Need Help with XP Install without cd-rom

egartin

Junior Member
Jan 5, 2006
15
0
0
Is there an easy way to install Windows XP on a new hard drive for a laptop? The cd-rom on my laptop is dead. I have a new one on order but it is going to take a couple of weeks to get it in.

Thanks,

Eric
 

HybridSquirrel

Diamond Member
Nov 20, 2005
6,161
2
81
have to do it in dos i think ive done it before.
format c: /s
c:
C: dir
md winxp
cd winxp
copy (letter of drive):. to c:.
it shouldnt ask u for a cd key? i dunno correct me if im wrong but i believe ive done it that way before

Edit:eek:ops sorry no cd drive :( maybe get an external temporarily than return it after its done installing?
 

egartin

Junior Member
Jan 5, 2006
15
0
0
I can put the hard drive in my desktop via external USB enclosure. So this could work?

I will try it.

Thanks,

Eric
 

Slikkster

Diamond Member
Apr 29, 2000
3,141
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Note: For the steps below, it's necessary to have your hard drive formatted as Fat32. Bootdisks can't normally see NTFS disks. You can, and normally should, convert it to NTFS after installing. But that's up to you. It's not necessary. Just better security with NTFS.

Installing from hard drive:


It's not hard to do, but you need to know a couple of steps first. Remember, you're going to be installing from DOS mode, not Windows, so any setup.exe or winnt32.exe file won't work. But, there's a DOS file that starts the install with XP when you load it onto your hard drive.

By the way, while the XP CD has a few different folders and sub-folders, you must make sure that at least the I386 folder exists on your hard drive, and that it has the contents of your XP's I386 folder.

Once you copy the I386 folder and files over (or all the folders from the XP CD, if you wish), you're ready to install. But you'll need a bootdisk. Here's one that automatically loads smartdrv.exe (which XP will want running to install). Please download it and create the bootable floppy with it.

http://www.nerdlabs.org/bootdisks/diskimages/wbootess.exe Have a floppy ready when you run this file. It will walk you through. No need to make any options changes...it's set as is...just click OK.

Now, do the following:

Boot up with the bootdisk you created from the link above. When fully booted, and at the command prompt, type "C:" and tap the enter key. (do not use the quotation marks...just added here for emphasis)

Now, type "cd i386" and tap enter

Now, type "winnt" and tap enter.

Winnt.exe (not necessary to type the .exe) is the DOS-mode XP install file.

Now, let it do its thing.

Note: If your XP install CD is Pre-Service Pack 2, you may very well be totally unprotected when you first install it, so you might want to pay attention to the following warning:

Blaster worm warning: Enable the XP firewall before connecting to the internet. If installing XP with pre Service Pack 2 CD media do not immediately activate over the internet. Decline activation. Activate firewall before connecting to the internet. You can activate after the firewall is enabled and service packs and critical updates are installed.

To enable the XP firewall: Go to Control Panel - Network Connections.

Service Pack 2 discs should automatically enable the firewall. Nevertheless, there's no reason, really, to have the ethernet cable plugged in to the pc until post-installation.

Good luck. Should go smoothly.

Disclosure: Sections above taken from michaelstevenstech.com


Edit: If you don't have a floppy drive in your laptop, you can still do this. But what I would do is format the new hard drive as a fat32 drive, first of all. Then, I would simply copy all the files from the boot disk to the new hard drive's C:\ (aka "root") folder. Include the autoexec.bat and config.sys files.

Don't put all these bootdisk files in the c:\I386 folder on the C: drive. That folder is only for your XP CD's files. Put these bootdisk files in the C:\ directory itself.

There' s only one thing you need to change after copying the files to the C: folder. In the autoexec.bat file, you need to change this: (remember, don't type the quotes)

"PATH=A:\"

to

"PATH=C:\"

That's it. Once you've copied all these files to your new hard drive (including the I386 folder from the XP Cd), connect it back to your laptop and boot up. It should boot right to the C:\ prompt.

Then, just type:

"cd i386"


Then, type:

"winnt"

and you're good to go.

(I'm assuming your external USB enclosure has a 2.5" notebook drive connector, right?)
 

imported_Kiwi

Golden Member
Jul 17, 2004
1,375
0
0
Originally posted by: egartin
Is there an easy way to install Windows XP on a new hard drive for a laptop? The cd-rom on my laptop is dead. I have a new one on order but it is going to take a couple of weeks to get it in.
You only need to copy the primary folder to the new hard drive, not all of the rest. I seem to recall it's the "WinNT" folder on XP. For W2K I'm sure it's the "i386" folder, so it very well could still be that. As noted, use another computer to format it with a basic command line system in the boot sector. Once it's been copied on there and reinstalled into the original PC, run the WinNT Setup from the folder.

