In this article we will tell you step by step what it is like to install Windows XP from a flash drive and the process of preparing such a flash drive so that you can then install Windows from it. After all, anyone who has ever installed the Windows operating system sooner or later had to deal with the problem of the lack of an optical drive. However, at the same time, a laptop/netbook has several USB outputs. The question arose - how to install Windows from a flash drive on a laptop without a disk?
Naturally, this can be done, and our installation instructions will help you with this. There is nothing super smart or super complicated here. You just need to strictly follow the instructions that we provide in this article. You will need to have the required operating system, appropriate software and, of course, the USB drive itself. Although, if you suddenly can’t do it yourself, you can always order computer repairs at home.
And once again, before starting work, we strongly ask you to follow the instructions exactly, do everything according to the algorithm, and then there should be no unnecessary questions or problems. There is no need to reinvent the wheel, since everything has been tested experimentally for a long time and more than once.
So, before installing windows xp from a flash drive, you need to prepare everything you need. Firstly, you need a drive with a capacity of at least 1GB, and preferably 2GB. Secondly, you need a special utility to format it to the required format and create an installation flash drive with Windows. Thirdly, you need an image of a working version of XP.
Preparing a flash drive for installing Windows XP
Let's say you already have a USB drive of the required size. Now you need to find a special utility for formatting and then creating an image of the Windows installation disk. There are several suitable utilities, of which we will recommend one. It is the simplest and most convenient to use - WinSetupFromUSB. We think it won’t be difficult to find and download it on the Internet. Next, you also need to download a good build of windows xp. Having everything you need, you can begin further work.
Formatting a flash drive to install Windows XP
To format the flash drive, run the program mentioned above. In the window that appears, click the “bootice” button,
Detailed Installation Guide Windows XP from a flash drive or memory card to any laptop, netbook or computer.
Introduction to Installing Windows XP
As already noted in the description, this guide will focus on installation Windows XP from a USB flash drive or memory card with a card reader. The manual is intended primarily for novice users.
Installation theme Windows XP has already been raised more than once in the manuals: and. They showed in detail how to install Windows XP from a CD or DVD disc. We could have stopped there, if not for one thing "But"
What to do if a laptop, netbook or other similar device does not have a built-in CD or DVD drive or it is broken and does not work?
Should I buy an external USB drive? For many users this is not an option. It costs money to bring money, but often there is none. Run around your friends in search of such a drive? Also not an option. Install Windows XP on a computer with a laptop hard drive connected? That's not it either. There are a lot of headaches, and it’s not a fact that everything will work fine. Fortunately, there is a solution. It consists of installing Windows XP from a flash drive or memory card. Flash drives or memory cards 1 GB Windows XP and it is no longer uncommon at all. They are sold in stores at ridiculous prices, and are also useful for household use. About how to install
from such a flash drive or memory card will be discussed in this guide.
Note: if something suddenly doesn’t work out for you, you can contact the manual: . Here, preparing a flash drive is easier and the result is more reliable.
Preparing to install Windows XP from a flash drive or memory card
- Installing Windows XP from a flash drive can be divided into five stages:
- Preparing a flash drive or memory card with the Windows XP distribution;
- Setting to boot into BIOS from a memory card or flash drive;
- Windows installation;
- Finding and installing drivers;
Installation of proprietary utilities and application programs.
Let's start preparing the flash drive
1. Preparing a flash drive or memory card with the Windows XP distribution kit Let's now consider how to integrate drivers SATA Windows XP into the distribution . For this we need a program nLite (it is located in the folder D:\Flash\nlite\ ). A package is required for it to work. ( / ).
Microsoft .NET Framework 2 . For this we need a program:
Install and launch Specify the folder D:\WinXP Windows XP:
. If everything is done correctly, nLite will display information about the distribution Let's move on to the next window. Since we only need to integrate the drivers into the distribution, we only check the box:
Drivers Select from the menu:
Install and launch Drivers folder D:\Flash\sata
. SATA drivers for Intel chipsets are located there: If you have a 64-bit version of XP, then select the appropriate item. Click:
Now comes the fun part. Select the necessary drivers for your south bridge. For netbooks based on Atom processors, this is usually ICH7-M. If you don't know what to choose, then select all:
Important Note: Similarly, you can integrate other drivers on a laptop or netbook.
