image on a USB flash drive, we need a special utility - UltraIso.

As with most Windows software, UltraISO needs to be installed. You can download the installation exe-file through an unofficial site dedicated to the utility - http://ultraiso-club.ru/. In the top menu you need to select the version operating system and click the download link.

Note! Specify required windows versionon which you plan to install UltraISO, and not the one you want to record on a USB flash drive. You will be asked to enter captcha, and after a while the download process will begin. No registration on the site is required.

You will download the archived file. To extract it from the archive - use the free archiver software: WinRar or SevenZip. The extracted installer must be started. This will launch the Install Wizard, the program responsible for installing and removing software on Windows. Carefully read the user license agreement, specify the directory in which the UltraISO program will be placed (the default is ProgramFiles), and after a couple of seconds the installation process will be completed.

It should be noted that UltraISO is a paid program and for a long-term work with it it is necessary to purchase a license.

However, the developers offer 1 month of perfect free operation so that users can properly examine all aspects of the product. Demo version is not limited in its functions. A month after the first launch, you will have to purchase the full paid version to continue using the software.

Also, before installing XP on your computer, find out how much RAM you have installed. If it costs less than 4 gigabytes, it is recommended to install the 32-bit version. If the device is equipped with a large amount of RAM, it is necessary to install 64-bit. These recommendations are related to the fact that 32-bit Windows simply cannot see more than 4 GB of memory, and excess resources will be idle idle.

Today, Windows XP is considered obsolete. In its place came more modern, with much greater system capabilities. But at the time when Windows XP was one of the most common, most users treated it with respect for high reliability and stability, ease of setup, and compatibility with most existing equipment.

At the moment, the XP system is used on computers that at one time were designed specifically for it and do not meet the requirements for installing more modern programs.

Most users note that a system in which a limited number of programs that meet the requirements for compatibility with the operating system are installed can work for an unlimited time without reinstalling. At the same time, a computer on which many programs, sometimes of dubious origin, are often installed and uninstalled, may at any time refuse to work due to an OS failure.

The problems are caused by the fact that as a result of the installation of programs in the system directory and the registry of the operating system, various “garbage” accumulates, which at some point can be recognized by the system as working files and, naturally, lead to a “crash” of the system and the appearance of “ Blue screen of death".

So, we can name the main reasons for the need to reinstall the operating system:

• “Garbage” in the registry and system catalog;
• hard drive malfunction;
• changes to the configuration of the hardware of the computer;
• virus attack.

"Treatment" or reinstallation

There are many special programs or utilities for cleaning and restoring operating systems, but experience has shown that their use by inexperienced users does not bring tangible results. This is due to the fact that the action of these software tools is superficial, and for more complete cleaning requires a lot of experience and time. In most cases, loading new system takes less time and does not require special skills, since most actions take place automatically.

The exception is only computers with established programsfor which there are no installation images or media, since the newly installed system contains only a minimum of programs necessary for the computer to work.

Why not a DVD and what is the difference between a regular flash drive and boot and multiboot

Almost all installation files for installing programs, including operating systems, are delivered on CDs or DVDs. Their volume is sufficient for any purpose. But modern computers allow the initial launch, before the start of the operating system, to produce from other devices, including flash drives. What are the benefits:

Boot flash drive with Windows XP allows you to install a new operating system and the necessary set of application software on your computer in a few tens of minutes without changing the media.

An increasing number of users prefer to use bootable flash drives. Why are they called bootable, the fact is that you just can’t take and write operating system files to a USB flash drive. In order for the BIOS of the computer to start loading from external storage, its structure should be framed accordingly. This applies to the structure of the drive as a whole and, in particular, to its boot sector. The download is based on the main boot record - MBR, which contains data on the boot order, location of the downloaded data and other service information. The MBR structure is not accessible to the average user; therefore, special programs and utilities are required for its formation.

In addition to simple bootable flash drives, there are multiboot ones that allow you to select the necessary actions before installing the operating system. Such flash drives may contain:

• several options for loading the OS;
• several different operating systems;
• utilities for testing hardware;
• utilities for working with hard drives;
• a lightweight version of the operating system that does not require installation.

