Any suggestions?
 

Hi,

Have set Notebook disk C as primary active partition, FAT32 formatted it, installed DOS7.1, copied winXP to C:\i386, but after the first restart during XP installation, get the awful "Non-system disk or disk error - Plz insert DOS diskette...". So I guess XP installation interrupts there. Guess I must have missed somehing in the process. Any help plz?? Thanx in advance.

does your laptop have a floppy drive? a faulty one can cause this order, enter your bios and make sure that floppy is not in the boot order.
The other cause of this, is the same as the ntdlr error. A file in the XP bootloader, often io.sys has been corrupted or missed entirely. Usually this occurs when the disc is a copy, thus an improper boot disc installs files incorrectly.

Check that your partition is set to active, and primary.

Hanging on first reboot...
 

Can someone help? I'm not sure what I'm missing...

Target system is a Motorola MW-520 w/10GB hdd & 700MHz PIII. Desired OS is Win2k.

I removed the hdd from the target system & attached via USB-to-IDE to my laptop. The hdd was partitioned & formatted as such using QTParted:
Partition 1 - Primary, approx 8.7GB, FAT32, C:\
Partition 2 - Primary, approx 650MB, FAT32, D:\

I386 folder was copied from Win2k install disc to D:\ (partition 2). Target hdd was then replaced in target system. After doing so, I realized that I forgot to make partition 1 active.

Win98SE bootdisk was used to start target system. On startup, I used fdisk to make partition 1 active. Then smartdrv.exe was run, followed by D:\I386\winnt.exe. All temporary install files are successfully copied to C:\ (partition 1). :)

After files are copied, Windows indicates that the floppy needs to be removed & the system rebooted for install to continue. After reboot, I get a blank screen staring at me with a lone flashing cursor in the upper left corner. I let the computer sit like this for just over 10 minutes. No prompt, no activity, no nothing. :confused:

Anyone have any ideas? Does the system need to sit longer after the first reboot?

install winxp w/o floppy/cr drive
 

perfect! lots of help! thanks for sharing.
kudos to Sir William Wilson.

instaling xp on lap top with no cd or floopy dirve
 

hi everyone, i was just following the instructions on this web site regarding installing xp on a lap top with no cd or floopy drive.

i did everything up to the step that requires to put the dos 7.1 on the desk top and intaling it on the laptop hard drive, however during the process there is a message that says "remove disks or other media" and "reboot and select proper boot device or insert boot media in selected boot device and press a any key"


guys i don't know what i am doing wrong, in fact i may have the wrong dos 7.1 but i am not sure. I burned the MS-Dos 7.10 CD full instalation and did not work and i also burned MS-DOS 7.10 boot disk that did not work either. which one do i need anyway, and how do i go about burning them(i could have made a mistake there) and finally i put the boot sequence cd drive first and hard drive next.

pelase help


thank you everyone

barro

RE installing XP on one laptop hard drive, then moving that drive to another laptop: Good plan. XP will accomodate to the new laptop. Go for it! You may need access to a cd rom eventually for drivers or file, but xp should boot up fine and access your usb cdrom

To address the issue of bootable CD burning, there is a right way and wrong way to burn the ISO file to cd. If you just burn the file to disk, it is just like any other file you may want to archive or have on CD. You must use a program like ISORecorder (with XP), DeepBurner (for any Win32), Nero, etc to use the ISO file as an image, placing that image on the disk, so that it has the boot sections in the proper place and format, can boot as disk A: or whatever, then proceed to using the files that should have been expanded onto the CD.

For those getting the "Missing Operating System" or "No Operating System" like me, I went into the Bios and noticed that under Hard Drive, it had [none] so I changed it to have a HD. I don't know if when you take out the HD and put it back in again that it doesn't autodetect the HD or what. But after this, I was able to load into DOS and begin installation of XP. This guide worked perfectly for me, other than this one problem I ran into. I have Fujitsu Lifebook b2630.

some OS may automatically remove hdds from the bios list once they have been removed. A low battery on your motherboard is likely to blame for it not being re-added, but a good solution.

Just like to say thanks for this post, complete life saver! Even got laid for it! :)

William, thanks for the great information. I have a tablet PC with no CD drive or floppy disk and I can't intall from a usb CD drive. I installed XP onto the laptop HD using my desktop, then removed the drive before re-boot. I then reinstalled the HD back into the laptop and it booted to Windows and it started the setup. It then prompted me to insert Disk 2 with the tablet PC files on it. I have this disk but can't use it during setup for lack of CD drive. I can't go any further with the setup and have to cancel out of it. Any suggestions?

