Despite the fact that in April this year support for Windows XP will be completely discontinued, to this day it continues to be one of the most popular computer OS. But recently it has rarely been put on powerful working machines, preferring to use it in netbooks.
But here there is one small problem: installing XP is theoretically possible only from a CD-ROM, for which these devices do not have drives. What to do? After all, installing Linux is most often pointless, since the new varieties of popular distributions simply will not "pull" the weak "hardware"!
A flash drive is our choice!
Of course, you can attach a portable CD / DVD drive to a netbook, but what are the extra difficulties? After all, the USB port on it is in any case. Therefore, the only question is how to create a bootable USB flash drive with Windows XP. Just note that any user can do this.
A bit about media
First, you need to pay attention to the media used. Do not think that for this purpose any flash drive purchased in the nearest store is suitable. However, you can install the system on it, but the speed of work in this case will be very low.
Start with volume. The minimum allowable is 4 GB. In this case (if you have experience and desire), you can create a multiboot flash drive Windows XP. It can easily accommodate not only the system, but also various useful utilities.
The next important parameter is read and write speed. Cheap models are characterized by 2-3 Mb / s for recording, while reading parameters rarely exceed 8-12 Mb / s. Agree that buying 32 GB media, the data on which will be recorded for several hours, is not a good idea. And this often happens when customers are tempted by the low cost of Chinese products.
Often, on the shelves of shops in general, you can see flash drives with 256 GB, the manufacturer of which is the famous "NoName". Do not take such removable drives, as their capacity almost always does not match the declared, and they break instantly.
So, before you create a bootable USB flash drive with Windows XP, you need to go to a specialized store. Do not spare money on a normal medium, which will please you with a high ratio of dubbing cycles and speed.
"WinSetupFromUSB 1.3"
To get started, let's look at an example when the wonderful program "WinSetupFromUSB 1.3" is used. Its peculiarity is that it is somewhat difficult to make a bootable USB flash drive with Windows XP, but even the oldest computer will boot from it (if only there was a USB port).
Another good news is that there are versions for 32- and 64-bit systems. So even with the new Windows 8 you will not experience any problems.
Where to begin?
First, get a normal image of Windows XP itself. We strongly recommend not to use the so-called "assemblies", since their performance can not be guaranteed by anyone! You do not need to format the USB flash drive , as the program will do everything for you.
Launch
Note that the "WinSetupFromUSB 1.3" utility itself does not need installation, so you can make a bootable USB flash drive in Windows XP without loading the computer with unnecessary programs. To run it, you need to right-click on the executable file, and then select the option “Run as administrator” in the context menu.
We look at the very first paragraph titled "UDB disk selection an format tools". By clicking on the icon of the drop-down list, you will see a list of all USB drives that are in the system. Select the desired flash drive. Be careful, otherwise you may lose your important data!
The next item is “Windows 2000 / XP / 2003 Setup”. In it, you must specify either the path to the physical media (optical disk), or to the virtual drive on which the disk with the system is mounted. Pay attention to the points below: if you need a multiboot flash drive (Windows XP + Vista / 7), mark them by indicating the location of other media.
A little move away from the topic. We have already said that for a better result, you will need an image of the OS that you intend to run from a removable disk. It is best to do it yourself using the programs "Alcohol 52%" or "UltraISO".
Immediately after clicking the "OK" button, you will see a window of the license agreement "Microsoft Widows EULA", which you have to agree with ("I Accept"). Please note that in the main window of the program there is a button "Auto format it with FBinst". You do not need to touch it. When it is activated, a special utility for preparing the media is launched. There is nothing wrong with it, but Windows XP recorded in this way does not start on all computers.
Bootloader entry
But, before you create a bootable USB flash drive with Windows XP, you need the "RMPrepUSB" button. She will also run a utility that writes the MBR bootloader and prepares the recording media.
So, we click on the button of the same name, after which the "RMPrepUSB v.2.1.714" dialog box appears. Before further actions, be sure to make sure that your flash drive is indicated in the very top field! Sometimes it happens that inattentive users mark their own hard drive in this field. If it is bootable (on which the OS is installed), then the system itself will not let you do anything. But if it contains a collection of some kind of media files, then the results can be very sad ...
In the field called “Boot sector”, check the box “XP / BsrtPE bootable [NTLDR]”. We go a little lower to the item “File system”, where we mark the position “FAT32” (since it is more universal). Opposite it there is a flag of the option “Boot as HDD [C: 2PTNS]”.
Before creating a bootable USB flash drive with Windows XP, we just have to click on the "Prepare Disk" button. A small dialog box pops up in which you need to click on "OK". A warning immediately appears that all files will be deleted during formatting. Click "OK", after which we wait for some time to finish work. When everything is ready, you need to click on the "Exit" button, and then close the "RMPrepUSB" utility dialog box.
Direct recording system
Again, go to the main dialog box "WinSetupFromUSB 1-3". Here you need to enable the option “Show Log”. More precisely, there is no particular need for a visual representation of the process, but it is much more reliable, because if something goes wrong, you will see at what stage the process has stalled.
