interesting way to install XP on cd-less/floppyless

**sgomar** · 02-10-2008, 01:58 AM

Originally Posted by Woofnstuff

i found it easier to get a usb to ide adapter and just plug a normal cd/dvd drive into that..

most laptops can boot from a usb device. this has worked fine for me on laptops with no optical drive. and saves having to pull the laptop drive out and stuff..

Well Woofnstuff,

Unfortunately only most newer notebooks supports USB booting, perhaps you were refering to the new ones only. And some funny machines like my tabletpc Toshiba Portege M200, booting from USB CD is almost impossible except for certain recommended by Toshiba.

And by the way, the thread here is about installing without the option of even an external cd. It proofs useful if you urgently need to install windows with no other gadget options, well and that happened to me and my tablet!

cheers

**Woofnstuff** · 02-10-2008, 07:32 PM

most (well most of the ones ive had to do stuff too) notebooks from about 3 or 4 years ago support usb booting.

personally i would try usb booting first.

but as a last resort, you are right this is good info for those setups that dont want to play nicely with others

**jonessc** · 02-10-2008, 08:20 PM

Nice work, only way ive done it without original XP disk, was to use Acronis true image, and restore that way or a recovery parition on the hard drive.

**MatrixPC** · 02-26-2008, 05:16 PM

I use the OP method to test nlite setting for my laptop without wasting lot of blank disk.
Basically, nlite the OS and create an iso. Use daemon tools (or similar tool) to mount the iso. User the OP method.
If the configuration doesn't work, go back to nlite setting and do again.

**sgomar** · 03-02-2008, 12:19 AM

Hi again,

Let me tell you that your method works all the time and has saved me in many unfortunate events.

By the way, do you have any method similar to this but works for the Tablet Edition that requires 2 installation CDs?

It would be of great help if you could, a lot of us here are waiting for that solution as well cos some tablets are nasty when their external cdrom drive fails.

Thanx a lot

Originally Posted by gospeed.racer

I have a laptop that lacks a floppy and a cd rom. I wanted windows XP on it, but couldnt load it without either a floppy or cd. Here is what I did:

1) install the hard drive as a slave in your working desktop system. I tried using a USB adaptor and it failed, i think it wants to be on an ide channel.

2) Format the drive. I just did a quick ntsf format, doesnt seem to matter.

3) insert your windows cd in the drive, and exit when it pops up asking what you want to do.

4) Go to "My Computer" and look at the drive letters of the CD-rom containing the XP disk, and also the drive letter of the hard drive you are installing to.

5) Assuming the hard drive is "D" and the XP cd is in "E:", go to the run command and type (or cut and paste):

E:\I386\winnt32.exe /syspart

: /tempdrive

: /makelocalsource /noreboot

6) setup will begin and ask you if you want to upgrade or full install, make sure it is FULL INSTALL. It will then ask you for a few more things including the CD key.

7) When it goes back to your desktop, turn off your PC and remove the slave hard drive. It is now ready for install in the new system. It will simply continue to install windows from this point.

I just finished it on my floppyless and cd-less laptop, and it worked awesome!

**GMC1** · 03-12-2008, 11:00 AM

If you have the \I386 folder on you C drive so that you can access it instead of your CD, you can download the SP2 update and apply it to the folder making it an XP Sp2 installers. There is a read me on the XP SP2 site that will explain how to do it.

Then run the command from C:\i386 and when its done you will not only have a CD less install, it will also have the SP2 installed.

**ASH2** · 04-23-2008, 06:26 PM

Does anyone know if this can be done with tinyxp???

I tried it but did'nt work... (don't know if I've done it right)???

THanks in advance..

**ASH2** · 04-26-2008, 09:44 AM

I have have installed it but every time windows restarts (during the installation) it automaticlly goes into the blue setup mode..

Any thoughts???

Thanks

ASH

**ASH2** · 05-04-2008, 10:25 PM

Come on guy's... someone must know?

**Azaria** · 05-05-2008, 02:05 PM

Ash2,
You might try giving some more detail if you want a hand.... It's pretty hard to help from thousands of miles away w/o details.

I've not used this procedure myself but I've been familiar w/ it for a while. This is similar to how OEMs prep drives for machines and then they just dupe the drive image.

Questions:
Did you do this w/ TinyXP or is it "standard" XP (as per the OPs instructions)?
-also I'd be interested in:
Is it from an OEM CD or a retail box CD?
Does it have SP2 or not?
-also:
Do you *know* the RAM to be good? I've seen bad ram cause reboots esp. on constrained systems.

If it keeps booting into the blue screen setup (I'm assuming you mean it ran through the setup once already) it may well be an issue w/ the Boot.ini file which tells XP which partition to boot. For whatever reason that I won't pretend to know it may still be pointing at the 'prep'd' install partition.

IF (and it's a big IF) that's the case you could probably fix it by editing Boot.ini. You'd need a way to get to it though which could be tricky, esp. since there is no boot CD or USB. If you mount the drive back into your desktop again (as slave) you should be able to do it. Google will be your friend for syntax of Boot.ini. Just be careful (real careful) to keep a backup and to get syntax right as it's cryptic and can be a bit tricky. Then you have to move it back to the laptop to test... Rinse, lather, repeat till it's right...

To be perfectly honest with you, I'd just try prepping the drive again according to instructions from the OP and double/triple checking that you're typing everything correctly and otherwise following the instructions to the letter. I'd definitely try this before the manual method I described.

J.