Try as I Might..no luck
 

This is a fantastic tutorial and the best I've found yet however I seem to be hitting an ordinary wall. I was hoping someone could tell me why and perhaps a solution.

I have followed this tutorial exactly, installing Dos 7.10 using the IDE adapter in a tower (since the HD is a laptop). Then I copied the i386 folder in dos, moved the drive back to the laptop, initiated the install and everything goes perfectly until the computer reboots and starts the final installation (the first colored GUI) where it then prompts me for some asms file from the disc. It prompts me for the location $win_nt$.~LS which is on the drive (I checked) and in the correct spot but seems to be missing this file.

I'm using an OEM version of XP Home SP2. I can't think of a single other variable that makes my situation any different. I've tried a multitude of approaches and now I'm reinstalling dos, putting windows back on, only this time I'm going to include the entire disc. However, I have a feeling this asms file that is missing should be extracted during the initial file copy phase and my having the entire disc may still not make any difference.

Can anyone tell me what I'm doing wrong?

Thank you.

$win_nt$.~LS is one of a couple compact files that are created during the install, could you post the entire error message?

To be honest it sounds like your disc is an upgrade version of XP, and not a full disc, or it is attempting to do an upgrade at the very least, where did you get the disc from?

hi everyone, hope you could help me with my problem in installing windows xp with $OEM$, OEM and i386. here goes, i had my toshiba satellite a10 without internal cd-rom and floppy disk but that doesn't concern me cause i know how to install windows xp on my 2.5 HDD. But then, there's a lot of things i gone crazy and that was during installation lots of dll files have't copied such as FindTarget.dll, FindTarget.inf, LegitCheckControl.dll, MsVirtualCD.cpl,.cpi and i think Vs...or something so, i skipped those files everytime they showed up in a bluescreen where winxp is on the process. And after the installation, an error saying cannot locate C:\D\$OEM$\driversignup.cmd..or something like that...after that the window startup but in a classic theme.how does it happen??? pls...help me everyone. (i also made unattended file in winnt.sif but same result...)the windows xp did not upload the default theme. framedyn.dll could not startup same with ikernel. a lot of files also missing....does anyone knows how to fix it? thanks! or there's just something to add at the winnt.sif

thanks where thanks is due
 

just wanted to add myself to the list of dozens and dozens of people who have benefitted from yout tutorial.....keep up the great work...

Ayoubtt

I was trying to install win XP directly on the laptop HD using another computer (without installing DOS), then I took it out when it was done copying everything it needed and was about to reboot. When I put this HD back into the laptop, it read the HD, but doesn't do anything. It just has a blinking cursor. The HD seems to be spinning so I assumed it was doing something? Anyways, I read this trick from another site that William_Wilson posted on: Windows Tutorials - Install Windows On A Laptop Without A Cd Or Floppy Drive | DreamInCode.net

William, any help with this? Thanks.

Also, another solution on the "No Operating System." On this particular Sony laptop, it autodetects the HD, but does not have it "enabled" for some reason. I had to go into BIOS and manually enable it by pressing [shift][1]. It will be different depening on your BIOS I am assuming. Hope this helps someone.

Could you give me the spec on both computers?
If the drive is spinning, it is likely at least trying to find an OS, but did not. How long did you let it sit with the cursor? Older laptops can take time to boot installers.

William, it is a Sony PCG-R505TSK laptop that has a dock with floppy and DVD drive. The floppy will boot, but the optical drive will not (I've tried using the floppy route to boot to floppy to try to find the optical, but this does not work for me either.) The laptop specs are P3 850MHz, 256 MB RAM, and 20GB HD (Sony consumer electronics guide: PCG-R505TSK - More Specifications) The Bios will not let me load to USB. I let the cursor blink for about 7 minutes before I turned it off.

The desktop that I used was a super old compaq that has pentium 300MHz with 64MB RAM and 7GB HD :) It has no problem installing windows on this desktop.


Also, after this method did not work, I tried the method in this tutorial that worked flawlessly on my fujitsu lifebook, but this time it gave me the dreaded "ntldr is missing press any key to restart" after setup. I 've tried reformatting HD with partition magic and making it primary, but doesn't seem to fix the problem.

Now it's giving me missing OS after I tried the same method. I am seeing the HD in the BIOS, so I don't know what is wrong now.

It is advisable to flash to the BIOS? It has PhoenixBIOS version 4.0 release 6.0. I read on their site that release 6.1 can boot USB. I couldn't find the release 6.1 file nor if they were compatable with this laptop. The sony website does not have an update for the BIOS to 6.1 so I'm guessing it is not compatable but I'm willing to try almost anything right now.

