Accessing the i386 folder and using winnt on a clean install?

  • Thread starter Thread starter psongman
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psongman

Hi, I have been told that you can access the i386 folder on your
Windows XP restore CD made from an iso of your hard drive and run winnt
and do a fresh clean reinstall. Here is the info:

Installing XP without booting off CD or creating XP boot disks

1. Boot computer using Windows 95/98/ME boot disk
2. Navigate to CD drive
3. Change to \i386\ directory on the CD by typing 'cd\i386\
4. Execute winnt.exe by typing 'winnt" and pressing enter
5. This is a good timesaver when it comes to installing XP

OK, I tried variations of this and the procedure didn't work. Can this
be done first?

Second, if it can, could you write down the exact command prompting

I keep getting all these bad command lines, not sure why, must be doing
something wrong.

i.e. how do you get into that CD, E in my computer and into that i386
folder?

I can see the i386 folder when I use dir/p but can't get in there.

So, can you help me by writing the exact commands in order so this can
be accomplished, thanks. If I have to download the 6 boot floppies then
just say so, but I have been told this will work, but maybe not so well
on a reinstall, since I don't have the original disks as they didnt'
come with the computer. Thanks for listening and assisting, DD
 
Hi, I have been told that you can access the i386 folder on your
Windows XP restore CD made from an iso of your hard drive and run winnt
and do a fresh clean reinstall. Here is the info:

Installing XP without booting off CD or creating XP boot disks

1. Boot computer using Windows 95/98/ME boot disk
2. Navigate to CD drive
3. Change to \i386\ directory on the CD by typing 'cd\i386\
4. Execute winnt.exe by typing 'winnt" and pressing enter
5. This is a good timesaver when it comes to installing XP

OK, I tried variations of this and the procedure didn't work. Can this
be done first?

Second, if it can, could you write down the exact command prompting

I keep getting all these bad command lines, not sure why, must be doing
something wrong.

i.e. how do you get into that CD, E in my computer and into that i386
folder?

I can see the i386 folder when I use dir/p but can't get in there.

So, can you help me by writing the exact commands in order so this can
be accomplished, thanks. If I have to download the 6 boot floppies then
just say so, but I have been told this will work, but maybe not so well
on a reinstall, since I don't have the original disks as they didnt'
come with the computer. Thanks for listening and assisting, DD
Click to expand...

Not that way. Actual. What I did is using my 98se boot fdisk is
made a fat32 partition for my disk. (I made two)

The only problem was copying the i386 folder to the c drive,

So, I used a Linux live cd that can be copied to ram and the cd can
be ejected.

Mounted the partitions in linux and copied the folder to that 1st
partition.

Using the 98se boot disk. You should be able to change the I386
directory. Type winnt and install Keep fat32 partition until install
is completed. Then you can covert to NFTS after installation

Greg Rozelle
 
[30 quoted lines suppressed]
Click to expand...

Not that way. Actual. What I did is using my 98se boot fdisk is
made a fat32 partition for my disk. (I made two)

The only problem was copying the i386 folder to the c drive,

So, I used a Linux live cd that can be copied to ram and the cd can
be ejected.

Mounted the partitions in linux and copied the folder to that 1st
partition.

Using the 98se boot disk. You should be able to change the I386
directory. Type winnt and install Keep fat32 partition until install
is completed. Then you can covert to NFTS after installation

Greg Rozelle
Click to expand...

Did you load smartdrive when using the win98 disk? Easy to forget. Things,
including copy operations, will take forever and a day to complete without
it.
 
Hi, how do you load smartdrive. I used the boot disk from bootdisk.com.
I really don't understand how to move around in those command areas. I
thought XP wasn't using DOS, but I do see that the floppy is still a
Windows 98SE environment.

About Greg's post, what is all this LInux stuff? Do I really have to do
it that way? I had a computer tech guy here when my RoadRunner install
got messed up. He showed me things that the average person would faint
from his expertise. The problem is everyone wants to get compensated
and let's face it, putting an OS on a new used computer, shouldn't be
that hard. Why does Microsoft make this reinstall so difficult. If the
i386 folder is there on the cdrom drive, why can't it be accessed and
the setup started. I guess there is something stopping this from
happening, but I can' figure it out. I know the hard drive is blank so
maybe that is causing some of this. Well, get back to me when you can,
appreciate all your help, DD
 
Hi, how do you load smartdrive. I used the boot disk from bootdisk.com.
I really don't understand how to move around in those command areas. I
thought XP wasn't using DOS, but I do see that the floppy is still a
Windows 98SE environment.

About Greg's post, what is all this LInux stuff? Do I really have to do
it that way? I had a computer tech guy here when my RoadRunner install
got messed up. He showed me things that the average person would faint
from his expertise. The problem is everyone wants to get compensated
and let's face it, putting an OS on a new used computer, shouldn't be
that hard. Why does Microsoft make this reinstall so difficult. If the
i386 folder is there on the cdrom drive, why can't it be accessed and
the setup started. I guess there is something stopping this from
happening, but I can' figure it out. I know the hard drive is blank so
maybe that is causing some of this. Well, get back to me when you can,
appreciate all your help, DD
Click to expand...

Get a bootdisk that includes the smartdrv file. If you need to refresh your
memory (or learn anew) about its use, check the MS Knowledge Base for more
info.
 
Hi, yes, smartdrive is loaded as it is the disk from bootdisk.com. So,
how do you get into the i386 folder and run setup. Keep reading that is
how you do it, but can't accomplish it, please assist, thanks, DD
 
Hi, yes, smartdrive is loaded as it is the disk from bootdisk.com. So,
how do you get into the i386 folder and run setup. Keep reading that is
how you do it, but can't accomplish it, please assist, thanks, DD
Click to expand...

Long story: There is a text file on the WinXP CD that explains how to run
XP setup from a DOS prompt. A lot of useful info in that file so it's
definitely worth a read.

Short story: from the command prompt, change to the i386 folder and run
winnt.exe
 
Sharon, thanks for responding, however this phrase

Short story: from the command prompt, change to the i386 folder and run

winnt.exe

doesn't work at all. In fact, I have had about 4 people help me try to
do that. When MS-MVP'ers like yourself say that, then there must be
some way it can be done. Please, just this time write it out like you
would an old Fortran filer, hehe, OK?

like at a prompt, type e:

dir/p, to see if i386 folder is there, then

e:

think you understand, as there is some command order that the average
person is not entering or following. I would appreciate it, if you
would do that for me, and I can help some other person who needs
assistance in following this method. I have gone through this scenario
about 100 times, but if you can shine some new light or shed some fresh
blood, it would be appreciated, DD
 
psongman said:
Please respond to this last reply, want to get this up and running,
thanks, DD
Click to expand...


Respond to what, precisely. Because you neglected to quote any of the
earlier pertinent post(s), we've no idea what you're going on about.


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:



They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. -Benjamin Franklin
 
I'll respond, thanks for all the non-help, what a group, the messages
are above. DD
Click to expand...

Hey, sorry psongman. Had some real life stuff happening that took me away
from the groups for the last week. If you're still working on this, take a
look on the XP CD for the setup.txt file. It has step by step directions
for running xp setup after booting with a Win98 boot disk. There are also
one or two setup articles in the MS Knowledge Base that cover the same
information.
 
They may be for you but they aren't for us. We have no idea what you are blabbering about
 
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