install windows xp from usb flash drive

Hello,

after fiddling around yesterday trying to get windows xp to install windows from a flash drive i eventually found a program called wintoflash

if it works it will save my customer the need to buy a new disc drive.

 

Does it only only work with window installation or can you use it to convert a bootable ISO to a bootable USB flash drive?

 

you need to extract all the files to a folder on the hard drive.
if you have a program such as winrar to extract that iso to a folder you can then use that.

 

Thanks, I will give it a try. I have been looking for a free bootable ISO to bootable usb converter for a long time.

 

I may be off-topic here (so I apologize), but perhaps UNetbootin may be of some help? It will not create Windows bootable USB though.

EDIT:

Does it work lodore?

 

Well the GUI part of the XP install doesnt seem to work. but i think its a problem with the laptop and not a problem with the usbstick or wintoflash.

its a great program
very easy to use.

 

If you make a LiveXP boot from USB with WinBuilder, there is already existing in it a tool to install XP. You pick the source and the target, a few other options, and go. I have used it to install xp to C: from the source files existing on D: and it works very well.

Sul.

 

Well, I tried wintoflash but apparently it is only meant to convert ISO based windows installation to usb flash drives only. If you have a bootable ISO of some other software, wintoflash will not be able to convert it into a bootable usb.

The problem is that wintoflash asks you to unpack the iso and then it repacks it into a usb, and appends the boot info to the usb flash drive. Unfortunately, when you unpack a ISO of some other program, it looses its boot info, and then wintoflash appends a windows installation boot info to it, rendering the software unusable.

I had a look at UNetbootin and it too appears to be only meant for OS installation only.

As a comparison, UltraISO will convert any bootable ISO to a bootable usb flash. Unfortunately, it is not free, only a fully function trial.

 

The manual way to do it:

1) format the usb in ntfs.
2) Use "diskpart" to make the partition of the ntfs active.
3) Use the "fixboot [usbdrive letter:]" to insert the a bootsector to the partition.
4) copy all files from the cd to the usb.

Panagiotis

 

You dont need to extract iso image to anywhere, just mount it with a software.

 

hey guys,,how do you fix your bios to make usb bootable,,i have a dell dimension 8200..and i see only boot from diskette,cd/dvd,hard drive.

 

the last bios update for that computer is very old and its very unlikely you will be able to boot from usb. if usb isnt listed in boot options you cant boot from usb its that simple.

 

With PLOP he can.

Panagiotis

 

Some BIOSes will not list UFD as a bootable option unless you have a usb flash inserted before going into the BIOS. An example of this is an eeepc 1000h from Asus.

Al