Yes your laptop clearly meets the minimum standards for XP, so that is not an issue.

flashing the bios will usually only replace with the default settings, etc, other than removing any custom settings and updates you may have, it does no real harm.

I would suggest trying a win98 boot floppy since that drive works. Use that to load the OS installation from the drive. It still avoids DOS, but it acts as if that step was present. If that doesn't work I came across this:
Simple "ntldr is missing" fix with boot floppy or CD, then fix HD
in my many searches to solve such problems. Perhaps this will help for you as well.

Thanks for the response. Unfortunately this method did not work :(
I ended up flashing the BIOS, although it was an older version :/ the good thing was that it reset all the settings and its now giving me an option to network boot (it didn't before for some reason, it was disabled and wouldn't let me change it.) Are there any good links for guides to install over the network? I need an "idiot's guide" to network boot to install windows. Thanks in advance.

This tutorial seems to be reasonably complete and simple to follow:
MC MCSE: Additional Installation Methods of Windows XP Professional
Hope it helps

Ok, will give that a try when I have some time. School is starting back up again so I don't have time to screw around. :mad:

Thanks for all of your help so far.

William --

Thanks for the GREAT tutorial. I have successfully reinstalled WinXP on a Panasonic Toughbook, which has only an external CD-ROM and no floppy drive.

I have several suggestions for other readers that might help.

1) When installing the new 2.5" HDD into the desktop computer for formatting, remember to jumper it as a slave . It won't recognize it otherwise, of course, which I realized after multiple frustrating attempts. On my drive, the slave configuration is to vertically jumper the first two pins (of the four jumper pins, the ones farthest from the cable).

2) Know where pin 1 is on your new HDD and line it up correctly with the adapter and the red stripe of the cable. On my HDD, pin 1 is the one closest to the four jumper pins.

3) If you are installing a new HDD larger than 32 GB, you need to create a main partition of 32 GB or smaller. You cannot use FAT32 format if the drive exceeds 32 GB. I formatted an 80 GB drive into three partitions and that worked fine.

4) When installing DOS 7.1 onto the new drive, I tried to install the new HDD as the master, as the instructions indicate. Unfortunately, I never did get the desktop computer to recognize it, even though it was properly formatted and configured as master. I worked around this by installing the /I386 files and smartdrv.exe while the 2.5" drive was installed as the slave. I then rebooted using the DOS 7.1 CD with the new HDD still as slave. When the DOS installation screen came up, it claimed it could not find any FAT drives on my system. It then issued me a stern warning not to continue because it could not install DOS onto a NTFS formatted drive. I clicked "Skip" and continued. At that point I was able to tell it to install onto my second HDD, the new 2.5" FAT32 formatted drive, and that worked well. I allowed it to configure my MBR on that drive. Make sure you indicate the correct drive letter of your 2.5" new drive and not the main drive on your desktop.

5). Make the FAT32 partition "ACTIVE" on the new HDD so the operating system can be found when reinstalled in the laptop. That took several more frustrating re-installation attempts before I discovered that. (I kept getting "No Operating System Found" messages on the laptop). I was able to activate the partition by reinstalling it as the slave in my desktop, then using Control Panel-Administrative Tools-Computer Management-Disk Management. Right click on the new HDD partition with Dos and Select "Mark Partition as Active".

Activating that partition was the final piece of the puzzle for me. Once I did that, I reinstalled the HDD into the laptop and was delighted to see DOS 7.1 come up, followed by a C:\. I then proceeded to follow William's instructions and ran c:smartdrv.exe and c:\i386\winnt.exe. I watched with amazement as Windows installed flawlessly back onto my dead laptop.

Thanks again, William. You performed a great service!

Hi im having problems with this when I get to the Type C:\I386\winnt.exe I get a error message saying bad command or file name any ideas whats going wrong the laptop is a old dell C400 without a cd or floppy drive
have also tried C:\1386\winnt.exe with the same error HELP!!! cheers... Hi I got it after messing about thanks a lot great info the only thing I did different was at the Type C:\i386\winnt.exe
I typed C:\winnt.exe and got prompted for the location of the windows install files then typed C:\i386 and that started the install up for me and It installed perfectly

Thanks
 

Worked flawlessly on a Soyo pw-930S Thanks again
Sean

What is the converter ? Can I get it my local market ? My country is Nepal.

