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Small Form Factor Install Windows on Dell Optiplex no cd drive

Discussion in 'Tech Support' started by markbarr, 19 Aug 2010.

  1. markbarr

    markbarr What's a Dremel?

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    Hi all

    wonder if anyone has any ideas

    I was given a dell optiplex sx260 the hard drive was faulty a 2.5" 20gb IDE
    I had a 40gb one in an old laptop with xp installed on it
    #
    when I put it in the dell it wont boot and i know the install is ok

    problem i have is the dell has no cd or floppy drive

    the bios is a02 which i didnt thought supported booting from usb but when you press f12 there is an option to boot from flash

    I have an external usb hardrive so I made it bootable using boot sect and cpoed my windows setup files from my cd

    when I start up the external drive will not boot

    any ideas how i can get this working

    Many thanks

    mark
     
    markbarr, 19 Aug 2010
    #1
  2. confusis

    confusis Kiwi-modder

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    Open it up and temporarily connect a optical drive to the ide cable? Had to do that to instal Win7 on o² as I'm not running an optical drive

    This is intended for a an eee pc but it's mostly true for your setup:
    http://wiki.eeeuser.com/windowsxpusb
     
    confusis, 19 Aug 2010
    #2
  3. ataraxis84

    ataraxis84 What's a Dremel?

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    The lack of boot with the other drive is nothing new, as that install of windows was based around different hardware. Confusis nailed it on the head, get a cheap dvd drive to plug in to the IDE port and go from there
     
    ataraxis84, 19 Aug 2010
    #3
  4. leexgx

    leexgx CPC hang out zone (i Fix pcs i do )

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    or if its vista or higher you can burn the ISO to an USB pen (tool is on my home system will post it when get back)
     
    leexgx, 19 Aug 2010
    #4
  5. shadows

    shadows What's a Dremel?

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    Does the Dell detect the hard drive correctly? I too have the SX260, and have been looking at replacing the 40GB drive that it comes with. However apparently only certain drives actually work with the machine.
     
    shadows, 19 Aug 2010
    #5
  6. Byron C

    Byron C Multimodder

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    You don't need Vista to install from USB; it's just that the "official" tool to do this only supports Vista/7. You can install XP from USB, I do this all the time for my netbook. It's not just a matter of making it bootable and copying the CD contents to it though, there's a bit of work to be done. There are many guides available however. A quick google reveals several I have used before:

    http://www.pctipsbox.com/installing-windows-xp-using-a-usb-flash-drive/
    http://www.liliputing.com/2008/04/install-windows-xp-on-mini-note-usb.html

    You can also try Wintoflash, which does support XP - there's a guide for using this is in my second link.

    Plus, you might also want to get that potentially faulty drive looked at :thumb:
     
    Byron C, 19 Aug 2010
    #6

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