To start the integration process, click Yes:
After some time, the integration will be completed:
That's all. Click Ready to exit nLite:
Now you can proceed directly to creating a flash drive or memory card with Windows XP.
We insert a flash drive or memory card into the laptop and copy all the information from it. The fact is that it will be formatted in the future and all information on it will be deleted.
Go to the folder D:\Flash\usb_prep8\ and run the file as Administrator usb_prep8.cmd:
The following window should open:
Important Note: Do not close this window under any circumstances until the process of creating a flash drive or memory card with Windows XP.
Then the utility window will open PeToUSB:
For flash drives or memory cards with a capacity of 4 GB or less
In the top window, select your flash drive. To start formatting, click Start. A warning window will open:
Click Yes. Another warning will appear, saying that the flash drive will be formatted and all data from it will be deleted:
Since all data from the flash drive has been copied, click Yes. The formatting process should begin:
When formatting is complete, the utility will display the following message:
Close the utility PeToUSB:
For flash drives or memory cards larger than 4 GB
First, close the utility PeToUSB:
Then install and run the utility HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool. It is located in the folder D:\Flash\hp_format_tool\
In the upper window select your flash drive, and in the lower window indicate the path D:\Flash\windows98\:
Click Start to start formatting. Confirm formatting:
That's all. Flash drive formatted:
We continue preparing the flash drive or memory card
Now let's launch Command line Windows:
Enter the command there D:\Flash\bootsect\BootSect.exe /nt52 g:. Instead of the letter g, you should put the letter of your flash drive or memory card in the system:
Click Enter. If everything is done correctly, the following message will be displayed:
You can close this window.
Let's go to the window that we launched at the beginning of the flash drive preparation process. Enter the number there 1 :
Click Enter and specify the path to the files Windows XP. In our case it is Specify the folder:
Click If you have a 64-bit version of XP, then select the appropriate item. Click and go back to the window. Enter the number 3 :
Click Enter and indicate the drive letter where your flash drive or memory card is located. Click Enter and enter the number 4 :
Click Enter to start the process. Next you should enter Y and press Enter:
To start the copying process, click Yes:
We are waiting a little:
Click Yes:
Disable the virtual disk:
Click Yes, and then any key several times:
That's all. Flash drive with Windows XP ready. You can move on to the next stage. If something doesn’t work out for you, you can try to create a flash drive using the utility WinToFlash according to this manual: .
2. Enable booting from a flash drive or memory card in the laptop BIOS
To enable booting from a flash drive or memory card, you need to go to BIOS laptop or other similar device. BIOS, roughly speaking, is a program for configuring the hardware of a laptop, computer or any other similar device. To enter the settings menu BIOS When you turn it on, you need to press a specific key on the keyboard. Often when loading, the bottom of the screen indicates which button to press to enter BIOS. Usually this is all F2, Del, Esc and others. How to login BIOS should also be described in the instructions. Yes, it is useful to read it sometimes :)
When we entered BIOS, you need to find where the boot order is configured. Typically these settings are located on the tab Boot. To change the boot order, buttons are usually used F5/F6 or using the corresponding pop-up menu. How to change the boot order should also be indicated in the instructions for the laptop or directly on that page with the settings.
Now you need to put the flash drive or memory card first in the boot list. This is what it roughly looks like:
There may be different names on your laptop, but I think the meaning is clear. Usually the name of the flash drive is indicated, phrases like USB HDD and so on. In the picture above, a card reader with a bootable memory card with Windows XP is connected to the laptop.
Important Note: Not all laptops support booting from a built-in card reader. If possible, try to use an external USB card reader. This will also save you from possible problems with drive letters after installation Windows XP. This is due to the fact that the internal card reader is sometimes connected via an internal bus PCI. As a result, the system perceives it as another hard drive and assigns it the appropriate letter. In some cases the card reader acted as a disk C:\, which created difficulties during installation Windows XP.
