Having access to MSDN via the MVP program, I downloaded the beta version of  Windows 7 as soon as it became available, with the idea of loading it onto my Acer Aspire One netbook (an nice little Christmas present to myself!).

With the software downloaded there was just one issue to overcome, how do you install an OS onto a netbook with no optical drive? The answer is you need a bootable USB drive. It took a lot of searching around the net to work out how to do this, so I thought I’d outline the steps here, mainly for my own benefit, so I know where to look the next time LOL. This guide will show you how to get W7 beta onto an Acer Aspire One Netbook, YMMV with other netbooks.

Step 1 – Let’s create a bootable USD Drive!

   1. Clearly, the first thing you need is a USB drive and the one I used was an 8GB Seagate model.
   2. Plug the drive into your PC.
   3. Open a command prompt as administrator.
   4. Get the drive number by typing:
      diskpart
      list disk
      On my machine the USB disk was number 1.
   5. Format the drive by typing:
      select disk 1
      clean
      create partition primary
      select partition 1
      active
      format fs=NTFS
      assign
   &nbs