Is it possible to install XP if the XP-CD is pre-copied to a blank harddrive?

[XP Guy]

If I have a blank hard drive that I've partitioned as FAT32 and will
boot into DOS, and if I copy the entire contents of an XP cd to the
drive, is there a way I can launch the XP installation process after the
machine starts and boots itself into DOS?

There doesn't seem to be much on the net that explicitly says you can do
that.

I've tried, and setup.exe requires that it be launched from a protected
mode (32-bit) environment (ie like win-98 I guess).

Some other comments I've come across is that possibly the install can be
started from DOS by running winnt.exe with the appropriate command-line
switches. Yet other comments refer to bart-pe.

So, it it possible?

 

[Andrew E.]

Actually youre trying to install xp as the "preffered method" instead of a
windows explorer installation..You dont install the cd to the hd however,one
simply installs xp cd,set the BIOS to boot to xp cdrom as 1st boot
priority,hd
2nd (for installation),save & exit BIOS,boot to xp cd (DOS),select install
xp,
delete the partition,create one,then xp formats & installs auto.The copy cd
to
hd will only cause a malfunction,also,FAT32 is not a preffered file
system,its
outdated,use NTFS.

 

[Big_Al]

XP Guy said this on 4/22/2009 10:56 PM:

If I have a blank hard drive that I've partitioned as FAT32 and will
boot into DOS, and if I copy the entire contents of an XP cd to the
drive, is there a way I can launch the XP installation process after the
machine starts and boots itself into DOS?

There doesn't seem to be much on the net that explicitly says you can do
that.

I've tried, and setup.exe requires that it be launched from a protected
mode (32-bit) environment (ie like win-98 I guess).

Some other comments I've come across is that possibly the install can be
started from DOS by running winnt.exe with the appropriate command-line
switches. Yet other comments refer to bart-pe.

So, it it possible?

If you've been around a while, you might remember the old days of win 95
or win 98 that required a boot floppy to load drivers etc. I think it
was win98se that actually made the first bootable CD to install from.
If you replicate a win9x boot floppy, that might work.
And there are many utility boot CD's like BartPE etc that can be
created, but as others have said, if you boot from a CD why not just
boot from the Windows XP cd and do it right. All the tools are there!

 

[XP Guy]

If you've been around a while, you might remember the old
days of win 95 or win 98 that required a boot floppy to
load drivers etc. I think it was win98se that actually
made the first bootable CD to install from.
If you replicate a win9x boot floppy, that might work.
And there are many utility boot CD's like BartPE etc that can be
created, but as others have said, if you boot from a CD why
not just boot from the Windows XP cd and do it right. All
the tools are there!

Why can't you people just answer the god damn question?

First of all, even for win-98, even if the CD is bootable, it was still
possible to run setup.exe from DOS and to install 98 from a CD image
that was pre-copied to the hard drive.

What I'm trying to do is to pre-copy the XP cd onto a hard drive that
will then be installed into a system that does not have a CD drive and
for which may not have any ability to boot from any external device.

Does that help you wrap your head around this question?

Now can we get back to answering this question?

Is there a way I can launch the XP installation process from a hard
drive if I pre-copy an XP cd to the drive?

 

[Olórin]

Why can't you people just answer the god damn question?

First of all, even for win-98, even if the CD is bootable, it was
still possible to run setup.exe from DOS and to install 98 from a CD
image that was pre-copied to the hard drive.

What I'm trying to do is to pre-copy the XP cd onto a hard drive that
will then be installed into a system that does not have a CD drive and
for which may not have any ability to boot from any external device.

Does that help you wrap your head around this question?

Now can we get back to answering this question?

Is there a way I can launch the XP installation process from a hard
drive if I pre-copy an XP cd to the drive?

Not with that attitude. Understand your frustration to a degree, but you're
the supplicant here.

 

[Shenan Stanley]

If I have a blank hard drive that I've partitioned as FAT32 and will
boot into DOS, and if I copy the entire contents of an XP cd to the
drive, is there a way I can launch the XP installation process
after the machine starts and boots itself into DOS?

There doesn't seem to be much on the net that explicitly says you
can do that.

I've tried, and setup.exe requires that it be launched from a
protected mode (32-bit) environment (ie like win-98 I guess).

Some other comments I've come across is that possibly the install
can be started from DOS by running winnt.exe with the appropriate
command-line switches. Yet other comments refer to bart-pe.

So, it it possible?

Yes.

Google could have told you that. ;-)

 

[XP Guy]

Not with that attitude. Understand your frustration to a degree,
but you're the supplicant here.

And you're obviously the arrogant, stuck-up ass hole here.

And nice try, by the way, to essentially show that even you can't answer
the question. By deflecting the question, you are essentially telling
everyone that you can't answer it.

 

[David B.]

I would think that a person that goes by "XP Guy" would be able to figure
this out on his own. At the very least he would know how to use a search
engine.

 

[Big_Al]

Olórin said this on 4/23/2009 9:22 AM:

Not with that attitude. Understand your frustration to a degree, but you're
the supplicant here.

I agree. Go to bed and get up on the right side.!!

 

[Olórin]

And you're obviously the arrogant, stuck-up ass hole here.

And nice try, by the way, to essentially show that even you can't
answer the question. By deflecting the question, you are essentially
telling everyone that you can't answer it.

"Even I" can't answer the question? Well, you sure as **** can't; but more
importantly, you can't even ask politely.

Whatever I may have been telling everyone else, the one thing I *was* trying
to tell you has clearly gone right over your immature head.

So long.