When you installed the flash drive or memory card in the first position, save the settings and exit the BIOS. Usually, to do this you need to find the item in the BIOS Save and Exit Setup or :
After saving the settings, the laptop or netbook reboots and the installation of Windows XP should begin.
The need to reboot is due to the fact that all BIOS settings are applied when the laptop boots. All settings are stored in non-volatile memory EEPROM. For them to take effect, the laptop or computer must reboot.
3. Direct installation of Windows XP from a flash drive
After booting from the flash drive, the following screen should appear:
Choose TXT Mode Setup Windows XP and press Enter. The normal installation of Windows XP should begin:
I will not dwell on it in detail. It is described in this article.
After formatting the disk and copying the files, the laptop will reboot. It will reboot from the flash drive and this time select GUI Mode Setup Windows XP:
Important Note: Do not remove the flash drive or memory card during installation of Windows XP. The reasons for this, I think, are clear.
After installation, you need to select the item again GUI Mode Setup Windows XP. This will boot Windows XP.
After installing and starting Windows XP, you should slightly correct the file boot.ini. To do this, open My Computer and select the section WITH:. In the address bar, enter boot.ini and press Enter:
Gotta open up Notebook. We change disk(1) on disk(0) and save the document. Eventually boot.ini should look something like this:
Important Note: This article considered the case when a netbook or laptop does not have a hidden partition for system recovery, which is located in front of the system partition, and a partition for BitLocker, which was inherited from Windows 7. More details about the system recovery section are described in this material: . If you have a hidden section and you do not want to delete it, then you need to replace the lines partition(1) on partition(2) in file boot.ini. If this is not done, then when loading Windows XP there will be an error with hal.dll. Alternatively, you can delete all partitions from the hard drive and create one NTFS partition, on which Windows XP will be installed. This can also help avoid the mistake of hal.dll. How to get rid of the error with hal.dll has been discussed several times in this forum topic: .
That's all. Windows XP installation is complete. Now let's move on to the drivers.
Finding and installing drivers for Windows XP
The next step in installing Windows XP is installing drivers.
You probably noticed that on a freshly installed Windows XP your sound does not work, the network card does not work, the system slows down, Wi-Fi does not search for wireless networks, and other devices you need do not work. The reason for this situation is the lack of certain drivers.
What kind of beast is this “driver” anyway? Here is a laptop, netbook or other similar device. It consists of many components such as a network card, video card, card reader, and so on. For this whole thing to work, connecting links are needed between these devices and the operating system Windows. Drivers serve as such links. Yes, Windows contains standard drivers for some devices. If they weren't there, it's unlikely you would see the same Desktop. These standard drivers are not available for all devices. Also, their functionality leaves much to be desired.
To somehow correct this situation, you need to install drivers for various components of your electronic assistant. Where can I get them? A whole section of this resource will help you with this. To make it easier for you to find the information you need, a kind of guide to the section has been created:.
Laptop owners Asus can immediately go to a page with a list of laptop models: . There are links to driver sets for Windows XP with detailed installation instructions. For owners Acer, eMachines And Packard Bell a similar page is available here: Drivers for Acer, eMachines and Packard Bell laptops. For many laptops produced Lenovo All drivers and utilities can be accessed in this section: .
If you don't have Acer, Asus, Lenovo, eMachines or Packard Bell, then don't be upset! The guide will help you find the drivers you need: . A special place here belongs to drivers for webcams. A whole article is dedicated to them: . The first message contains a small guide on finding and installing the required driver; And .
When searching for drivers on the forum, pay special attention to the first messages of topics. They usually contain typical solutions to the most common problems, and also have extensive collections of drivers with detailed instructions.
That's all. Thank you for your attention!
Please post all questions about installing Windows XP in this forum thread: .