For these purposes, you need a specialized program or utility that would create the necessary partition structure of the external drive and copy the installation data into it, placing them in a certain order.

The main difficulties when reinstalling the Windows XP operating system

To date, MicroSoft has stopped supporting legacy operating systems, which, unfortunately, includes Windows XP. The biggest problem with this attitude is that when reinstalling obsolete programs, sometimes a situation may arise when a driver is required for some equipment. Sometimes the search for the necessary driver takes longer than reinstalling the entire system.

Since the release and support of the operating windows systems If XP is terminated, you must use existing DVD-ROMs to burn or download ISO images of the operating system from the Internet. Similar images are available in sufficient numbers on available file hosting sites or torrent trackers. It should be noted that when downloading files from the Internet, users violate copyright laws, because the files are pirated and do so at their own risk. You also need to be aware that there is no guarantee that the installation images and their originality are correct.

Programs that allow you to create an installation flash drive

At the disposal of those who want to reinstall Windows, a large number of different programs for creating bootable flash drives are provided. Among the programs there are both paid and free software. If you use them only for this purpose, then they do not have special advantages over each other. There are only a number of differences in the interface. Therefore, the use of a particular program is determined by personal preference. In addition, paid programs usually have a time limit for use, so for a one-time use to create a bootable flash drive, they can also be used.

More wide opportunities to create bootable, and in particular, multiboot flash drives, has a method Command lineHowever, it is only for trained users. For the vast majority this method not applicable due to its high complexity and complexity.

Among the most common programs for recording bootable flash drives should be noted:

• Win32 Disk Imager;
• UNetBootting;
• PeTousb;
• WinSetupFromUSB;
• Rufus.

For the Windows XP operating system, a bootable USB flash drive must have a capacity of up to 4 GB. It all depends on the volume of the ISO image.

When creating a bootable USB flash drive, all data previously stored on it will be irretrievably lost without the possibility of recovery.

Therefore, before making a bootable USB flash drive, you need to take care of saving the necessary files and data. It is not necessary to format the drive in advance, since most of the listed programs can do this on their own.

Among these utilities stands out. The program allows you to not only make a bootable USB flash drive Windows XP, but also to perform many actions to create, copy and edit ISO-images. On the other hand, the abundance of functions complicates the use of such a utility for poorly trained users.

To create multiboot flash drives, you can use the following programs:

• WinSetupFromUSB;
• Sardu;
• Easy2Boot.

Using these programs, you can create bootable flash drives with almost any set of installation images and test utilities. The limitation is only the amount of flash memory. Very comfortable on multiboot drives place anti-virus programs and driver kits for all kinds of hardware configuration options, which in some cases allow you to avoid the process of reinstalling the operating system. That is, using a bootable USB flash drive with Windows XP, you can check and "cure" the system in case of a virus attack, test hDD for bad sectors or copy important data to a third-party drive.

How to create a bootable USB flash drive Windows XP

In most cases, creating a bootable USB flash drive only requires specifying the location of the source image of the operating system and designating the drive to be recorded on. After a few minutes boot windows flash drive XP will be ready.

A Windows XP image can be on any media. If recording from the original installation disk, then first you need to create an image with any program for burning discs, specifying as the location of the final file an existing hard drive with the required volume. Using a bootable USB flash drive with Windows XP, copied from the original DVD-ROM, guarantees the stability of the newly installed system.

For more quick install and exception failures, recommended during preparation boot drive disable antivirus software. The recording speed depends on many factors: the power of the computer, the speed of reading a DVD, the speed of flash memory and the amount of RAM.

For example, you can show how to make a bootable USB flash drive with Windows XP using examples of the most common programs and.

To make a bootable USB flash drive using the program, you must perform the following sequence of actions:

As seen, last program much easier to use, but has a significant “minus” - it can’t be used for anything else. In this regard, more sophisticated software provides greater opportunities due to its versatility and versatility.

Conclusion

To reinstall the Windows XP operating system, you will need a boot or multiboot flash drive, which can be created using many special programs. The choice of a program depends on the preferences of the user or the goals that must be achieved, as some of them are equipped with additional features. Some of the most common utilities are and.

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