As time passes, more and more PCs are being built without an optical drive. When it comes time to conduct a format and reinstall Windows, then, an issue arises: Where does that setup DVD go? The answer: On a flash drive - well, the data at least. If that sounds complicated, don't fret: It's not. TechAge has posted four solutions, and each one is a breeze.

Using Rufus

Both Rufus and UNetbootin are simple tools for this task, and outside of Rufus' Windows XP support, both work just the same. However, we prefer Rufus because we find it loads a lot quicker, and feels a bit faster, too.

First, choose the appropriate drive under the "Device" menu, and make sure that the file system is NTFS (not FAT32). The other options shouldn't matter too much, although if you're planning to install Windows 8 as an official EFI OS, you may wish to peruse the options under the "Partition scheme and target system type" menu.

To load the Windows .iso file, the small CD icon to the absolute right of "Create a bootable disk using:" option can be clicked. After perusing the file manager for the ISO and accepting it, the "Start" button can be clicked to have the tool work its magic. NOTE: As the program will state, doing this will erase all data off of the flash drive – so backup first.