help installing xp from a flashdrive

Fitseries3 · Dec 7, 2008

im no noob at installing OSes but this one has me stumped.

im trying to install XP FROM a usb flash drive TO a computer with NO cd/dvd drive. the computer was origially loaded from a usb drive cause there is NO cd/dvd drive or anywhere to hook one up other than usb.

i have tried several guides that i have found via google but none have begun to work. i may be overlooking some simple step here.

i have the xp disc's content on the flashdrive. i have tried using fat, fat32, and ntfs but none have worked so far.

the computer tries to boot from the drive but then tells me "remove removable media and press any key to continue".

this seems like a catch 22 situation where i will never win but maybe you know more than i do here.

what am i doing wrong?

sneekypeet · Dec 7, 2008

you have set the USB stick up with the HP bootable image? You may want to shoot infrared a PM as I know for sure he has done this!

Fitseries3 · Dec 7, 2008

sneekypeet said:
you have set the USB stick up with the HP bootable image? You may want to shoot infrared a PM as I know for sure he has done this!

yup. used hp tool, petousb, and a few others. i also tried the guide doninkansas found.

tkpenalty · Dec 7, 2008

fitseries3 said:
im no noob at installing OSes but this one has me stumped.

im trying to install XP FROM a usb flash drive TO a computer with NO cd/dvd drive. the computer was origially loaded from a usb drive cause there is NO cd/dvd drive or anywhere to hook one up other than usb.

i have tried several guides that i have found via google but none have begun to work. i may be overlooking some simple step here.

i have the xp disc's content on the flashdrive. i have tried using fat, fat32, and ntfs but none have worked so far.

the computer tries to boot from the drive but then tells me "remove removable media and press any key to continue".

this seems like a catch 22 situation where i will never win but maybe you know more than i do here.

what am i doing wrong?

Might be a stupid question but have you fiddled with any of the boot settings in BIOS? You would be required to change the boot order just to boot from a removable usb device (as it is not something the BIOS defaults to usually).

Fitseries3 · Dec 7, 2008

tkpenalty said:
Might be a stupid question but have you fiddled with any of the boot settings in BIOS?

yes but its very limited.

with the right files on the flash drive i can get it to boot to a command prompt but i cant launch the install from dos.

tkpenalty · Dec 7, 2008

fitseries3 said:
yes but its very limited.

with the right files on the flash drive i can get it to boot to a command prompt but i cant launch the install from dos.

Read my edit. You're not supposed to launch from DOS anyway, its supposed to be an automated boot into the setup. It sounds ludicrous that the BIOS would omit boot settings.

In the case you have correct boot settings (Boot order, boot setup whatever, something like this: 1. Removable USB/Disk Drive/Media 2. Hard Disk), well then you're doing something wrong.

I'd recommend using this guide btw: http://www.eeeguides.com/2007/11/installing-windows-xp-from-usb-thumb.html

Fitseries3 · Dec 7, 2008

i got it to boot from the flashdrive every time. its just not doing what it should.

Polaris573 · Dec 7, 2008

Run this file "Drive Letter:\i386\winnt.exe" with your drive letter where indicated and without quotes.

Fitseries3 · Dec 7, 2008

Polaris573 said:
Run this file "Drive Letter:\i386\winnt.exe" with your drive letter where indicated and without quotes.

sweet. that got it started but its asking me to install smartdrive. how do i do that?

Polaris573 · Dec 7, 2008

You need to find a copy of smartdrv.exe and put it somewhere on the flash drive so you can run it. If you don't it can take up to 5 hours just to copy the files to the hard drive.

Fitseries3 · Dec 7, 2008

oh sweet. it boots right into setup now but says that it cant fine the EULA so it ends setup.

i found the EULA and copied it into like 8 different places on the flash drive and it still says that it cant find it. what now?

Polaris573 · Dec 7, 2008

I don't know what to do about that either. Is this copy of windows from a CD that was specifically for a DELL, HP, Acer, etc.? If it was then it would cause a similar problem preventing you from installing windows on a computer that is not manufactured by that brand.

Fitseries3 · Dec 7, 2008

its from a genuine xp pro disk.

bubje · Dec 7, 2008

another option is to use a usb floppydrive , download the xp setup on diskette from bootdisk.com(6 diskettes)or from here :http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...FamilyID=535d248d-5e10-49b5-b80c-0a0205368124 and then continue with a usb cd/dvd player with your cd
That is if you have a usb floppy
With floppy i mean diskette of course

Fitseries3 · Dec 8, 2008

now i cant get the flashdrive to boot at all. the computer says....

remove disks or other media

pres any key to restart.

WTF am i doing wrong?

Mussels · Dec 8, 2008

i can make it work in vista, but i never got XP to work either.

The only way i made xp work, was to use a USB DVD drive.

Fitseries3 · Dec 8, 2008

im willing to try anything at this point. this 3yr old girl has been begging me for a week now to get it working and i simply cant do it. tell me how. i only have a 2gb flashdrive so i cant just copy it over. bartpe wont build vista disks.

tell me how. no one else seems to want to help.

