Istalling Windows XP on Dell Latitudec610 W/Out CD Drive?

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Limp Gawd
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Mar 3, 2008
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How do i go about installing windows XP pro SP2 on my Dell Latitude 610 without a CD or DVD Drive, Didn't come with one. I've looked all over the place and can't seem to find a DVD or CD room that integrates with my current laptop, I dont know maybe i should try a booting up with a External Usb DVD Drive ? But im looking at the Bios Option and this is what I've gotten

Internal HDD
Diskette Drive
CD/DVD/CD-RW Drive (Notice how it doesn't say USB Drive)
Modular Bay HDD
CardBus NIC
C/PORTII Or C/DOCK II NIC
Onboard NIC

Thanks in advanced.
 
Do you have the external USB DVD drive plugged in while booting and going into the BIOS?

(What happens when you choose to boot from the DVD option?)
 
Do you have the external USB DVD drive plugged in while booting and going into the BIOS?

(What happens when you choose to boot from the DVD option?)

It's worth a shot, but from a quick googling, it doesn't look like that model can boot from an external.

 
If the system restore partition is still intact, you can boot from that to restore the original installation.

http://www.goodells.net/dellrestore/
this shows you how.



got the laptop with out a HDD so no partition is installed. I was thinking (and i know this is probably stupid and probably wouldn't work) but Installing a OS, on another Dell Latitude Laptop (different model D600)and transferring the HDD to my Dell Latitude C610 i doubt it, probably wouldn't worked.

It's worth a shot, but from a quick googling, it doesn't look like that model can boot from an external.

Do you have a link to this i would like to see it,

So if i can't boot it from a USB DVD drive then how would i go about installing windows on this laptop , LOL
 
The 600 and 610 are virtually the same device. Dell changed from the 600 because of complaints about too much heat. The accessories are interchangeable between them.

So, pop the CD/DVD drive out of the 600 and put it into the 610 and you're good to go.
 
The 600 and 610 are virtually the same device. Dell changed from the 600 because of complaints about too much heat. The accessories are interchangeable between them.

So, pop the CD/DVD drive out of the 600 and put it into the 610 and you're good to go.

Also, have you actually tried plugging in an external and seeing if the BIOS sees it? It may not actually spell out external usb, just list it as a cd/dvd-rom.

I dont know where I was reading yesterday that it couldnt and can't find it today.

 
The 600 and 610 are virtually the same device. Dell changed from the 600 because of complaints about too much heat. The accessories are interchangeable between them.

So, pop the CD/DVD drive out of the 600 and put it into the 610 and you're good to go.

I'm sorry correction i have a Dell Latitude D600 and I'm trying to install Windows Xp on Dell Latitude C610 I've tried taken off the CD rom of the D600 But the plugs are different, so thats out of the question

alan2308 said:
Also, have you actually tried plugging in an external and seeing if the BIOS sees it? It may not actually spell out external usb, just list it as a cd/dvd-rom.

I dont know where I was reading yesterday that it couldnt and can't find it today.

the only problem I have with that is that i don't have a External USB DVD / Drive, and I don't really want to go buy one, If it's not going to work (would be a waste of money) Anyone willing to donate me one, lol ?
 
Thought you said you had one sorry. No internal or external, the last straw I can gasp at is a net boot.

Try the FS/FT section or ebay, maybe you could pick a usable drive up on the cheap.
 
That link seems like an awful lot of work, but it isn't.

One last question that I should have asked before. Your one machine has only a floppy drive, but the other laptop -- does it have a CD ROM *and* a floppy drive that you can use at the same time? I believe it's a hot swap on those models. If it is... well...it could be fun trying to figure it out. ;)

Also -- do you have a flash drive thats 512mb or bigger?
 
I'm sorry correction i have a Dell Latitude D600 and I'm trying to install Windows Xp on Dell Latitude C610 I've tried taken off the CD rom of the D600 But the plugs are different, so thats out of the question

Are you absolutely sure they're different? Most proprietary laptop drives (optical and hdd) are just normal drives with adapters bolted on to it. 90% of the time you can interchange adapters to another drive.
 
Are you absolutely sure they're different? Most proprietary laptop drives (optical and hdd) are just normal drives with adapters bolted on to it. 90% of the time you can interchange adapters to another drive.

They are different.

The form-factor of the actual drive is different, not just the adapter.
 
okay so here is a update, Since at this point i have nothing to loose

I took out the original Hard drive from the Dell Latitude C610 and placed it on the Dell Latitude D600, installed a fresh copy of Windows XP SP2 Off course only using Dell CD operating System disk (green color Disk) Those of you who are familiar with dell's and installed Windows on my Dell Latitude D600 after everything was installed, (not downloading Microsoft updates or Chip-set drivers Nothing just bone stock. Took the Hard drive out of the Dell Latitude D600 and Put it back on my Dell Latitude C610 Laptop and suuuureeeeeeee Enough i got the blue death of screen, With A Hard drive Code, saying Couldn't Find proper Windows on it. So That out of the question now.

They are different.

The form-factor of the actual drive is different, not just the adapter
Also -- do you have a flash drive thats 512mb or bigger?

Yeah Demon You're right about that their total two different laptops the connection adapters don't even match

And yes I have a 3 Flash drive two 2 gigs and one 4 gigs. But as far as i know windows Xp wont let you boot up from a flash drive, Thats more like Vista.
 
Ok, then it should be pretty easy for you to install XP actually.

First, download a Windows 98 bootdisk from bootdisk.com. On your XP machine, run this EXE and create the bootfloppy. Set it aside.

Now, insert your flash drive and your XP CDrom into your XP machine. Copy the i386 directory from your CDRom to your Flash Drive. This will probbaly take a while (took me about 40 minutes).

Once the copy is done, put the floppy and the flash drive into the other computer and turn it on. It should boot from the floppy. Get yourself to an A: prompt.

At the A: prompt, change to the drive letter of your Flash drive. It's probably going to be C:, D:, or E:, depending on how your machine is configured. Just enter the drive letter (complete with the : ) and hit enter. Type dir to see the contents to make sure that you're on the right drive -- you should see the i386 folder.

Change to the i386 folder by typing CD i386

Run the Windows XP setup by typing the command winnt

There you go. XP should be starting to install for you. A word of warning...it's going to be very, very slow.




If you wanted to do something a little more advanced, you could use FDISK from the hard drive. Once you partitioned it, you could copy the i386 directory from flash drive to your hard drive, then run the setup from there. If you do this, you'll need to convert the filesystem to NTFS after you do the install, so it might be a good idea to just run the setup from the flash drive.
 
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