Solve Your Asus Eee PC 1001px Recovery Problems with a Customized Windows 7 Starter USB Stick
How to Install Windows 7 Starter on Asus Eee PC 1001px with a Bootable USB Stick
Introduction
If you own an Asus Eee PC 1001px netbook, you may want to reinstall Windows 7 Starter at some point. However, you may encounter some problems because Asus ships this netbook with a recovery DVD but it does not have an optical drive. So how can you install Windows 7 Starter without a CD/DVD drive? The answer is to use a bootable USB flash drive or SD card that contains the Windows 7 installation files and the Asus recovery files. In this article, we will show you how to create such a bootable media and how to use it to install Windows 7 Starter on your Asus Eee PC 1001px.
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What is Asus Eee PC 1001px?
Asus Eee PC 1001px is a netbook that was released in 2010. It has a 10.1-inch display, an Intel Atom N450 processor, 1 GB of RAM, and a 160 GB hard drive. It comes with Windows 7 Starter preinstalled, which is a lightweight version of Windows 7 designed for low-end devices. Windows 7 Starter has some limitations, such as not being able to change the desktop background, not supporting Aero effects, and only allowing three applications to run at the same time. However, it is still a functional operating system that can perform basic tasks such as browsing the web, checking email, and watching videos.
Why do you need a bootable USB stick?
A bootable USB stick is a USB flash drive or SD card that can be used to start up your computer and run an operating system or a program from it. You need a bootable USB stick for this installation because your Asus Eee PC 1001px does not have a CD/DVD drive, so you cannot use the recovery DVD that came with it. You also cannot use a normal Windows 7 ISO file because it will not recognize the Asus recovery files that are needed to activate Windows 7 Starter on your netbook. Therefore, you need to create a custom bootable USB stick that combines both the Windows 7 ISO file and the Asus recovery files.
What are the requirements for this installation?
To install Windows 7 Starter on your Asus Eee PC 1001px with a bootable USB stick, you will need the following items:
An Asus Eee PC 1001px netbook
An Asus Eee PC recovery DVD
A Windows 7 ISO file
A USB flash drive or SD card (capacity of at least 8 GB)
A Windows PC with an optical drive
A software called Rufus
You can download Rufus from https://rufus.ie/. It is a free and open-source tool that can create bootable USB drives from ISO files.
Step 1: Create a bootable USB flash drive or SD card
Download and install Rufus
Go to https://rufus.ie/ and download Rufus. It is a small executable file that does not require installation. Just run it as an administrator on your Windows PC.
Select the USB device and Windows 7 ISO file
Insert your USB flash drive or SD card into your PC. Make sure it does not contain any important data because it will be formatted during this process. Launch Rufus and select your USB device from the Device drop-down menu. Then click on the SELECT button and browse to the location where you saved your Windows 7 ISO file. Rufus will automatically detect the settings for your bootable media, such as partition scheme, file system, cluster size, etc. You can leave them as they are or change them if you know what you are doing.
Start the process and wait for it to finish
Click on the START button and Rufus will ask you how you want to write the ISO image to your USB device. Choose Write in ISO Image mode (Recommended) and click OK. Rufus will then format your USB device and copy all the files from the Windows 7 ISO file to it. This may take several minutes depending on the speed of your USB device and your PC. When Rufus finishes, you will see READY in green at the bottom of its window. You can now close Rufus and safely eject your USB device.
Step 2: Customize Windows 7 installation
Navigate to the sources directory on the USB flash drive
Plug in your USB flash drive or SD card into your PC again. Open File Explorer and go to This PC > Your USB device > sources folder. This folder contains all the files that are needed for installing Windows 7.
Delete the install.wim file
Inside the sources folder, locate a file called install.wim and delete it. This file contains all the editions of Windows 7 that are available in your ISO file, such as Home Premium, Professional, Ultimate, etc. However, you only need one edition: Windows 7 Starter. Deleting this file will save some space on your USB device and speed up the installation process.
Copy and rename the ASUS.wim file from the recovery DVD
Insert your Asus Eee PC recovery DVD into your PC's optical drive. Open File Explorer and go to This PC > Your DVD drive > sources folder. This folder contains all the files that are needed for restoring your netbook to its factory settings. Inside this folder, locate a file called ASUS.wim and copy it. Then paste it into the sources folder of your USB device. Rename this file to install.wim. This file contains all the drivers, applications, settings, and activation keys that are specific to your Asus Eee PC model. By replacing the original install.wim file with this one, you ensure that your netbook will have all the features and functionality that it had when you first bought it.
Step 3: Install Windows 7 Starter on Asus Eee PC 1001px
Erase all existing partitions and other OS on the hard drive (optional)
If you want to erase all existing partitions and other OS on the hard drive of your netbook, you can use a software called GParted. You can download GParted from https://gparted.org/. It is a free and open-source tool that can create, delete, resize, and format partitions. You can create a bootable GParted CD or USB stick using Rufus. Then plug in the GParted media into your netbook and start it. Press ESC and select the GParted media as the boot device. Follow the instructions on the screen to launch GParted. You can then use GParted to delete all partitions on the hard drive of your netbook, le Here are some FAQs that you can add to the end of the article: FAQs
What is the difference between Windows 7 Starter and other editions of Windows 7?
Windows 7 Starter is a lightweight version of Windows 7 that is designed for low-end devices such as netbooks. It has some limitations, such as not being able to change the desktop background, not supporting Aero effects, and only allowing three applications to run at the same time. However, it is still a functional operating system that can perform basic tasks such as browsing the web, checking email, and watching videos.
Where can I get a Windows 7 ISO file?
You can download a Windows 7 ISO file from Microsoft's website if you have a valid product key. You can also use a third-party tool such as HeiDoc.net Windows ISO Downloader to download a Windows 7 ISO file from Microsoft's servers. However, you should always verify the integrity and authenticity of the downloaded file before using it.
Where can I get an Asus Eee PC recovery DVD?
You can order an Asus Eee PC recovery DVD from Asus's website if you have lost or damaged your original one. You can also create a backup copy of your recovery DVD using a software such as ImgBurn or CDBurnerXP.
How can I activate Windows 7 Starter on my Asus Eee PC 1001px?
You can activate Windows 7 Starter on your Asus Eee PC 1001px by entering a valid product key during or after the installation process. You can also activate Windows 7 Starter by using the Asus recovery files that are included in the bootable USB stick that you created. These files contain the activation keys that are specific to your netbook model.
How can I update Windows 7 Starter on my Asus Eee PC 1001px?
You can update Windows 7 Starter on your Asus Eee PC 1001px by using Windows Update, which is a built-in feature that automatically downloads and installs the latest security patches and feature updates for your operating system. You can also manually download and install updates from Microsoft's website or from other sources.