If this happens, then you can look for a solution to your problem. As a rule, some problems most often arise only if there is some kind of flash drive defect. If it is new, you can try to make a full data format (without forgetting to uncheck the “Quick format” box).
All! We click on the “GO” button, after which the process of writing work files to a USB flash drive starts. As a rule, this takes about 15 minutes, but the time here depends entirely on the characteristics of your computer. A complete shutdown signal is the appearance of the “Job done” message. Click on “OK”, wait a bit while the program appends the last kilobytes of information to the medium. Everything, it is ready to use!
How does it all work?
What to do next, and how to install Windows XP from a flash drive? Everything is pretty simple here, but some clarification needs to be given. The fact is that it is better to connect the media not to the front, but to the rear connectors. This is due to the fact that the front ports often give less speed, and they can hardly always boast of stability.
Turn off the computer. We insert the USB flash drive into a suitable port and turn on the machine again. The BIOS entry procedure does not make sense for a long time. Typically, the input is performed by pressing (preferably multiple) the DEL button on the keyboard, but other options are not uncommon for laptops and netbooks. They need to be found out by reading the instructions for your gadget.
To install Windows XP from a USB flash drive, you must set the appropriate item in the BIOS settings. How to do this, you again have to look in the instructions for your device.
After starting, the Grub4Dos bootloader window will appear in front of you. It will have one item - “Windows 2000 / XP / 2003 Setup”. Accordingly, if you created a multi-boot flash drive, then there will be more of them. Press "Enter", go to the next menu.
To
reinstall Windows XP from the USB flash drive, select the "First part of Windows XP Professional SP3 setup from partion 0" item. After that, the same installation process will go that would start during installation from an optical CD.
And if you need additional programs?
All of the above applies only when you need convenient and practical media for installing the system. And what to do when you need a “life buoy”, on which there will be an antivirus, a program for defragmentation, and something else?
There is only one answer - you need a bootable flash drive with utilities! Since we have already started talking about XP, we will not begin to consider the option of only flash drives with programs. We are not afraid of difficulties, are we? Then let's get started!
"WinSetupFromUSB"
Naturally, we will again use a very useful, compact and nimble program. By the way, the Windows XP live flash drive is created in the same way . Not strong in terminology? Then we explain that this is the name of the flash drive from which you can boot, having received a fully functional Windows OS.
If you often have to work on other people's computers, then you yourself will understand all the advantages of this approach. However, enough words. There is an important point. Since we need a flash drive with a system and various programs, we will have to look for the image ourselves. Of course, you can create it yourself, but for beginners, this task is virtually impossible.
Run the program as administrator. We will not repeat ourselves, since all the instructions are above. Immediately after launch, you will see a rather ascetic dialog box, at the top of which there is a drop-down list. As you might have guessed, clicking on it will display a list of all the flash drives that are currently connected to the computer.
Making the media bootable
The creator offers exactly two methods for this: "Bootice" and "RMPrepUSB". Since the first is much simpler and more understandable, we suggest that you use it. What needs to be done for this?
First, click on the “Bootice” button. A small dialog box immediately opens in which you need to activate the “Perform Format” option (the far right button). The next dialog box is the most important. So, if you plan to use your USB flash drive together with old and not too new BIOSes, we recommend that you select the “USB-FDD” option. But! It will not work to create multi-boot, and therefore most often you will have to use the “USB-HDD mode” (“Multiple Partitions”) item. It is recommended to choose NTFS as the file system, but FAT32 is also suitable.
By the way, why did we recommend the Multiple mode? The fact is that in this case, a USB flash drive (bootable USB flash drive) Windows XP will not only run the OS in live mode, but also save the necessary files to the media.
We click on the “Next-Step” button, we agree with all warnings that in case of an error your data will be irretrievably lost. Click "OK" and wait. If your machine is not too powerful, then this can take a relatively long time.
Copy installation files
To do this, in the main dialog box of the program, select the item at the very end of which there is a phrase "BartPE". Next, click on the button with the ellipsis, point the program to the directory in which the disk image is stored.
After that, click on the “GO” button and wait for the end of the process. We recommend that you select the “Show Log” option. As in the case that we described above, this will allow you to monitor the process. After successfully completing the process, you have a bootable Windows XP flash drive in your hands. The startup program starts after setting the appropriate settings in the BIOS. Since we talked about this above, we will not repeat ourselves.
Using other programs to create bootable media
Since the names of all the above utilities are hardly familiar to ordinary users, we will talk about simpler options. So, it helps to create a bootable flash drive "UltraISO". It is very easy to do.
As in all previous cases, you will need a normal image of a clean system.
After launching "UltraISO" (again in administrator mode), we go along the "File-Open" path, indicate to the program the path to the system image, and then click on the "Open" button in the dialog box. To get a bootable USB flash drive from ISO, the next step is to go to the menu item "Self-boot-Burn image of hard disk".
A dialog box opens in which you need to select the USB flash drive to which you will write the OS files. We expose the option "USB-HDD" or another, guided by our instructions above.
