1. luqman24's Avatar
    Ok so my DVD drive broke a few days ago and my computer has been super slow lately. My computer has specs from the early 2000s (2.80 Ghz Pentium 4 processor, 512mb of ram, and 80GB hard drive) and I can't upgrade now due to financial reasons. Anyways I was wondering if there was a way to reinstall Windows XP Home edition without the CD. I do have My product key that came with my PC when I first bought it in 05. I've looked into the "i386" folder and there is no "winnt32.exe" to startup the setup. So does anyone know another way of installing it or am I out of luck?
    04-27-12 12:54 AM
  2. Laura Knotek's Avatar
    What about an external DVD drive? They are not expensive.

    Sent from my Lumia 900 using Board Express
    04-27-12 01:04 AM
  3. BigBadWulf's Avatar
    You'd probably be better off buying a couple cheap sticks of 1Gb memory than anything else.
    luqman24 likes this.
    04-27-12 06:21 AM
  4. kbz1960's Avatar
    There use to be a version you could download the iso and would work with your key as long as it wasn't an OEM key and if you pc will boot from usb, burn a bootable usb stick
    04-27-12 06:52 AM
  5. luqman24's Avatar
    You'd probably be better off buying a couple cheap sticks of 1Gb memory than anything else.
    Yeah I ordered 4GB last month but the sticks don't fit in the slot so I sent them back. How can I know the right ones to get? My computer is a dell dimension 3000 if that helps.
    Last edited by luqman24; 04-27-12 at 08:57 AM.
    04-27-12 08:50 AM
  6. kbz1960's Avatar
    Most places that sell memory have an option to put your make and model and will find the correct memory for your computer.
    luqman24 likes this.
    04-27-12 08:58 AM
  7. luqman24's Avatar
    Most places that sell memory have an option to put your make and model and will find the correct memory for your computer.
    But unfortunately tigerdirect doesn't do that which is where I buy most of my electronic related parts from. Any suggestion as to which site/sites does that?
    04-27-12 09:27 AM
  8. kbz1960's Avatar
    Don't have to buy it from here but you can at least find out what you need.


    RAM Memory Upgrade: Dell, Mac, Apple, HP, Compaq. USB drives, SSD at Crucial.com
    luqman24 likes this.
    04-27-12 09:33 AM
  9. luqman24's Avatar
    Don't have to buy it from here but you can at least find out what you need.


    RAM Memory Upgrade: Dell, Mac, Apple, HP, Compaq. USB drives, SSD at Crucial.com
    Perfect thanks! I just ordered 2GB of ram and hopefully this speeds things up.
    Last edited by luqman24; 04-27-12 at 09:57 AM.
    04-27-12 09:42 AM
  10. Rootbrian's Avatar
    From my knowledge, tigerdirect.com (.ca for us canadians) has a memory finder that is one of the best for finding compatible memory for your computer regardless if it's a tablet pc, umpc (which takes laptop/netbook ram) laptop, netbook or desktop.

    Formatting a usb stick with NTFS and copying the CD or DVD's contents to it, then letting it boot up should do the trick.

    Or if that doesn't work, just copy the ms-dos system files to the stick (in the command prompt, there is an option to do so, I believe, if it's formatted for FAT32 or FAT16), all you need is io.sys, mscdex.exe, himem.sys, msdos.sys, command.com and it has to be marked bootable too.

    Putting these lines into a config.sys file, to get the extended memory driver and CD driver loaded helps:

    Code:
    DEVICE=HIMEM.SYS
    DEVICEHIGH=MSCDEX.EXE
    I forgot all the parameters, but you get the idea.
    I did that in linux so many times. Thank goodness to GParted.

    Boot from the dos usb stick,

    Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com using Tapatalk
    04-27-12 04:56 PM
  11. luqman24's Avatar
    From my knowledge, tigerdirect.com (.ca for us canadians) has a memory finder that is one of the best for finding compatible memory for your computer regardless if it's a tablet pc, umpc (which takes laptop/netbook ram) laptop, netbook or desktop.

    Formatting a usb stick with NTFS and copying the CD or DVD's contents to it, then letting it boot up should do the trick.

    Or if that doesn't work, just copy the ms-dos system files to the stick (in the command prompt, there is an option to do so, I believe, if it's formatted for FAT32 or FAT16), all you need is io.sys, mscdex.exe, himem.sys, msdos.sys, command.com and it has to be marked bootable too.