Mussels · Dec 8, 2008

fitseries3 said:
im willing to try anything at this point. this 3yr old girl has been begging me for a week now to get it working and i simply cant do it. tell me how. i only have a 2gb flashdrive so i cant just copy it over. bartpe wont build vista disks.

tell me how. no one else seems to want to help.

to do vista, you need a 4GB flash drive.

Your only options here is really to get a USB to sata/USB to IDE adaptor, and hook a CD/DVD drive up

HTC · Dec 8, 2008

fitseries3 said:
oh sweet. it boots right into setup now but says that it cant fine the EULA so it ends setup.

i found the EULA and copied it into like 8 different places on the flash drive and it still says that it cant find it. what now?

Have you tried creating an "autoexec.bat" with the command "path=" using the directories of the install?

Could that work?

Deleted member 38767 · Dec 8, 2008

No one asked, so I'll do it: is the system DELL/HP/Lenovo etc.? Most PC of those brands have build in restore.

bubje · Dec 8, 2008

I think your only option to get xp on that machine is to use a external usb cd/dvd drive

Wile E · Dec 8, 2008

fitseries3 said:
im no noob at installing OSes but this one has me stumped.

im trying to install XP FROM a usb flash drive TO a computer with NO cd/dvd drive. the computer was origially loaded from a usb drive cause there is NO cd/dvd drive or anywhere to hook one up other than usb.

i have tried several guides that i have found via google but none have begun to work. i may be overlooking some simple step here.

i have the xp disc's content on the flashdrive. i have tried using fat, fat32, and ntfs but none have worked so far.

the computer tries to boot from the drive but then tells me "remove removable media and press any key to continue".

this seems like a catch 22 situation where i will never win but maybe you know more than i do here.

what am i doing wrong?

Doninkansas had a thread about this a week or 2 ago. You have to set the stick up a certain way.
http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=77173

eidairaman1 · Dec 8, 2008

ive tried installing XP to a External USB HD before, doesnt work, just to give heads up, im sure its same way trying to install from a thumbdrive.

Fitseries3 · Dec 8, 2008

Grasshopper said:
No one asked, so I'll do it: is the system DELL/HP/Lenovo etc.? Most PC of those brands have build in restore.

no. just a mini itx machine. no brand. new hdd thats dry.

bubje said:
I think your only option to get xp on that machine is to use a external usb cd/dvd drive

Wile E said:
Doninkansas had a thread about this a week or 2 ago. You have to set the stick up a certain way.
http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=77173

i said i tryed that already. the program used in that guide wont even see my flashdrive. don went back and tried to do it again and it wouldnt let him do it either. idk wtf is going on.

lemonadesoda · Dec 8, 2008

I have also spent hours trying to create USB Windows installations and have also failed. I think that it is very *BIOS* dependent. Some newer mainboards can do it. Some older ones cant.

My suggestion is as follows:

Put the HDD into another computer. Install XP. Once working, use sysprep. Shut down. Move the HDD to the other PC, and boot.

System Name	EVA-01
Processor	Intel i7 13700K
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Power Supply	OCZ StealthXStream 600 Watt
Software	Windows 7 Ultimate x64

Processor	LGA 775 Intel Q9550 2.8 Ghz
Motherboard	MSI P7N Diamond - 780i Chipset
Cooling	Arctic Freezer
Memory	6GB G.Skill DDRII 800 4-4-3-5
Video Card(s)	Sapphire HD 7850 2 GB PCI-E
Storage	1 TB Seagate 32MB Cache, 250 GB Seagate 16MB Cache
Display(s)	Acer X203w
Case	Coolermaster Centurion 5
Audio Device(s)	Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Music
Power Supply	OCZ StealthXStream 600 Watt
Software	Windows 7 Ultimate x64

Processor	LGA 775 Intel Q9550 2.8 Ghz
Motherboard	MSI P7N Diamond - 780i Chipset
Cooling	Arctic Freezer
Memory	6GB G.Skill DDRII 800 4-4-3-5
Video Card(s)	Sapphire HD 7850 2 GB PCI-E
Storage	1 TB Seagate 32MB Cache, 250 GB Seagate 16MB Cache
Display(s)	Acer X203w
Case	Coolermaster Centurion 5
Audio Device(s)	Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Music
Power Supply	OCZ StealthXStream 600 Watt
Software	Windows 7 Ultimate x64

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Memory	2GB (2x 1GB) DDR2 PC2-8500 (DDR2-1066), (OCZ Reaper HPC OCZ2RPR10664GK)
Video Card(s)	Club3D 5850(850/1200) ,2x4870 , 2x 8800gtx
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Video Card(s)	Galax RTX 3090 SG 24GB: Underclocked to 1700Mhz 0.750v (375W down to 250W))
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Video Card(s)	Sapphire Pulse 6600 8 GB
Storage	1 Samsung NVMe 960 EVO 250 GB + 1 3.5" Seagate IronWolf Pro 6TB 7200RPM 256MB SATA III
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help installing xp from a flashdrive

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