Microsoft yesterday brought its free Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool back online after halting distribution last month over a GNU General Public License violation. The company took responsibility for overseeing this fault while reviewing the program's code, which had been supplied by a third party, and has now made a tweaked version available for download under the GPL v2 license.

As the name suggests, the now open source Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool allows users to create a bootable USB flash drive or DVD disc from an ISO image file purchased at Microsoft's online store. Besides serving as a backup, this should make the process of installing Windows 7 on netbooks and ultraportable laptops lacking an optical drive much easier.

The tool can be downloaded directly from Microsoft's Open Source software project hosting repository, CodePlex.com. Let us know your thoughts if you try it out.