Win XP Setup won't work in DOS mode?

[Jillian Bruss]

I've just replaced my mb and processor, and am trying to reinstall Win XP
after formatting my drive - At least I think I formatted it. Right now I
have started up with a Win 98 boot floppy, and am trying to run setup from
my Win xp CD Rom. When I do, I get an error message saying that setup can't
be run in DOS mode. What's the problem here?

Thanks,

Jack

 

[Chris Lanier]

The Windows XP CD is bootable. you dont need DOS.

 

[Mike Brannigan [MSFT]]

Jillian,

You do not need to start the setup from DOS.
Just boot from the CD ROM
(ensure your BIOS is configured to use the CD as the first boot device.
This is specific to your BIOS - see the BIOS or computer manual for more
details on how to do this)


--
Regards,

Mike
--
Mike Brannigan [Microsoft]

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no
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Please note I cannot respond to e-mailed questions, please use these
newsgroups

 

[Crusty \(-: Old B@stard :-\)]

The problem is exactly as stated. You can't run setup from DOS. Can't be any
clearer!

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings --

The "problem" stems from trying to use a Win98 boot disk to
install WinXP.

Simply boot from the WinXP installation CD. You'll be offered
the opportunity to delete, create, and format partitions as part of
the installation process. (You may need to re-arrange the order of
boot devices in the PC's BIOS to boot from the CD.)

HOW TO Install Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;en-us;316941

http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html

http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/clean_install.htm


Bruce Chambers

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[Chuck]

I've just replaced my mb and processor, and am trying to reinstall Win XP
after formatting my drive - At least I think I formatted it. Right now I
have started up with a Win 98 boot floppy, and am trying to run setup from
my Win xp CD Rom. When I do, I get an error message saying that setup can't
be run in DOS mode. What's the problem here?

Thanks,

Jack

Jack,

You need to boot directly from the CD to install Windows XP. The
Win98 floppy won't do it.

You need to access your BIOS config, and change the boot order.
Proper boot order is:
1) Floppy.
2) CD-ROM.
3) Hard drive.

Make the change. Get rid of the Win98 floppy. Try again.

Cheers,


Chuck
I hate spam - PLEASE get rid of the spam before emailing me!
Paranoia comes from experience - and is not necessarily a bad thing.

 

[Doug Knox MS-MVP]

While everyone here has told you that you can boot from the XP CD, no one
actually answered your question. To run XP's setup from a DOS boot disk, at
the command prompt enter

X:\I386\WINNT.EXE

Where X is your CD Drive letter. You will also want to ensure that you
have Smartdrv.exe on your boot disk and that you run it before running
WINNT.EXE It will make the file copying portion of setup go much faster.

 

[Chuck]

While everyone here has told you that you can boot from the XP CD, no one
actually answered your question. To run XP's setup from a DOS boot disk, at
the command prompt enter

X:\I386\WINNT.EXE

Where X is your CD Drive letter. You will also want to ensure that you
have Smartdrv.exe on your boot disk and that you run it before running
WINNT.EXE It will make the file copying portion of setup go much faster.

Does your DOS boot disk always include a driver to access the CDROM
drive?


Chuck
I hate spam - PLEASE get rid of the spam before emailing me!
Paranoia comes from experience - and is not necessarily a bad thing.

 

[Doug Knox MS-MVP]

The one made from a Win98 system should. The one created by XP, doesn't. I
don't recall if Me's does or not. You can download a file set for a boot
disk with CD support from www.bootdisk.com.

 

[Alex Nichol]

I've just replaced my mb and processor, and am trying to reinstall Win XP
after formatting my drive - At least I think I formatted it. Right now I
have started up with a Win 98 boot floppy, and am trying to run setup from
my Win xp CD Rom.

Normally, You do it as part of a reinstall of the system after booting
the XP CD direct. Enter Setup, and after the license agreement take New
Install. When it asks you to confirm where, hit ESC; select and delete
the current partition and make a new RAW one to be formatted at the next
stage

The important point is the delete. Without that it will just go ahead
and make a new install over the top of the old one


If your machine will positively not boot a CD, then you *can* format a
partition with a Win98 boot floppy (but that means FAT 32 like it or
not) , then go to the XP CD and give
CD i386
(that's letter I. number 386)
WINNT

 

[Stan]

also before you start installing the XP get smartdrv on the boot disk
and install that.

Go to www.bootdisk.com for all your bootdisk needs


E:cd i386
E:i386/winnt


Stan -