windows install from hard drive

tuxy

ok because of some fault that has developed with a motherboard it wont detect cd rom's
so what i would like to know is if i put the hard drive from that pc into another pc and copy the files from the win xp cd to it
then put it back and bootup dos using a floppy then run windows setup from the c drive will that be able to install win xp ok?

Occidental

Are you sure it's not just your secondary IDE controller that's knackered. Try putting your CD drive on the primary controller with your hard disk(don't forget to set them as primary and secondary). Your hard drive will be slower during the install, but once done just remove the CD drive and away you go.

SantaHoe

Tuxy, yeah that'll work fine.
Just run ..\i386\winnt.exe from DOS... just make sure the drive you copy the install files to is FAT/FAT32 and not NTFS.

As Occidental said, installing it like this takes a lot longer.
This is because the install CD loads a caching/buffering driver that you won't get if you just copy the files over.
I've had to do this a few times, and found that you can actually load smartdrive from a windows 98 boot CD (smartdrv.exe) and it does the trick... since booting from CD's are a no-go here, I'd suggest setting up your boot-floppy with smartdrv.exe present... there's nothing special you have to do config-wise (ie. config.sys), just run it from the command line when you boot up.
Keep in mind that smartdrive is dependant on the version of command.com you're using, for example, a smartdrv.exe from a Windows98 CD may not work with command.com from an XP DOS boot floppy... so make sure you get both from the same source.
You might be able to find a boot floppy image on the net with this setup, or at least source the files needed. (Can't remember the URL to that boot-image website, anyone know?)

tuxy

ok thanks guys

i guess ill explain the problem im having with the cd drive but its very weird so i dont think anyone can help
no matter what the motherboard wont detect a cd rom drive
iv tried 3 differnt ones(that i know work) and tried them on the primay and secondary ide controlers,
im sure i set the jumpers right and if i put a second hard drive in it has no problem detecting that

so it detects hard drives no problem but will not detect cd-roms and this just happened all of a sudden

SantaHoe

Does it not even show up in the BIOS then?
I'd say have a poke around in the BIOS settings, and make sure there are no forced DMA/PIO modes for that IDE interface, leave everything at auto.
Sounds like a pretty weird problem if the BIOS picks up harddrives, but not CD drives on the same IDE channel... I'd say it's worth checking for a BIOS update from the mobo website.
o_0

tuxy

SantaHoe wrote:

Sounds like a pretty weird problem if the BIOS picks up harddrives, but not CD drives on the same IDE channel... I'd say it's worth checking for a BIOS update from the mobo website.
o_0

yup like i said its a weird problem
i reset the bios maybe an update would help but the version of bios im using now used to detect cd-roms just one day after a reboot it stopped

gamer

go to bootdisk.com, download win98se boot disk, unzip it to a floppy disk, go to bios,set drive a boot 1st ,then drive o.pc will set upramdisk, and load up real mode dos drivers that load up a universal cdrom loader and boots up in dos,prompt mode, type d: or e: or f: .depending on what cable u have cdrom on,i,d recommend cdrom on secondary on,1st ide cable, set cdrom in slave mode. or leave it in master mode on secondary,ide controller.cos there cud be sumthin subtle wrong with windows setup,or hardware problem that stops windows seeing detecting cdrom drive,its worth trying, dos uses completly different drivers than windows.must use win98 bootdisk or se,older bootdisks dont have inbuilt cdrom drivers.

tuxy

i dont think that will work, bios cant see the cd drive

SantaHoe

Yeah, tbh if the BIOS hasn't picked the drive up, you're looking at a hardware or firmware problem.

Clutching at yet more straws; have you tried swapping IDE cables over completely - ie. swap them at both ends... a broken connection inside the IDE cable can cause serious problems while it not look like the problem.
I had a harddrive that would only operate in (horribly slow) PIO mode no matter what I tried, wrecked my head for months trying reg tweaks and new chipset drivers... turned out a pin had broken off the IDE connector on the harddrive... the drive worked, but was missing functionality... what if the CD drive needed one of these broken circuits to work where a harddrive didn't.
I know swapping IDE cables in the circumstances of what you've already tried seems pointless, but sometimes the problems that wreck your head the most are caused by the most unsuspected things.
Also try using a different molex to power the CD drives, use a known working one from a harddrive.

I'd definitly try a BIOS flash though, even if this problem isn't a known bug in your firmware rev. at the very least you can rule out the bios being bolloxed in the EEPROM.

And when things get really desparate, start removing parts of the PC one at a time until you reach bare-bones.

Sounds like you're gonna have a good time here tbh

Capt'n Midnight

In the BIOS you could play with the DMA settings on the IDE (if there are any) I take it you know all about master/slave vs. cable select in case the cable is damaged.

for NT/2K/XP copy the \i386 folder from the CD to the HDD
smartdrv 32000 will give you a decent cache size when you restart in DOS

gamer

my advice u cud buy or borrow an external usb drive cdromdrive ,what motherboard are u using,or even older type parrallel port cdrom drive s/hand cheap ,u cud download latest bios from manufacturer onto floppy,update bios.if u get old card with ide controller for pci or isa slot that shud work.put ad on boards.ie for pci cdrom ide card,i dont think they sell em in shops ,id give u 1 free if i cud find it.copy windows onto hardrive in other pc and then put it in ur present pc install windows ,make sure ur usb interface is working,see device manager propertys system,otherwise nopoint buying cdromdrive external.go to bios 1st switch on usb.u may want to go to bios delay fast loading, see if theres a delay set on ide drive detection etc howold is this motherboard.

tuxy

trying to get the cd rom working is just far too much work
i tried the install from hdd and it said it was missing the ELUA

Capt'n Midnight

Yeah I've noticed that a lot of DELL pre installs have an ELUA.TXT file of 0 bytes. when you copy over the i386 folder you should copy over sub folders too. or maybe just the elua.txt file

gamer

copy over 1386 folders anything with cab files include all sub directorys anything with setup in it or else just copy the whole cdrom ,to be sure. onto win98 folder ,or winme folder then use dos prompt type setup ,i dont think u need tour folders or addonn folder ,what brand is ur motherboard .eg abit mercury 730.if i knew mb name i could give u more help.