Will I need to remove the USB Flash Drive at a certain time?

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357mag

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If I recall correctly, during a Windows installation the computer will restart several times. I just saw a video in which the guy demonstrating said to remove the flash drive before Windows gets to the final restart, just before you get to the desktop. That way Windows will not attempt to boot from the flash drive again (we wouldn't want that).

If I am installing Windows from a custom install disk and the whole process is automated and unattended (I will still be watching however), what do I need to know?

Is there a certain point during the installation in which I should pull out my flash drive so Windows won't reboot from it?
 
Default boot order of your PC's BIOS will determine whether you need to physically remove the USB drive.

USB -> HDD -> Network
HDD -> USB -> Network

When Setup exits from the winPE pass, it wants to reboot to the newly installed Windows and complete the next passes.

If your USB drive is recognized as the first bootable device, then a restart loops back to the USB. With an unattended file, this results in an endless loop of running WinPE Setup over and over. In this case, you need to watch the install and remove the USB drive.

If your boot order is HDD first, then WinPE Setup exits to the first bootable HDD and the install continues. You don't have to remove the USB.
 
So is there a way to go into the BIOS and tell the BIOS to boot from the USB Flash Drive just once when first starting the install process, but after that boot from the internal drive?

Maybe I should not set boot priority to the USB flash drive, but look for a boot override and set that to the USB flash drive.

I got to look into my laptop's BIOS and start looking around.
 
You may have an option (usually F8 or F10) during POST (before Windows loads) to access the boot options menu.
If not, you probably have an option in the BIOS to boot from the listed media (inserted USB drive, disk, etc.).
You choose the USB drive, then it will boot from it just this once (which is what I do with the laptop).
 
If Windows 11 only restarts at the end of the installation process then that will be a signal to me to remove the USB stick. But if Windows restarts several times, it may become unclear when to remove the stick.

From what I have seen on YouTube, I think Windows 11 only restarts after everything is practically done. I would remove the USB drive then.

I could be wrong on that though.
 
garlin said:
Default boot order of your PC's BIOS will determine whether you need to physically remove the USB drive.

USB -> HDD -> Network
HDD -> USB -> Network

When Setup exits from the winPE pass, it wants to reboot to the newly installed Windows and complete the next passes.

If your USB drive is recognized as the first bootable device, then a restart loops back to the USB. With an unattended file, this results in an endless loop of running WinPE Setup over and over. In this case, you need to watch the install and remove the USB drive.

If your boot order is HDD first, then WinPE Setup exits to the first bootable HDD and the install continues. You don't have to remove the USB.
Click to expand...
If I select the laptop's hard drive as the default boot device, then how am I going to tell Windows to boot from the USB flash drive when starting the install?
 
357mag said:
If I select the laptop's hard drive as the default boot device, then how am I going to tell Windows to boot from the USB flash drive when starting the install?
Click to expand...

tistou77 said:
You may have an option (usually F8 or F10) during POST (before Windows loads) to access the boot options menu.
If not, you probably have an option in the BIOS to boot from the listed media (inserted USB drive, disk, etc.).
You choose the USB drive, then it will boot from it just this once (which is what I do with the laptop).
Click to expand...
 
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