2

My system is Windows XP, I want to install the 64 bit version of Win7 from hard disk.
1. I downloaded grub4dos and extracted files into the C: disk, copied win7.iso into the C: disk.
2. Edited boot.ini as the following:

[boot loader]  
[operating systems]  
c:\grldr.mbr="Grub4dos" 
  1. Edited menu.lst as the following

    title install win7
    find --set-root /win7.iso map /win7.iso (0xff) || map --mem /win7.iso (0xff)
    map --hook
    chainloader (0xff)
    savedefault --wait=10

When I reboot and enter into installation, click install and next, I get these errors:

No device drivers were found, make sure that the installation media contains the correct drivers, and then click ok.

How to solve this problem?

Today, I bought a DVD drive and installed the DVD drive into my PC, then I installed Nero, and burnt the Win7 English 64-bit version ISO file on a blank DVD. I rebooted the PC and pressed F8, entered the boot menu, set DVD to boot. When rebooting, I successfully installed the English version of Win7 Professional.

I have more question to ask :

  1. Why can't the ISO file not be installed from hard disk? Why can I install it when i burn the ISO file on DVD?
  2. How can I build an ISO image which can be installed from hard disk?
3
  • my win xp is chinese version,win 7 64 is english version ,does that matter?i have installed win7 32 chinese version.
    – showkey
    Jun 14, 2014 at 8:45
  • Let us continue this discussion in chat.
    – showkey
    Jun 14, 2014 at 12:44
  • I haven't even heard about this method with grub (I use Daemon Tools to install from ISO). Thanks for idea !)
    – Jet
    Jun 21, 2014 at 6:51

4 Answers 4

3
+100

If you already have an operating system installed on the computer which matches your iso installation media as regarding bitness (32-bit or 64-bit), then you can install Windows 7 directly from the iso file.

The procedure is as follows :

  • Boot into the existing Windows installation
  • Install a virtual disk tool such as the free version of DAEMON Tools Lite (refuse all adware offers when installing)
  • Mount the Windows 7 iso as a virtual disk (say it is called X:)
  • Open X: in Windows explorer
  • Execute setup.exe

This will copy the installation files to the hard disk and continue from there.

If the above method is not convenient for you, or the bitness does not agree, or this is a bare-metal installation, then you must create a boot DVD or boot USB key to install.

4

This is because Windows does not rely on BIOS mappings to access devices. After a short bootstrapping process, Windows uses only native drivers.

See here for a more detailed explanation. The mechanism in GRUB should work the same way.

Since the whole process also involves loading the entire image to memory, it would only be usable for powerful computers with more than 4 GB of RAM.

Luckily, there’s no need to rely on virtual or physical DVD drives anymore. Microsoft provides the Windows 7 USB/DVD download tool, which can be used to create a bootable USB thumb drive containing the Windows Setup files. It works just like a DVD, only a lot faster.

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  • Good answer--the Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool (terrible name) is underappreciated. However, you do need an ISO image to use it.
    – Jason
    Jun 16, 2014 at 21:47
1

There are 2 things to do on your current setup.
1. Copy all files/folder from windows installer iso to the root of a partition.
2. Use this code on grub4dos

title install windows 7  
find --set-root /bootmgr
chainloader /bootmgr
0

You can install windows 7 using the Windows Recovery Disc CD/DVD, which I can be put on a bootable USB key as well. Unfortunately, there's no official source to download that ISO so you'll have to make it at least once from a Windows 7 machine, maybe a friend or another computer. Here's a guide.

Booting with the recovery disc is useful since you can access the command prompt, and go start setup.exe in the extracted windows ISO folder, providing a much faster installation than from DVD or even USB. (If the files are on a non-system partition, it also lets you format the system partition prior to installing.)

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