Install Windows XP without floppy or cd drives

I will try to be as detailed as possible, including pictures as i go.
(My laptop is a Dell Latitude CSx, but this will work for any make or model with the same issue)

*Please be...

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cAN YOU EXPLAIN THIS ALITTLE MORE DO NOT COMPLETELY UNDERSTAND MENTALITY OF SECOND GRADER



- attatch the drive to IDE 1, channel 2 and start up your computer.
- format the drive to FAT32 (you can always switch it to ntfs later, with a prog such as partition magic)
- shutdown the computer

*With the DOS cd in the drive

- switch the laptop drive to IDE 1 channel 1 for best chance of detection, DOS is not the smartest OS ever made

- power up and install DOS 7.10 when prompted. IT is your choice to add or not add all the extras with DOS, these will not affect your installation either way!

- shutdown the computer and rearrange the laptop drive such that it is on IDE1, channel 2 again. so that you can boot into the OS (psobably XP) on your desktop.

- remove DOS 7.10 cd
- replace with Windows XP cd after system has booted.
- Copy I386 folder from WinXP cd onto the laptop harddrive
*probably place this directly on the root of the drive to prevent confusion later.
- find and download smartdrv.exe and copy it to the root directory as well (speeds up dos transfers)

help sent two?'S

Arizona
IDE 1 and IDE 2 are the sockets on the motherboard where the ribbon cables from the Hard Disk Drive (HDD) and Rom drives connect to. It is printed on the board which one is which.

Baked_Bean
When you copy the i386 folder use this DOS command ......
xcopy d:\i386 c:\i386 /s/e
where d:\ is the cdrom drive and c:\ is the hdd. The switches at the end will ensure that ALL folders will be copied, regardless.

hi i have a usb enclosure for the laptop harddrive, can i copy the files and dos 7.10 over to it by plugging it into working pc by means of usb cable/ usb mass storage device method. instead of ide adaptor method. thks

theoretically this is possible, but i would not advise it. The MBR would be located on the computer you are connected to, and there is no guarantee that DOS will boot once the drive is in the laptop.

hi, i forgot to mention that my laptop has bios password and is not set to boot from cd 1st so how would i install dos 7 onto the harddrive if i need to use from the cd of dos 7. i seem to get some sort of dos wen using those win 98 bootdisks, could i just copy the i386 files to the HDD using your pc method and wen i get some dos prompts type the commands you mention at later stages . many thanks 4 help
i used to install win98 from my pc onto the laptop HDD using my old win98 pc factory restore disks and then popped hdd back into laptop and it loads win98 with minimal drivers then i install win xp from there but this method not workin again some how whiches why i am trying your method thks and i'll let u know how i get on.

it should work. the problem you're having is not the one addressed by this tutorial, as it is aimed at laptops which lack all drives, dos is only required because there is not drive to boot from. It isn't dos, but yes you could boot the 16bit installer directly from the cd using the win98 boot disc

thank-you it works well

I have been trying this method, and I get to the point where windows XP says " The MS-DOS portion of this setup is complete, reboot to continue" and I reboot, and it tells me that the "ntdlr is missing" I don't understand why it keeps doing this, and i've tried this method of 3 different laptops (HP, Sony, and IBM's) and I keep getting the same thing.

Theres been three other people posting on here with the same problem but no one has addressed it!!! Please someone give us a clue.

an ntldr error can be caused by many things, including a floppy in the drive. Another common issue is a faulty cable or a corrupt MBR file.

I will need to know the drive setup, eg: location of the i386 folder, etc and partitions on the drive.