Categories
General Articles
Hardware
Internet
Jokes
Miscellaneous Page 1
Miscellaneous Page 2
Security
Software
Spyware and Adware
Start Up Applications
System Performance Page 1
System Performance Page 2
Troubleshooting
Usability Page 1
Usability Page 2
User Interface Page 1
User Interface Page 2
User Interface Page 3




Still have a problem? Ask for help at our discussion forum.
Search


Advanced Search
Article Options
You Recently Viewed...
Show Administrative Tools on Start Menu
Renew IP address
Get ip address of anyone you have a connection with or that is trying to Connect to you
Popular Articles
  1. Handwrite for MSN Messenger
  2. Win2000 Logon Screen
  3. The difference between 64 and 32 bit processors
  4. Windows XP FAQ T
  5. Windows XP FAQ P
No popular articles found.

 »  Home  »  Hardware  »  Install XP from DOS
Install XP from DOS
By  Super Admin  | Published  02/25/2005 | Hardware | Rating:
Install XP from DOS

try these:


Install Windows XP from the hard drive with Windows 98 already installed:

Boot Windows 98
Insert the XP CD into your CD reader
Explore Windows XP through My Computer
Copy i386 folder to C:\
Go into C:\i386 folder and double click on winnt32.exe to launch the setup from the hard drive

Install Windows XP from DOS (ie. no OS on a new hard drive):

Boot with a Windows 98 Start Up disk
Insert the Windows 98 CD into the CD reader
Run smartdrv.exe from the Win98 directory on the windows 98 CD (file caching)
Type cd.. to back up to the root directory
Insert Windows XP CD into the CD reader
Copy the i386 folder to C:\
Go into C:\i386 folder on C: and type winnt.exe to launch the setup from the hard drive.
How would you rate the quality of this article?
1 2 3 4 5
Poor Excellent
Tell us why you rated this way (optional):

Send to Author Post on Site
Comments
  • Comment #1 (Posted by an unknown user)
    Rating
    Because a lost a lot of time trying install XP from a bootable CD. But the CD will not boot on the target computer because of "non-emulation booting" problem. And there is almost no article which explains how to circumvent that. In addition I don't knew that there was a method (very simple) to install XP from DOS. Now I know it...Thanks very much
     
  • Comment #2 (Posted by an unknown user)
    Rating
    typing winnt to install xp in dos was all I need. Thank you
     
  • Comment #3 (Posted by an unknown user)
    Rating
    You neglect to mention that when copying the i386 folder to the C: to run the install on a new drive (with no OS) that the partition must first be formatted with the FAT32 file system. Then if a NTFS XP system is wanted, you should outline how to accomplish that by creating a larger partition and formatting it with NTFS for the install. The tools to do that are on the XP install disk.
     
  • Comment #4 (Posted by an unknown user)
    Rating
    How can I boot from a XP cd which is not bootable and not have any OS at it?
     
  • Comment #5 (Posted by an unknown user)
    Rating
    not for amateurs like me ! very economic in details... I need more
     
  • Comment #6 (Posted by an unknown user)
    Rating
    why don't you explain how you "double-click" on a file in DOS? I know what you mean, but I'm a lot people are left hanging. And since Dos, is so ancient, you need to list the proper DOS commands needed to created a new directory and copy files to another hard drive.
     
  • Comment #7 (Posted by an unknown user)
    Rating
    Excellent - straightforward and to the point. I knew the basic idea, but had forgotten the 'smartdrv' command prior to running 'winnt'. Gets my Thinkpad 240X (no CD drive) back running with a pristine XP installation. Many thanks.
     
  • Comment #8 (Posted by an unknown user)
    Rating
    thank you sooooooooooooooooooooooo very much whoever posted Comment #3 ... i'd totally forgotten about formatting since i had to use an eraser boot disk to clean the hardrive.
     
  • Comment #9 (Posted by an unknown user)
    Rating
    Excellent.
     
