XP install

[myfishbone]

Hi there!

I need some help!

I have a portege 3500 laptop with no cd drive and no usb boot support....

I do however have a harddrive with 2 partitions:

c: ntfs old xp installation
d: fat32

I want to get rid of the old install and wipe it clean for the new install,

ive tried to copy the xp cd files to both c: and d: and run setup from there but when i come to format the C: drive, i cant because setup says it has its temp files there.

I also tried the winnt32.exe /noreboot /tempdrive:c: didnt help

is there a workaraound? any help would be greatful!!

 

[Mak 2.0]

You will have to put the XP CD on the opposite partition than the one you want to format and install on. Then it should work.

 

[PC eye]

You may have to simply buy an external usb optical drive to see Windows installed since that model sees two ports but no option apparently for an optical drive. http://www.dooyoo.co.uk/laptops/toshiba-portege-3500/details/

They will run higher in price then any internal optical drive. But you can look over a good selection at http://www.newegg.com/Store/SubCategory.aspx?SubCategory=420&Category=10&name=External-CD-DVD-Drives

 

[JustinW]

Or copy the contents over a network from a computer that has an optical drive and make a bootable copy of it on your hard drive on another partition like Alex suggested.

 

[Coolname007]

Or you can download an XP ISO file, put it on the XP partition, and then mount it with Virtual CloneDrive which functions the same way that a CD/DVD drive does...only without the CD and drive! :brows: You should be able to run the XP setup that way, from Vista.

You will find Virtual CloneDrive here: Download Virtual CloneDrive 5.4.1.3 Beta / 5.4.1.1 - Emulates your computers CD/DVD-ROM drive - Softpedia

Its completely free, too!

Cheers!

-Coolname007