Windows XP LAN Boot install – no floppy or CD-ROM

[Zip-Lock]

Does anyone how these LAN installs work, or can point me in the right direction?

I’m trying to install Windows XP on my carpc (M10000) but it doesn’t have a floppy or a CD-ROM. I am looking for some sort of network boot server that will allow to me to use my desktop pc as the installation resource (with the installation CD.)

It would probably be easier to temporally remove my desktop’s CD drive and install, but I like to be difficult.

[NewTechFool]

This will be a very expensive solution for you, as you need third party server software (non MS) to do a network boot.

I have the same setup. I have a firewire CD/DVD. I just hooked it up for the install and put in my XP boot CD and installed. Remember to copy your I386 direcroty from the boot disk to your HD just in case you want to install any options later.

[cvi]

RIS (remote installation server) MS has this as an option when installing 2000 server. That would do it, but i dunno if there is a free alternative based on linux?
Also the nic should be PXE ready.

[Defiler]

Do you have a thumb drive? You can set up the BIOS to boot off it and just have the NIC drivers load, map a drive to another computer share with the i386 DIR. copied over from the XP CD and run winnt.exe.

[Seraph]

You want easy solution? Take the HDD out and put it in a machine with CD ROM. Copy XP i386 folder and run SETUP from there.

[qjones]

Do you have a thumb drive? You can set up the BIOS to boot off it and just have the NIC drivers load, map a drive to another computer share with the i386 DIR. copied over from the XP CD and run winnt.exe.

How do you go about mounting a network drive once you have yoru computer booted off the USB drive. Also, what is the best way to make a dos type boot disk that loads your network drivers?

Quincy

[Almost a Ghost]

Why don't you just take the CDROM from your PC and install it on your EPIA for the install? I imagine that whole process will only take about 2 minutes to do.

[Pudge]

I'm not positive... I believe SuSe (or someother mainstream linux distro) has an FTP install, I'm not 100% on that, and it'd prolly take a while since it's over the net, not LAN like you were planning on. And also, for that you'd prolly need at least a floppy to boot. I dunno if this helps, probably not but it might be worth putting out there.

[aultl]

I'm not positive... I believe SuSe (or someother mainstream linux distro) has an FTP install, I'm not 100% on that, and it'd prolly take a while since it's over the net, not LAN like you were planning on. And also, for that you'd prolly need at least a floppy to boot. I dunno if this helps, probably not but it might be worth putting out there.

The knoppix http://knopper.net bootable cd contains an app called terminal server that allows you to do this. However I don't think this will help as you requested network booting of WinXP.

Aultl

[Zip-Lock]

Well I made a good effort. I didn't have a thumb drive so I tried using my digital camera is a USB drive but I wasn't able to mark it bootable, so it didn’t work. I gave in and borrowed the CD-ROM from my desktop. I didn't want to break up uptime. Now one of my fans is buzzing because it got powered off, figures.

[Defiler]

How bout this...Go buy a CD-ROM for $5 at a mom and pop computer store...

[deadweasel]

I'm not positive... I believe SuSe (or someother mainstream linux distro) has an FTP install, I'm not 100% on that, and it'd prolly take a while since it's over the net, not LAN like you were planning on. And also, for that you'd prolly need at least a floppy to boot. I dunno if this helps, probably not but it might be worth putting out there.

Just to insert my two cents (because I can), I just completed an FTP install with Mandrake.

*ducks back out of the doorway*

[Zip-Lock]

Most of you guys completely missed my point. My point again is that I didn't care how complicated it is, I just want to be able to do a network boot.

[deadweasel]

Most of you guys completely missed my point. My point again is that I didn't care how competed it is, I just want to be able to do a network boot.

One of the fellas above mentioned a service that is available for Win2k that allows for network installs. It is present in XPPro I believe, however it takes a little know-how to do. I have never tried it, so I won't talk out my *** about it, but if I remember the 2k process properly (I was present during the procedure at a large lawfirm), it was a pain in the neck. You were better off just foisting the CDROM for a few. Noisy fans will quiet down given some time, but you will end up replacing it anyhow.