  • Comment #10 (Posted by an unknown user)
    Rating
    thx, had forgot which file, god i love linux live cd's
     
  • Comment #11 (Posted by an unknown user)
    Rating
    not in detail!! very bad
     
  • Comment #12 (Posted by an unknown user)
    Rating
    I'm pretty stupid. this helped a lot.
     
  • Comment #13 (Posted by dofen)
    Rating
    thank you very much
     
  • Comment #14 (Posted by an unknown user)
    Rating
    I got round it on a HP Pavilion non-emulation by installing windows 2000 then upgrading to XP with my copied disc. Might be a bit of a numpty way of going about it, but the end result is the same!
     
  • Comment #15 (Posted by an unknown user)
    Rating
    it solved my problem so its gotta be good
     
  • Comment #16 (Posted by an unknown user)
    Rating
    spot on! thanks!
     
  • Comment #17 (Posted by Mekash Gerki)
    Rating
    I tried to as you have tols me to but I could not as it saays An internal srtup error has ocurred. Could not find a place for a swap file. Could this be because I have no FAT system? I have no idea if I have FAT system or not.
     
  • Comment #18 (Posted by an unknown user)
    Rating
    Could you install XP in this way?:)
     
  • Comment #19 (Posted by an unknown user)
    Rating
    ihave windows xp -2 in my system and while opening the desktop i get some file missing massage like dll and other files ! even i can repair it by repairing the os by os CD but i have also problem in my lense of my R/w so i want to install the missing file only by DOS command ! how can i do process ? Aashu jha way2aashu2004@yahoo.co.in
     
  • Comment #20 (Posted by an unknown user)
    Rating
    no challange
     
  • Comment #21 (Posted by an unknown user)
    Rating
    to me, l think that's cool but my problem is that after have partition your hard drive with your startup disk and then booting with cd-rom support. From dos how can you install winxp without booting my system with the cd. by margmagnet@gmail.com
     
  • Comment #22 (Posted by an unknown user)
    Rating
    exactly what I needed. Thanks to who wrote this guide.
     
  • Comment #23 (Posted by an unknown user)
    Rating
    It worked for me fine :)
     
  • Comment #24 (Posted by Samsul)
    Rating
    For that guy with the Internal Error, I think its because your hard drive is in ntfs format. You have to use FDISK to remove it and make it FAT or use a partition program like PartitionMagic.
     
  • Comment #25 (Posted by angel nikolov)
    Rating
    ok
     
  • Comment #26 (Posted by an unknown user)
    Rating
    Excellent!
     
  • Comment #27 (Posted by Neil -philippines)
    Rating
    Thank you very much. It helped me install non-bootable XP cd.
     
  • Comment #28 (Posted by an unknown user)
    Rating
    Thank you man ! I love ya.
     
  • Comment #29 (Posted by an unknown user)
    Rating
    very nice,thank you very much, mahender awana
     
  • Comment #30 (Posted by an unknown user)
    Rating
    THIS IS WHAT I AM LOOKING FOR THanks a lot ............ love u
     
  • Comment #31 (Posted by an unknown user)
    Rating
    during the agreement it displayed a error.
     
  • Comment #32 (Posted by Ryan)
    Rating
    I just got a laptop with DOS - im trying to install DOS then Windows XP- I tried booting the CD for both DOS and Windows XP - when I boot for Wndows XP it tells me ''Operating System Missing'' and when i boot the CD for DOS its gets me these wierd applications which i cant understand.
     
  • Comment #33 (Posted by an unknown user)
    Rating
    This one is awesome tip... I was trying to install XP on my laptop. I didnt have a A: and XP CD would not boot. I was great to know thing after a day of trying all the options I had. Well, good learning. Thanks, -Ravi
     
  • Comment #34 (Posted by an unknown user)
    Rating
    this is very simple and great. i got what i was looking for for quite a lot of time, really.
     
