How do make a bootable hard disk

Terry · External Since: Mar 15, 2006 Posts: 78

My hard disk on my older notebook has crashed (this notebook has no built in
CD ROM). So using another notebook with built in CDROM and installing a new
hard disk into the internal hard drive - how do i create a bootable hard disk
? i have my Windows XP CD ROM.

It wont let me use F12 to boot from my Windows XP CDROM.

Please advise.

Terry

Malke · External Since: Nov 01, 2005 Posts: 7920

Terry wrote:
> My hard disk on my older notebook has crashed (this notebook has no built in
> CD ROM). So using another notebook with built in CDROM and installing a new
> hard disk into the internal hard drive - how do i create a bootable hard disk
> ? i have my Windows XP CD ROM.
>
> It wont let me use F12 to boot from my Windows XP CDROM.
>
> Please advise.
>
> Terry

I'm a little unclear about what you are actually trying to do. Are you
trying to install XP on the new hard drive from Laptop 2 with the idea
of putting the new hard drive back into Laptop 1? If so, that will not work.

If you want to replace the hard drive and install XP on Laptop 1, get an
external cd-rom drive for Laptop 1.

If you are asking how to get the XP install cd to boot, then change the
boot order in the BIOS to cd drive first, hard drive second. All XP
install cd's are already bootable.

If this isn't what you are trying to do, then please post back with a
better description of your end goal.

Malke
--
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic!"
MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User

Terry · External Since: Mar 15, 2006 Posts: 78

Dear Malke,

Thanks for your answer. Yes I did try to install new hard disk in laptop 2
and then re-install into laptop 1. It did not work as you have advised. Y
doesnt this work I am wondering.

If I use an external CD ROM drive connected by USB - how can I make it boot
from this CDROM using the BIOS ?

Thanks.

Terry

Malke · External Since: Nov 01, 2005 Posts: 7920

Terry wrote:
> Dear Malke,
>
>
> Thanks for your answer. Yes I did try to install new hard disk in laptop 2
> and then re-install into laptop 1. It did not work as you have advised. Y
> doesnt this work I am wondering.
>
> If I use an external CD ROM drive connected by USB - how can I make it boot
> from this CDROM using the BIOS ?

1. It didn't work because the hardware is completely different.

2. Your BIOS must support booting from a USB device.

Accessing the BIOS
http://michaelstevenstech.com/bios_manufacturer.htm
http://www.uktsupport.co.uk/reference/biosp.htm
http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000235.htm

3. Does Laptop 1 just not have a cd-rom drive or is it broken? If the
latter, replace it.

Malke
--
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic!"
MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User

Bob Harris1 · External Since: Apr 28, 2004 Posts: 495

To expand on this reply:

XP is sensistive to the precise hardware environment, such as disk
controllers, CPUs, motherboard options, etc.

When you install XP, it senses all these and loads appropriate drivers. (If
RAID, SCSI, or SATA you might have to also feed it special drivers from a
floppy.) It also loads something called a Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL)
that is more related to the general class of motherboard. Thus, unless the
PCs are identical, installing XP onto a hardrive in one PC will not work
when you move it to another PC.

If the final PC had a CD drive, and if you have a retail verison of the XP
CD, you could do a "repair installation" to update hardware-specific items.
However, if you have a CD drive in that PC it would be far easier to just
install XP directly.

Thus, I agree with the other reply: Get a CD drive for the PC !

As for booting from a CD, that is indeed a function of the BIOS settings.
Any PC from about 1998 onward has this capability, but it may be turned off,
or the boot order might be hard drive before CD. You can change that to CD
first. As for exactly how to access the BIOS, check the manual that came
with the PC, search the PC maker's support website, looking for PDF version
of manuals as well as paper copies. If all else fails, watch the PC as it
boots. Frequently it will flash a message like "HIT F2 FOR SETUP". These
messages do not stay for long, so watch carefully. Note that an external
(USB) CD drive might involve a separate setting or two in the BIOS from the
more standard internal (IDE or ATAPI) CD drive.