I tried your method but ran into a problem at the point where you said to:
5) Using a working desktop: Unplug any and all HDD from a system. plug only the Laptop HDD. insert the 98SE bootdisk into the floopy drive on the system.
Choose boot with CD-ROM support.
At the A: prompt type C: and verify all the bootfiles you copied earlier are there.
type A: to get back to A prompt.
type sys C:
Once system is copied. shutdown the box and remove the laptop hdd.

Everything you said ran fine until I typed sys C: and I got the message "Bad command or file name" and that was the only thing that I could get regardless of what I tried. I tried to put the HD back into the laptop and it would not boot from usb floppy (thanx heaps Fujitsu!) using two different drives. My laptop is a Fujitsu B2562 and I have tried all known methods found here and elsewheree on the net to install XP on it. These Fujitsu UMPC units seem to be junk to me if this is what grief they give just installing an operating system. I have two N400c Compaq units that run fine and had a docking base available to get the XP cd into. The Fujitsu may end up being used as a clay pigeon and after that their engineers deserve to be fired for such a poor design. Build quality means nothing without serviceability.

Problem with laptop PRESARIO 80XL550
 

Hello I have a problem with a presario laptop model 80XL550, no floppy or cd rom,,, use your guide, then when I put the laptop hard drive back a message shows " Not valid partition table" any idea how to get around, I did the step twice same error message...when I was instaling DOS on the laptop drive, asked if I want to do something with the MBR I said yes, but the desktop hung up for a while so I decided to skip that part...maybe thats the problem...thanks in advance for your reply...

Thnx William for ur this valuable thread here i hv wat the problem n hope somthing from u, thnx in advance plz :-

I hv Toshiba laptop bought during 2003, but the cd drive is totally out of order. I hv supplied with external Floppy drive. I hv two recovery CDs for window xp SP1 also supplied by TOSHIBA. The window is crashed now there is nothing on the laptop. I can re-install/recover through the cds supplied by Toshiba only. Plz tell me wat is the best way to get back the system on again. My cd drive was not working, so i purchased sony cd drive (external) also, but Toshiba dont allow to boot from external cd drive. I even hv PC also. Hoping a fruitful reply. Thnx

The tutorial here is exactly what you need to do! read it step by step. Itr is your only option.

additional problems after installation
 

Finally I did it.instal the xp on the laptop.thanks a lot, now a have some extra problems, sometimes the laptop does not turn on, just sit there with the green power light on, nothing else happens, after few tries the laptop boot perfect to xp, and also I noticed the time, lower right corner, does not change, maybe a problem with the internal battery ?? any comments will be gladly appreciated..regards

Yes it could be that the bios battery is weak. You have to be very careful in opening up laptops as the hinges easily break and also the connecting cables are really short. It might be best if done by someone with knowledge of this.

hello
 

hiya all, i am currently trying to reinstall o/s onto lappy without floppy or cd, wish me luck!!!

hello again
 

i keep getting the 'you havent posted' message.

i have posted.

Thankxxxx
 

Big thanks for this article.
I have have wasted a lot of time try to fix my laptop because the cd not working and I cannot install new os.
This is so good, I will try out tommorr:) ow

hey..i have a Fujitsu Lifebook Series Laptop for a present from a friend, it has windows vista basic installed, but i want to install XP Pro sp2 on it, when booting with bootable cd from XP and detecting HDD, it seem cannot find the hard drive.. why is it so?

and what do you mean by converter?

In some older laptops, there seems to be a problem if you format the drive in the desktop rather than in the laptop. You can boot to DOS in the laptop and you can also start the installation from the I386 folder, but it results in the laptop hanging after the first reboot or a "ntldr not detected" error message.

The solution is to install DOS files onto the C: partition using the desktop, and put format.com and smartdrv.exe on the D: partition. Transfer the drive to the laptop and reformat the C: partition in the laptop itself. Then start the installation using winnt.exe as before - the files will copy across, but the laptop will no longer hang at reboot.

Alternatively, having formatted the C: partition in the laptop, transfer the drive back to desktop and install using the XP boot disk but do not reformat the partition in the desktop.

An additional bug which causes some Pentium II and III laptops to hang on subsequent reboots. When you see the message "Press F6 if you need to install a SCSI or RAID controller" press F5 instead and select "Standard PC" and continue with the installation.

have done it several times now, it works a treat.

thanx

Great tutorial, but I have a small question. I have Tablet PC Fujitsu Siemens, and it doesn't have keyboard, and the only way of putting keyborn on it is via USB, it worked with win2000 installation(and now I have BSOD, and I can't press F8 to enter sfe mode because it is USB keyboard), will USB keyboard work under DOS?