Win32DiskImager - for cards that have not been previously imaged
1. Download the Win32Diskimager software http://sourceforge.net/projects/win32diskimager/files/latest/download
2. Download a Raspberry Pi image to use http://www.raspberrypi.org/downloads/ (I use Raspbian Debian Wheezy)
3. Right click on the file to extract the *.zip image to a directory (at the time of writing the name was 2014-01-07-wheezy-raspbian.zip)
4. Goto your download folder and double click to install (Check Create Desktop Icon during the installation process for easy access)
5. Insert your SD card into your reader/writer
6. Format your SD card to FAT32 (right click on your SD card and select Format (I leave everything default except I Un-Check Quick Format). This may take 10 minutes or so depending on the size of your card.
7. Run Win32DiskImager Software and select the image file you downloaded/extracted as well as the drive letter of your SD card (Be sure this is the correct drive letter of the SD card)
8. Select Write (this can take a while (took mine about 3 minutes) depending on the image size and speed of your card) Confirm YES when asked if you are sure you want to write to the card
9.Done! You should now have a bootable SD card for your raspberry Pi
DD for windows - a more powerful method for card previously imaged, cards windows cannot format or read properly
If you are having issues with a corrupt SD card, you'll have to use a tools such as DD and Diskpart. This will be discussed in a future article.
