Install Vista on Toshiba M200 via USB DVD Drive

[Saurabh Nandu]

Hi,

I am testing the latest Vista Beta2 build, I downloaded the ISO and burned a
DVD (at 4x). Since I wanted to perform a clean install I connected my
Toshiba M200 Tablet PC to an external DVD Drive via USB 2.0 and booted off
the DVD. The boot process started with a DOS screen showing me that Vista
files were being loaded there was activity on the DVD Drive but the HDD
light was not blinking.

It seemed like it was loading some files into RAM creating virtual disks but
this process was taking eternity. I waited for 30 mins and still the
progress bar was half way. I though something was amiss so I rebooted.
Plugged the DVD drive in another port and start the installation. Still the
same thing it took more than 30 mins to get half way through the progress
bar, then the screen blanked out. The dvd drive was spinning but nothing on
the screen. Ultimately I was forced to reboot into WinXp Tablet PC edition
and load the installer from there. I worked perfectly fine from there.

So my question is, is there a problem installing from DVD using a USB Drive?
Since 30 mins and more for just loading the installer is plain unacceptable.

Machine Config
Toshiba M200 Tablet PC
1.5 Ghz Centrino processor, 512 MB Ram,
40 GB Hdd.


Regards,
Saurabh Nandu
Microsoft C# MVP

 

[Andre Da Costa [Extended64]]

That is strange. Could be the disk speed, I would try burning the ISO the
lowest possible speed, also, I would try another method instead of USB based
external drive. Does the Tablet have a built in DVD optical drive you can
boot from?
--
--
Andre
Windows Connected | http://www.windowsconnected.com
Extended64 | http://www.extended64.com
Blog | http://www.extended64.com/blogs/andre
http://spaces.msn.com/members/adacosta

 

[Zack Whittaker]

Now, I'm prepared to be quite wrong on this... an internal DVD drive goes
pretty much straight into the motherboard - very fast. If it has to go
through a USB 1.2 port, this is lower bandwidth to the motherboard... so in
theory, it'd be slower running a DVD from a USB external than an internal
drive.

Does that make sense.. and am I wrong about that? Try running the setup from
a network share or an internal drive if you can. Also, setup's always go
faster if you have the setup files in a folder actually on the disk you're
installing to.

--
Zack Whittaker
» ZackNET Enterprises: www.zacknet.co.uk
» MSBlog on ResDev: www.msblog.org
» Vista Knowledge Base: www.vistabase.co.uk
» This mailing is provided "as is" with no warranties, and confers no
rights. All opinions expressed are those of myself unless stated so, and not
of my employer, best friend, Ghandi, my mother or my cat. Glad we cleared
that up!

--: Original message follows :--

 

[Andre Da Costa [Extended64]]

I don't know about the read speed from USB based drives, but it should be
improved in Vista since setup now utilizes Windows Preinstallation
Environment.
"Try running the setup from
a network share or an internal drive if you can. Also, setup's always go
faster if you have the setup files in a folder actually on the disk you're
installing to."

Good point.
--
--
Andre
Windows Connected | http://www.windowsconnected.com
Extended64 | http://www.extended64.com
Blog | http://www.extended64.com/blogs/andre
http://spaces.msn.com/members/adacosta

 

[Saurabh Nandu]

Hi Andre,

The same disk installs fine when I install through WinXP, so disk burning
speed should not be a problem.

Also the same disk works at proper speed through USB when I install through
WinXP. It's just when I install from direct DVD there is a problem.

The Tablet does not have internal optical drive to save weight

Hence I thought there was some problem with the fresh start using USB
Drives. I have tried to install WinXP using this same method couple of times
an its always as fast as installation through a normal internal drive.

Regards,
Saurabh Nandu
www.AksTech.com

 

[Saurabh Nandu]

Hi Zack,

Thanks for the response, I have tried installing WinXp/Win2003 couple of
times through this same drive on the same machine using USB - never once has
it been slower or sluggish install.

I do understand the point you are trying to bring out, so I waited 30 mins..
i think anything over that for the setup to load is totally un acceptable.

If I put the files in some folder then I will have to first boot to MS Dos
and then may be try to invoke the installer, why should I not be just using
the bootable DVD ?

Regards,
Saurabh Nandu

 

[Saurabh Nandu]

As mentioned above, when I use the same drive and start installation through
winxp its pretty fast and that's how I managed to install it in the first
place. I think something is amiss somewhere.

Regards,
Saurabh Nandu

 

[Zack Whittaker]

Try using a network share, or if possible, copy all the files from the disc
to the hard drive - the setup will run a whole load faster )

--
Zack Whittaker
» ZackNET Enterprises: www.zacknet.co.uk
» MSBlog on ResDev: www.msblog.org
» Vista Knowledge Base: www.vistabase.co.uk
» This mailing is provided "as is" with no warranties, and confers no
rights. All opinions expressed are those of myself unless stated so, and not
of my employer, best friend, Ghandi, my mother or my cat. Glad we cleared
that up!

--: Original message follows :--

 

[Andre Da Costa [Extended64]]

I suspect its just an incompatibility with Windows Vista and the device when
using this method. I would file a report on the issue and contact the
manufacturer of the device about Vista support.
--
--
Andre
Windows Connected | http://www.windowsconnected.com
Extended64 | http://www.extended64.com
Blog | http://www.extended64.com/blogs/andre
http://spaces.msn.com/members/adacosta