I am trying to use my HP Laptop to prepare a USB Stick for use on my Dell OptiPlex GX270 desktop. I followed the instructions for using WinSetupfromUSB software to prep the disk and make the disk capable of use. I cannot use the Dell CD on the computer because the drive overheats the system. The disk is made fine according the program. So I go to the desktop and restart my computer and boot it from the USB. It starts setup, loads the files, and the stops and says Setup is Starting Windows It sits on that for about 5-10secs and then a STOP error shows up. What am I doing wrong? Is this possible? My system has 512MB of Memory, not 4GB as the box says.

Did you use the Dell cd to create this? If so you might need a real xp cd. Dell doesn't offer complete cd's. Could make a barts 2 usb and use it's tools to load disk from networked shared cd with the dell cd in it maybe. Or put the image of the cd or contents on the flash with barts. "Best Practices", Event viewer, host file, perfmon, antivirus, anti-spyware, Live CD's, backups, Make an autorun.inf folder on all usb drives.

no the disk is a full original Dell Windows XP Pro CD and is not one of those restore images.

If your optical drive is in the upper front slot in the box, you might be able to fix the overheating problem by moving it to a lower slot in the PC, or even connecting it outside the PC. Or you could take the cover off your PC and have a fan blowing into the box while you do the install from the CD drive. Or, if you don't have a case fan, adding one might help.

The system is not a tower, but is a desktop with a hinged case opening, and has a case fan. There is no way to operate the system without having the case closed.

If the cd has Dell anywhere on it then that still may be the issue. Unless it says only Microsoft you run this risk. See docs on WinSetupfromUSB. Says you need a real microsoft xp cd. "Best Practices", Event viewer, host file, perfmon, antivirus, anti-spyware, Live CD's, backups, Make an autorun.inf folder on all usb drives.