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I asked this question at askubuntu and they directed me here.

Just like this mans problem: https://askubuntu.com/questions/396578/why-cant-i-boot-from-my-windows-7-usb-device-usb-install

Originally the computer was shipped with Windows 8. I have been running Windows 8 on it since September 2013. Yesterday I removed it and installed Ubuntu with intentions to put Windows 7 on after installing Ubuntu.

Ubuntu is now installed and working fine but when I try to boot from a Windows 7 USB I have prepared the screen goes blackfor a few seconds then just boots into Ubuntu again. I believe it is trying to read from the USB but then it fails.

In BIOS Security menu I have:

  • disabled Secure Boot Control as suggested
  • disabled Fast Boot
  • disabled Launch CSM

In BIOS Boot menu the Boot Option Priorities are set as:

  1. UEFI: USB Flash Media
  2. Ubuntu (PO:Hitachi ##############)
  3. Ubuntu (PO:Hitachi #same#numbers#)

The bootable USB was created using Universal USB Installer on a Windows machine and formatted to FAT32.

I have tried two different flash drives, both created on a Windows 7 machine. I have tried Rufus too.

My laptop is an Asus n56vj

So, anyone have suggestions to help me boot from this usb?

Update: I am now going to try to reinstall Windows 8. I will update if I am able to boot to that USB device shortly.

Update 2: Re-enabling CSM allowed the USB to be used as a boot drive but now it won't let me install either Windows 7 or Windows 8 due to the partition being formatted GPT (in Windows installer at the step where I choose which drive to install on).

I suppose the best course of action is to reformat the drive with Gparted to something other than GPT, install Windows then install Ubuntu. Please correct me if you think this is incorrect.

2 Answers 2

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Universal USB Installer is only for Linux distributions. Not applicable for windows. For windows 7 USB creator use Rufus version 1.4.5 . Not sure which version you have tried earlier, but Rufus would work best with Windows 7. Make sure the download has happened properly previously or else try using Rufus version 1.4.5 .

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  • UUI has a section for both Windows 7 and Windows 8 and I have successfully created a Windows 7 USB using UUI many times; I also believe this one is working correctly. I have the newest version of Rufus, 1.4.6 downloaded from the main site. I have made the USB with Rufus as well and that still didn't help. In fact, I think I have narrowed it down a bit, read update in OP Apr 13, 2014 at 19:40
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Since you already made it into the setup by now, the remaining task is to clear the GPT partitioning scheme.

To do this, fire up a command prompt (Shift+F10) at any time, although maybe after selecting your keyboard layout. Inside the command prompt, launch diskpart.

Use the following commands, replacing X with the correct drive ID. Make extra sure there are no mistakes, or you're in for a recovery session: This sequence will remove all partitions on the selected disk!

list disk
select disk X
clean
convert
convert mbr
exit

After that, continue with the installation process as usual.

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