Old Comp, Fresh Install xp

Usually i can change the boot options to boot the cd/dvd rom first.
But this comp is older and doesnt let me.  How do i do a fresh xp install on it?

If it doesn’t let you set the boot device order in the BIOS settings, are you sure it’ll be able to run XP?

Anyhow, you’ll need a floppy boot disk that loads a CD-ROM driver.

An “I’m feeling lucky” Google search tells me that http://bootdisk.com/ may have your sauce.

How old is the unit?  Processor speed?  Amount of RAM?

yea then he will need the command of winnt in the I386 folder to install.  BUt first he will need the smardrv.exe file on the floppy disk so it does not take 4 hours to install windows…

If it won’t boot from CD it’s too damn old to run XP. If you insist, boot with an ME or 98 floppy and then run D:/setup from the CD.

setup.exe will not be a valid win32 aplication. He will have to run winnt in the i386 folder of his windows xp cd. BUT first put smartdrv.exe on the boot disk first.

well then he’ll give up and buy a decent computer, right?
(never got that error, but I have this boot CD I made years ago that pretends its a floppy and I probably doctored it)
I only use floppies to keep my fridge from rocking these days. If it wont boot from CD its only good for target practice.
He should spill the beans on what kind of computer and then someone can tell him to get into the BIOS. Probably hasnt tried the ‘RATATATAT’ ON F1 F2 F10 SHFT DELETE while it boots.

I got it working without a floppy… I took my floppy drive out 5 years ago and havent used one since

Good to hear.  What did you do to get it working?