  • Comment #35 (Posted by Muhammad Atif)
    Rating
    That's a perfect method to install WindowsXP from DOS Prompt. Thanks
     
  • Comment #36 (Posted by an unknown user)
    Rating
    thanks
     
  • Comment #37 (Posted by an unknown user)
    Rating
    Nice
     
  • Comment #38 (Posted by NewUser)
    Rating
    1001 thanks. Dec 2008.
     
  • Comment #39 (Posted by an unknown user)
    Rating
    not useful
     
  • Comment #40 (Posted by an unknown user)
    Rating
    very very very bad
     
  • Comment #41 (Posted by an unknown user)
    Rating
    its really true....it works fine ,....thanx
     
  • Comment #42 (Posted by an unknown user)
    Rating
    i have no cd drive or any os to start with
     
  • Comment #43 (Posted by an unknown user)
    Rating
    Never knew the winnt.exe command. Before I had to Install a dutch xp before i was able to install a bad copy of arabic. Now I can actualy install from a dos 7 bootable usb key. Tnx.
     
  • Comment #44 (Posted by vikram)
    Rating
    y can't we run it directly from the cd??
     
  • Comment #45 (Posted by an unknown user)
    Rating
    please publish the region why we can't run it directly from the cd.
     
  • Comment #46 (Posted by an unknown user)
    Rating
    help me very much while my xp is down
     
  • Comment #47 (Posted by Sashi L)
    Rating
    how can i install new xp from dos but i have only xp installed
     
  • Comment #48 (Posted by an unknown user)
    Rating
    Thanks
     
  • Comment #49 (Posted by an unknown user)
    Rating
    It gave me good information
     
  • Comment #50 (Posted by an unknown user)
    Rating
    thnks for your help.really helpful!
     
  • Comment #51 (Posted by mahender awana)
    Rating
    dude fantastic work can v install xp in a pen drive or usb hardisk so dat windows can become portable if yes than how????
     
  • Comment #52 (Posted by mohd juned)
    Rating
    than you for giving this knowledge actually i didn't know about it thanks a lot (king juned)!!!!!!!!!!!!
     
  • Comment #53 (Posted by jobin)
    Rating
    help!!!!!!!!!! Install XP from DOS .. send me "dos" command for install xp. dos ver 7.2
     
  • Comment #54 (Posted by jobin)
    Rating
    how can I install Xp{latest}. i boot xp cd then it shows dos comments. this xp is instal using DOS. But i don't know how to instal xp using DOS can ANYBODY HELP ME........ plz
     
  • Comment #55 (Posted by an unknown user)
    Rating
    if any problem comes like BOOT MGR file missing it means your cd is not perfect please to solve this change the disk or using nero make a bootable disk.
     
  • Comment #56 (Posted by an unknown user)
    Rating
    A lot of thanx
     
  • Comment #57 (Posted by an unknown user)
    Rating
    not telling commands
     
  • Comment #58 (Posted by an unknown user)
    Rating
    it works period.
     
  • Comment #59 (Posted by Amithabh cp)
    Rating
    i have only one HDD.I am connected to another machine HDD and copied i386 to c: drive of blank HDD (already formated with FAT 32).Is it work using command c:i386winnt.exe
     
  • Comment #60 (Posted by an unknown user)
    Rating
    This is not enough for understand.
     
  • Comment #61 (Posted by an unknown user)
    Rating
    thanks brother and nice work
     
  • Comment #62 (Posted by an unknown user)
    Rating
    I am using dell studio xps 16 i have no operating system in my hard drive. when i want to boot from cd or dvd then a massage is coming "BOOTMGR IS MISSING Press Alt Ctrl and Del to reboot" Please help me out of it..
     
  • Comment #63 (Posted by an unknown user)
    Rating
    Excellent
     
  • Comment #64 (Posted by lim thian chai)
    Rating
    wonderful~~! i love you~haha
     
  • Comment #65 (Posted by an unknown user)
    Rating
    on my old laptop was the cd drive broken....this works very good..SUPER...tx
     
Submit Comment