reinstall xp without cd drive / disk read error

Tar.Aldarion

Hiho, I need to reinstall XP without having a cd drive in my pc...What is the best option, download/run off desktop...usb? Is it possible to run the repair feature in this way? I get microsoft software for free with my masters, think it's via just a download.

I am unsure if it is my OS or HDD that has messed up...sometimes my computer restarts giving a read disk error message on boot up...but then other times I can just use my computer all day with it being fine, with it sometimes crashing
As per this thread, that is when it started happening.
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055817295

Could it be the hdd, even though once my comp boots up it works mostly well? Or the OS? Thinking of a reformat first to make sure..


If I have been away from the computer for a while, there is a high probability I can boot up no problems, if it goes off while I'm on there is a high probability that it will keep saying disk read error unless I leave it alone for a while.

ressem

I would guess
1. that you really need to replace the hard drive, not just format it. It's rarely worth waiting for a full disk failure for the sake of 50 quid, making stored work harder to recover.
2. Borrowing and connecting a CD drive (internal or external) would be the easiest procedure.

Installing from a USB key is possible but convoluted.
http://www.liliputing.com/2008/04/install-windows-xp-on-mini-note-usb.html

Windows and SMART on the disk will try to keep it running as long as possible by moving data from failing areas. You've described a situation where this is stretched to the limit by the failings of the disk.

Tar.Aldarion

Oh right cheers, didn't know hdds died like that!

Kinetic^

Run a chkdisk on the hard drive and see if it comes up with anything.

Tony H

Before you do anything I would back up any important data , running chkdsk will stress the hard drive and might put the drive if it is failing over the edge .
If you have free microsoft software , windows 7 is very easy to install from a usb drive .

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/dd535816.aspx

BopNiblets

ressem wrote: »

Installing from a USB key is possible but convoluted.

Not with this:
http://wintoflash.com/home/en/

ressem

BopNiblets wrote: »

Not with this:
http://wintoflash.com/home/en/

Thanks, haven't tried that one.

There are some things to look out for with similar programs like the "missing or corrupt hal.dll" which can sometimes happen, needing a boot order change during the install.
Also some USB keys with security addons and hidden partitions can fail to work.

Tar.Aldarion

Thanks guys. Am buying a hdd this week, downloaded a windows 7 exe, I can just install off an external hdd?

ressem

I could easily be wrong here as I don't have access to this version, but you've got the digital downloaded version which comes as 3 files?

Windows 7-P-Retail-en-uk-x86.exe
setup1.box
setup2.box



So you need to extract to a folder, preferably not the USB one you're about to alter.

Make sure that the partition on the external hard drive is marked as Active by right-clicking on the partition and 'Marking partition as Active'.


Then drag all the extracted files to the root of your external drive.

So it looks like...
http://www.mydigitallife.info/2009/10/23/how-to-create-and-make-bootable-windows-7-iso-from-exe-plus-setup1-box-and-setup2-box-files/
Steps 1-4


Worst Case:

If it's an upgrade version on a clean hdd you may need to install twice.
1st time round, choosing a custom install, clean new install and leaving the product key blank.
After it's booted, run setup.exe on the root of your external hard drive. Choose Upgrade, and provide the Upgrade version key.

If the external drive is NTFS formatted you may or may not need to run d:\boot\bootsect.exe /nt60 e:
where d:\boot\bootsect.exe is one of the files initially extracted to a folder and e: is your external USB drive. Note the version from the 64bit CD won't run on a 32bit system.

If you need to partition by going through the diskpart.exe steps in fitzdragon's posted link, I tried and the Clean and Create Partition steps weren't necessary unless similar filenames already exist or you want to wipe the external disk. On older Windows you might need to download diskpart from MS. http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=0FD9788A-5D64-4F57-949F-EF62DE7AB1AE&displaylang=en

h4rDm0d

is there absolutely no chance of you borrowing a disk drive because this would save so much hassle

Tar.Aldarion

ressem wrote: »

I could easily be wrong here as I don't have access to this version, but you've got the digital downloaded version which comes as 3 files?

