Reinstall windows xp no cddrive no fdd no usb boot

kikoamor

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Jun 11, 2012
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10,510
I have an old toshiba laptop running on windows xp
cd rom busted, no floppy drive, bios not capable of booting from usb drive.
I wanted a clean install of windows xp. i have a windows xp xd a product key for the laptop another computer on my home network with working cd rom, i have 2 partitions on the drive of the old laptop. is it possible to boot to the second partition that will contain the windows xp installation files then run a clean install on the first partition? Please help. Thanks in advance
 
How to install Windows XP from a hard drive without using a floppy or optical drive.

 

kikoamor

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Jun 11, 2012
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10,510
hey thanks for the reply!

not gonna work for me though. I'm looking for some software based resolution to this issue.
I found out that you can boot from the second partition by changing some settings on the disk management if the secont partition has an OS. what i really want to know is if it is possible to boot to the second partition that will contain the windows xp installation files then run a clean install on the first partition.
 
You answered the question yourself. You said:



Your 2nd partition does not contain an OS. it contains the installation files for an OS.
 

kikoamor

Honorable
Jun 11, 2012
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0
10,510


yeah your right but cd doesn't contain OS too and can boot. microsoft has something like a pre-execution environment that can boot a drive and run installation from it just like how windows xp bootable installation cd does. this is the method im looking for only i need it on the second partition without removing laptop hdd. if anyone knows i would appriciate the info very much!! thanks in advance!!