"Malke" wrote in message

> Terry wrote:
>> Dear Malke,
>>
>>
>> Thanks for your answer. Yes I did try to install new hard disk in laptop
>> 2 and then re-install into laptop 1. It did not work as you have advised.
>> Y doesnt this work I am wondering.
>>
>> If I use an external CD ROM drive connected by USB - how can I make it
>> boot from this CDROM using the BIOS ?
>
> 1. It didn't work because the hardware is completely different.
>
> 2. Your BIOS must support booting from a USB device.
>
> Accessing the BIOS
> http://michaelstevenstech.com/bios_manufacturer.htm
> http://www.uktsupport.co.uk/reference/biosp.htm
> http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000235.htm
>
> 3. Does Laptop 1 just not have a cd-rom drive or is it broken? If the
> latter, replace it.
>
>
> Malke
> --
> Elephant Boy Computers
> www.elephantboycomputers.com
> "Don't Panic!"
> MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User

Terry · External Since: Mar 15, 2006 Posts: 78

The notebook I have is a Fujitsu P-1030 which does not come with a built in
CD ROM. What setting do I need to change in the BIOS after pressing F2 in
order to get the notebook to boot up on the USB CDROM drive ?

Terry

Malke · External Since: Nov 01, 2005 Posts: 7920

Terry wrote:
> The notebook I have is a Fujitsu P-1030 which does not come with a built in
> CD ROM. What setting do I need to change in the BIOS after pressing F2 in
> order to get the notebook to boot up on the USB CDROM drive ?
>
> Terry

Your BIOS needs to be able to boot from a usb device. How does Fujitsu
suggest you restore your computer to a factory condition then? Only by
way of a restore image on a hard drive partition? Surely they must have
given you a way to restore to factory condition if you have to replace a
hard drive?

Refer to the laptop manual for information about the BIOS and/or look on
Fujitsu's website. You may need to contact Fujitsu tech support.

Malke
--
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic!"
MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User

Don Schmidt · External Since: Dec 23, 2005 Posts: 177

This may work for you.

To make a CD auto run, make a file in the root called
Autorun.inf To make one, open notepad and enter these
lines replace setup.exe with the file you wish to autorun):

[autorun]
Open=Setup.exe

Save it as autorun, notepad will add the extension .txt,
just rename the file to Autorun.INF and drop it into the
root when burning the CD. To see examples of this file,
just grab any CD that you know autorun's, and explore the
root, find the autorun.inf file and open it with notepad
to view the contents.

The above was a gift from a fellow name Shep to a 98 news group if my memory
serves me correctly.

--
Don
Quid Pro Quo.

"Terry" wrote in message

> My hard disk on my older notebook has crashed (this notebook has no built
> in
> CD ROM). So using another notebook with built in CDROM and installing a
> new
> hard disk into the internal hard drive - how do i create a bootable hard
> disk
> ? i have my Windows XP CD ROM.
>
> It wont let me use F12 to boot from my Windows XP CDROM.
>
> Please advise.
>
> Terry

Brian K · External Since: Jan 05, 2007 Posts: 9

On 3/24/2007 3:12 PM Malke wrote:
> Terry wrote:
>> The notebook I have is a Fujitsu P-1030 which does not come with a
>> built in CD ROM. What setting do I need to change in the BIOS after
>> pressing F2 in order to get the notebook to boot up on the USB CDROM
>> drive ?
>>
>> Terry
>
> Your BIOS needs to be able to boot from a usb device. How does Fujitsu
> suggest you restore your computer to a factory condition then? Only by
> way of a restore image on a hard drive partition? Surely they must
> have given you a way to restore to factory condition if you have to
> replace a hard drive?
>
> Refer to the laptop manual for information about the BIOS and/or look
> on Fujitsu's website. You may need to contact Fujitsu tech support.
>
>
> Malke
I'd like to revisit something that Terry said in his first post. He
said that the notebook is older. My question is how much older? Did it
have XP installed on it before the HDD crash? Does the hardware
configuration meet or exceed Microsoft minimal requirements for the
version of XP to be installed? Terry may have checked into these
things, but it doesn't hurt to look at the basics before tackling the
more difficult issues.

