installing xp without cd/floppy

AnDyR0o · 9 Feb 2008 at 17:51

hey guys im having problems being able to install xp, i dont have a cd or floppy drive on the laptop and cant boot through usb or network but i do have another computer and an external caddy to be able to see all the files in the drive, any help with this issue would be much appreciated

thanks

therealnerd2 · 9 Feb 2008 at 18:59

Dump the contents of \i386 onto the drive, as well as a standard boot disk (win 98?)

Boot the laptop

(You now have to run a memory application now thats on the boot disk, cant remember for the life of me what it is)

Then run \i386\winnt.exe to install xp

AnDyR0o · 9 Feb 2008 at 19:39

ok when i put the i386 folder into the disk and the contents of a win 98 boot disk i get the error " Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:
<windows root>\system32\hall.dll
Please re-install a copy of the above file."

therealnerd2 · 9 Feb 2008 at 19:40

Its not booting off the boot disk.

Sorry, i might not have been clear - you put the whole of CDROM:\i386, into HD:\i386, not the root.

AnDyR0o · 9 Feb 2008 at 19:43

thats what i have done : /

therealnerd2 · 9 Feb 2008 at 19:45

How have you made the boot disk?

It might be an MBR problem, not sure how to sort this. I think you need to extract the MBR off the boot disk and dump it onto the drive.

I might be able to get you a disk image that might work

therealnerd2 · 9 Feb 2008 at 19:46

Try formatting the drive in XP using the "Create an MS-DOS startup disk" option, then copying the win98 files over

AnDyR0o · 9 Feb 2008 at 19:47

if you could find an image that would be great

therealnerd2 · 9 Feb 2008 at 19:54

AnDyR0o said:
if you could find an image that would be great

Did the formatting thing not work?

therealnerd2 · 9 Feb 2008 at 19:56

therealnerd2 said:
(You now have to run a memory application now thats on the boot disk, cant remember for the life of me what it is)

This is SMARTDRV.EXE

AnDyR0o · 9 Feb 2008 at 19:57

therealnerd2 said:
Did the formatting thing not work?

it wont let me format it with fat32 or create a ms-dos startup disk

therealnerd2 · 9 Feb 2008 at 20:02

AnDyR0o said:
it wont let me format it with fat32 or create a ms-dos startup disk

Try and delete the old partition and create a new fat32 one in "computer manager"

Image won't work, it seems paragon have gone bust.

AnDyR0o · 9 Feb 2008 at 20:54

still not working : /

artaxerxes · 9 Feb 2008 at 23:37

Get an adapter to convert a laptop 2.5 inch to a 5.25 inch IDE Adapter - much easier than faffing about with the caddy.

Install on your main machine... swap it out after the install gets to a specific point...

erm

http://www.defectivekit.net/2007/02/guide-install-windows-without-cd-rom-or.html

No - scratch that...

Caddy

You could remove the laptop HD and put it in a usb enclosure and connect to your pc.

Format that with /s

then copy the contents of the install CD to the disk.

put said disk back in laptop and install. This has the benefit of having windows detect the laptop hardware instead of the desktop.

manveruppd · 10 Feb 2008 at 01:02

Unless it's an old laptop with no USB boot option, you should try to make a bootable flash drive again. It takes a bit of doing which may be why you didn't manage it the first time, but it's doable