Q: I'm trying to use the Microsoft Store Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool to create a USB drive with Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2 on it. It fails when trying to format the USB key or copy files. What can I do?

A: The Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool, available for download, has Windows 7 in the name, but it can actually create bootable USB media for any Windows 7 or Windows 2008 R2 ISO image.

You might receive an error trying to format or copy files to the selected USB device. The easiest solution I found is to just reformat the USB drive yourself, but make sure you format it FAT32, not NTFS. Also make sure the USB drive is large enough to accept the image—I normally use 8GB USB drives, but a 4GB device might also work.