If the CD-ROM is broken on Notebook 1 wouldn't it make sense to obtain a
better one from an online seller who markets notebook parts? I've never
replaced any internal hardware on a notebook. Am wrong to assume that
replacing the CD-ROM is easier than attempting to use a USB CDROM which
may or may not be supported by the BIOS?

--
________
To email me, Edit "blog" from my email address.
Brian M. Kochera
"Some mistakes are too much fun to only make once!"
View My Web Page: http://home.earthlink.net/~brian1951

Malke · External Since: Nov 01, 2005 Posts: 7920

Brian K wrote:

>> Malke
> I'd like to revisit something that Terry said in his first post. He
> said that the notebook is older. My question is how much older? Did it
> have XP installed on it before the HDD crash? Does the hardware
> configuration meet or exceed Microsoft minimal requirements for the
> version of XP to be installed? Terry may have checked into these
> things, but it doesn't hurt to look at the basics before tackling the
> more difficult issues.
>
> If the CD-ROM is broken on Notebook 1 wouldn't it make sense to obtain a
> better one from an online seller who markets notebook parts? I've never
> replaced any internal hardware on a notebook. Am wrong to assume that
> replacing the CD-ROM is easier than attempting to use a USB CDROM which
> may or may not be supported by the BIOS?
>

We don't know any of the answers to the questions in your first
paragraph and won't know unless the OP comes back. Very often they don't.

As for the question in your second paragraph, the OP said that the
optical drive was not built in, so this indicates to me that it isn't
"broken", just missing by design. For instance, my Thinkpad X31 does not
have a built-in optical drive; you can add one by purchasing an
Ultrabase dock. His Fujitsu is probably similar.

Malke
--
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic!"
MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User

David B. · External Since: Mar 08, 2007 Posts: 153

To expand on your reply, XP is ONLY sensitive to the disk controller, you
can change every other piece of hardware in a PC, as long as the hard drive
controller stays the same, XP will successfully boot.

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"Bob Harris" wrote in message

> To expand on this reply:
>
> XP is sensistive to the precise hardware environment, such as disk
> controllers, CPUs, motherboard options, etc.
>

David B. · External Since: Mar 08, 2007 Posts: 153

Autorun.inf has absolutely zero to do with booting from CD.

--

----
Crosspost, do not multipost http://www.blakjak.demon.co.uk/mul_crss.htm
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How to Post http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
http://www.db-pc.com
_________________________________________________________________________________

"Don Schmidt" wrote in message

> This may work for you.
>
> To make a CD auto run, make a file in the root called
> Autorun.inf To make one, open notepad and enter these
> lines replace setup.exe with the file you wish to autorun):
>
> [autorun]
> Open=Setup.exe
>
>
> Save it as autorun, notepad will add the extension .txt,
> just rename the file to Autorun.INF and drop it into the
> root when burning the CD. To see examples of this file,
> just grab any CD that you know autorun's, and explore the
> root, find the autorun.inf file and open it with notepad
> to view the contents.
>
> The above was a gift from a fellow name Shep to a 98 news group if my
> memory serves me correctly.
>
>
> --
> Don
> Quid Pro Quo.
>
>
> "Terry" wrote in message
>
>> My hard disk on my older notebook has crashed (this notebook has no built
>> in
>> CD ROM). So using another notebook with built in CDROM and installing a
>> new
>> hard disk into the internal hard drive - how do i create a bootable hard
>> disk
>> ? i have my Windows XP CD ROM.
>>
>> It wont let me use F12 to boot from my Windows XP CDROM.
>>
>> Please advise.
>>
>> Terry
>
>