You can make all comments and suggestions regarding the article itself through this contact form: Please note that if something doesn’t work out for you, then you should only ask Description of how to install and run the full version Windows XP from under Windows Vista or Windows 7 using the program Oracle VirtualBox. In this case, Windows XP is installed on a virtual machine and runs as a separate application in Windows Vista, Windows 7 or any other operating system, including various Linux distributions. In this way, you can solve problems with the compatibility of various programs and drivers with Windows Vista, Windows 7 or another operating system. A detailed guide on how to install Windows XP from a flash drive or memory card onto a laptop, netbook or computer using the utility WinToFlash.
Many laptop owners need to install Windows XP from a flash drive, since their devices are too low-performance to work with Vista or “Seven,” and the lack of a drive makes it impossible to install the operating system from a CD.
At first glance, installing an OS from a flash drive is a more complex process than using an installation disk, but there is nothing difficult about it. All you need is an installation disk with Windows XP, access to a PC and, of course, a USB flash drive.
The process of installing Windows XP from a USB drive can be divided into three stages:
- creating a bootable flash drive;
- determining the boot order in the BIOS;
- installation of the operating system.
How to choose a Windows distribution
To avoid many unexpected problems, it is recommended to use only “pure” Windows XP distributions for integration with SATA drivers. Many currently common assemblies (Loner, Zver, Black, Game) can lead to a wide variety of problems with both installation and driver compatibility.
In addition, Windows “builds” often do not allow the user to select the required driver, so during installation all included drivers are installed on the system, regardless of the laptop’s configuration. As a result, this leads not only to a significant loss of space, but also to various glitches.
You can find a “clean” Windows without additional programs installed in it using the search query Windows XP SP3 MSDN.
Integration of SATA drivers into Windows XP distribution
Before you start creating a bootable flash drive, you should integrate SATA drivers into the distribution, which will allow the operating system to work with hard drives using a faster interface.
Please note that not all laptops need SATA drivers. They are required only for devices with Intel chipsets and AMD chipsets of the 7th series and higher. To integrate SATA drivers into Windows XP, you will need the operating system distribution and, accordingly, the drivers themselves, which you can find on the Internet. Using the 7-Zip archiver, extract the Windows XP iso image to the C:\WinXP directory.
To do this, click on the Extract button and specify the path C:\WinXP.
You can also specify any other path. Integration of Sata drivers will be carried out using the nLite program.
Working with the nLite program
We install nLite just like any other Windows program. After launch, click Next, and then click on the Browse button and specify the path to the C:\WinXP directory.
If there are no errors, information about the Win XP distribution should appear in the nLite window.
Specify the path to the folder with drivers and click OK.
Now you should see a long list in front of you where you should indicate the ones that are suitable for your laptop platform. To start the integration process, click Yes.
When the integration is complete, a window will appear in front of you with the distribution size indicated in it.
Copying the Windows XP distribution to a USB drive
To work with a USB drive, we will use a special program called WinToFlash, which can be downloaded from the official website www.wintoflash.com.
In the program window that opens, check the box and click Next. Then you need to specify the path to the Windows distribution in the first input field and the letter of the flash drive in the second.
We agree to the terms of the license agreement.
In the next window, the program will warn you that information on the USB drive may be lost. But since you have already saved all the data on another media, click OK to start formatting.
Over the next 10-15 minutes, all the necessary information will be recorded on the flash drive. After the process of creating a bootable USB flash drive is completed, a corresponding window will appear in front of you with instructions on how to proceed further.
Setting boot priority in BIOS
After the bootable USB flash drive has been created, you need to set the computer's priority to boot from it in the BIOS settings, otherwise the installation of Windows XP from the flash drive simply will not start.
To enter BIOS settings, restart your computer and press DEL or F2 several times while it reboots. To find out which key you need to press, read the instructions for your laptop.
In BOIS you need to go to the boot priority settings, which are usually located in the Boot tab. The boot priority setting may vary between devices. Most often, the F5 or F6 keys are used for this. You can clarify this information in the pop-up menu or, again, in the instructions for the laptop.
You need to move the flash drive or memory card to the first position. To save the settings and exit the BIOS, select Save and Exit Setup or Exit Saving Changes.
After this, the laptop should reboot, after which the installation of Windows XP will begin. Rebooting the laptop is necessary because all BIOS settings take effect only after a reboot. These settings are stored in non-volatile EEPROM memory.
