Can't Boot from USB - Asus P5Q-e

[THRobinson]

I have an ASUS P5Q-e board and am trying to boot from a USB stick.

I have Win7x64 Pro, looking to store and install it from USB. I downloaded a program called ISO-to-USB and used it to make the USB copy, choosing to format FAT32 and make bootable.

BIOS wise, I have floppy A:\ disabled, and have removable media set first for boot order, DVD/CD second and my C:\ third.

I have copied my Win7x64 to both a 4GB generic USB2.0 stick, and to a Kingston 16GB USB2.0, and can't seem to boot with either. Expected it to work like booting from CD, coming up with press any key to boot prompt, but didn't, so hit F8 expecting to see a boot from removable media prompt, but nothing there either.

Am I doing it wrong? is the board too old to support USB2.0 booting? Software not very good for making a bootable USB?

 

[smorizio]

use the windows iso to use tool that free to make sure the program making the usb stick bootable. in the bios usb sticks are not dvd or cd-rom devices. you need to set the older bios to usb boot first then cd rom then hard drive.

 

[THRobinson]

No USB option in the boot ordering, just the 3 mentioned.

"use the windows iso to use tool that free to make sure the program making the usb stick bootable" .... I'm not entirely sure what you said, the beginning of the sentence is kinda jumbled.

 

[smorizio]

http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msusa/html/pbPage.Help_Win7_usbdvd_dwnTool

 

[THRobinson]

Ah, use the Windows ISO to USB... I was reading "to use tool..." and wondering what the heck?

Funny enough, I just found that tool 3min before reading this, and making the USB (on both sticks) now.

I read a few posts in passing about some versions of the P5Q-e being able to boot, some can't, some can't read beyond 2GB, some are picky about the brand of USB being used etc... depending on BIOS, and if the Pro, Deluxe, etc... Was hoping someone with the same board I have knows for certain if it can/can't boot... else I may be wasting my time on something that simply can't work.

 

[THRobinson]

Nope, just tested the USB sticks, and neither would boot after using the Windows 7 USB/DVD download tool.

Will hope a solution pops up, but will use the DVD for now since need to get this done.

 

[smorizio]

under hard drive in boot if you click on it with the usb stick pulged in does it show a device name???

 

[THRobinson]

Sorry for the delay, needed the system running so went ahead with the DVD.

I have my C:\ drive (250GB) and a pair of 3TB drives for my media center. I also have an external 2TB drive on USB and stuck in the boot USB device. When I was trying before, I had the 2TB USB drive unplugged.

When I booted up and went into the BIOS, under hard drives it listed all 5... the 5th one being the USB stick, listed as GENERIC USB.

When I go into the boot order... 3 options... 'removable dev', 'dvd-rom' and the main hard drive. I have it set in that order. I assumed the removable dev. would include the USB drives but doesn't seem to.

 

[smorizio]

under the 5 hard drive hit control plus or shift plus to move the device up the boot order.

 

[THRobinson]

Hey, it booted...

Few things to note about it though, in case anyone is reading trying to figure the same thing out.

The list of bootable drives in the BIOS, lists the specific USB device. I have 2 USB sticks, and the BIOS detects them as Kingston USB, or Generic USB. If I set the boot up for the Kingston then switch it for the Generic, it won't detect. You have to go into the BIOS and reset it. Also seems that as soon as the system boots without that USB device plugged in, you have to go back into the BIOS and set it back to the top of the list again.

There isn't a "USB Device" option in the list that's generic that can be stuck at the top and left there, you have to manually put your device at the top and leave it there until you are done.

 

[THRobinson]

1 snag with the USB booting...

When I boot with a CD, at startup it'll have the prompt 'press any key to boot from CD...'. You press a key, it boots, windows installs, and when windows needs to restart to finish the install it reboots itself. If you don't press any key to boot from CD, it bypasses the CD and continues with the installation. Basically, when you start the windows install, you can walk away and come back when it's done.

