Using Vista's DISKPART Program to Create a Bootable Flashdrive

The version of the diskpart program that is included with Vista allows working with flashdrives. This is an easy way to get a flashdrive bootable and seems to work well. This procedure is posted in several places on various websites.

When you clean the flashdrive and then create the new partition, diskpart writes the Vista standard MBR code to the flashdrive. This sets up the flashdrive to be bootable regardless of whether there was any existing MBR code or not.

I tested this procedure using two different 2GB flashdrives and one 8GB flashdrive in various MBR states. The Acronis Media Builder program had no problems with the flashdrives and True Image Home 2009 had no problems booting from them. I assume that would hold true for previous versions as well.

It is highly recommended that you read through the entire instructions before you begin this procedure.

The basic procedure is as follows:

Boot into your Vista system.
Plug in the flashdrive.
If you have any important files on the flashdrive you want to save, copy them to another location (all files will be deleted during this procedure).
Start a Command Prompt in Administrator Mode.
Run the diskpart program and issue the necessary commands.
Use the Acronis Media Builder program on the flashdrive.

With Vista running, plug in your flashdrive and wait for it to be detected. If you get a pop-up window, just close it.

Before you proceed further, copy any important files you have on the flashdrive to another location. All files on the flashdrive will be erased during this procedure.

Start a Command Prompt in Administrator Mode.

Click here for instructions on running the Command Prompt in Administrator Mode.

Start the diskpart program:

diskpart

The following commands will be run from the diskpart prompt: DISKPART>

Run the list disk command to display a list of your drives. The flashdrive will be included in this list and you should be able to find it by its size. In this example, Disk 3 is the flashdrive.

list disk

It is very important to select the correct disk as the following commands will delete everything on it. It would be a good idea to make sure you have a current backup of your drives or, at least, your important files before you proceed.

Enter the following commands to clean and setup the flashdrive:

select disk 3

clean

create partition primary

If you receive an error after running this command, please see below for the solution.

select partition 1

active

format fs=fat32 quick

exit

During this procedure, if an AutoPlay window pops up asking what you want to do with the new drive, just close it.

Below is a screenshot showing the entire procedure and the output from diskpart:

1.1

You can close the Command Prompt window by typing exit at the prompt and pressing ENTER.

exit

Your flashdrive should now be setup and ready to use with Media Builder to create your bootable Acronis Rescue Media.

Depending on the current state of the flashdrive, you may get an error messsage after you enter the create partition primary command. This error is shown below:

1.2

If you get this error, do the following:

Exit diskpart:

exit

Safely remove the flashdrive from the USB port.
Wait a few seconds and plug it back in.
Begin the procedure over again.

In each case I received this error, this solution worked for me. If anyone gets different results, please let me know.