booting and installing xp from usb drive?

aardvark

aardvark

aardvark

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hi
i have an old dell optiplex sx270. it had no hard drive and no cd drive so i bought a hard drive but it won't boot to a usb cd drive (which i have and apparently its a known problem with these pcs)

so, i need to boot to a usb drive and install xp

anybody know how to do this?
i have xp on cd and i have a usb pen drive - but how do you set it up? just copy the cd files to the usb pen?

thanks
 
This should do the trick. I used it to do exactly the same thing, albeit I was using Windows 7 rather than XP. But it should work fine with XP I believe. Once installed it takes about 4 mouse clicks from start to finish to get the USB drive sorted and then you are good to go :-

http://wintoflash.com/home/en/
 
well, that didn't work :(

how about a floppy disk with usb drivers?

or maybe i could install xp on the hard drive by plugging it in a different pc, installing, then putting it in the new one? is that possible?

cheers
 
Those are a bitch to work with. Does it have an optical drive in it's bay? May be easier to source one from the auction site.

Building XP in another machine is possible - most likely it will spas out and bluescreen upon return though. Another option is pxe booting, its quite in depth though and you'll need another machine to act as the server
 
aardvark said:
well, that didn't work :(

how about a floppy disk with usb drivers?

or maybe i could install xp on the hard drive by plugging it in a different pc, installing, then putting it in the new one? is that possible?

cheers
Click to expand...

If I remember correctly you can use command prompts to copy over the I386 folder from USB to the internal hard drive and install from there.

These instructions are the ones to follow. Obviously you don't have an Asus Eee but your trying to active the same thing!
 
d_brennen said:
Those are a bitch to work with. Does it have an optical drive in it's bay? May be easier to source one from the auction site.

Building XP in another machine is possible - most likely it will spas out and bluescreen upon return though. Another option is pxe booting, its quite in depth though and you'll need another machine to act as the server
Click to expand...

it doesn't have a cd drive, only the floppy drive - certainly the last resort would be to buy a drive but i'm trying to do it without spending any more money.

i'll check those things out, cheers.
 
lurkio said:
Has this thing got a usb port and do you have a usb memory stick?
If so then "win setup from USB" is what you need

http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/120444-how-to-install-windows-from-usb-winsetupfromusb-with-gui/

google
WinSetupFromUSB
if you have probs finding the exe

I have used this to install a few XP machines in work that had no optical drive

It basically copies on the files from the XP install CD-rom and copies on a loader to start it off
Click to expand...


cheers, i gave it a try but i can't seem to get the pc to boot to the usb stick - it doesn't seem to recognise it.

i may try installing the hard drive in another machine and see if it can cope with moving.
 
Those Dells are likely too old for USB booting, Ive seen a DVD drive module for those for £40 on the bay... It's a trade off for how much your time messing with it is worth!
 
d_brennen said:
Those Dells are likely too old for USB booting, Ive seen a DVD drive module for those for £40 on the bay... It's a trade off for how much your time messing with it is worth!
Click to expand...

i think thats what we will be doing - its taking a lot of time and i'm not getting anywhere fast!
 
lurkio said:
Has this thing got a usb port and do you have a usb memory stick?
If so then "win setup from USB" is what you need

http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/120444-how-to-install-windows-from-usb-winsetupfromusb-with-gui/
Click to expand...
This is what I use, and it's dead easy. I've used it to install Windows XP on my Dell Inspiron 1150 that has a CD drive that doesn't work. I recommend this as well.

d_brennen said:
Those Dells are likely too old for USB booting, Ive seen a DVD drive module for those for £40 on the bay... It's a trade off for how much your time messing with it is worth!
Click to expand...
I'd imagine they can boot from USB. I have a Dell Inspiron that is six years old and it can boot from USB.
 
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