Windows 7-P-Retail-en-uk-x86.exe
setup1.box
setup2.box



So you need to extract to a folder, preferably not the USB one you're about to alter.

Make sure that the partition on the external hard drive is marked as Active by right-clicking on the partition and 'Marking partition as Active'.


Then drag all the extracted files to the root of your external drive.

So it looks like...
http://www.mydigitallife.info/2009/10/23/how-to-create-and-make-bootable-windows-7-iso-from-exe-plus-setup1-box-and-setup2-box-files/
Steps 1-4


Worst Case:

If it's an upgrade version on a clean hdd you may need to install twice.
1st time round, choosing a custom install, clean new install and leaving the product key blank.
After it's booted, run setup.exe on the root of your external hard drive. Choose Upgrade, and provide the Upgrade version key.

If the external drive is NTFS formatted you may or may not need to run d:\boot\bootsect.exe /nt60 e:
where d:\boot\bootsect.exe is one of the files initially extracted to a folder and e: is your external USB drive. Note the version from the 64bit CD won't run on a 32bit system.

If you need to partition by going through the diskpart.exe steps in fitzdragon's posted link, I tried and the Clean and Create Partition steps weren't necessary unless similar filenames already exist or you want to wipe the external disk. On older Windows you might need to download diskpart from MS. http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=0FD9788A-5D64-4F57-949F-EF62DE7AB1AE&displaylang=en

Hey mate, thanks very much for the detailed post. I don't have those files though. I'll attach a pic of the win7 I downloaded..and also the error that I get when I click on setup on my laptop to test it!

What I'm trying to do is install this to a blank internal hdd on my computer from a usb stick or external hdd.

h4rDm0d wrote: »

is there absolutely no chance of you borrowing a disk drive because this would save so much hassle

Well as I said I'm sticking in a new drive, do you mean a usb stick..would installing from one of these be any different than from an ext hdd, no?

ressem

If you've got the files extracted that's OK.

As there are no other files or partitions on the USB disk,
It's just a matter of copying the files to the root of the USB disk and marking the partition as active in Computer Management's \ 'Disk Manager'.
Then restart the computer and select to boot from this usb device.


As for the Setup error, I don't know.
I don't suppose Microsoft provided a Checksum for the file you downloaded to make sure it downloaded correctly?

If it's any use...
The retail x86 DVD that I've got is
874 files, 200 folders
Size: 2.34 GB (2,518,513,058 bytes)
Size on disk: slightly more

The spwizeng.dll file is
Size: 343 KB (351,744 bytes) Created ‎14 ‎July ‎2009, ‏‎10:26:40

I think h4rDm0d was referring to a usb or internally connected DVD drive.

Tar.Aldarion

Thanks very much. I'm using a friends external hdd with his files on it, I assume the easiest way is to make a small partition on this...format it to fat32..and away I go?

Thanks for the details of your download..I'm redownlaoding now to see

I assumed I'd jsut get an iso after extraction, not some setup.exe yoke.

Anti

Probabaly complicating things a **** load, you could setup a Ris/wdm server to install from. Not easy to setup if you have not done it before though. If you want i can just throw a dvd drive in the post to you to make things easier.

Tar.Aldarion

Thanks very much mate. Haven't done that before no. I'm currently copying everything from XP to an ext hdd reallllly slowly and gonna install windows 7 on my new internal hdd and then copy everything on to that. If it doesn't work out well might give ya a shout hehe. Thanks

Anti

Sure, just drop me a PM if its needed.

Tar.Aldarion

The error is an msdn one...it is stopping the downlaod before it is complete...and it did it a second time now..now the website is saying I can't download it any more...too many downloads...fml.

Tar.Aldarion

hmm might try and install xp pro so...is that easy to install from an ext hdd? :P

Tar.Aldarion

do windows 7 professional keys work on windows 7 ultimate?

edit no, they probably don't feck...I have pro on my msdn..and friend has ultimate..i got that iso but key used etc..back to drawing board..

Tar.Aldarion

Installed windows 7 in like 10 minutes, getting all drivers/software was a breeze. So all done. Thanks guise!