I've got to tell you though, I haven't done this with XP myself, only with W2K and older Windows versions so far.


:eek:
 

imported_Kiwi

Golden Member
Jul 17, 2004
1,375
0
0
My reply overlapped in a way, because I started to answer and had an errand to run, so the reply just sat in the PC on my end, ready to send, from just before five PM here, while I took care of a couple of chores and never saw the longest reply until after I posted, and probably should've tried deleting mine (can't recall if I've ever done that here, maybe you just edit it mostly empty and say " Whoops! and Sorry! " )

I've dealt with WinME and Win98se on laptops, but found that I just didn't get enough use from the ones I had and never upgraded beyond those after 1999 or so. It's my general preference to run a faster install, untended, if possible. For that, I tend to put the primary folder (i386 in all NT's apparently) on my hard drives. But I don't believe I did that with XP with any installs of that one. Maybe, but only on a desktop PC, and never without having a working CD (and a floppy at least available if needed, ready to plug it in).

I still prefer W2K by a *long* ways.


:cool:
 

egartin

Junior Member
Jan 5, 2006
15
0
0
Originally posted by: Slikkster
Note: For the steps below, it's necessary to have your hard drive formatted as Fat32. Bootdisks can't normally see NTFS disks. You can, and normally should, convert it to NTFS after installing. But that's up to you. It's not necessary. Just better security with NTFS.

Installing from hard drive:


It's not hard to do, but you need to know a couple of steps first. Remember, you're going to be installing from DOS mode, not Windows, so any setup.exe or winnt32.exe file won't work. But, there's a DOS file that starts the install with XP when you load it onto your hard drive.

By the way, while the XP CD has a few different folders and sub-folders, you must make sure that at least the I386 folder exists on your hard drive, and that it has the contents of your XP's I386 folder.

Once you copy the I386 folder and files over (or all the folders from the XP CD, if you wish), you're ready to install. But you'll need a bootdisk. Here's one that automatically loads smartdrv.exe (which XP will want running to install). Please download it and create the bootable floppy with it.

http://www.nerdlabs.org/bootdisks/diskimages/wbootess.exe Have a floppy ready when you run this file. It will walk you through. No need to make any options changes...it's set as is...just click OK.

Now, do the following:

Boot up with the bootdisk you created from the link above. When fully booted, and at the command prompt, type "C:" and tap the enter key. (do not use the quotation marks...just added here for emphasis)

Now, type "cd i386" and tap enter

Now, type "winnt" and tap enter.

Winnt.exe (not necessary to type the .exe) is the DOS-mode XP install file.

Now, let it do its thing.

Note: If your XP install CD is Pre-Service Pack 2, you may very well be totally unprotected when you first install it, so you might want to pay attention to the following warning:

Blaster worm warning: Enable the XP firewall before connecting to the internet. If installing XP with pre Service Pack 2 CD media do not immediately activate over the internet. Decline activation. Activate firewall before connecting to the internet. You can activate after the firewall is enabled and service packs and critical updates are installed.

To enable the XP firewall: Go to Control Panel - Network Connections.

Service Pack 2 discs should automatically enable the firewall. Nevertheless, there's no reason, really, to have the ethernet cable plugged in to the pc until post-installation.

Good luck. Should go smoothly.

Disclosure: Sections above taken from michaelstevenstech.com


Edit: If you don't have a floppy drive in your laptop, you can still do this. But what I would do is format the new hard drive as a fat32 drive, first of all. Then, I would simply copy all the files from the boot disk to the new hard drive's C:\ (aka "root") folder. Include the autoexec.bat and config.sys files.

Don't put all these bootdisk files in the c:\I386 folder on the C: drive. That folder is only for your XP CD's files. Put these bootdisk files in the C:\ directory itself.

There' s only one thing you need to change after copying the files to the C: folder. In the autoexec.bat file, you need to change this: (remember, don't type the quotes)

"PATH=A:\"

to

"PATH=C:\"

That's it. Once you've copied all these files to your new hard drive (including the I386 folder from the XP Cd), connect it back to your laptop and boot up. It should boot right to the C:\ prompt.

Then, just type:

"cd i386"


Then, type:

"winnt"

and you're good to go.

(I'm assuming your external USB enclosure has a 2.5" notebook drive connector, right?)


Okay, thanks. I tried to install the the boot disk to c:\ after formatting it to fat32. I changed the autoexec.bat file to "Path=C:\". I copied the "I386" folder to the hard drive. Although when I boot it up it says, "Non-system disk, press any key..."

Any ideas.

