Problems installing xp on laptop without cd or fdd

[Monster]

Hi,

I i'm experiencing problems trying to install xp on a laptop. The machine doesn't have a cd-rom nor a floppy. I tried formatting the hdd in another laptop witht the string format c: /s to make it bootable and then copying the I386 folder to the disk. Mounting the hdd in the first laptop, i'm receiving the error message "ntldr is missing" plz restart. I have tried to copy the following files to the hdd; boot.ini, ntdetect.com and ntldr but i'm still receiving the same error message. The thing is it's neither possible making a lan-boot nor boot via usb. How should i proceed with this problem?

Anyone?

 

[LaptopExtreme]

Well installing Windows with no CDrom and no floppy is a pretty difficult task. I think the way you did earlier would be best. If you can get your HD to boot up into dos with the setup files already on it and then load up the setup file in the i386 folder. Also do you have any external Cdroms, zip dirives or even a thumbdrive that your laptop can boot off of?

 

[Monster]

this is the hard part

The only way to boot the laptop is from harddrive as haven't got the expansion board or the port replicator. And as i mentioned earlier i can't get the laptop to boot from hdd...

 

[LaptopExtreme]

But didnt you say you transfered all the files to make your HD bootable? Well if it's not working correctly, you can always get the other laptop and do a simple Windows install on that and then bring it over to your current laptop. You're system wont recognize all the new hardware, but you can then reinstall all the drivers that it's lacking.

 

[Monster]

I transferred the files by mounting the hdd in another laptop which has cd-rom. I have tried installing os and then mount it back in the other laptop but still receive the error message about NTLDR

appreciating your assistance though!!

 

[LaptopExtreme]

Ok, so on the other laptop, you took out the HD and inserted this one as the primary, correct? and then did the install? If you did, you wouldnt need to transfer the ntldr, ntdetect, and boot.ini. Also, is the HD recognized on the main laptop in bios?

 

[Monster]

The hdd works just fine in the main computer but not in the one i'm trying to fix...any ideas about what's buggin?

 

[LaptopExtreme]

Are you able to boot off a thumbdrive or other external device? I mean, since you've already got the setup files on your HD, can you make a start up disk on your other laptop and then bring those setup files to your thumbdrive or other? and then boot off of it?

 

[Monster]

Nope, it´s an older laptop and the only boot feature available is from hdd...

 

[LaptopExtreme]

D'oh! Well all I can say is try reinstalling it again but this time after it's formatted your HD and copied the files to the HD, when it asks for you to restart to continue the installation, just turn it off. Switch HD's and let it startup on continue.

 

[Monster]

Ok, i'll try that one out tomorrow and post the outcome in this thread...thanx for helping!!!!

 

[Monster]

Finally i got the laptop to read the hdd. I used fdisk to repartion the disk and then formatted it. Then I installed MsDos 7.1 and copied smartdrive.exe to the disk. Finally I copied the I386 folder to the hdd and moved it to the other computer. The process seemed to be working until all files were copied in the installation program. When booting up again to proceed with the installation the stupid machine claims that the NTLDR file is missing. Thus I'm back on the first spot!!!!

Anyhow, I start to beleive that the laptop can't be running on XP and now i'm trying to install Windows 2000, I hope this one will do!!

See ya!!

 

[Monster]

Damn Computer!!!

And the story goes...

I thought i had really overcome the problem....after the copying sequence in windows 2000 installation program i ran into the same problem as befofer with xp....NTLDR missing....

Someone knows what the h*ll is wrong?
I really need some support on this...c'mon!!!

 

[LaptopExtreme]

Sorry, it's really hard to troubleshoot when it's not in front of your face. Have you gone into bios and set it all as default? Make sure that the HD is the primary boot device.

 

[Monster]

Yes i have tried a few different settings and also put it back to the default settings....

I'm not that smart on computers but i saw that i have three units. The hdd, the cdrom (e and also a unit d: that is called ramdrive that seems to carry some dos files. Is this to any help?

Could it be something wrong with the MBR?

 

[tractorboy]

How old of a notebook is this ?
how much ram does the notebook have ?
MS recommends min processor, pent 2 333mhz and min ram 128 meg.

If it is a newer type notebook, why not buy a cdrom drive. Your are going to miss a lot with out a cdron drive even with xp. If it is a really new notebook and supports booting from a usb device you could use a usb cdrom drive.

 

[Monster]

Tractorboy,

The computer is about five years old running a p3 500Mhz with 256Mb ram...I think that should be enough right? To point out the situation, as i said in earlier posts...i don't have the expansion unit and thus are not able to boot via cd-rom. The BIOS does not have the option to boot via usb devices! I have managed to start the laptop in dos 7.1 with the xp files copied on it. When the installation program has copied the files and is rebooting I'm receiving the ntldr error!

 

[Motoxrdude]

kinda off topic here, but could you take out the old hdd in you laptop, hook it up to your desktop, and ghost the hdd???

 

[Monster]

Hmm, ghost it....what good will that do? (I'm not familiar att with this!) Is it some kind of image? would that be different than installing the windows system on the hdd on another computer? Cause when installing on another computer and mounting the hdd back i still get the ntldr problem...

How complicated is it using that "ghost-stuff" ???

 

[Motoxrdude]

its easy. Basicly what happens when you ghost your hard drive. It copies everything on one hdd onto the other. When you ghos your hdd, you can boot up from both hard drives, and they would be identical.