Install WXP from HDD

Quick Start:- Copy the i386 folder from the WinXP installation CD to a FAT32 partition (at least 600MB in size for WinXP SP2). Then run winnt.exe from inside that i386 folder on the Hard Drive from a DOS boot floppy diskette.

Notes:
1. The same process can be used for Windows 2000.
2. For Windows 98 and ME see Appendix 1 at the bottom of this page.
3. If you want to be able to run DOS from a self-made CD then see Appendix 2.
4. For general help with DOS commands see Appendix 3.
5. For what to do if you have neither a floppy nor a cdrom drive see Appendix 4.

Why install from the Hard Drive

Ways of initiating an installation

Preparing the Hard Drive for the installation files

Copying the Files using a DOS Boot Floppy

NOTE: It has been pointed out to us that using copy and the *.* wildcard notation, as above, just copies the files and not the folders inside the i386 folder. We ourselves have never needed these sub-folders for the installation to succeed but others have needed, for example, the contents of the ASMS subfolder. In order to copy all files and sub-folders of the i386 folder then xcopy.exe needs to be on the floppy and a different command used in place of the copy R:\i386\*.* C:\i386 one. The /s and /e switches at the end of the command line enable this. If the command prompt is showing C: return to the A: prompt by entering A: To see all options for xcopy.exe (and most other DOS programs) use the /? switch. Thus xcopy /? should show you all its options.

Initiating the Installation

Appendix 1.

Installing Windows 98 or Millenium (which are both DOS-based) from the hard drive.

The process if very similar to above and somewhat simpler. The folder to copy from the installation CD is the Win98 folder for Windows 98 or the Win9x folder for Windows Millenium. It's up to you if you rename it to something of your own choosing. Many OEMs store these files on the hard drive in a folder called C:\Windows\Options\Cabs. One advantage of this is that if installation files are needed later-on, then the CD is not prompted-for because the installation files always exist on the hard drive and during installation the path to these installation files is stored in the registry.

Instead of winnt as in the above example, one just navigates into the Win9x folder (or whatever else you have called it) and then run setup from the DOS command prompt.

Double-check, before running setup, that the partition is big enough for your purposes, that it is a primary partition and that it has been marked as the active partition. You can do this with a number of partition utilities such as BootIt-NG or FDisk from a DOS boot floppy.

Appendix 2.

Running DOS from a CD

More and more systems nowadays ship without a floppy drive. There are however still times when DOS and its utilities, such as FDisk, are needed. To that end we have compiled a Win98se-based Start-up Floppy Diskette as a bootable ISO which you are welcome to download and use to create a bootable CD. A CD which emulates the floppy template used in its making. It should function just fine as long as there is no attempt made to write to its A: drive (which actually, being part of a CD disk, is read only - regardless of whether it is CDR or CDRW format).

We also have provided a utility called zmakeiso which can be used to transform any 1.4MB bootable floppy image into a bootable CD.

Appendix 3.

Help with DOS Commands

There are overviews and examples of the DOS commands at THIS SITE and its mirrors.

Appendix 4.

PC with no Floppy nor CDROM Drive

Many modern systems do support booting from a USB floppy or CD drive so obtaining one could solve the problem of a PC with no fixed floppy or CD drive. When the only available drive is a hard drive then, unless it has an existing functional operating system, the drive will need to be removed and prepared on another PC (preferably one with a floppy or CD drive).

The first thing to do while installed in the other PC is to create a handy bootable DOS partition on it big enough to hold all your installation and other utility or installer files (and, of course, any drivers that the new installation will eventually need). A 1GB FAT32 partition should be more than sufficient. It is best if this is all on its own at the start of the hard drive. As long as the created partition has been (a) sysed and (b) marked as active then it should be bootable on the other PC. First check that you can boot to it there and then copy the installation files to a folder of your choice in the partition. Ensure you have added the smartdrv file to it and any other DOS utilities, such as format and fdisk, that you might feel the need to have access to later on. Then return the hard drive to your PC. Unless there is some problem with your BIOS dealing with the drive it should now boot to a C: prompt from which you can run whatever DOS programs (eg winnt.exe) that take your fancy.

If the PC is a laptop then its hard drive can either be prepared temporarily swapped into another laptop or by slaving it inside a desktop using a 2.5"-to-IDE adapter. An alternative, less testable way, would be to prepare the partition using a USB converter or enclosure; less testable because you wont be able to check if it is bootable until transfered back to the original PC.