Mount your bootable ISO to an image drive. For this example I will use drive D: as the image drive, and drive E: as the flash drive. This is the command you use to create an exact copy of a disk on to another volume.
xcopy D:\*.* E: /s/e/f
This can be used for instance, to copy the Vista DVD to an appropriately sized USB flash drive to install the OS from there. I have tested this at work a few times and it installs in about the same amount of time, but without the worry of caring for the DVD (scratches) or having problems with the lens in the DVD drive reading the data. I should also note however, that the flash drive I used was not the fastest out there (it was a 4GB Patriot Signature flash drive as shown here)
xcopy D:\*.* E: /s/e/f
This can be used for instance, to copy the Vista DVD to an appropriately sized USB flash drive to install the OS from there. I have tested this at work a few times and it installs in about the same amount of time, but without the worry of caring for the DVD (scratches) or having problems with the lens in the DVD drive reading the data. I should also note however, that the flash drive I used was not the fastest out there (it was a 4GB Patriot Signature flash drive as shown here)