    Putting these lines into a config.sys file, to get the extended memory driver and CD driver loaded helps:

    Code:
    DEVICE=HIMEM.SYS
    DEVICEHIGH=MSCDEX.EXE
    I forgot all the parameters, but you get the idea.
    I did that in linux so many times. Thank goodness to GParted.

    Boot from the dos usb stick,

    Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com using Tapatalk
    Lol I wish I knew what all that meant. Would help if u dumbed that down for me lol
    Last edited by luqman24; 04-27-12 at 08:28 PM.
    04-27-12 08:24 PM
  12. Rootbrian's Avatar
    Lol I wish I knew what all that meant cuz I ain't that advanced with computers. Would help if u dumbed that down for me lol
    I would have to be at a computer running DOS to copy the contents of the config.sys and autoexec.bat files into this post. DOS from a live CD that is.
    04-27-12 08:27 PM
  13. luqman24's Avatar
    I would have to be at a computer running DOS to copy the contents of the config.sys and autoexec.bat files into this post. DOS from a live CD that is.
    The thing is that Dell did not copy a recovery file when I first bought it so I can't find any thing related to a software reinstall on my "C:\" drive. So it basically impossible as of now unless there is a way I could download the SofTware install online
    04-27-12 08:59 PM
  14. Rootbrian's Avatar
    The thing is that Dell did not copy a recovery file when I first bought it so I can't find any thing related to a software reinstall on my "C:\" drive. So it basically impossible as of now unless there is a way I could download the SofTware install online
    Dell likely charges a fee for the recovery media, which blows. I suggest, if you have a spare CD/DVD drive laying around, and if you can grab a functioning power supply out of a pentium 1 computer, the one with a power button that pushes in and out, not the motherboard-controlled types, then you could use that to externally power the drive and hook up one of those "USB TO IDE/Sata" cables found on ebay.

    That's how I do USB installs, since most newer computers after 2001 can boot from USB devices (BIOS has to support it).

    Thrift stores usually have spare CD/DVD drives and complete computer cases.
    04-27-12 09:05 PM
  15. luqman24's Avatar
    Dell likely charges a fee for the recovery media, which blows. I suggest, if you have a spare CD/DVD drive laying around, and if you can grab a functioning power supply out of a pentium 1 computer, the one with a power button that pushes in and out, not the motherboard-controlled types, then you could use that to externally power the drive and hook up one of those "USB TO IDE/Sata" cables found on ebay.

    That's how I do USB installs, since most newer computers after 2001 can boot from USB devices (BIOS has to support it).

    Thrift stores usually have spare CD/DVD drives and complete computer cases.
    Yeah I'll just buy a used DVD drive if not then a new one and replace the old broken one instead of going through all that trouble.
    04-27-12 09:12 PM
  16. dictoresno's Avatar
    i revived my early 2000's Dell 4600 (80 GB HD as well, 3 ghz processor) with 4GB or RAM from newegg.com and then downloaded an ISO of Windows 7 Ultimate. then i loaded the OS onto a USB and booted from that and installed it. i was coming from XP Home. and using ways i cant mention here, activated it. also did the same thing on my acer netbook with Windows 7 Starter. i upgraded it the same way to 7 Ultimate.

    Windows bootable USB tool ----> Microsoft Store Online

    my suggestion is install Win 7. its quicker than XP ran on this old beast. for links to what i did, PM me. i now run activated Win 7 Ultimate on all my machines.
    Rootbrian likes this.
    04-28-12 03:05 AM
  17. Rootbrian's Avatar
    i revived my early 2000's Dell 4600 (80 GB HD as well, 3 ghz processor) with 4GB or RAM from newegg.com and then downloaded an ISO of Windows 7 Ultimate. then i loaded the OS onto a USB and booted from that and installed it. i was coming from XP Home. and using ways i cant mention here, activated it. also did the same thing on my acer netbook with Windows 7 Starter. i upgraded it the same way to 7 Ultimate.

    Windows bootable USB tool ----> Microsoft Store Online

    my suggestion is install Win 7. its quicker than XP ran on this old beast. for links to what i did, PM me. i now run activated Win 7 Ultimate on all my machines.
    My company evo d310v is at the same specs, except I was only able to get 1GB of RAM for it, but both hard disks are 250 and 120 GB. ATI HD 4650 graphics, intels chip was screwing itself over, displaying gibberish or other languages.

