Launching Vista setup from DOS

[FordGT90Concept]

Basically, I have a laptop here that has a fried optical drive. It also can't boot into Vista from the hard disk (hangs on crcdisk). Moreover, the BIOS of this laptop appear to be incapable of booting into a USB CD-ROM drive. As a result, I had to boot into a USB-FDD and use that to gain access to a USB CD-ROM drive and I try to call setup.exe and it says "This program cannot be run in DOS mode."

So now I'm trying to find a way launc the Vista install disk from a DOS command prompt. After a lot of googling, I discovered that officially, the only way to do this is via Windows PE. I'm working on downloading the Window Automated Installation Kit but at this point, I am completely lost. Can Windows PE be started from DOS? Can Windows PE launch the Vista install? Any tips on how to do either or both?

It sounds to me like WAIK requires a working optical drive as well. Is this computer completely screwed without having a new optical drive installed?

 

[slyfox2151]

i think it might be easier to boot XP from dos rather then vista, then once xp is installed you could then just run the vista setup.exe and get installed that way.




vista + dos just dosnt sound like it would work.

 

[angelkiller]

I assume the goal is to get vista on the laptop. Why not just take the hard drive out of the laptop and put it in another system with a working optical? That takes all the laptop's issues out of the question.

 

[slyfox2151]

I assume the goal is to get vista on the laptop. Why not just take the hard drive out of the laptop and put it in another system with a working optical? That takes all the laptop's issues out of the question.

how would you get the hdd to boot on the laptop after the install without it blue screening on bootup due to different hardware/drivers?

 

[A Cheese Danish]

vista + dos just dosnt sound like it would work.

No, because that is what they made Windows PE for. To replace DOS. Ideally anyway.
I have no idea how you would start to install Vista through DOS...Sorry

Although I like angelkillers idea about using a different PC to install Vista on the drive.
All you'd have to do is install new drivers and possibly repair the boot record.

 

[FordGT90Concept]

i think it might be easier to boot XP from dos rather then vista, then once xp is installed you could then just run the vista setup.exe and get installed that way.

It is a Dell disk so I'm not sure it would support upgrading (which that would effectively be). It is an idea though and I might have to try it.

I assume the goal is to get vista on the laptop.

Correct.

Why not just take the hard drive out of the laptop and put it in another system with a working optical? That takes all the laptop's issues out of the question.

I don't think I have any means of plugging that laptop HDD into another computer. It does have a Core 2 Duo in it so it might have a SATA header. It could be PATA too. I've never tried plugging a laptop HDD into a desktop. Doesn't it require special adapters?

No, because that is what they made Windows PE for. To replace DOS. Ideally anyway.
I have no idea how you would start to install Vista through DOS...Sorry

So Windows PE requires a DVD that can't be started from DOS?

 

[A Cheese Danish]

So Windows PE requires a DVD that can't be started from DOS?

Correct. Here is an idea similar to yours (you may have came across): http://www.vistax64.com/vista-general/30847-running-vista-setup-dos-boot-disk.html
Lists a couple ideas around it though.

Edit: Scratch that. Can't really map a drive on a computer that doesn't have an OS on it.

 

[BrooksyX]

Just drag all the contents of the vista install disc to a usb thumb drive and boot from the usb disc. Im pretty sure that should work. If that doesnt work then you should be able to download a program that would allow you to setup an install usb, but you should just be able to drag the files to usb and boot from that.

 

[angelkiller]

how would you get the hdd to boot on the laptop after the install without it blue screening on bootup due to different hardware/drivers?

In my experiences, Windows will still boot after moving a hdd to a completely different system. Sure you won't have many divers installed, but I think the system uses lots of default generic Microsoft drivers until you install your own.

I don't think I have any means of plugging that laptop HDD into another computer. It does have a Core 2 Duo in it so it might have a SATA header. It could be PATA too. I've never tried plugging a laptop HDD into a desktop. Doesn't it require special adapters?

Laptop SATA is the same as desktop SATA. Laptop IDE needs an adapter. Might be worth checking if it's SATA.

 

[slyfox2151]

It is a Dell disk so I'm not sure it would support upgrading (which that would effectively be). It is an idea though and I might have to try it.

no it would be a clean install,

when you go into setup, hit advanced or custom and select clean install not upgrade. once installed all you would need to do is delete windows.old in the c:/ directory and xp would be gone.

 

[FordGT90Concept]

It is a Dell Inspiron 1720. Maybe there's a resource online somewhere that says if it is SATA or not.

no it would be a clean install,

when you go into setup, hit advanced or custom and select clean install not upgrade. once installed all you would need to do is delete windows.old in the c:/ directory and xp would be gone.

