install 7 from ext. drive

I have windows 7 on a DVD but I have a macbook air (no optical drive) but I do have an external drive. I was thinking of how to install it from the ext. drive so I can dual boot using boot camp. Would this work?

1. create partition on ext. drive (fat32)
2. extract dvd files into the ext. drive into that new partition I created
3. make partition using boot camp in macb book air
4. install windows 7

Would this work? I have a 500GB ext.drive (USB) that is used for backing up but I can make a partition on it just this time right?

I also have VM Fusion and I easily installed the .iso file that I made from the dvd by using another computer, but it is rather slow running virtualized. Is it possible to install 7 using Fusion into the internal boot camp partition?

Best way to install Windows 7 on your MBA is by using a thumb or flash drive with sufficient capacity. These same directions for doing so may also work for an external drive. You might have to experiment a bit. See this LINK.

As far as using Fusion to create a Boot Camp partition to run Windows 7, that's not possible. Fusion will work that in reverse easy enough to create a VM but not the other way around.

When I chose to install Windows with Fusion, I used XP SP3 rather than Windows 7 because I knew that Windows 7 requires greater resources both from memory and graphics. I do have Windows 7 installed but in a separate bootable partition via Boot Camp.