[Lister192065]

To give you a bit of background:

I have 3 machines:

Dell 530m Laptop with DVD-RW (6 USB)
HP dc7600 USDT without CD-Drive (1 SATA channel only - used by HDD) (4 USBs + 1 Gigabit ethernet)
Advent T9509 with CD Drive (6 SATA, 1 IDE, 6 USB, 1 Gigabit Ethernet)

On my Dell i have XP Professional, on my Advent i have Windows Vista. What i want to do is install Server 2003 onto my HP DC7600 (and use it as a media/storage server) but i have the following issues:

- No CD Drive so CD installation is out of the question.
- Installation from USB HDD does not work - Boots in DOS fine, runs setup but freezes.
- Can't get my head around PXE booting.
- Do not possess a USB CD-Drive

So i throw it open to you. How should i go about installing Server 2003 onto my HP? I've tried to get my head around PXE booting but it goes right over my head.

I've tried installing taking out the SATA HDD from the DC7600 and installing Server 2003 using another machine but when i put the drive back into the DC7600 i get a 7B STOP code.

Is there a way i can use another machine to install 2003 to the HDD and then replace the drivers for those of the DC7600 whilst the machine is in a different machine without getting a 7B error on the installation machine?

Is there a muppets guide of setting up a PXE boot? I know my way around Server 2003 so i know how to use the OS (for the most part)

I know that you can use RIS in Server 2003 but i don't have any .img files for Server 2003. The installation media i am using is an evaluation copy from Microsoft.

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According to the specs on that machine it has an IDE Connector. Pop open the case and see if it does. The IDE Channel will be a long thin set of pins on the motherboard.

It looks like this


If you have that then pick up a cheap DVD Drive (less than $20.00) and get the cables. Hook it up and now you have a dvd-rom to install windows 2003 on to that machine.

[amw_drizz]

According to the specs on that machine it has an IDE Connector. Pop open the case and see if it does. The IDE Channel will be a long thin set of pins on the motherboard.

It looks like this


If you have that then pick up a cheap DVD Drive (less than $20.00) and get the cables. Hook it up and now you have a dvd-rom to install windows 2003 on to that machine.

[diabillic]

I would try Windows Home Server instead of 2003 if youre using it as a media server.

Save yourself the headache and ebay a DVD for a few bucks. You can even find some at local flea markets and computer shows.

[Lister192065]

According to the specs on that machine it has an IDE Connector. Pop open the case and see if it does. The IDE Channel will be a long thin set of pins on the motherboard.

It looks like this


If you have that then pick up a cheap DVD Drive (less than $20.00) and get the cables. Hook it up and now you have a dvd-rom to install windows 2003 on to that machine.

Thank you for your reply amw_drizz but the HP DC7600USDT (http://h20000.www2.h...5&lang=en&cc=uk) does not have an IDE header on the motherboard, as stated in the first post.

I would try Windows Home Server instead of 2003 if youre using it as a media server.

Save yourself the headache and ebay a DVD for a few bucks. You can even find some at local flea markets and computer shows.

I will look at Home Server however the questsion still remains of how to install it as CD installation is not possible.

The installation methods i have to choose from are either:

USB Install
PXE Boot/Install

I have tried USB install but it does not like this and freezes during the text portion of the setup.

[dsenette]

your best bet is to pick up a cheap USB cd/dvd drive at the store, you can get one for $20 or so.

also, i second the idea of going with home server instead of server 2003 (especially if you're talking about 2003 standard or up). home server is built around wizards and what not, it makes it much easier for the inexperienced to set up and get moving.

alternately, if you're just using it as a media server, it doesn't strictly have to have a server OS, you can share media off of just about anything.