CD/DVD XP install

I've just bought a 120GB 512mb linpus version and like it, but as my housemate pointed out, linpus looks like a toy. Superficial I know, but I'd also like to change to XP because I know my way around it.

I know there have been other topics, but I was wondering if the new 120GB with 512 will run XP satisfactorily? If so, is it relatively pain-free to install via USB DVD/CD drive? USB stick looks a nightmare!

I'm also slightly confused as to the present best stripped down, fastest XP.

Thanks for any help.

 

XP should run fine on your machine. Up until today I was running Vista on 512Mb, and whilst a little slow, worked fine. The CD install should work fine, I think most people do it via USB key because they don't have access to a USB DVD drive (like myself). Whilst it WILL run fine, you can never have enough ram, and it is so cheap at the moment, I can't think of a reason not to do it.

Forgot to add, I'd use nLite to create your own stripped down XP installation, that way you know exactly what you've taken out.

 

Wow, thanks for the advice moondevil, I wasn't expecting anything so promptly!

Hmm, I'm slightly tempted to install Vista now, you got me thinking. Did you struggle with the USB installation?

Upgrading ram doesn't look too difficult, especially given that Crucial now supports the One in their guide.

Cheers,

Ben

 

absolutely easy to install Vista from USB, you just need to set up the disk properly on a Vista machine now (for using diskpart) and all good to go.

runs well enough with 1.5GB ram, though i'm somewhat tempted to go with XP.

 

Thanks. Are there any guides you recommend for this?

 

If you look at this post for a Vista install, it contains the links to how I did mine, along with some hints when things don't go smoothly.

http://www.aspireoneuser.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2533

Any questions or problems, post them up and we'll try to help.

 

Hi Moondevil,

Seems I'm doing things the opposite way to you, as I've just installed the extra ram.

I'm having the same trouble creating a bootable USB under XP for Vista. As you know these drives don't show up in diskpart on XP. I've tried UBCD, however the drive doesn't show up in this either....how did you get it to show up so you could use Free Fdisk on it?

I've tried the HP utility to turn it into a drive, and althought it does make it active, it still don't boot (brings up an error).

Other than that I'm mightly please with the 'spire.

 

bump

 

Background:
I have a A150-1570 that came with XP, then installed Ubuntu on it with a Grub loader.

To make a bootable flash drive under XP off a Vista DVD without bending over backwards:
At a command prompt run this command:

Code:

d:\boot\bootsect.exe /nt60 e:

where d is the Vista drive and e: is the USB. I -think- this is how I did it, but I can't recall for certain until I check the history log on my other computer (on the AA1 Ubuntu at the moment). If you're unsure, google for bootsect. According to the 2 minutes of research I just did, that should be the proper command for dropping bootsectors on a destination drive.

To copy the files from the Vista Disk just use the command

Code:

xcopy d:\*.* /s/e/f e:\

at a command prompt where d:\ is the source drive and e:\ is the destination drive

All the rest is the same

If you're planning running a dual boot setup, be forewarned - Vista obliterates all bootloaders and MBR info. To fix this, just use EasyBCD (google it) and put the other OS back on the bootloader. Then go back to whatever Linux Setup you preferred (for me Ubuntu) and reset grub to normal.

 

Thanks very much for your assistance Woofer.

It seems it was my SanDisk not formatting fully that was causing the problem, leaving their u3 shite on. So now I've got to the install part, but Vista is telling me that I need to format my drive(s) as ntfs. Unfortunately, there's an error stating this isn't possible. Any idea why? Do acer hide on some hidden recovery stuff that stops you reformatting?

 

I used a Linux Live disk and GPartEd to partition and respace my drives, so I'm not really sure. I also didn't entirely wipe out XP, just had the Vista Installer rename the Windows directory to Windows.old and install Vista on top of it all, so I didn't mess around with the filesystem at all. I'm probably going to go and delete that partition next time I boot into Vista, which may be never... I've been in Ubuntu for quite a while now.
As for U3, that irritating pain in the ass software hates the uninstall process. Safest way to get rid of that crap is to download the uninstaller from the website rather than run the uninstaller on the drive itself. It never works b/c *gasp* the program is running off the partition you want to delete! [grumble].

Have you confirmed that you're trying to install to the C partition rather than on to the locked recovery partition or any other strange protected area?

 

All done, just had to delete the drives rather than format.

Thanks for the help guys....sorry if I was slightly quick off the mark