Eric
 

Slikkster

Diamond Member
Apr 29, 2000
3,141
0
0
Yes, you need to do a "Sys" command on the drive. That puts the bootloader on it and it becomes a "system disk" at that point. Sorry for not pointing that out.

So, take the drive out of the laptop again. Hook it up to your enclosure on the desktop.

Ok, here's where it gets a little tricky (but there's a workaround). USB enclosures and their drives won't be seen by a boot floppy. So, unti you change something, if you boot up with the boot floppy on your desktop, it will never see your enclosure to do this "sys" command on it. And XP doesnt use "sys", so that won't work.

What you need is to add a DOS USB driver to your boot floppy, and make a simple change to your config.sys file on the boot floppy.

So, go here and download this file:

http://www.pocketech.net/downloads/duse_4_4.zip

Open the zip file. You'll see a couple of .pdf files (user guide and version release file), and a folder called "General". Open up the General folder. There are two files there. You only need one. Copy the one called "Duse.exe" to your boot floppy. If there's no space on the boot floppy, you can get rid of "edit.com" on the boot floppy to make room. But try copying it without deleting anything. It's a small file.

Ok, so now "duse.exe" is on the boot floppy. Now, all you need to do is add a line to your boot floppy config.sys file. I'm going to assume you're in XP doing all of this and using notepad.

Once in config.sys, add the following line to the bottom of config.sys:

(no quotes!)

"Device=duse.exe"

Save your config.sys file

Ok, now you should be able to get out of XP, and boot up with the boot floppy. If the Duse driver works, it will assign the next available drive letter to your USB drive enclosure.

Before proceeding any further, see what drive letter it assigned. I don't know how many IDE drives and optical drives you have on your desktop, but your USB drive should get the next letter after all of those. So, maybe it's "E:", maybe it's "G:"; I don't know. You'll have to figure that out. You can just change drive letters at the A: prompt and then do "dir" commands on each drive letter to see what's there. As soon as you find the one that has the I386 folder and the boot floppy files you copied to it before, you know you have the right drive.

I'm going to use an example here for illustration purposes, but you need to use the correct drive letter for your usb enclosure.

Now, once you've found the correct drive letter for the USB enclosure, type:

"A:" (no quotes) at the prompt.

Now, you're back to the A: disk for commands.

Now, to make your enclosure a bootable disk, type the following:

"Sys f:"

Remember, no quotes, and "f:" is just an example drive letter. If your USB enclosure is Drive e:, type:

"Sys e:"

Get it? Once it's done, it should tell you the system files have been transferred. Now, your laptop hard drive will be bootable, so you can reinstall it in the laptop, and then refer back to the original instructions on how to start the XP install.


Edit: After thinking about it, you don't even need to change drive letters on the boot floppy to see what drive your USB drive is. It's possible that the duse driver will tell you at bootup. But an easy way to find out from the A: prompt is just type:

"dir e:" or "dir f:", etc., until you see which drive shows your I386 folder.
 

cbt123

Junior Member
Feb 9, 2006
1
0
0
I like the concept of installing with no floppy or CD Drive but it doesn't work for me. I have tried for a couple days now and always get "ntldr is missing" after XP installs prelim files and reboots. If anyone has an answer I might get to go home and avoid divorce.
 

Fadey

Senior member
Oct 8, 2005
410
6
81
U could get one of those usb cases that allow u to put a hdd in it , then copy the windows xp disc to a drive , put it in the case and set ya comp to boot from usb. I did some work experince when i was at school and thats how the TAFE here set up all the machines , its alot faster.
 

Slikkster

Diamond Member
Apr 29, 2000
3,141
0
0
Originally posted by: cbt123
I like the concept of installing with no floppy or CD Drive but it doesn't work for me. I have tried for a couple days now and always get "ntldr is missing" after XP installs prelim files and reboots. If anyone has an answer I might get to go home and avoid divorce.

You've provided very little info. "...doesn't work for me" tells us nothing about how you attempted this, what your setup is, exactly what you did. Please elaborate.

 

MrCheese

Junior Member
Feb 11, 2006
1
0
0
Slikkster

I found this forum by accident searching this problem in google. I just wanted to say a big thankyou for the answer you gave and the link to the boot disk etc. It saved me lots of time and worked a treat!! :)

I saw many other solutions online to this problem, but they all looked much more confusing and complicated (make 3 partitions bla de bla, load USB dos drivers etc etc) - this was straight forward and easy to follow - well done.

I thought I would take time to open an account here and post a message incase anyone else found this thread and was wondering if it works.


Thanks again :)
 

Slikkster

Diamond Member
Apr 29, 2000
3,141
0
0
Well, thank YOU, MrCheese. I enjoy trying to help others out with pc issues. Goodness knows I've benefitted from the work of others when I've had problems, myself. Glad it worked out for you.