 

[Twayne]

Actually youre trying to install xp as the "preffered method"
instead of a windows explorer installation..You dont install the cd
to the hd however,one simply installs xp cd,set the BIOS to boot to
xp cdrom as 1st boot priority,hd
2nd (for installation),save & exit BIOS,boot to xp cd (DOS),select
install xp,
delete the partition,create one,then xp formats & installs auto.The
copy cd to
hd will only cause a malfunction,also,FAT32 is not a preffered file
system,its
outdated,use NTFS.

Since he has a DOS boot partition, FAT32 is actually REQUIRED! Where
have you been?

 

[Twayne]

Why can't you people just answer the god damn question?

LOL! I couldn't have said it better! Dontcha know them egos just gotta
make thmselves known whether it's relevant or not? :^)

Twayne

 

[Twayne]

Not with that attitude. Understand your frustration to a degree, but
you're the supplicant here.

Yeah, but you have to admit, there are an awful lot of non-answers here
lately plugging up the archives to make searches impossible. I also
expect to see responses to the query when I look at a thread; not a
bunch of egotistic and even sometimes nacissists just wanting to see
themselves in print. The OP has come into the group at a time when
those types seem to be crawling out of the walls for every question
asked.
The only think I really object to is the x-post to so many irrelevant
groups, but at least he didn't multi-post, so ...

Regards,

Twayne

 

[Twayne]

And you're obviously the arrogant, stuck-up ass hole here.

And nice try, by the way, to essentially show that even you can't
answer the question. By deflecting the question, you are essentially
telling everyone that you can't answer it.

Olorin's a good guy. And there was some uncalled for language used.
It's a pity it got this far but this group is like that lately which
should tell you you're dealing with a bunch of newbies. God=anything
thous is always pretty rude & crude, don't you think? Take the high
road; you'll be glad you did.

HTH,

Twayne

 

[Twayne]

If I have a blank hard drive that I've partitioned as FAT32 and will
boot into DOS, and if I copy the entire contents of an XP cd to the
drive, is there a way I can launch the XP installation process after
the machine starts and boots itself into DOS?

There doesn't seem to be much on the net that explicitly says you can
do that.

I've tried, and setup.exe requires that it be launched from a
protected mode (32-bit) environment (ie like win-98 I guess).

Some other comments I've come across is that possibly the install can
be started from DOS by running winnt.exe with the appropriate
command-line switches. Yet other comments refer to bart-pe.

So, it it possible?

Yes, and maybe. An actual straight install of XP I think would work;
I've done similar things but not exactly what you're trying.
A bastardized XP disk supplied OEM may or may not work. I had an Acer
with MCE here awhile back that wouldn't allow it; I was trying to make
it easy for the user to reinstall because he was, well, just plain
stupid if he had to do much more than press a button. It was hard coded
somehow to know whether it was seeing a hard drive or an optical drive,
something not real hard to tell in code.

I'd say try it and see what happens. But be sure your catastrophic
recovery methods are all in place, just in case. I think it may work
though unless it's a seriously bastardized OEM version. OR, install it
somewhere "safe" where it won't mess your production drive should it
fail.

HTH,

Twayne

 

[Tim Meddick]

Windows 95 [versions of] was the first Bootable CD.

 

[David B.]

The Windows 95 CD was NOT bootable, nor was the 98 CD.

--

Crosspost, do not multipost http://www.blakjak.demon.co.uk/mul_crss.htm
How to ask a question http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555375

Windows 95 [versions of] was the first Bootable CD.

--

Cheers, Tim Meddick, Peckham, London.

XP Guy said this on 4/22/2009 10:56 PM:
If you've been around a while, you might remember the old days of win 95
or win 98 that required a boot floppy to load drivers etc. I think it
was win98se that actually made the first bootable CD to install from. If
you replicate a win9x boot floppy, that might work.
And there are many utility boot CD's like BartPE etc that can be created,
but as others have said, if you boot from a CD why not just boot from the
Windows XP cd and do it right. All the tools are there!

 

[Tim Meddick]

David,
You're probably right, please forgive me I wasn't thinking (just
assuming). I can only speak for the Win98SE CD, which I have, and that is
bootable.

--

Cheers, Tim Meddick, Peckham, London.

The Windows 95 CD was NOT bootable, nor was the 98 CD.

--

Crosspost, do not multipost http://www.blakjak.demon.co.uk/mul_crss.htm
How to ask a question http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555375

Windows 95 [versions of] was the first Bootable CD.

--

Cheers, Tim Meddick, Peckham, London.

XP Guy said this on 4/22/2009 10:56 PM:
If I have a blank hard drive that I've partitioned as FAT32 and will
boot into DOS, and if I copy the entire contents of an XP cd to the
drive, is there a way I can launch the XP installation process after
the
machine starts and boots itself into DOS?

There doesn't seem to be much on the net that explicitly says you can
do
that.

I've tried, and setup.exe requires that it be launched from a protected
mode (32-bit) environment (ie like win-98 I guess).

Some other comments I've come across is that possibly the install can
be
started from DOS by running winnt.exe with the appropriate command-line
switches. Yet other comments refer to bart-pe.

So, it it possible?
If you've been around a while, you might remember the old days of win 95
or win 98 that required a boot floppy to load drivers etc. I think it
was win98se that actually made the first bootable CD to install from. If
you replicate a win9x boot floppy, that might work.
And there are many utility boot CD's like BartPE etc that can be
created, but as others have said, if you boot from a CD why not just
boot from the Windows XP cd and do it right. All the tools are there!

 

[Peter Foldes]

Twayne

Andrew is the resident idiot who always posts wrong info and a lot times dangerous
ones at that

 

[XP Guy]

Yes.

Google could have told you that. ;-)

If that's true, I haven't found it yet.

If you have, is there some reason you're not posting it?