Installing Windows XP from a USB flash drive
Installing Windows XP from a bootable USB flash drive is no different from installing an operating system using a boot disk. However, it is necessary to take into account that due to the fact that the laptop has only one hard drive, before installing the OS it is necessary to copy all data to another medium or first divide the physical disk into at least two logical partitions - one for the system, the other for data storage.
To begin installation, you simply need to restart your computer after all the necessary changes have been made to the BIOS. During the installation process, the computer may reboot several times. There is no need to remove the flash drive from the USB port. Wait until the Windows XP desktop appears in front of you, only then will the system installation be completed.
After the installation of the operating system begins, the following window will appear in front of you.
To accept the license agreement, press F8.
After this, the system will prompt you to select one of the partitions where you can install the system. Be careful, as installing to an incorrectly selected partition will result in all data stored there being destroyed.
If your computer already has Windows installed, the system will warn you about this.
After you specify the partition to install the operating system into, a window will appear where you can specify how to format the disk before installation. The best choice for Windows XP is the NTFS file system. For installation into an OS partition, quick formatting is sufficient. Confirm your choice with the Enter key.
A progress bar will show the formatting progress.
The installation of Windows XP from the USB flash drive will begin automatically. You don't need to press anything.
Setting up Windows XP
During system installation, you will be prompted to select keyboard layouts, languages, and other settings.
You can also enter the administrator login and password, which you will need to access certain functions.
Wait until the installation is complete, when all system files have been completely copied to your hard drive.
After the operating system is installed, go to the settings and set the necessary screen parameters.
Finding and installing drivers for Windows XP
Installing drivers is the next stage of the final installation and configuration of the operating system, without which full operation of the computer is impossible. As you can see, the resolution and clarity of the monitor leave much to be desired, it is impossible to set up network connections and access the Internet, there is no sound at all, and Wi-Fi does not work.
Drivers are computer programs designed to provide communication between the operating system and the hardware of various devices. Like a PC, any laptop includes various components - a network card, video card, card reader, Wi-Fi adapter, motherboard, etc. To ensure their correct operation, it is necessary to install drivers from the manufacturer of each device into the system.
Where can I find drivers for laptop components?
As a rule, all the drivers necessary for the correct operation of the device are supplied on CDs, along with the documentation for the laptop. You just need to copy the programs available there to a USB drive, transfer them to your hard drive and install them on the system. Installing drivers is no different from installing any Windows programs and should not cause any difficulties. Remember to restart your computer after installing each driver.
A more complicated situation is the lack of drivers supplied with the laptop, which may be associated, for example, with the loss or damage of a CD. In this case, all the necessary drivers will have to be found on the Internet, on the websites of device manufacturers.
Determining device manufacturers and models
The easiest way to determine the device model is to view the corresponding data in the Aida64 (formerly Everest) program. To find out what devices are installed on your laptop, go to the tab at Devices -> Windows Devices.
A list of all drivers installed on the system will be displayed on the right side of the window. If the driver is missing, a yellow question mark will be located next to the device name.
Select the device name, and all the necessary information about it will appear at the bottom of the window. The component name will be indicated in the PCI device line. Save a list of names of all devices without installed drivers in a text notepad or simply write them down on a piece of paper.
After this, all you have to do is go to the website of each manufacturer and enter the name of your device into the search form. Download the driver to your computer and install it as a regular program. This method is also convenient because it allows you to get the latest versions of all drivers, while the disks included with the laptop may no longer have the latest versions. The Windows XP operating system is ready to use.
In this article I will tell you how to install Windows XP from a flash drive. How to prepare a flash drive, with which you can burn an iso image to a flash drive.
