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Creating your own eExam USB using Windows PC

UTAS Home ›  › Current Students › eExams › eExams for Students  › Creating your own eExam USB using Windows PC

Got these?

  • A 2Gb or larger USB drive which will be completely overwritten (so make sure it has nothing on it you wish to use later).
  • exclamation markAn eExam image file (for example CertificationV3.zip (1.1GB) which must be unzipped after downloading, and is 1.1 Gb – a very large file). This particular image file contains a short eExam for checking your computer is compatible with the system.
  • A copy of Win32DiskImager which you can download from Image Writer for Windows. Download win32diskimager-binary.zip. Unzip onto your desktop.

tick iconThis takes a bit of information technology literacy. If you have difficulties, you may like to self-assess your readiness for an eExam.

Once you have these things, you can commence the installation of your eExam onto the USB drive.

These instructions will assume:

  • the USB drive has been plugged into your computer and has been assigned drive letter ‘E’ (if it is allocated a different drive letter, use that letter in the instructions instead of ‘E’);
  • the eExam image file is on the desktop;
  • and Win32DiskImager has been unzipped onto the desktop.

Installation Instructions

1. Run Win32DiskImager by opening the folder and double-clicking the Win32DiskImager.exe file.file icon

On my Windows 7 machine this produces an error message (see below) but I have found you can ignore it. Just click on OK.error message

2. The Win32DiskImager program starts. You should click on the folder icon to locate the eExam image file on your desktop. The USB will probably be located automatically – make sure the drive letter is exactly right. Once these two items are correct, you just click on the Write button.disk imager

3. You may get another warning.. If you REALLY chose your USB drive, it is OK to click YES. A progress bar will be displayed.
The process of making an eExam USB took about 6 minutes on my laptop computer. confirm overwrite

When the process is complete, you will see a Complete box – click ‘OK’. Close down Win32 Disk Imager using the Exit button. Do a safe removal for your USB and eject it.

4. Before running the newly created eExam USB your computer must be completely shut down. Not put to sleep or suspended – you will be booting into a completely new operating system (Ubuntu) so you need to do a full shut down. Once your computer is shut down, you can insert the USB and follow these candidate instructions (PDF 268.2KB) – please read these carefully before turning on.