How do you create a bootable USB stick using windows 7

Solution 1:

This is just to mention that Canonical now recommends the Rufus USB Installer. (I haven't used it myself.)

Instructions (copied from the Canonical instructions):

1. Open Rufus and select your USB stick in the 'Device' dropdown
2. Click the CD Rom icon next to the 'FreeDOS' dropdown, then find your downloaded Ubuntu ISO and click 'Open'
3. Click 'Yes' when it asks to download Syslinux software
4. Click 'OK' to write in ISO Image mode
5. Confirm that your USB stick is selected and then 'OK' to continue
6. When it is finished, just restart your computer and start using Ubuntu, or you can install Ubuntu

Solution 2:

There are a number of free programs you can install to do this for you.

The ubuntu website recommends 'Pendrivelinux', which you can download here.

After downloading Pendrivelinux you can follow the directions found here: create-a-usb-stick-on-windows

Solution 3:

Unetbootin has always worked for me. There is also a utility on the ubuntu disk as well. http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/