Configure a USB drive to be bootable (useful for installing the OS)

This is how I configure USB flash drives so that I can install Windows from USB (WAY faster than using a disk).

1.	Insert the USB drive into the computer, and make sure you can see it in Explorer.
2.	Launch a Command Prompt All typing from this point will be done in this same window.
3.	Type: DISKPART {ENTER} This will start DISKPART.exe, which we will use to get this drive formatted and bootable.
4.	Type: list disk {ENTER} This will give you a list of installed disks, but they are labeled using the disk's number, not the name or drive letter (though it does show the size). If you are not sure which disk you want, open Disk Management, they are listed by all three identifiers there. Attached is a pic of what this looks like on a Windows 7 machine. WARNING: If you select the wrong disk here, you will lose data, and possible overwrite your OS. Be sure you have the right disk selected.
5.	Type: select disk x {ENTER} Where x = the disk number you want to format. In the case of the example image it would be Disk 3, so to select the disk, type: select disk 3 {ENTER} Remember to substitute the correct number for the disk you want to select.
6.	Type: clean {ENTER} This will wipe the disk.
7.	Type: create partition primary {ENTER} This will create a new partition on the drive.
8.	Type: select partition 1 {ENTER} This will select the partition you just created.
9.	Type: active {ENTER} This will set the partition to active (this is what allows a computer to boot from a drive).
10.	Type: FORMAT FS=FAT32 {ENTER} Wait for it to get to 100% complete, this will format the drive using the Fat32 file system.
11.	Type ASSIGN {ENTER} This will assign a drive letter to the drive in Explorer.

Conclusion

Now you should have a USB disk ready for the OS source files (you can either extract them directly from an ISO file, or just copy them from an install disk).