older laptop - no floppy and I can't boot from CD

[Steve]

Like the subject says, I can't boot from CD to run XP Pro setup. I'm
guessing it needs some drivers or something, I'm really not sure. I don't
have a floppy drive either. What are my options (besides purchasing a new
CDROM drive or floppy drive) I do have a converter that will allow me to
hook up the HDD in my desktop machine, are there files I could copy that
would allow the CDROM drive to be bootable?

Thank you,
Steve

 

[Carey Frisch [MVP]]

If there is no option in the BIOS to set the CD Drive as
the first bootable device, its very likely your old laptop
does not even meet the minimum hardware requirements
to install and run Windows XP. You cannot install
Windows XP by placing the hard drive in a totally
different computer and expect it to run in another
computer.

System requirements for Windows XP operating systems
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;314865

How Do I Use Upgrade Advisor?
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/upgrading/advisor.mspx

Clean Install Windows XP
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows XP - Shell/User
Microsoft Newsgroups

Get Windows XP Service Pack 2 with Advanced Security Technologies:
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/protect/windowsxp/choose.mspx

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

:

| Like the subject says, I can't boot from CD to run XP Pro setup. I'm
| guessing it needs some drivers or something, I'm really not sure. I don't
| have a floppy drive either. What are my options (besides purchasing a new
| CDROM drive or floppy drive) I do have a converter that will allow me to
| hook up the HDD in my desktop machine, are there files I could copy that
| would allow the CDROM drive to be bootable?
|
| Thank you,
| Steve

 

[Guest]

Check the BIOS setup to make sure that it is configured to boot the machine
from the CD drive.

Bob

 

[Yves Leclerc]

If you have a laptop HDD convert, then on a desktop machine that you can set
so that the CD-ROM boots, you can install XP. Then, you could move the
laptop HDD back to the laptop.

 

[Guest]

Well you do need a floppy drive to be able to boot the XP cd and i'm pretty
sure you cannot use a usb device to boot off of because you machine is old.
so in other words it a paper weight. then again how old is your machine and
what are the specs (ex: processor speed, make and model of the laptop) that
might give us a bit more insight into how we can help

 

[R. McCarty]

Set the BIOS boot sequencing to CD-ROM as a higher priority
than the hard drive. Otherwise this is the only method I can think
of - it's convoluted, but you could.

(1.) Install notebook drive in desktop
(2.) Format it FAT32
(3.) Copy i386 folder from CD-ROM
(4.) Boot to Windows 98 Boot Floppy (Desktop)
(5.) Do a Sys D: ( or whatever drive letter the notebook drive gets)
**Be careful which drive letter you designate - Make the notebook
volume name something distinctive, so you can recognize it.
(6.) Create a Config.Sys and Autoexec.Bat on the notebook drive
Make sure to load Smartdrv.Exe from Autoexec.Bat
(7.) Re-install Notebook drive + Boot to Dos Prompt
(8.) Change Directory to i386
(9.) Invoke XP installer (**If upgrade XP, then you'll need to install
the qualifying OS onto the drive along with i386 or you'll be unable
to validate. Winnt.Exe is the executable to start XP installation.

 

[Steve]

Hi, wow, thanks for all the replies!

I apparently left out one vital bit of advice... I have set the BIOS to boot
from CD first, then HDD
problem is, I put the CD (orig. MS disk) reboot and nothing happens, it
still boots into my older win2k pro install.

It's a pentium 700 Mhz w/ 64 MB ram. I just want it as a basic mp3 player
and browser in my kitchen.

 

[kurttrail]

Hi, wow, thanks for all the replies!

I apparently left out one vital bit of advice... I have set the BIOS
to boot from CD first, then HDD
problem is, I put the CD (orig. MS disk) reboot and nothing happens,
it still boots into my older win2k pro install.

It's a pentium 700 Mhz w/ 64 MB ram. I just want it as a basic mp3
player and browser in my kitchen.

http://www.tech-recipes.com/windows_installation_tips578.html

--
Peace!
Kurt
Self-anointed Moderator
microscum.pubic.windowsexp.gonorrhea
http://microscum.com/mscommunity
"Trustworthy Computing" is only another example of an Oxymoron!
"Produkt-Aktivierung macht frei"

 

[Jim Macklin]

you are very short on RAM

be sure autoplay is enabled the CD.


--
The people think the Constitution protects their rights;
But government sees it as an obstacle to be overcome.


| Hi, wow, thanks for all the replies!
|
| I apparently left out one vital bit of advice... I have
set the BIOS to boot
| from CD first, then HDD
| problem is, I put the CD (orig. MS disk) reboot and
nothing happens, it
| still boots into my older win2k pro install.
|
| It's a pentium 700 Mhz w/ 64 MB ram. I just want it as a
basic mp3 player
| and browser in my kitchen.
|
|
| | > Like the subject says, I can't boot from CD to run XP
Pro setup. I'm
| > guessing it needs some drivers or something, I'm really
not sure. I don't
| > have a floppy drive either. What are my options
(besides purchasing a new
| > CDROM drive or floppy drive) I do have a converter that
will allow me to
| > hook up the HDD in my desktop machine, are there files I
could copy that
| > would allow the CDROM drive to be bootable?
| >
| > Thank you,
| > Steve
| >
| >
|
|