HELP: Installing XP Pro with no CD/Floppy Drives

T

Tristezza

Weaksauce
Joined
Jul 13, 2005
Messages
120
Here's the situation:

I have this: Fujitsu Stylistic LT C-500 - It's a tablet pc running w2k

Problem: How to install WinXP when the pc doesn't have any built in CD or floppy drive

I need to install windows xp on it basically for the new network stuff, mainly wifi. All it has is one usb port, one pcmcia slot, and a compact flash slot, that's as far as expansion goes. It has a 40bg hard drive, so there's plenty of space.

Is there a way I can install xp from a usb cd-rom? The bios on it is rather odd, seeing as it's touch-screen and all. If anyone has any ideas on how I can get xp on this machine it would be greatly appreciated.
 
do you have network access with it now or are you upgrading to xp so that you can have network access?? If you already have network access then install it from across network...
 
Your tablet should be able to read from an external USB CD-ROM drive just fine. My Dad's Toshiba Tablet did at least.

You can also do a Network install of XP.
 
as far as a network install goes, it doesn't have a rj-45 jack for netoworks only an rj-11 or it's modem. I do however have a linksys pcmcia network adapter for it, can i install over a network using this?
 
one slippery way to do it...

take the HD out, hook it up to another PC. format it. make two partitions, a 1gig one and 'the rest' (make the 1 gig one at the end of the drive). on the 'small' partition, copy over teh i386 folder from the XP cd (plus maybe any drivers you know you'll need... the tablet specific wifi ones).

install XP on the main box up until the first 'reboot during install'. up until that point, it's just making the drive 'bootable', and dumping over files...

pop the drive back in the tablet, let the setup 'continue'... when it bitches about not seeing the cd, point it to the i386 path on the small partition.

blah blah... continue...

it worked for me trying to bring a friend with an ME laptop with similar 'difficulties' up to 2000.

i needed to find an adapter to hook the lappy HD up to my desktop, but it wasn't hard to find (cost about 13 bucks).

good luck.



****edit: as far as if you have a USB LAN connection... it's cake. just map a CD drive from your network, pop the XP cd in the mapped drive, and upgrade... but my above solution actually works better in the long run... you have an entire 'copy' of the XP CD on the HD for if it ever asks for it again in the future, and you know it will...
 
you could just borrow/buy a usb cd/dvd drive and use that to install windows as long as your tablet allows you to boot from USB
 
bjork you're awesome, a friend and I were just talking about that to see if it was at all possible. I'll you know how it turns out, thanks for the tip.
 
Keep in mind that's probably voiding the warranty. But the only other way to do it is get the usb cd drive, but you can get an ide enclosure for about 30-40 bucks for a 5.25 drive, or a little less for a 3.5" drive (if you felt the need to put all the useful stuff you install first on a hard drive - trust me, big time saver if you don't have a dvd burner or it's not big enough to do it just on dvd)
 
ok, i put the i386 folder on a 1gb part. and tried installing on the rest, and it didn't work for me, rats.

i got the blue screen when i put the drive back in after the first reboot during install
 
Copy the files onto the tablet and just upgrade the OS to Windows XP from the GUI.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top