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OS reinstall with no CD drive?

post #1 of 21
12/15/05 at 12:04am
Thread Starter 
i need to know how this is done i currently have no drive for my d800
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post #2 of 21
12/15/05 at 9:39am
Some ideas here: http://www.notebookforums.com/showthread.php?t=117016
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post #3 of 21
12/16/05 at 5:19am
Maybe you can connect the HDD to another computer, format it with a bootable DOS system, transfer the XP setup files over and run it from the prompt.

I have done that with Windows 98SE, but not with XP.
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post #4 of 21
12/16/05 at 1:20pm


How to start the Setup program from MS-DOS in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=307848

Note the part that mentions the problem associated with not running SMARTDrive.
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post #5 of 21
12/16/05 at 9:20pm
That sounds like what you want. Good find Esquire!
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post #6 of 21
12/16/05 at 9:39pm
I would say to adapt that to work without a CD drive all all would be to (As I suggested previously) connect the HDD to another computer (just get a cheap USB2 2.5" HDD Case)

Format it with a bootable DOS system. Open a Command Prompt on the PC you are using, and type "format drive: /s" to make it bootable.

Copy the XP install files over to the drive in a folder. Make sure the folder name is 8 characters or less (like "XPsetup"). Also copy over smartdrv.exe to the root directory. You can get it here: http://files.filefront.com/SMARTDRVE.../fileinfo.html

Put the HDD back into the laptop and turn it on. It should boot to the command prompt. From there run "smartdrv.exe".

Then start the XP setup by typing "cd xpsetup\i386" then "winnt". Then follow the rest of the info on the page posted by Esquire.
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post #7 of 21
12/16/05 at 9:47pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by MitchellO
That sounds like what you want. Good find Esquire!
Thanks. 've used this method a few times since Windows 2000 - very useful if the CD drive isn't bootable.
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post #8 of 21
12/16/05 at 10:48pm
I remember reading something similar a while back, so I knew it was possible, just couldn't remember quite how to do it.
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post #9 of 21
12/17/05 at 1:12am
Thread Starter 
How do i boot into dos if i have no disk drive? EDIT nvm i justr saw it
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post #10 of 21
12/17/05 at 2:50am
Thread Starter 
okay so here's what i got

1. a external hdd 120 gigs
2. the os files are on there along with setup files i copied from a msdos boot disk (it will not format a hdd as a boot disk 4 some reason)
3. when i boot it says ntloader is missing
4. any ideas?
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post #11 of 21
12/18/05 at 1:13am
You can't simply copy files from a boot disk to the hard drive to boot the latter (which is why you need to format it as discussed before).

How did you format your hard drive?
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post #12 of 21
12/18/05 at 1:17am
Yeah, you have to format the drive with the /sys command to make it bootable. Simply copying the files will not create the correct boot sectors and stuff.
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post #13 of 21
12/18/05 at 1:34am
Thread Starter 
sys command? i added s on the end of format e: and it said invaid peramiter
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post #14 of 21
12/18/05 at 1:40am
Sorry, it is supposed to be s. My mistake above.

Did you put "format e: /s" or "format e: s"?
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post #15 of 21
12/18/05 at 9:09pm
Thread Starter 
invalid paramenter (s) have tried it both ways
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post #16 of 21
12/18/05 at 9:21pm
Is E the actual drive letter assigned to your external drive?

It may help if you can describe the whole process in detail from the moment you plugged in your hard drive.
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post #17 of 21
12/18/05 at 9:59pm
Thread Starter 
sorry about that the drive letter is e its a external drive (usb) i open cmd and type format e: s and it says invalid
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post #18 of 21
12/18/05 at 10:08pm
Firstly, you need to type "/s" noting the forward slash.

It is also possible that the XP "format" program doesn't support the "/s" format command.

The Windows 98SE Boot disk does though. See if you can get a hold of a 98SE boot disk (They are easy to find online), and use the format program off it.
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post #19 of 21
12/18/05 at 11:50pm
Yeah make sure to run that smartdrive thing before running the winnt exe file to start the install. Everytime I forget to do it, the install hanged.
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post #20 of 21
12/19/05 at 12:03am
Quote:
Originally Posted by mich43L
Yeah make sure to run that smartdrive thing before running the winnt exe file to start the install. Everytime I forget to do it, the install hanged.
Probably setup was taking a very very very long time Without SMARTDRV it can take hours before reaching the license agreement.
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