I say better to have the install done now, and find out you have a gimped fan in the process, than to still not have the install done, and the stupid fan fail while you're gone. Really bad news if it's the P/S, proc, or vid card fan. Ack.

[Defiler]

Read this:
http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;142857

Then this:

Modifying the Startup Disk for Network Interface Cards

Modifying the Startup Disk for network interface cards (NIC) requires installing the appropriate MS-DOS driver and editing two system files.

•Install an NDIS2-compatible MS-DOS driver for the NIC. These are usually included with the floppy disk supplied by the manufacturer with their drivers. If no drivers are available, download the appropriate driver from the manufacturer's Web site.

Appropriate drivers for the Microsoft Network Client for MS-DOS will always have a .dos extension. For example, the driver for Intel's EtherExpress Pro/10 EISA is: Epro.dos

This driver should be placed in the Net directory on the computer (C:\Net, unless named differently) or on the MS-DOS startup disk (A:\Net).

•Modify the System.ini file. The NIC driver needs to be referenced in the System.ini file. This entry is found in the [network drivers] section, as illustrated below:

[network drivers]
netcard=elnkii.dos
transport=ndishlp.sys,*netbeui
devdir=A:\NET
LoadRMDrivers=yes
For "netcard=," replace the current driver with the file name of the NDIS2-compatible driver placed in the Net directory (for example, Epro.dos).

•Modify the Protocol.ini file. The NIC driver needs to be referenced in the Protocol.ini file. This entry is found in the [ms$ driver_name] section (the driver name will reflect what was originally chosen in the Network Installation Startup Disk process), as shown below:

[ms$elnkii]
drivername=ELNKII$
; INTERRUPT=3
; IOADDRESS=0x300
; DMACHANNEL=1
; MAXTRANSMITS=12

For "drivername=," replace the driver listed with the file name of the NDIS2-compatible driver; use a dollar sign ($) to replace the .dos file extension (for example, EPRO$).

Note: Do not change the header (for example, [ms$elnkii] in the example above); the header is a pointer throughout the .ini file.
Table of Contents

Additional TCP/IP Settings for the Microsoft Network Client for MS-DOS
Specifying WINS Servers

If your Microsoft Network Client for MS-DOS uses DHCP (the default setting for MS-DOS TCP/IP), it will automatically receive the address for the Windows Internet Naming Service (WINS) server. If you want to statically configure your WINS server IP address, you must edit the client's Protocol.ini file and add the IP address to the [TCPIP] section.

For example, if you have two WINS servers available, add them into the [TCPIP] section as shown in the example below. Note that there are no dots (.) in the IP addresses.

[TCPIP]
WINS_SERVER0 = 11 101 13 53
WINS_SERVER1 = 11 101 12 198

Name queries will be sent to the WINS servers in the order in which they appear in the .ini file. The ipconfig command may show a different order of WINS servers (or even different WINS servers altogether) —these are the WINS server names sent by DHCP, and the Protocol.ini settings override them.

Logging On with TCP/IP Across a Router
If the domain controller is across a router from the Microsoft Network Client for MS-DOS computer, you must add a line to the client's LMHOSTS file (located in the Net directory — if there is no LMHOSTS file, you need to create one) for logons to be validated. The line has the following format:

www.xxx.yyy.zzz SRV_NAME #DOMOM_NAME
where:

•www.xxx.yyy.zzz is the IP address of the domain controller.
•SRV_NAME is the NetBIOS name of the domain controller.
•DOM_NAME is the name of the domain.

You must also ensure that the domain controller can contact the Microsoft Network Client for MS-DOS using one of the following methods:

•Enter the client's IP address and name in the domain controller's LMHOSTS file.
•Register the client with a WINS server that is accessible by the domain controller (placing a static entry in WINS for the Microsoft Network Client for MS-DOS).