UPDATE: USB Scrub by Nexcopy now supports Win7, Win10 (32/64bit) and Windows 11

USB Registry Cleaner Tool which is FREE!

Did you know Windows can make over 260 registry entries with a single enumeration of a USB stick? This means for those with multiple flash drives, your registry will get extremely cluttered and bogged down.

With flash drives dirt cheap these days, you’ll find at least a couple dozen going into your computer throughout the year. That would be over 6,240 registry entries.

USB Scrub is a free utility from Nexcopy which performs a deep cleaning of those unused drivers and registry edits.

We gave USB Scrub a try, and it worked great. We went from enumerating a single USB stick in 45 seconds to enumerating that stick in less than 12 seconds.

In addition, if you have a USB stick that doesn’t perform correctly or the Windows OS doesn’t see it, chances are the USB Scrub will clear up those problems and your drive will work once again. This is because a registry entry can become corrupt, and simply clearing it out will resolve your issue.

So let’s take a closer look.

Using RegShot (a free application which takes a snapshot before and after an event and compares only the changed registry values), I took a snapshot before and after a USB stick was connected and ejected. The result was this:

• 78 Registry Keys created
• 183 Registry Values added
• 261 Registry edits in total!

Here is a snapshot. Click the image to get the full text file:

Next, I took a snapshot of the registry before a stick was connected, then ran USB Scrub, then took the second registry snapshot. This is what I got:

• 1 Registry Key added
• 3 Registry Values added

Clearly we have a big difference. Clearly we have a great cleaning tool for USB devices in Windows.

If you have a USB flash drive not working correctly, a slow computer, or you are a heavy user of removable drives, give USB Scrub a try. You’ll see a noticeable difference in USB enumeration.

As a closing note, when the enumeration speed went from 45 seconds to 12 seconds, USB Scrub reported that it cleared over 9,000 registry entries.

USB Scrub is a free utility. There is no malware or spyware.

Unfortunately, USB Scrub only supported Windows XP in the past. The maker, Nexcopy, has now updated support for Windows 7 and Windows 10. (Does not support Windows 8.)

UPDATE: Download link now supports Windows 7 and Windows 10 (32/64bit).

Download USB Scrub. Source: EverythingUSB.com.

USB Tutorial: How to Create a Bootable USB Stick with the Specific NT60 Boot Sector Required for Microsoft Vista

Before we begin the USB tutorial on NT60 boot sector, review the checklist of items needed before you start. Chances are, if you find yourself searching for this tutorial, you already have everything needed to make a USB bootable with NT60 boot sector.

• 4GB flash drive will do the trick
• Your Vista installation disk
• Set BIOS to boot from a USB device

When selecting your flash drive, be sure there is nothing you need on the device as this process to create an NT60 boot sector will clean the drive of all data.

1. Put your Vista disk into the optical drive. If the autorun starts, close it all down and exit without performing any tasks.
2. Plug in your USB stick that you want to make bootable with NT60.
3. Open Command Prompt with Administrator rights.
4. Type ‘diskpart‘ and press Enter.



5. Now type ‘list disk‘ and press Enter. All the storage devices connected to your computer will be displayed. Make sure the size of the disk you plan to select is the USB flash drive you intend to use!



6. Now type ‘select disk [number here]‘ (example: ‘select disk 2‘).



7. Next, type ‘clean‘ and press Enter.



8. Once this is done, type ‘create partition primary‘ and press Enter.



9. Type ‘select partition 1‘ and press Enter.



10. Type ‘active‘ and press Enter. This step is key to making the stick bootable.



11. Format the device by typing ‘format fs=fat32‘ and press Enter. This will take 6–9 minutes for a 4GB drive.



Once you get 100% complete, type ‘assign‘ and press Enter. This will assign a drive letter (e.g., Drive L).



12. Now type ‘exit‘ to close diskpart.
13. To finish the process, load up the boot sector from your Vista DVD to the USB stick. Type: ‘D:\boot\bootsect.exe /nt60 L:‘

Note: ‘D’ is the drive letter of the optical drive with the Vista disk. Adjust if yours differs.



14. Exit out of the Command Prompt.
15. As the last step, go to your Vista DVD and copy ALL the content to your NT60 bootable flash drive.

Congratulations, you have just created a bootable USB flash drive with the NT60 boot sector.

Note: If you are a Microsoft publisher, OEM or OED, please contact Nexcopy for more information about NT60 boot straps and related Microsoft specifications.

---

2025 Relevance Note

As of 2025, creating an NT60 bootable USB stick is rarely required. NT60 was designed for Windows Vista and early Windows 7 installations. Modern systems primarily use UEFI boot loaders and GPT partition tables, making this manual NT60 process mostly obsolete. The only common scenarios for creating an NT60 bootable USB today are for legacy system maintenance, forensic recovery, or historical testing environments.

Modern Alternative

For modern bootable USB creation on Windows 10, Windows 11, or newer operating systems, you can use dedicated tools that automatically handle boot sectors, partitions, and formatting. One of the most popular options is Rufus, which simplifies the process and supports both BIOS and UEFI systems without manual diskpart commands.