I'm thinking that might be the most feasible route...unless HDD is SATA. If the HDD is SATA, it is going to need drivers. In any event, I should try it. It would at least give me an idea of what I'm up against...

 

[A Cheese Danish]

It is a Dell Inspiron 1720. Maybe there's a resource online somewhere that says if it is SATA or not.

The drive should be SATA.
And have you tried a bootable flash drive? (as Brooksy stated)
Or do you have to go through USB FDD to get to the external cd-rom/flash drive?

 

[ShiBDiB]

it needs to be asked... why in all that is holy are u installing vista on anything

 

[FordGT90Concept]

I tried booting into Windows XP and it says:

An internal Setup error has occured.

Could not find a place for a swap file.

Setup cannot continue.  Press ENTER to exit.

This is most likely because I have to create a ramdrive in order to access USB devices.


I think the Vista image is too big to fit on any of my USB drives. My largest is 4GB.


Edit: Same error without RAM drive--must be Windows 98.

 

[FordGT90Concept]

OMG! I took the optical drive out of the computer and that forced it to the USB external drive. I'm making progress!

 

[slyfox2151]

you can easily fit vista onto a 4gb USB, the image should be around 3.1GB even less if you tweak it to remove all the other versions you dont want to install.

It is a Dell Inspiron 1720. Maybe there's a resource online somewhere that says if it is SATA or not.



I'm thinking that might be the most feasible route...unless HDD is SATA. If the HDD is SATA, it is going to need drivers. In any event, I should try it. It would at least give me an idea of what I'm up against...

any drivers you need for sata would be installed with vista......

 

[FordGT90Concept]

I got it to the desktop but I did have to "Load Drivers" and select the SATA driver from the Dell driver/utilities disk. It was stuck on "Completing install" when I didn't.

Also, it got stuck while running the apparently mandatory performance test. I think it overheated (fan doesn't seem to work).

It took 9 hours but I got it.

 

[Solaris17]

I got it to the desktop but I did have to "Load Drivers" and select the SATA driver from the Dell driver/utilities disk. It was stuck on "Completing install" when I didn't.

Also, it got stuck while running the apparently mandatory performance test. I think it overheated (fan doesn't seem to work).

It took 9 hours but I got it.

that test isnt manditory. When vista first came out i posted in a vista thread about how you can hit ALT-F4 during that test and it will bring you right to desktop.

 

[twicksisted]

i diddnt read the whole thread but basuically had to install vista on a netbook with no optical drive... i just put the install files onto USB and booted from USB drive to setup windows

 

[W1zzard]

usb stick install for windows is awesome. once you've done it you wonder why they dont just give you a usb stick with it instead of stupid optical media

 

[Millennium]

I have a usb stick with 2 volumes (one small one with an encryption tool, and one large 4gb one). When I plug it in and reboot two USB drives are detected, however neither boots. I have tried tools to make one or both of the volumes bootable, and a windows USB install tool, but neither works.

Has anyone managed to boot off a USB device detected as 2 volumes or am I out of luck with this USB stick? thanks

 

[FordGT90Concept]

that test isnt manditory. When vista first came out i posted in a vista thread about how you can hit ALT-F4 during that test and it will bring you right to desktop.

I tried escape. By the time I tried it, the computer was locked up. Still, pretty lame it tests performance at all as part of installation unless the user opts in to it.

i diddnt read the whole thread but basuically had to install vista on a netbook with no optical drive... i just put the install files onto USB and booted from USB drive to setup windows

usb stick install for windows is awesome. once you've done it you wonder why they dont just give you a usb stick with it instead of stupid optical media

I'm not convinced the laptop would have even booted Vista on USB Flash. Running it from FDD -> USB driver definitely wouldn't have worked for the same reason FDD -> DVD didn't work (can't run 32-bit from 16-bit environment).

If someone else encounters a similar issue, it's something they should try.

Has anyone managed to boot off a USB device detected as 2 volumes or am I out of luck with this USB stick? thanks

Why not format it?

 

[Millennium]

If I format it it only lets me format either of the two volumes at a time. It's not partitioned its a hardware thing.

I tried formatting it with boot support with the HP tool and that didn't work. Not to worry

/thread jack

 

[FordGT90Concept]

Maybe use FDISK and delete the partitions.

Win 98 Startup Disk has FDISK among other things.


Edit: You might be able to delete the partions via Control Panel -> Administrative Tools -> Computer Management: Disk Management as well (probably a better choice than FDISK).