Installing Windows XP on a CF via CF-SATA adapter

[Parasitic]

I have an EeePC 1000H that I want to install Windows XP on, and while I see that people have tried running Windows XP on a SD card because I do use the card reader a lot that won't be an option, so I was wondering if I could install Windows XP on a compact flash disk along with the following adapter:

http://www.amazon.com/CompactFlash-2.../dp/B001870W98

Would this method be much slower than running Windows XP on a 2GB SD or 4GB SDHC?

I want to avoid using a normal laptop drive on it because this netbook does get moved around a lot and the whole 4GB CF + adapter combo would only run me maybe $30.

Thanks.

 

[mpilchfamily]

I fail to see the problem here. No need to have it on an SD card and use the SD card as the primary drive. Just install it on the netbook's HDD.

If you want to install XP on the netbook then you need to take a USB thumb drive and burn the XP ISO to it and make the drive a bootable drive. Then you plug it into the netbook and boot from the thumb drive and install it like any other XP install.

 

[corkyg]

To answer your question, the referenced adapter woul effectively convert a CF card to a small SATA HDD. Since the item is currently unavailable, it may be moot. But, yes, as long as the resulting drive is lettered and accepted by the system as such, it should be able to have the OS installed.. As I read your post, you would be replacing the netbook's regular HDD with this device. It would be faster than anything on USB. and should work in all laptops that use SATA HDD. This would simply become the SATA HDD.

But, why not use the regular HDD? It would have more capacity and probably be faster with greater bandwidth. Keep in mind that you could not use the contraption on an y other machine.

The assertion that the machine is moved around a lot does not provide any justification for doing this. Maybe it could be seen as a poor man's SSD by some. ???

 

[Parasitic]

To answer your question, the referenced adapter woul effectively convert a CF card to a small SATA HDD. Since the item is currently unavailable, it may be moot. But, yes, as long as the resulting drive is lettered and accepted by the system as such, it should be able to have the OS installed.. As I read your post, you would be replacing the netbook's regular HDD with this device. It would be faster than anything on USB. and should work in all laptops that use SATA HDD. This would simply become the SATA HDD.

But, why not use the regular HDD? It would have more capacity and probably be faster with greater bandwidth. Keep in mind that you could not use the contraption on an y other machine.

The assertion that the machine is moved around a lot does not provide any justification for doing this. Maybe it could be seen as a poor man's SSD by some. ???

Well, I used the Amazon one as a reference. I'm probably just going down to Fry's or a local computer store to pick one up. The thing is that I am unsure if some of the poorer quality or generic ones have lower performance.

The reason I am thinking about this is that because on the netbook storage isn't an issue and this is probably the cheapest way to get OS running since it'd cost less than $30 overall whereas a new SATA hard drive would run more than that.

One of the other concerns is that Windows XP will not install on a SD card without modifications and driver hacking (like with Hitachi's microdrive drivers), so I was wondering if it would be the same if I went this route instead. Portability to another system is not an issue as I wouldn't use this in any of my real laptops.

 

[corkyg]

The reason I am thinking about this is that because on the netbook storage isn't an issue and this is probably the cheapest way to get OS running since it'd cost less than $30 overall whereas a new SATA hard drive would run more than that.

That's what I fail to understand. What's wrong with the SATA HDD that is already in the laptop? Seems to me to be the cheapest solution - zero additional $$$. ???

 

[CurseTheSky]

The reason I am thinking about this is that because on the netbook storage isn't an issue and this is probably the cheapest way to get OS running since it'd cost less than $30 overall whereas a new SATA hard drive would run more than that.

IIRC, a Compact Flash card is going to be horrible slow compared to even a 5400 RPM 2.5" HDD.

As far as price is concerned, here's a 160GB, 5400 RPM, 2.5" HDD for $40 shipped: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822145254.

 

[mpilchfamily]

The EeePC 1000H has a regular laptop SATA HDD in it not a CF card. So the 5400RPM 80GB drive that comes in it has more then enough space for XP and any other programs you may need to run. Sure its not much room for data storage but you mentioned you use the built in CF reader allot so i guess you keep all that information on CF cards. But if you need more space then do some research online and see what options are available for HDD upgrades.

 

[Parasitic]

I am thinking about doing this on a CF+SATA adapter and not the original hard drive because I already have OSX86 installed on the original drive and since I don't use XP all that often I want to be able to open it up and swap the hard drive to the XP one whenever I need it instead of having to reformat and set up dual boot.

Yes, this sounds retarded, but I want to do it this way because the only time I need to have XP is when I need to be out at work and have quite a few apps that support Windows only.

Another thing is that it also seems like a fun thing to try and do on a netbook.

Also it seems like a CF-SATA adapter will not work because they're smaller and will not mount correctly onto the little drive caddy thing Asus uses, so I'd actually have to find one with an enclosing shell with screw mounting holes for it. Therefore at this point I guess I might just go with a 16GB SDHC card and install XP on that.

 

[mpilchfamily]

Well to me it seams allot less hassle to spend the time to compact the current partitioan and add an new one to dual boot with XP. Then its a one time thing. Otherwise you'll have to restart eh system and change the settings in the bios each time to boot into XP insted of restarting and selecting XP form the menue. Even then there is no garentee that the unit will boot from the CF SATA Adapter.

 

[Parasitic]

Ended up doing it. Got a cased CF-SATA2 adapter and a Ridata 233x 4GB CF. nLited XP installation. It's actually surprisingly fast, although because the CF-SATA2 adapter is only 1.8" so mounting it in the 2.5" hard drive caddy is a little more difficult and I ended up not using the caddy at all and just leaving it plugged into the SATA port without additional protection.

Total cost was $34, so I guess that serves the purpose.

 

[21stHermit]

Installing Windows XP on a CF via CF-SATA adapter
http://www.amazon.com/CompactFlash-2.../dp/B001870W98

I have one of those and I tried to install Win7 RC. I used a Kingston 16GB CF rated at 266X, FWIW. After 2+ hours into the install I gave up, it hung at the last step for over an hour. I then tried a 40GB SATA HDD and Win7 RC installed in about 30 min.

If anyone has an explanation, I'm listening.