General information
Surely everyone who installed the Windows operating system (at home, at a friend's place, at school, at college, at work, no matter where) sooner or later encountered such an inconvenience as the lack of a drive for reading disks, but at the same time there was a a large number of USB connectors or at least two. But how to connect Windows XP with a flash drive, and even more so make the flash drive bootable and install Windows from the flash drive. In fact, everything is not so scary, but it requires strict adherence to some trivial actions, the appropriate software, the Windows XP operating system, and the flash drive itself. To make everything very clear and not ask unnecessary stupid questions later, let’s agree right away: perform all the actions below the provided algorithm, since this has already been tested from our own experience and, I think, we won’t reinvent the wheel. So, to install Windows XP from a drive we need:
- A flash drive larger than 1 GB (I used 2 GB, it’s better to play it safe than to ruin the flash drives and waste your personal time when suddenly a message pops up saying that this is how it is, there is a space requirement, there isn’t enough space).
- A utility for formatting a flash drive to the desired format and creating a bootable Windows XP flash drive.
- A working version of Windows XP, or rather its image.
So, let's assume that you already have a flash drive of the required size, now we need a suitable utility to work with it. There are a number of possible utilities, but after trying most of the available ones, I settled on one of the simplest and most convenient, namely WinSetupFromUSB. This program is very convenient and easy to use, and you can download it on the Internet.
The program is easy to use, you don’t need to install it, just download the archive, unpack it into the desired folder and run the exe. Next, download a high-quality build of Windows XP and begin preparing your flash drive for further work.
In order to install Windows from a flash drive, you first need to format it correctly, as stated above, so, we launch the downloaded utility and see the window in front of us:
If you have launched the program, but have not inserted a flash drive, then after inserting the flash drive, click on the “Refresh” button so that it appears in the corresponding window. Next, click the “Bootice” button and get into the following window:
Here you need to select your flash drive. Attention! Don’t be confused, the list also offers your current hard drive, so be careful with your choice. Then click the “Perform Format” button. After which we have a new dialog box in which you need to select the type of media to be created, because we create a bootable Windows XP USB flash drive as a single logical drive, then select the USB-HDD mode (Single Partition) option and click the “Next Step” button
And we get the following window in which you need to select the type of file system in which the flash drive will be formatted: select NTFS (I won’t explain why, since you decided to install WindowsXP, then I think you know what a file system is and what types it comes in) and you can also come up with a label for it, i.e. Name. This name will appear the next time the flash drive is connected to a computer, laptop or netbook, for example, as in my picture it is the name “Windows XP”. Then click the “OK” button:
In the window that appears, click “OK”:
Then “OK” again:
We agree and click “Yes”:
Your flash drive takes some time to format, after which a message appears:
Click “OK” and this ends the formatting. To see that this is so, just go to the “My Computer” start window, and we will see that the flash drive is formatted in the desired file system, with the file system we need and with the label that we gave it before formatting (I gave an example with the name of the label "Windows XP" to make everything very clear)
Create a bootable USB flash drive
Now we need to correctly install XP on your flash drive, i.e. make the flash drive bootable. To do this, in the main program window, check the box next to “Windows XP/2000/Server setup”. Before doing all this, you need to print the resulting ISO archive, otherwise if you try to specify the path to an unprinted archive, you will receive an error like the following:
We get rid of the error simply: print the archive and indicate the path to the already printed archive. Just look carefully to ensure that the path already goes to the folder containing the Windows XP OS files, and that the archive is not located in subfolders. If you downloaded the version of Windows XP that is linked in the article, then the printed archive has the following contents:
So, we indicate the correct path to the printed archive:
Check the box next to “Show Log” (if we want to watch the installation process), click “GO” and wait until XP is installed on your flash drive:
When the installation is complete, a message window will appear:
You should click the “OK” button and this will complete the preparation of the bootable Windows XP flash drive. Now we are waiting for the actual installation of the operating system. What is needed for this:
Installing Windows XP on your computer