USB doesn't have that prompt, so, when it's installing Windows and eventually reboots itself, it boot back into the initial installation screen again. You have to be there for the install and when the system reboots you have to yank the USB stick out before it has a chance to load again.

What time you save in speed using USB, you lose by having to be there for the installation to pop the USB out after the first reboot.

Is this like this for all motherboards? Or just my older one? Because it doesn't seem like there's an advantage if I can't simply click install and walk away until done like cd/dvd.

 

[sub84]

set your first boot as hdd 0 or first drive then 2nd as usb....make sure hdd has no os on it(formatted)...it will go to second drive(the usb drive) and start installation when needs to reboot it'll then boot from hdd....
usb is sooooo much faster
...
j

also, there is a program called plop to add the option to boot from usb.
it's ran on a cd....so you'll still need a cdrom

1 snag with the USB booting...

When I boot with a CD, at startup it'll have the prompt 'press any key to boot from CD...'. You press a key, it boots, windows installs, and when windows needs to restart to finish the install it reboots itself. If you don't press any key to boot from CD, it bypasses the CD and continues with the installation. Basically, when you start the windows install, you can walk away and come back when it's done.

USB doesn't have that prompt, so, when it's installing Windows and eventually reboots itself, it boot back into the initial installation screen again. You have to be there for the install and when the system reboots you have to yank the USB stick out before it has a chance to load again.

What time you save in speed using USB, you lose by having to be there for the installation to pop the USB out after the first reboot.

Is this like this for all motherboards? Or just my older one? Because it doesn't seem like there's an advantage if I can't simply click install and walk away until done like cd/dvd.

 

[THRobinson]

The one problem with that is, I need to set USB as first, that way I can boot into the installer to format the drive. Then I'd have to quit, reboot into the bios, reset the bios again, reboot then go into the installer... doesn't save any time with the added steps of resetting the boot order twice.

 

[vartech]

The one problem with that is, I need to set USB as first, that way I can boot into the installer to format the drive. Then I'd have to quit, reboot into the bios, reset the bios again, reboot then go into the installer... doesn't save any time with the added steps of resetting the boot order twice.

Ahoy THRobinson...
I am currently experimenting with that very MOBO . Pardon the late reply , just starting this project for multiple mach., if your still keen I am about to try putting an answer file on a cleaned HDD in a partition that I will instruct Win7 install to not clobber or maybe put in folder on ISO CD . Hopefully the CD/answer file combo will just munch away and not bug me for intervention .
I am curious if you ever found a bios update that allows USB stick boot , I cannot convince this MOBO to do so . Ideally having answer file and win7 pro on the same stick would make it quicker , but , if CD/answer file works quietly by itself that may not matter about speed .

Luck
Hugh

 

[THRobinson]

Yes and no... Was a while ago, but if I recall correctly, basically had to insert the USB stick, boot into the BIOS, change stuff around etc... Basically what was in the post. It was a pain, didn't save me any time at all having to sit there swapping around boot order sequences every time I wanted to do it so, just gave up.

Would have been good, but, for the 3x a year I format my system, I opted to use the disc.

Figured I already spent more time looking for a decent solution than time I would save installing from USB.

 

[vartech]

Yes and no... Was a while ago, but if I recall correctly, basically had to insert the USB stick, boot into the BIOS, change stuff around etc... Basically what was in the post. It was a pain, didn't save me any time at all having to sit there swapping around boot order sequences every time I wanted to do it so, just gave up.

Would have been good, but, for the 3x a year I format my system, I opted to use the disc.

Figured I already spent more time looking for a decent solution than time I would save installing from USB.

Thanks for the reply...you may find this hilarious .
Solution was staring me in the face all along! In the boot screen it ID's the ram etc. Right there was 'F8 for BBS popup'
This is not a bulletin board as my aging brain would have me believe , but a boot selection screen and there was my stick with the proper name . This choice works great as after it is finished , left to it's own , it boots from HDD as we wanted!

Later
Hugh