is there any way i can install XP Pro on my "new" laptop (bought as used but not very old) without a floppy drive??? because my XP CD is not bootable and the laptop has no floppy drive for the 6-disk boot disk set. is there any way to install XP w/o a floppy, short of installing something else like 2K Pro or something and then "upgrading"??

thanx!

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Copy your XP cd to a Hd ( if the cd is not a cdrw )
Burn it to another cd & make it bootable.



http://computing.net/windows95/wwwboard/forum/140203.html

A legal XP CD can boot if the computer supports that, and your's sounds like it is new enough for that. What are you using?

Another thought, make sure your bios is set to boot from cd 1st.

Houston, we have a problem

Could be an upgrade version. They are none bootable. My XP Home cd is an upgrade version (Only found that out last night as thats the first time i've used it) so you need both the 6 floppy disks and a previous copy of windiows to install from. I can tell you that was a pain about 8 mins to read all the damn floppy disks:P

Lupin3rd, you are probably incorrect. We went around on this awhile back, because at the time, I did not possess an "Upgrade" version of X tra P utrid.

However, after obtaining one (upgrade) I discovered, and others on here seem to agree, that the upgrade CD's seem to be all bootable.

This is NOT true of Wihnehoed98 or earlier, in which case neither the Upgrade, nor the "store bought" RETAIL editions will boot.

At least some NT and W2K CD's boot, I can't speak for the Upgrade versions--don't have any.

You can confirm this by downloading something like the trial version of ISO Buster, and use that software to "take apart" the boot sector of the CD. If it is bootable, you'll see the boot sector on there.

Additionally, it is possible to install X tra P utrid from a DOS launched environment, so if for some reason the XP cd won't boot, then maybe you have an '98 CD that will boot. You should be able to use it to partition/format the hdd (in FAT) and then launch an XP install from the CD, either from the CD, or by copying the /I386 directory to the hdd.

I CANNOT IMAGINE haveing a laptop without a floppy. I have both an old Acentia, and have and do have several Thinkpads and EVERY ONE OF THEM has a floppy drive available.

Make a shared folder of a CD drive on another computer. Then map it to the laptop and run it from there.

Yep, laptops and tablets are real tought to play with when there is no floppy.

Copy The Windows XP CD To a folder in the hard drive of a computer with a cd burner and go to "www.nu2.nu/bootcd/" it walks you through the whole thing and it is all totally legal. some people dont like this way of doing it though. It only takes about thirty minutes to do all of it. I loved it. I had your same problem. Join the club...

it is because the floppy and CD-ROM share a spot, as in swappable so even if i did have a floppy for it i couldnt use it because they are only "one at a time"

the XP CD is Professional, full, version 2002

Preform regular PC maintenance to keep your PC running like new. For suggestions on free security virus/spyware removal and optimizing utils and software, visit my web site.