I find myself doing this over and over again, so I figured it would be worthwhile to post.  Below you’ll find a really useful way for installing a Windows O/S from a bootable USB device.  I am particularly dependent on USB drives, as I have a Lenovo X61 Tablet that doesn’t have a CD/DVD-ROM (unless I’m docked, but I’m hardly in the office).

A couple of notes:

• This assumes you’re running Windows Vista or Windows Server 2008
• I’ve tested by installing the following O/S’s: Windows XP SP3, Windows Vista, and Windows Server 2008
• You must have a machine capable of booting from a USB drive

Without further ado, here are the steps:

1. Open an elevated command prompt.
2. You must make your USB drive bootable.  Type the following in the command prompt:
   
   diskpart
   list disk (FIND YOUR USB DISK)
   select disk 1 (OR WHATEVER YOUR DISK NUMBER IS)
   clean
   create partition primary
   select partition 1
   active
   format fs=NTFS
   assign
   exit
   
3. Mount your Windows Server ISO (or unpack it) and copy the contents of the CD/DVD onto your USB.  Make sure you get all files, including hidden ones.

You should now be able to use this USB drive to install a new O/S.  Good luck!