Have you chosen? Then click on the "Record" button. You will again be warned about the irrevocable destruction of data that may be on a flash drive. Is there definitely nothing there? Then click "OK", the media will be formatted. We drink tea, watch a movie or do something similar until a window pops up with a notification about the completion of the process. All! You can install Windows XP through a USB flash drive.
Other options
It would be a mistake to say that all the available options end there. There are more than one hundred utilities for creating bootable disks , and therefore it is simply unrealistic to describe all of them within the framework of an article alone.
But we will talk about another utility that is well known to "advanced" domestic users. We are talking about the command line program.
So Windows XP on a USB stick with its help to create also succeed. There is it on every computer running Windows.
Details
Firstly, it must be run as administrator. To do this, you must click on the "Start" button, type "cmd" in the search bar. A list of found files will open in the right part of the window. Right-click on the desired file, and then select the same item “Run as administrator”.
If you do this on Windows 8 / 8.1, then the order of operations changes slightly. Firstly, you need to go to “ModernUI” (it is also known as “Metro”), click on the small “Down” arrow, which is located in the lower left corner. For devices with a touch screen, you can simply scroll down.
A window opens with a list of installed programs, in the upper right corner of which there is a search field. Drive “CMD” into it, after which the search result will open. We click on the desired program with the right mouse button. A list of possible actions will appear at the bottom of the window (there are no context menus here!) As you understand, you need to select "Run as administrator".
Then in the opened console we print the line (or you can just copy it) “DISKPART”. This command launches a special software shell that allows you to manage disks (including removable ones).
The next command is “List disk”. If you even know a little English, you yourself see that it displays a list of external drives. It is advisable to connect only one USB flash drive to the computer, as otherwise you may well be mistaken. If Windows XP does not see the flash drive in this mode, try formatting it in the FAT32 file system.
How to do it? Open "My Computer", right-click on the desired flash drive, select "Format". Naturally, if there is no removable disk even in this folder, then it is better to change it. There clearly is some kind of malfunction in it, because of which you can lose all your data.
After that, enter the “Clean” command, which will further clean the disk. After the message about the completion of the process “Disk cleanup completed successfully” is displayed, enter the line “Create partition primary”. She creates the primary active partition.
The next command is “Select partition 1”. It allows you to select the previously created section. The “Active” option will make it active.
We recommend formatting your drive by entering a command like “Format fs = NTFS” for this. If you have a FAT32 file system, replace the corresponding part of the command. Enter "Exit", on which our "console epic" ends.
Then we copy all the necessary files to a removable disk. How to do it? If you downloaded the disk image in ISO format, then you can use any available archiver (“7-ZIP”, for example). Run the program, go along the path “File-Open”, where you indicate the path to the image file. Unpack everything on your flash drive, prepared as described above.
Attention! The described method does not give a 100% guarantee of running the installation program on the old hardware, so if you have such a need, it is better to use the method that was described in our article the very first.
Other nuances
Of course, we have already talked about how you can make a disk with the system and utilities “in one bottle”. , - , - BIOS?
The solution is no different from what we did before. For example, consider the Acronis program, a bootable USB flash drive with which you can resize partitions, split hard drives, or perform full and irreversible formatting.
The easiest way
In this case, we need “Acronis True Image” installed on the computer. This set of programs is very useful, so we recommend installing it for “preventive purposes”. After starting the utility, the first dialog box appears in front of you.
In it, select the item "Go to the main window." The following window will open, in which you need to activate the item "Create bootable media." The "Wizard" opens, with which you will perform all subsequent operations. Click “Next” in the first window to get to the next settings item.
In it, you need to check the box on the “True image Home” settings item. Click “Next” again, we get into the window with a choice of removable media. Choose your own, and then again the item "Next". After that, another window will come out, in which the Proceed button will finally be. After some time (depending on the characteristics of your computer), a message appears indicating that the creation of a bootable flash drive is complete.
Second way
This time you should have an Acronis True Image image. To write it to the media, we use the WinSetupFromUSB program, which we already described at the very beginning of the article. The process is practically no different from what we have already considered.
First, run the utility as administrator. In the first window, we also select our flash drive, but then we go along a different path.
Click on the “RMPrepUSB” button. The additional utility window will open, in which you again need to specify your media. We mark the option (“BOOT OPTIONS”) “NTLDR”, set “NTFS” in the file system selection line. Be sure to check the boxes opposite “Boot as HDD” and “Use 64hd”. You don’t need to note anything else, and therefore you can safely click on the “Prepare Drive” button.
A small window pops up warning about the beginning of the process. Click OK. After that, a second dialog box will appear, in which you are warned that as a result of formatting, all data will be destroyed.
Once again, make sure that there is no data on the disk that is of any value to you. If you make a mistake, then it will be difficult to restore them (if at all possible).
We agree by clicking on “OK” again. Formatting will be performed for some time, after which we will be thrown back to the main program window. Here it is necessary to check the box with the item whose name begins with "PartedMagic". Here we click on the button with the image of the ellipsis. An Explorer opens, in which you show the utility where the Acronis True Image image resides.
Press the “GO” button and wait until the message “Job Done” appears on the monitor. All! The bootable media with the utility is ready!