Install XP Home to laptop w/o CD-ROM?

[GREG MOORE]

I'm trying to do a "clean" installation of Windows XP Home to a laptop
computer that doesn't have a CD-ROM drive.

So far, I've been able to install it by using the cd on my desktop machine
and linking the two via ethernet cable. The laptop previously had WinME,
and I loaded the drivers for a PCMCIA ethernet card, connected to the
desktop machine, and loaded from there. I assumed if I did a "new"
installation rather than an upgrade that it would wipe the drive in the
process, but the system outsmarted me and preserved a bunch of junk files.

I'm running WXP Pro on the desktop machine. I can connect to the laptop via
ethernet cable to a pc-card ethernet card on the laptop, via parallel cable,
or via serial cable. The laptop has a floppy drive and a ~3GB hard
drive--it's a Dell Inspiron 3500.

What I would like to do, ideally, is to wipe the laptop clean completely and
start with a new installation of WXP Home. I have the full-install edition,
not an upgrade. What I'm afraid of is wiping the laptop's hard drive and
then being left with no way to connect to it for the installation. Short of
buying a USB CD drive or something similar, is there any way to do this? I
haven't had a lot of luck searching the Knowledge Base, but maybe I'm just
looking in the wrong places...

Thanks!
Greg

 

[DL]

Have you checked requirements and compatibility prior to the install?
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/home/evaluation/sysreqs.mspx

 

[Greg Moore]

Have you checked requirements and compatibility prior to the install?
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/home/evaluation/sysreqs.mspx

I have, and I'm aware that one of the requirements is a cd or dvd drive.
The laptop in question is running WinXP Home right now, as I type. I
installed it over a network cable using the CD-ROM drive on my desktop
machine. But what I'd really like to do is wipe the laptop clean and
reinstall XP to get rid of some of the files left over from the previous OS
(WinME) so I have the maximum amount of available hard disk space available.
I'm just wondering how difficult a project this is apt to be, or if it's
even possible.

 

[DL]

When you installed I assume you used the upgrade prev o/s option, rather
than clean option.
If so winxp should have installed to a completely diff. folder to winme that
being the case the winme folder and contents should be deletable.
However if you wish to do a clean install, delete partitions,format and
install xp you might want to ensure you have any drivers for the Dell sys on
Floppy prior to starting, it might also be wise to create the xp floppy
start up disks, for this sys.

 

[Greg Moore]

No, I selected the "New Installation" option, or its equivalent. In any
case, it wasn't the "upgrade" option. I posted this question on another
newsgroup as well, and somebody suggested to copy the entire CD to a folder
on the laptop, boot to a prompt from floppy, delete all but the new folder,
and install from there. Sounds like a winner to me; do you see any problems
with that logic? Just gotta make sure I get all the hidden files...

I also looked around a little, and haven't found any Dell-specific drivers
that I have to be concerned with. Everything in its present state seems to
function, but I do appreciate the heads-up on that.

 

[DL]

If you selected New installation it should have deleted all winme files
The only method to ensure sys is completely clean is to use the winxp
install process to delete, then recreate a partition, format, and install.