Problem Installing Windows Xp On My Laptop

[JustAnotherFarang]

Hi guys

I need to reinstall Windows XP on my laptop but my internal DVD rom drive no longer works. I do have an external usb dvd drive but when I try to install Windows and it resets the computer to begin the installation, it does not recognise the USB drive and tries to read the broken internal driveinstead. I have tried altering the motherboard BIOS to boot or recognise the ext drive but it doesnt make any difference, only when windows is loaded will it recognise the external drive for use

I figure I need to run some USB drivers first so that Windows XP installation will recognise the external drive but I am a little confused how best to do this, any suggestions guys ??

JAF

[cdnvic]

You need to go into the BIOS and see if it supports that external drive as one it will allow you to boot from. Look at the boot sequense and see if you can set it to that usb drive. If not you need a few drivers and a bit of trickery to do it.

Here's a quick tutorial on it, complete with links to the files:

http://www.netcal.com/news.php?article=8

[JustAnotherFarang]

Yep checked out the Bios already, and it does not make a difference

Its jiggery pokkery that I need here so I will take a look at the link you offered

Cheers for the quick and smart reply

JAF

[JustAnotherFarang]

MMmmmmm checked out that website you recommended

the problem I see is that I dont have a floppy dsik drive !!

Is there another workaround or am I being a little dim ?

JAF

[AlexLah]

So if your DVD drive does not work anymore why not buy a new one at Panthip?

[Rice_King]

There is only one way (that I am aware of) to install XP in your situation. You will need another PC or laptop to do this procedure.

1. Remove Laptop hard drive
   
2. Connect Laptop hard drive to a PC via direct to the IDE or with a USB drive enclosure
   
3. Install DOS on the drive
   
4. Copy the XP i386 folder from CD to hard drive
   *place this directly on the root of the drive to prevent confusion later
   
5. Remove hard drive from PC and reinstall it in the laptop
   
6. run the WINNT32.EXE file to start setup
   

A more detailed version of what I have summarized can be found here.

Download a DOS Boot Disk here.

[cdnvic]

I don't know if copy protection will allow this on XP but I've done it with older versions;

1. Partition your hard drive and copy the install cd to the partition.

2. Tell your BIOS to boot from that partition.

See if it starts the install.

[Rice_King]

I don't know if copy protection will allow this on XP but I've done it with older versions;

1. Partition your hard drive and copy the install cd to the partition.

2. Tell your BIOS to boot from that partition.

See if it starts the install.

I don't see how that can work cdnvic. The partition first has to be bootable. Otherwise his laptop will report the "no bootable drives found" message. And if the partition IS bootable, what would force the install to start without manual intervention? Wouldn't the laptop just boot to a command prompt in that case? Of course, at that point, he could manually execute the winnt32.exe file and do the install. But first and foremost, the partition has to be bootable.

[cdnvic]

Come to think of it I may have needed to use an old boot floppy to make that work. (been ages). There's instructions online for doing this but I really think replacing the drive would be easier than editing a bunch of files, copying this, partitioning that....

[JustAnotherFarang]

Cheers guys for the suggestions

I dont really want to invest in another drive as the laptop is nearly 3 years old now and I dd buy an external drive for 3000 bht as I figured I could use that with any machine........just did not realise that with it being a USB drive it would not boot up the Windows CD

I figure the best thing I can do is to borrow my friends laptop and whip out his dvd rom drive and plug it into mine so I can do a clean installation from there. After updating it and installing essential software I will make a ghost copy and keep it on hard disk and DVD

Thanks for your time and advice

JAF

PS How much does a cheap internal dvd rom drive cost, nothing fancy needed

Edited February 21, 2007 by JustAnotherFarang