- First we need to go into the BIOS and set it to boot from a flash drive. To do this, restart your machine (netbook, laptop, computer or something else). Most often it happens to reinstall the system from a flash drive on netbooks (hereinafter we will write netbook) because there is no optical drive there. At the very beginning of the boot, press the “Delete” (Del) key, for some manufacturers this is the “F2”, “Esc” key, in general, when you reboot, the machine itself tells you which key you need to press to get into the BIOS. I would like to immediately warn many who are terrified of blue screens and everything blue, text, and incomprehensible at first glance, and the BIOS in particular. This is the same program, only low-level, i.e. Works directly with system devices and all boards. And those who like to treat everything sensibly understand perfectly well that a text console and a text interface are much more convenient for work and open up great opportunities for those who use it. So, this is a digression, let's continue further. We go into the BIOS and assign booting from a flash drive (let me remind you that the BIOS differs in appearance from different manufacturers):
We go to the “Boot” tab (all movements using the arrows on the keyboard), we see our flash drive at number five in the list of devices and use the “F5/F6” keys to raise it to the first position in the list:
Press the “F10” key and the “Y” key on the keyboard (“Yes”, i.e. we agree to apply the changes and exit the BIOS)
- Next, we reboot your netbook, if you have done everything as described above, then after the reboot the following window will appear:
Select the second line “Windows XP/2000/2003 Setup”. Next we get to the following window:
Select the second line “First part of Windows XP Professional SP3 setup from partition 0”, here we select the installation of the version of Windows XP that we downloaded and loaded onto the USB flash drive. Next, a typical installation begins:
Press the “Enter” key to begin installing Windows:
There's an interesting point here. Has anyone ever read the license agreement for installing this or that software? I don't think so. But we will assume that we have read it and therefore safely press the “F8” key:
After all the actions and operations have been completed, your netbook will reboot and the bootloader window will reappear, where you again need to select the “Windows XP/2000/2003 Setup” menu item:
In the window that appears, select not the first, but the second line “Second part of 2000/XP/2003 setup / Boot first internal hard disk”:
After which the usual, pleasing to the eye of a capricious user, installation of Windows XP will begin.
In this article, you learned how to burn an ISO image to a flash drive, how to prepare the BIOS, the initial stage of installing Windows XP from a flash drive. Let's put an end to this. Good luck!
Video tutorial on installing Windows XP
Installing Windows XP on a netbook has two features:
- the first is the limitation of installation methods due to the lack of a drive for reading CDDVD discs;
- the second is the need to configure the BIOS Setup so that the system can be installed on a hard drive with a SATA interface, which in the vast majority of cases are equipped with modern netbooks.
The first limitation is quite easy to get around by preparing, for example, an installation flash drive with an operating system distribution, which is what we will do. As for the second one, it depends on your luck. The fact is that at the time when Windows XP was released, SATA hard drives did not yet exist. Therefore, the system does not have the appropriate drivers in its distribution, and the netbook hard drive is not recognized by it. The easiest way to solve this problem is to reconfigure the BIOS, and the most correct way is to integrate the missing driver into the distribution. We will consider the first option, but it must be said that it does not always work.
Preparation
To create an installation flash drive with Windows XP you will need:
- flash drive with a capacity of 1 GB or more;
- distribution of the operating system on CDDVD or as an ISO file;
- a computer equipped with an optical drive for reading discs - operations to create a flash drive will be performed on it;
- if the system distribution is presented in an ISO image, you do not need a CDDVD reader; you will need a program to emulate a virtual drive, for example: UltraISO, Daemon Tools, Alcohol 120%, etc.
- WinSetupFromUSB is a free utility for creating a boot sector on a flash drive and transferring a Windows distribution to it.
Creating a bootable USB flash drive
In order for a flash drive to be recognized by a computer as a bootable device, it must be prepared - formatted in NTFS or FAT32 - both types of these file systems are suitable for installing Windows XP. The second thing you need to do is create a boot sector on the flash drive and write the bootloader onto it. Next comes the stage of transferring the distribution files to a flash drive and testing for performance. We will do all these operations using WinSetupFromUSB.
Formatting
- Connect a USB flash drive to your computer, preferably an empty one, and run WinSetupFromUSB.
- Launch the Bootice utility built into the program, on the “Physical Disc” tab, click on the “Parts Manage” button - this will create an active boot partition on the flash drive. It will be the only one on a blank flash drive.
- Next, you need to format: click “ReFormat USB disc” – “Next” – “OK”. Let all settings remain as default (drive type – USB-HDD).