    Eh, as long as it performs like new, we don't need to buy a new one.
    04-28-12 03:15 AM
  18. dictoresno's Avatar
    32 bit WIN 7 can only support up to 4GB RAM, so thats all i can install. people laugh at my setup, but with my 500GB external drive, its fine for my needs. its actually fairly quick for what it is and only crashed once in the 8 years ive owned it. not to mention it runs 24/7 and i barely reboot it. downloading a Win 7 ISO, making a bootable USB from it and installing/activating was the best thing to ever happen to this poor thing. its faster than ever now, which i found strange lol. if youre using XP, youre missing out.
    04-28-12 03:20 AM
  19. Rootbrian's Avatar
    32 bit WIN 7 can only support up to 4GB RAM, so thats all i can install. people laugh at my setup, but with my 500GB external drive, its fine for my needs. its actually fairly quick for what it is and only crashed once in the 8 years ive owned it. not to mention it runs 24/7 and i barely reboot it. downloading a Win 7 ISO, making a bootable USB from it and installing/activating was the best thing to ever happen to this poor thing. its faster than ever now, which i found strange lol. if youre using XP, youre missing out.
    I use Linux for everything nowadays and seldom use windows anymore except when managing my blackberry and messing around with audio, video files. But I do agree, windows 7 is faster than XP, but if it doesn't want to work with certain hardware like your smartphone, beware, you'll have to probably try workarounds or reinstall it, which totally sucks. Same for xp, but less often. Even if I had a brand spanking new computer, winxp would be the choice to manage re/loading the OS on any blackberry, as long as usb ports work with the generic drivers provided, you're covered. Win7 hates my blackberry and I have no idea why. windows 7 32-bit is not licensed to run with more than 3.8GB of RAM. now that sucks.
    Last edited by Rootbrian; 04-28-12 at 03:31 AM. Reason: Additional info adds.
    04-28-12 03:28 AM
  20. dictoresno's Avatar
    thats weird. ive done ALL my work on my BB's over the years ONLY on my Win 7 netbook. all backing up, OS loads, hybrids and other cod file manipulation. never had an issue. i was dual booting backtrack linux and win 7 on my netbook for awhile. recently decided to delete backtrack and installed OS X Snow Leopard (duel booting Win 7 still) on it just for giggles lol. i was also running Ubuntu on my desktop for awhile, but deleted the partition and repaired my MBR back to normal.
    04-28-12 03:34 AM
  21. dictoresno's Avatar
    windows 7 32-bit is not licensed to run with more than 3.8GB of RAM. now that sucks.
    yea i posted that too. 64 bit can address like 128 GB RAM, 32 can only do 4. thats nuts lol.
    04-28-12 03:39 AM
  22. Rootbrian's Avatar
    I find copying everything to an external drive right after a clean install of windows, is a very good backup and restore method, to a clean install state. Not using a backup program, but by copying everything using Linux from one drive to another, hidden, system and protected files included. I did this to avoid the MBR getting overwritten during a reinstall. That's cause I have windows 7, xp and ubuntu on the same disks. It's as fast as copying files and you don't need to wait over a few hours for windows to setup itself over again.
    04-28-12 03:41 AM
  23. Rootbrian's Avatar
    yea i posted that too. 64 bit can address like 128 GB RAM, 32 can only do 4. thats nuts lol.
    Funny thing is, both 64 and 32 bit linuxes can utilize all available RAM.
    04-28-12 03:43 AM
  24. dictoresno's Avatar
    I find copying everything to an external drive right after a clean install of windows, is a very good backup and restore method, to a clean install state. Not using a backup program, but by copying everything using Linux from one drive to another, hidden, system and protected files included. I did this to avoid the MBR getting overwritten during a reinstall. That's cause I have windows 7, xp and ubuntu on the same disks. It's as fast as copying files and you don't need to wait over a few hours for windows to setup itself over again.
    i use my external to back up all my music and files. itunes reads directly from it and not my main HD. i learned this from my first HD failure. my internal drive is just where all programs are installed and stuff. i dont keep anything really stored on it. and i never reinstall windows, but just use my bootable usb to fix the mbr after i deleted linux. its a 2 second operation.
    04-28-12 03:48 AM
  25. Rootbrian's Avatar
    I could never see myself deleting linux.
    It's so handy and reads far more filesystems than windows even does.

    Shame, my 250GB external drive won't even properly power up on my desktop anymore, or it's failing. Whenever it reads the NTFS partition of it, it powers off and "eeep eeep eeep eeep eeep", then powers back on, and keeps repeating forever, but it doesn't do that with the linux ext4 partition. Maybe that part of the disk is going bad, or the entire disk. I'll have to get a new one to keep everything on before the likely event of a failure does arise. It's a SATA Seagate Momentum drive.

    Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com using Tapatalk
    04-28-12 04:52 AM
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