Installing xp from an external hard drive!

[Guest rockoncamel]

First off id like to say hi, first post here!! Seems like a decent place!!

i got me an eee pc on monday and ive been trying to get xp on it since and ive only just done it, i really couldnt get my head around making a usb pen drive bootable so i found a nice simple way to do it via a external hard drive!

1) install the external hard drive as a slave in your working desktop system.

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:D: /tempdrive:D: /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 external hard drive. It is now ready for install in the new system. It will simply continue to install windows from this point.

8)boot up the hard drive as your primary master on the eee pc

9)And enjoy!!

Hope this is some help to somebody out there as i really couldnt get usb stick to work, and didnt have an external CD drive!

Edited December 5, 2007 by rockoncamel

[Guest Monolithix]

Nice tip. PeToUSB seems flakey with nlited versions of XP, hopefully this will help those struggling!

[Guest Paul (MVP)]

Good tip!

P

[Guest webcomconsulting]

First off id like to say hi, first post here!! Seems like a decent place!!

i got me an eee pc on monday and ive been trying to get xp on it since and ive only just done it, i really couldnt get my head around making a usb pen drive bootable so i found a nice simple way to do it via a external hard drive!

1) install the external hard drive as a slave in your working desktop system.

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:D: /tempdrive:D: /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 external hard drive. It is now ready for install in the new system. It will simply continue to install windows from this point.

8)boot up the hard drive as your primary master on the eee pc

9)And enjoy!!

Hope this is some help to somebody out there as i really couldnt get usb stick to work, and didnt have an external CD drive!

My parents have a XP machine and I cant get the memory keys to be bootable.I cant format NTFS only fat32. I cant get either my usb key or my SDHC card bootable...any ideas?

Edited December 19, 2007 by webcomconsulting

[Guest Monolithix]

Have you tried this?

http://www.modaco.com/content/Asus-Eee-PC-...a-a-USB-stick-/

[Guest gneh]

You can also try this.

Step-by-step video showing how to install Windows XP via USB key

Hopefully it will be helpful!

[Guest unspokenhermit]

[Please read through this whole guide before attempting this, as you need to know what you are getting yourself into.

1. Download the Windows 7 RC ISO file.

2. Download and install powerISO or other virtual drive software.

3. If using Vista as the setup machine, run diskpart as administrator.

4. Type 'list disk' and then choose the external drive by typing 'select disk #' where # is the disk number. Then hit enter.

5. Type 'clean'. And hit enter.

6. Type 'create partition primary', and hit enter.

7. Type 'format fs=NTFS' and hit enter

8. Type 'assign', and hit enter.

9. Type 'active', and hit enter.

10. Type 'exit' to exit the diskpart software.

11. Copy all the Windows 7 setup files off the ISO mounted in the virtual drive onto the freshly prepared external drive.

12. Insert (or mount) an XP install disk (the version you require).

13. Create a folder on the external drive (call it XP).

14. Copy all the XP setup files into this folder.

15. Plug the external drive into the computer you want to install XP onto, and boot up the windows 7 setup. You may need to change your boot priority settings for this to work.

16. When the setup screen loads, press Shift + F10. This will open a command prompt.

17. Type 'd:' where 'd' is the letter assigned to your external drive. And hit enter.

18. Type 'cd XP' and hit enter.

19.Type 'cd i386' and hit enter.

20. Type 'winnt32.exe' and hit enter.

21. Follow through the setup, and select 'Choose drive letters and partions during setup'. Make sure that it is ticked.

22. Follow the install through, making sure the external drive is plugged in the whole time.

23. You should now have an XP install on your computer.

If it wont boot, and says 'Operating System Not found', follow steps 3 -11. Then get to the setup screen and hit Shift + F10.

1. Type 'diskpart' and hit enter.

2. Type 'select disk 0' and hit enter. (If disk0 is the disk you installed XP on).

3. Type 'select partition 1' and hit enter. (It should be partition 1, unless you changed it during setup).

4. Type 'assign' and hit enter.

5. Type 'active' and hit enter.

6. Re-boot the machine without the external drive attached, and you will have a fully booted copy of windows XP.

NOTE: You will have to repeat this whole process for each time you want to install XP, as the XP install method wipes out the Windows 7 setup boot manager.

NOTE: This is only nessisary if you don't have a cd drive, or cant get hold of one by any other means.

You can use a USB thumbdrive for this, but it requires changing some of the XP setup boot files to load USB drivers. There are plenty of websites that will tell you how to do this. Google is your friend.

___________________

Curtain Rods Hardware