Creating a Master Boot Record and Boot Loader
- Open the Bootice utility window again and click on the “Progress MBR” button.
- On the “Master Boot Record” tab, select the bootloader type – Grub4DOS, to install it on the flash drive, click on the “Install/Config” button.
- The next window will ask you to change the default configuration settings, but we don't need that. Click “Save to Disc” and close the window.
- Next you will be back in the main Bootice window. Now you need to click the “Progress PBR” button to create a master boot record on the flash drive.
- Going further and finding yourself in the “Partition Boot Record” window, check Grub4DOS again, click “Install/Config”, and then “OK”. The bootloader creation stage is complete.
Copying Windows XP to a USB flash drive
- If you are using a CDDVD with the system distribution, install it into the drive; if you are using an ISO file, mount it using emulator programs into a virtual drive. The picture shows how to do this in UltraISO.
- In the main WinSetupFromUSB window, in the “Add to USB disc” section, check the “Windows 2000/XP2003 Setup” box, click the button on the right and in the Explorer window that opens, select the storage location for the Windosw XP distribution. To start the copying process, click on the “Go” button.
Testing
- After the distribution is completely transferred to a flash drive, you need to make sure that you can run a netbook from it. At the bottom of the WinSetupFromUSB window, check the “Test in QEMU” checkbox – testing in the “QEMU” virtual machine, and click “Go”.
- If you see the Windows installation process in the QEMU window, everything is done correctly.
Setting up the netbook BIOS
Boot priority order
- Connect the USB flash drive with Windows XP to the netbook's USB port and turn on (or restart) it.
- To enter the BIOS Setup settings, hold down the key that is intended for this. Most often this is F2, but there may be another - F10, F12, F1, F4, etc. You can find out more precisely by reading the splash screen that appears on the screen immediately after turning on the netbook.
- Navigate within the BIOS Setup menu using the arrow keys and confirm the actions by pressing “Enter”, go to the “Boot” section. In the boot device polling list “Boot Device Priority” – “1st Boot Device”, move your flash drive (USB-HDD) to the first place by pressing the F5 and F6 keys (move the selected item up or down).
Switching the SATA hard drive controller to IDE-compatible operating mode
This is the very setting that will help Windows XP recognize the netbook's hard drive.
- Using the arrow keys, go to the “Advanced” section and change the value of the “OnChip SATA” parameter from “IDE-AHCI” to “Native IDE”.
- If your BIOS version does not have the “OnChip SATA” setting, find the “IDE Configuration” parameter and assign it the “Compatible” value.
- To exit the BIOS menu, press F10 and “Y”, which means exit and save the changes.
Installing Windows XP
- Reboot your netbook (the installation flash drive must be connected). After turning it on again, the process of copying system distribution files into RAM will begin. When it completes, you will see the Windows Setup Welcome window. It will wait for your response. To continue installing Windows XP, press Enter.
- The next screen will prompt you to accept the license agreement. You will have to accept it, without this the system will not install.
- Next, you will need to select or create a partition where Windows will be installed. If there is only an unallocated area on the disk, pressing “C” will create the required partition.
- The next step is formatting the newly created or existing partition. Select NTFS.
- After formatting is completed, the installation process will begin. First of all, you will be asked to select the system language:
- Next, provide your details (name, organization):
- And enter the serial number. This can be (and even more convenient) postponed until later.
- In the next step of installation, Windows creates an administrator account. You will be prompted to assign a password to it. There you also need to set the computer name.
- The next screen is to set the date and time. You can install it now, or you can postpone it.
- Configuring network parameters is also not a matter of primary importance. We leave it as is, we will configure it later.
- The same applies to creating a workgroup or connecting to a domain. The option is relevant for enterprise networks, but it is not necessary to configure this at the moment.
- The system will then continue the installation with the settings you specified, which will end with the familiar Windows XP logo screen. This completes the main stage of work.
Congratulate yourself, you did it - installed Windows XP on your netbook yourself. Further actions - setting up account settings and getting started with Windows - is a topic for a completely different story.