Installing Xp on laptop with no cd-rom drive (Merged)

[danny_italia]

Hey guys i think i got my self into a really confusing situation.... here's the problem...

I recently just bought a used toshiba 3500 tablet laptop which has windows installed but with a bunch of garbage...viruses the whole works. So i want a nice clean fresh os to work with so i decided to install windows XP. Here's the thing though... my laptop doesn't come with a cd-rom or floppy drive so i knew i would have to buy an external one. Now after some thinking... i realised if i format my hard drive and then try to install XP with the cd-rom drive my coputer won't recognize the laptop since it has no drivers?? and won't be able to boot from the external cd-rom.... also i heard that u can't even boot froom a usb device which would be the external cd-rom drive in this case...

SOMEONE PLEASE HELP!!!

just to let you guys know, i still have the old xp on it from the previous owner if that in anyway will help so the actual ahrd drive is still not yet formatted but would like it to be.

Also to mention i don't have any of the backup or recovery discs that came with this laptop....

ANyways any help would be greatly appreciated...

Thanks guys!,
Danny

[Bogie]

Quick thought .... partition the drive, copy the XP CD files via a network connection, to the newly formed partition (that is empty), boot to prompt and install from the stored files on the new partition. Select the partition with the old OS on it, install with formatting.

[jovin]

When you're ready to install Windows and you have the CDROM installed, go to BIOS Boot Menu and choose CDROM as the first boot device. Also make sure you have USB enabled in the BIOS. And away you go.

[danny_italia]

thats the thing though how can i install the cd-rom once the hard drive ahs been formatted.....i have to install the drivers for the cd-rom which are conveniently located on a cd:@!!!! also how do i check to see if usb is enabled? sorry kind of new at this!

[Bogie]

Make sure the CD ROM works using the present OS. And, as jovin stated, make sure the BIOS is set to be the first drive to boot to, and away you go. The XP install will format your drive, if selected, during the process.

[danny_italia]

hmm that actually sound pretty smart... only 3 questions:

1. How do i parition my hard drive?

2. how do i "network" im guessing u mean connect 2 computers together but i have no idea on how to do this?

3. how do i go about booting to a prompt screen?

sorry for the (i'm guessing easy question!),

Danny

[danny_italia]

i think i see what your saying but this is only possible because i still have windows installed right now im guessing right... anyways just to clarify ill say what ithin kis happening and you guys can correct me if im wrong...

1. install drivers on the current version of xp so that cd-rom will work...
2. restart computer so that it boots to cd first...
3. windows should load
4. format and install the new windows xp like you normally would

My only questions are:

1. will my laptop boot from a USB CD-ROM?
2. when i i choose to format and install will my external cd-rom continue to work or since because i have chosen to format will my external cd-rom stop working?

probably simple questions but i'd like to clarify jsut before i do anything?

[danny_italia]

I went out and bought an external dvd-rw at future shop. When i plugged it in with the current XP it works fine... and i didnt even ahve to install any drivers as it says you do not have to. My problem is when i restart the computer it doesnt recognize it... I've change my bios boot sequence to load the cd-rom drive first and still nothing this is the msgs i get when trying to boot fromt he cd-rom:

intel boot agent 4.1.06
PXE-E61 Media test failure, check cable
PXE-M0F Exit intel Boot Agent

I can't get it to load the xp cd on restart?

any other suggestions?

[Bogie]

Did it come with a drivers disk? If so, you may need to install so that you have the DOS drivers.

[danny_italia]

alright i'll try that and get back to you...

[danny_italia]

tried but still nothing any other ideas guys? how about that partition one... my only problem would be is once i restart my computer how do i get to a prompt screen b4 entering widows again?

[danny_italia]

hey well i tried something new i went out and bought an external usb floppy disk because it wouldn't boot from the external cd-rom. I made a boot disk from my desktop pc and tried to boot from that diskette on my laptop usb floppy and it worked. now my problem is when i boot to it i get to a command prompt but when i try switching to the cd-rom (d:) it doesnt work... i also tried even switching to the standard hard drive (c:) and that doesn't even work... I tried every letter and i can't get to either the cd-rom or c: drive... i also parititoned the hard drive and made a (t:) drive and that doesnt even get found!.... is there a differeny floppy boot disk i should be making?... i used the standard one that gets made from right click on a:... format... and make ms-dos boot disk....

ayways can u get back to me with any other ideas?

[eyetee]

You need a boot disk with CD-Rom drivers in order to see the CD-Rom in DOS. Get one here:
http://www.bootdisk.com/bootdisk.htm

[Mike]

Download the Windows XP boot disk from the Microsoft website: http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=310994 and then boot from that, it should have the appropriate driver for the USB CD drive.

[ChrisK]

The reason why your not able to switch to the C drive is because its in NTFS.

You can use the Ranish 2.40 tool to resize your drive from within Windows.
http://mybootdisks.com/bootdisk.asp?type=utils

Once resized, you can format that new partition to FAT32.
Once formated, from within Windows, copy the i386 folder to the new part.

If you want a better bootdisk go here and download the "Windows XP Custom Boot/System Disk", you will need to run it to make the disk:
http://mybootdisks.com/bootdisk.asp?type=bootdisks

Now boot from your floppy disk and switch to the D drive and into the i386 directory. Once inside the i386 directory, run the file "winnt.exe".

When installing you want it to reference d:\i386 and install on the c:\windows

Enjoy!