Unable to install XP- no bootable drive

I need to install a clean copy of XP on a new SATA hard disk. The bios only allows boot from hard disk. Machine has no floppy, CD, or DVD drive. I have an external CD/DVD drive available, and an adapter to attach a hard disk to a USB port.I have attempted to install this way, but XP install doesnt recognize the drive on the USB, to write to. I can't clone existing drive, due to a different version of XP being installed, as well as existing files on old drive. I need any ideas or a solution, as I really don't want to toss this laptop, and want the original software/OS back on it.

 

XP has no native SATA drivers. These will need to be installed at the 'to install SATA/RAID drivers, press F6' prompt in order for the setup to access your SATA drive. The laptop manufacturer should have these SATA drivers available for download on their website, along with instructions to install them.

 

During the attempted install, I select the option to install at a specific location, so I could install to the drive I want. It shows up, and I can create or delete partions on the drive. When I select the one I want, I get a massage that "install cannot write to the disk". I used the correct OEM SATA driver, @ F6, but still get this error.

 

I now see what you're getting at. You won't be able to install Windows to any USB/Firewire drive.

 

It's kind of like I am tring ot install to an external USB drive.

 

If you have access to another PC and you have an XP disc for the version you need to install, there is way you can copy the needed files to the hard drive (you have to remove it from the PC where you want it to end up running), then put the drive back in the PC, boot to it, and launch setup and it will install. It will be pretty slow, but it will work. I've done it. It's similar to the 'old school' installing of Win98 by copying the cabs to the hard drive and running the install entirely from the hard drive, no CD needed. If you want me to detail the steps, no problem, I just won't do it now 'cuz I don't know if you have access to a running PC with a CD drive and the XP disc needed, and it's a pretty involved process, so I'd rather not post it if I don't have to. Laziness, ya know.
Let me know!

 

I am all ears. I am somewhat familiar with the method you mention, but hate to say how long it has been since I used it, lol.
I have several available machines to work with, and pretty much everything else, except for the work-around on this dang machine. Speed/time is not a factor for me. Being able to use the machine as it was intended is my goal. Thanks. Oh, BTW- I just noticed how bad my spelling is is some previous posts!

 

Info below:

Somehow my post doubled up, so I erased one....

 

1. The drive that want to get running you must first format it FAT32. DO NOT format it NTFS. The idea is to be
able to boot to it and run DOS commands. So, hook up the drive to a PC with a CD or floppy drive. Boot to an MSDOS environment;
I'd recommend booting to a Win98 or WinME boot floppy, but however you get to a DOS prompt with DOS commands will work. Run
FDISK from the Win98 floppy. If the drive is over 80gb (I think) you'll have to create two or more partitions because the FAT32
file system doesn't see big drives correctly. Don't worry, we can resize the partition later to take full advantage of the drive.
So you run FDISK and create a partiton.
2. When FDISK is done, you should reboot the PC and again boot to the Win98 boot floppy. This time you'll need to start the PC with
CDROM support if you can. If not, no big deal but it adds an extra step. SO you've booted to the floppy again; now we need to format
the partition you made in step 1. Type format C: /s there is a space before and after the C: so be sure you put the spaces in.
Depending on the size of the drive, this may take a while. The idea with the /s is to get the hard drive so we can boot to it in the
PC where you want to install the Windows (the PC without the CD drive).
3. When the format is done, put your XP disc in the CD drive. Assuming the CD drive is drive E:, type copy E:\i386 C: and press
Enter. We need to copy the folder called i386 from the CD to the hard drive. If the Win98 boot floppy doesn't have CD support, then you
have to hook up the hard drive we just fomatted FAT32 in a PC that you can boot into Windows. Then put the XP disc in, and drag-n-drop
or copy-n-paste the i386 folder from the CD to the FAT32 hard drive.
4. When the drive has the i386 folder copied over, put it in the PC where it will be spending its life running Windows. Boot to it. You
should end up at a DOS prompt C:\>. Now type cd i386 and press Enter.
5. You should now be at a prompt that looks like this: C:\i386> or it will look very similar to that. Now we have to launch the
DOS compatible setup file. This is where many people think they can't do this because setup.exe will not run from a pure DOS en-
vironment and will error out. So type winnt.exe and press Enter. This will launch the setup process and from here you just need to
follow the on-screen prompts.
At some point early in the setup, you will probably get a messge that the install will go much faster if you use SMARTDRV and/or a memory
manager. I have never used SMARTDRV or the memory manager when installing XP this way and it's always worked, but it takes a L O N G time
and there will be times when you'll probably think the PC has locked up. It hasn't. But if you want to mess with SMARTDRV and the memory
manager, you need to edit the autoexec.bat file and the config.sys files on your boot floppy. You can open them with Notepad
or your favorite text editor. Then add these: to autoexec.bat you'll add a line that says smartdrv.exe and to the config.sys
file you'll add a line that says device=himem.sys. If you get any errors after booting to the floppy disk, make sure you saved the
files correctly (meaning: check to be sure you saved autoexec.bat as autoexec.bat and not as autoexec.txt after editing). Also
be sure that SMARTDRV.EXE and HIMEM.SYS are on the boot floppy. If they aren't, you should be able to download them from Microsoft.

