cant' get win 2000 installed

[jimmyrules712]

my laptop, an ibm thinkpad 240,does not have a cdrom(its a super compact laptop). Ive got an external cdrom thats hooked up via usb, and it works under the current OS of windows 98 with special drivers I had to install. Well I'm trying to install windows 2000, but the computer doesn't read the external cdrom until after windows loads up, so i can't boot it to the cdrom. Ichecked bios but there doesn't seem to be a way to boot with usb support. So now I'm stuck, suggestions?

[edrod13]

Not sure if you need to have USB support option in the bios, but I just read the other day here on the mech about a boot disk with USB drivers for the very same thing that you are looking for. I will try and see if I can dig up the post. HTH

http://www.bootdisk.com/usb.htm

but also read this area closely:

Also note that windows really doesn't like being installed from a usb device so if you only have a usb cdrom drive and need to install windows its best to copy the install files to a folder on your hard drive first and do the install from there

Good luck


Edrod13

[jimmyrules712]

how can you do an install from a folder on your HD?

[edrod13]

I know for a fact that on Windows 98 you just copy over the WIN98 folder and then while you are in that folder just type SETUP, and follow the prompts. For Win XP copy over the i386 folder and then in that folder type WINNT.EXE and that should start the install. I am not sure but I beleive that Win2K is done the same way as XP. Can someone validate that?

Edrod13

[edrod13]

I found this in another forum and it seems very feasable for installing Win2k straight from the hard drive.

Installing NT from DOS is (without the boot disks or cd-rom) C:\i386\winnt /b Installing Win2k from DOS is just C:\i386\Winnt.exe I install Windows 2000 with SP1 preinstalled into the i386 ! (you can look in microsoft technet to see how it's done) What I usually do is : 1. Format One Primary Active Partition with 4GB FAT32 (using Windows 98 boot disk) 2. Copy the i386 (with SP1 built in) to drive C: 3. install Win2k 4. Convert the FAT32 to NTFS using Convert c: /fs:ntfs 5. create and format the rest of the partitions. So far I haven't had any problems with IDE Based system - but on some SCSI / RAID Machines it won't work. you Have to use the CD-ROM.

It seems that this could be the correct syntax for the install:
Installing Win2k from DOS is just
C:\i386\Winnt.exe

[jimmyrules712]

im not really following you.

how can you install to a HD from thesame HD? wont the Windows files be erased when it formats? how will it install after that?

[edrod13]

if you format the drive ahead of time (step#1) then during the installation you can just specfiy to install the OS to that partition and skip the format. Windows installation disks perform a format when they don't detect an active partition, so you would have to create one during the install and format it, which is no big deal because you are installing from the CD. When you already have created one, it will detect it and ask you if you would like to use that particular one for the install.

Once you initiate the install, formats are optional assuming you have or have not yet partitioned the drive.

Edrod13

[jimmyrules712]

right but I only have one drive here, not more than that. so howcan I format it, while still working in it (putting windows on it), its not making sense to me.

[jimmyrules712]

i idn't think it would bethis diffcult, so unless theres a much simpilar way dont worry about it, ill just use 98