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  • #2215562

    Cannot install XP on External HDD

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    by wolverine4claws ·

    Hello,

    When i was reinstalling windows XP on my Presario X1000, my dvd drive failed halfway and thus the installation process is stuck in the middle. Everytime I try to boot, it tries to resume the XP installation but the DVD drive doesn’t work.

    After about a week’s worth of desperate attempts, I finally decided to use my external HDD as my primary boot disk and try to install XP on to the internal HDD once I’m on my external HDD. To use my external hard drive as my primary boot disk, I need to install some OS on my external HDD (to make it a system disk).

    Initially, I was faced with a “RAW drive” problem, which I cleared by simply formatting my external HDD in NTFS. I then attached this HDD onto my friend’s laptop and tried installing XP on it.

    However, after copying the installation files onto the hard drive, the computer restarts (as it’s supposed to) and on resuming, I face a dual boot screen with the options:

    Windows XP Professional(which is the normal boot on to his laptop HDD)
    Windows XP Professional Setup

    When I choose the latter, I see the Windows booting screen with the loading bar and after like 4 seconds, I get a STOP error BSOD which ends it all. I am not able to install XP into my external HDD.

    I’m in dire straits, please help! 🙁

All Answers

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    • #2934920

      Clarifications

      by wolverine4claws ·

      In reply to Cannot install XP on External HDD

      Clarifications

    • #2934917

      So what is wrong with coping the

      by oh smeg ·

      In reply to Cannot install XP on External HDD

      XP install Files to the External HDD and then setting up from that on the Internal HDD?

      You will have to change the Boot Order in BIOS to USB then HDD and so on but that should work.

    • #2956461

      External DVD

      by mrrich ·

      In reply to Cannot install XP on External HDD

      There are some external DVD drives that you can boot from – like the Targus slim USB DVD drive.

      Previous poster said you could copy the install files to your USB drive. You could also copy them to a flash drive for that matter. But you’ll need to get into the BIOS to set it to boot from the USB drive.

      Another trick is you can get an IDE to USB converter and plug it into a spare CD drive. Surprising how well that works!

    • #2956380

      Try this

      by rob miners ·

      In reply to Cannot install XP on External HDD

      Download DOS7

      http://ms-dos7.hit.bg/#msfv

      Burn it to CD using Nero or similar.

      Ensure that you have an Active Partition on the USB Drive and it is formatted FAT32.
      Disconnect the Hard Drive from the PC that you have been using. Set it to Boot from CD in the BIOS. Connect your USB HD and turn on the PC. Insert the DOS CD that you created and follow the prompts to install it to the USB Drive. When you have finished installing DOS shutdown the PC and reconnect the Hard Drive.

      Restart the PC and reconnect the USB HD, now you will need to copy the entire I386 folder from your XP CD to the USB HD. While you are copying the I386 folder also copy your Antivirus Sofware that you are going to install along with the Motherboard Drivers. You will find the Motherboard drivers on the Notebook manufacturers site. When you have finished doing that, connect the USB HD to the Notebook with the BIOS set to boot from USB. Turn on the Notebook and you should end up with a DOS Prompt. Type in CD I386 and press enter. Type winnt.exe and press enter. It would be better to remove and recreate the Partition that has the miss-install of XP.

      The easiest way has been provided by MrRich

      Get youself one of these as they are relatively cheap and can be used for a variety of connections including a CD/DVD Drive.

      USB 2.0 to IDE / SATA Adapter Cable 80cm (Supports 2.5″ & 3.5″ IDE)

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