How to install xp into 8G usb thumdrive?

Hi experts, i just bought an AA1 linux version last week and i wish to have dual OS running in my AA1. So i would like to know that is there any ways of installing xp into 8G thumb drive so that it is more convenient to move around while using xp. Hopefully someone can help me....Thank you in advance...

 

Apparently there are instructions for doing this on the Eee that can be used for the AAO: Re: From Vista Home Premium to XP SP3

Remember, if you're a member, you can always use Advanced search. I turned the above up with "+install +windows +xp +usb +drive -linux -linpus" If you want to dual boot, try searching for that

 

Hi, thanks for your advice. However, i have tried to install xp into my thumb drive with the instruction show in http://www.eeeguides.com/2007/11/instal ... thumb.html however i fail to install the usb into the 8G thumb drive. Can you please tell me how and also is there any other way because i had seen on the web some of the people install their xp into external hardisk. Anyway wish that i can really find a solution for installing xp because i have tried to install into ssd but i found it really slow running on ssd. Therefore i wish to find another solution to run xp. Thank you for your advice in advance.

 

First, xp will run even slower on your thumbdrive than your ssd. Your best bet is to buy a external cd-rom, install tinyxp or an nlited xp, and then return the drive to the store/sell it on ebay. But if your determined to have the thumbdrive xp, I did it yesterday and it worked just fine.

 

Sorry to hear that you're having problems. Try using a smaller capacity thumb drive, not more than 2GB, and de-select the Quick Format and Enable LBA (FAT16X) options when you use PeToUSB to format it. Although the EeeGuide doesn't mention it, to boot a thumbdrive reliably, it's best to be FAT formated, which limits its size to 2GB. I should have mentioned this earlier. Again, apologies.
Another link that you may find helpful is Boot Windows XP from a USB flash drive which describes how to run XP from a thumbdrive, rather than using one to install XP to your SSD.

If all else fails, try booting your XP installation CD from an external USB CDROM drive. They're not too expensive, at least not when compared with the cost of M$ Windows XP itself.

 

Hi, i have follow the step and i manage to format with FAT format and copy the system file into the thumbdrive. However while i try to boot on the usb thumdrive to finish up the installation process, it come out error with "disk error". i don't know what is happening. Besides, i would like to ask that what is tiny xp? Is it good to install into ssd? it will not showing slow process as i mention before that i install fullcopy of xp into the ssd drive. Please give me some advice. Thank you.... Sorry for troublesome....

 

Hi, i forgot to inform that i have tried to boot the xp from an external dvd-rom and use it to format my usb thumbdrive. However, i manage to format the thumd drive with FAT format and copy the window setup files from CD to Thumdrive. Once it is finish, it will automatically restart the system and while it try to boot the USB thumdrive, i come out error on " Disk Error". Please Help me on this matter. Thanks a lot

 

If you see “Disk Error” while attempting to boot from a USB thumbdrive, most likely the MasterBootRecord is missing. Which either means you missed the step that added the MBR to the thumbdrive, or for some reason the MBR could not be written, in which case the thumbdrive that you are using may not be suitable. Anything that works on the List of USB-sticks that can be used in reinstall thread and is big enough for the XP installation image you are using, should be suitable. I cannot comment on tinyXP, as I have no first-hand experience of it. Sorry.

Just to be clear, the XP installation disks cannot be used directly to format a bootable USB thumbdrive. What I was suggesting was attaching an external CDROM to the AAO via USB in order to install XP to your SSD. Also, nowhere in this thread has the issue of dual booting been addressed, which complicates matters somewhat.

 

I have been doing various attempts to get Xp on my internal 8G SSD, but no luck sofar.
The memory sticks I prepare are all ok, booting up, starting the first part of XP install, but when it gets to the part where it says 'Setup is starting windows' I always get a blue (error) screen Stop code 0x0000007b

This also happens when using an external DVD drive with a XP bootable DVD...

My first thought was to format the internal SSD myself, which I managed (Fat 32) and of course made active.
This however has not done the trick :|

Other desperate thing I tried is updating the bios to the latest version, also no luck.

It seems to me that XP install does not like my SSD....

If anyone has a tip, hint or anything that could help, please!!!!

Getting desperate :x

 

Further help on this topic can be found in Steps to a happy XP experience which includes more AAO specific instructions for installing XP to both SSD and thumbdrive, although it would seem that the A110L hardware specification is not an ideal platform for XP, being a bit shy of RAM as well as persistent storage.

 

A good flashdrive will be as much as 2x as fast as the internal SSD.

 

If you have access to another Windows PC and hopefully a legit copy of windows, you can use nlite to customize the installation if you wish.

However if your USB disk is greater than 2Gb in size you will not be able to format it as FATX16 which is what PeToUSB wants to do.

In this case i recommend following these instructions from MarkyMoo on the MSFN forums:
Link: http://www.msfn.org/board/A-Multiple-Partition-USB-Stick-with-Mult-t69211.html

However dont follow them all, just this bit:

Now note its not necessarily the first key, i had the one above and i also had another with a very similar name e.g Ven_Generic ...so i copied that one too.

Basically open notepad and paste in the line/lines that you just clicked copy key name on.

Now you need this driver: Hitachi Microdrive Driver.
here's a link to it on the eee forum...we might want to host it here too.
http://www.eeefiles.com/index.php?act=view&id=7

If you have a problem with the next section its worth reading that page.

Now i didnt replace any lines.....i just added two for the keys i copied, looking like the above.

Now here's the nice part, because your usb stick appears a a fixed drive, you can go into computer management (right click my computer, click manage) and then disk management. Your usb drive is now listed in here and can be partitioned like any other drive. You will have to make the first partition size about 1.9G or less, i did the same with the remaining sections as my stick was 8Gb, but you can do what you wish.

Ok so one that is done, you can follow the instructions on the eee pc guide or from other sources that involve PeToUSB.

However it should be noted in PeToUSB you will need to click fixed disk and it will detect the first partition of your usb drive only (at least this was the behaviour i got). Now it is able to be formatted and you can continue with the install instructions as normal.

You can always roll back the hitcahi driver on the pc you did this on later and you can remove the partitions using a tool such as the HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool. which seems to know your disk is 8gb or 4gb and then formats it back to FAT32/NTFS. Note you will lose all data on it in a format so you might want to copy that elsewhere first.

Hope this has helped people with oversize disks. i.e 2gb usb and greater.

As for running xp off a usb..well i'm still looking into that, and reading the helpful posts of other forum users.