T H A T ' S I T ! ! !

Phew! What a workout.

For more info about the Config.sys and the Autoexec.bat files, check this link http://support.microsoft.com/kb/232558/en-us
If you don't have a Win98 boot floppy, you can download it from here http://freepctech.com/pc/002/files010.shtml
If you don't have a PC with a floppy drive, you boot to a Win98 install CD and choose to start the computer with CDROM support, then type
cd win98 from the DOS prompt and then you can run FDSIK and format from there.
If you don't have a floppy drive and you don't have a Win98 install CD, you can use the above boot floppy link to download a Win98
floppy disk, then convert it to a .ISO image and burn the image (as an image) to CD and boot to it and it will be the same as the boot floppy.
To do this, use ISORecorder http://isorecorder.alexfeinman.com/isorecorder.htm or use Folder2ISO http://www.afterdawn.com/software/video_software/dvd_tools/folder2iso.cfm
Then use your favorite burning software to burn the .ISO image. Most burning programs have an option to "create disc from image file" or something
very similar and that's what you'll do. Nero has it, CDBurnerXP has it, BurnAware has it. You CANNOT just burn the .ISO as a data file with
Windows XP's built-in burning application. It will burn, but will not work right and will not boot. Both of the ISO programs I mentioned must
be run from within Windows. ISORecorder is for Windows XP only. If you don't have a CD burning application that will burn ISO images, the two
I mentioned earlier are free and available here at Major Geeks; the links are below. Well, I think that just about covers it. Yes, this is a novel,
but I had to be thorough. That's why I typed this whole thing in Notepad first so I could review it, make changes, and save it so I can post it
again for someone else without having to type it all again. Laziness, ya know
Good luck! If you have questions, post 'em here and I'll do my best to get back to you as soon as possible.
BurnAware http://www.majorgeeks.com/BurnAware_Free_Edition_d5839.html
CDBurnerXP http://www.majorgeeks.com/CDBurnerXP_d4242.html (requires .NET Framework 2.0 or newer)
The program ISORecorder will actually burn the ISO image in addition to creating the ISO file, but I have never used it to do the actual burning. I
have only used it to create the ISO image...

:major
[dlb]

 

Oh yeah.... as we all know, the FAT32 file system sucks. So after Windows XP is installed and you have all the drivers in and everything is hunky-dory, you'll want to convert the FAT32 system to NTFS. Here's how:
1. Click Start > Click Run. Type cmd and press Enter. This will open a black command prompt window that looks like a DOS window.
2. In the DOS window, type convert C: /fs:ntfs and press Enter. There's a space before and after the C:.
3. You'll get a message that says something about scheduling the task when you restart the computer because the conversion cannot be completed while the operating system is running. When you are prompted, click YES.
4. Reboot and let it do the conversion.
5. Rejoice in the fact that the drive is now NTFS and not FAT32.

If you had to create more than one partiton in step 1 in the really long post above (the FDISK step), let me know and I'll go over how to 'stretch' the main partition to take advantage of the entire drive, unless you want more than one partition. In that case, just go into Windows XP's Disk Management console and format the other partitons. No sweat.

:major
[dlb]

 

Thanks, I will try this. Shall I presume I am to put the new drive in as the C drive into another machine?

 

OK, everything went as planned, almost, lol rolleyes I ran into a minor glitch with copying. I did "Copy E:\I386 C:" and ended up with over 5700 files on the root of C:. I had to go back and create an I386 folder on C:, and move everything. Of course, my DOS is very rusty, which doesn't help any, lol. Then, since what I am trying to install comes as an OEM disk set, with no instructions whatsoever, I have to figure it out on my own. Disk 1, and 2, both have I386 folders. I realized I have to merge the files from both, into a single I386 folder, prior to running winnt.exe. So, I will start over again this evening. It's a good thing I'm not in a hurry :cool
But many thanks to dlb, for the method to git 'er done!

 

I was wondering about that after I posted the steps... sorry....

LOL Yeah, me too Again, I apologize. I hadn't installed XP using this method in about 2 years, and I was working from a memory like swiss cheese (full of holes). At least you got it figured out.
plodr brings up a good point... make sure the two i386 folders are different. They might be exactly the same.

:major Glad I could help! :major

[dlb]

 

I have verified the 2 I386 folders are different. The #2 disk contains the files for XP Media Edition, and XP Tablet PC edition. The extra I386 folder contains the specific files for each extra O/S enhancement.
Thanks again, I am working on doing this install now, and will let you know the end results.

 

Well, it seems I am having a miserable time with this laptop. So far, I almost got it to work, until the first reboot. Then I got the dreaded "NTLDR not found". That caused a failed install. I was able to find the file, with no problem, myself, and it appears to be where it should be to match the boot.ini file. I tried to clone the old drive, to the new one, no luck. I tried Norton Ghost '03, but it won't write to a SATA drive, in DOS, across a USB adapter. It loses the controller. I am running out of ideas, and patience. :cry