[ChrisMW]

Hi all!

I own an old IBM Thinkpad that doesn't have a CD of floppy drive. I've got my original Windows XP CD and serial but can't get it to install. I recently got a hard drive for it (there's nothing wrong with the computer by the way, as I used to run Linux on it).

I worked out how to use BARTPE, so I can boot to that through a USB drive. When BartPE loads up, I've tried to install XP using three methods:

1. Copied the CD to the thumb drive. When I install, it reboots and goes to the blue screen where it copies setup files, but on reboot, nothing happens. The screen remains blank.

2. Copied the CD to the hard drive, but the same thing happens

3. Partitioned the hard drive and copied the CD to the second partition and tried to install - same thing.

When rebooting, I've tried booting from the disk, and from the USB thumb drive, but the same thing happens. I can also connect the laptop hard drive through a USB caddy to my desktop which is also running XP.

So my question is - does anybody have any idea on how to get Windows XP running on my laptop before I use it as a footstool?! Your help will be much appreciated.

All the best
Chris

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This sounds like a pretty old laptop, what model is it? What speed processor, how much memory?

You can't boot from a flash drive without doing a significant amount of work, which includes getting one or more files from Windows 2003 Server. You should be able to install from the hard drive though. Exactly what steps did you take to do this?

[Ztruker]

This sounds like a pretty old laptop, what model is it? What speed processor, how much memory?

You can't boot from a flash drive without doing a significant amount of work, which includes getting one or more files from Windows 2003 Server. You should be able to install from the hard drive though. Exactly what steps did you take to do this?

[krmooo]

This behavior can occur because the BIOS in the ThinkPad 600, 600E, 770X, and 770Z and in the IntelliStation M Pro cannot read certain large text files during the installation of Windows XP.To resolve this behavior, obtain an updated BIOS from IBM Corporation.

[ChrisMW]

Hi there -

Found this info through another forum. Works like a charm. I simply format the hard drive in a USB caddy using HP Format and DOS files and copy the Windows install files from the CD to the drive, throw it in the laptop and boot, then install XP.

http://www.911cd.net...showtopic=16713

Thanks for your help, though. I appreciate it.
Chris