How To | Installing Windows XP and Ubuntu through pendrive

This tutorial will teach you how to create a bootable windows XP/ubuntu(any linux) pen drive and install XP/ubuntu(any linux) using this bootable pen drive.
Why would anyone want to install Windows XP from a pen drive??

1. May be their CD drive isn’t working properly like mine, or
2. They don’t want to waste money on a CD

More over installation from a flash drive is faster compared to a CD.
Before we go on with the tutorial here’s what you’ll need

1. 1 USB flash drive, 1GB or larger
2. 1 Windows XP installation disc
3. Assorted files that I’ll describe as we go along.
4. Note: Your BIOS should support usb boot, some older computers may not support USB boot.

Preparing the flash drive
First up, we need to prepare the flash drive.

1. Download and unzip this file, which should contain 2 folders: 1 titled Bootsect, and the other USB_prep8.
2. Navigate to the USB_prep8 folder and click on usb_prep8.cmd. This will bring up a Windows console window.
Making a bootable USB



Making a bootable USB
3. Press any key to continue and a PeToUSB window will open.

4. Make sure your flash drive is selected, and click start to format your flash drive.
5. When the format is complete, click OK, but do not close the PeToUSB window or the Windows Console.
6. Open a new console window by typing “cmd” into the run box in the Windows Start Menu.


opening Command Prompt

7. Find your Bootsect folder (if you’re not used to DOS commands, you can type “dir” to list directories and files, type “cd foldername” to navigate to a folder name – called foldername in this example, and if there’s a long folder name you can save time by typing the “cd” and just the first few letters and then hitting the Tab key to fill in the rest of the name).
   
   

   Changing directory on a command prompt

8. Once you’re in the Bootsect folder, type “bootsect.exe /nt52 g:” if “g” is the letter assigned to your flash drive. If it’s E, then change the letter to e. If it’s Z, make it z. Get it?
9. When this is done, you should see a message letting you know that the bootcode was updated, and you can close this console window (but not the other console window).
10. Close the PeToUSb Window, but make sure not to close the remaining console window yet
11. You should now see a list of 8 options in the console.
12. Select one and find the drive with your Windows installation disc.
    

    Making a bootable USB

13. Select 2 and pick a random drive letter (but not one that’s already on your PC, since this will be a virtual drive used for copying your files).
14. Select 3 and enter the drive letter for your USB flash drive.
15. Select 4 and follow the rest of the on-screen directions and you should be all set.

The process should take about 15-20 minutes. When it’s done, you should have a bootable USB stick that you can use to install Windows XP the same way you would if you had a CD/DVD drive.
A few notes here. First of all, there’s a chance you may get down to step 15 and the program will tell you that it can’t create the virtual drive. This may happen if you’ve already gone through the whole process and are trying to do it again to fix problems. The solution seems to be rebooting your computer and trying again. Or at least that’s what worked for me.
Second, if you use NLite to shrink/slipstream/otherwise modify your Windows XP installation file, make sure you do not remove “manual installation files,” or your USB stick will be pretty much useless.

Once your usb drive is ready, go to your bios and set USB to first position in boot order. Now plug the usb and restart.

Make sure you back up your important documents and files, firefox bookmarks, and drivers if you lost your drivers cd.

This post explains you how to backup your drivers easily

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Finding drivers is a hassle if you loose your drivers cd, especially in case of laptops. My laptop came with useless shit vista, I was lucky enough to find a good tutorial to guide me through the downgrade process. There came the tough job after installing XP, installing the drivers for my hardware. There were around 20 setups to be installed, which takes more than an hour. I really hate installing those 20+ drivers manually, Wouldn’t it be great if there is a single setup file for all the drivers??

Luckily there is one such utility, Driver Genius If you have a computer already loaded with all the drivers, this software can backup all the drivers into a one click installer, this installer will make your life easy when you format your computer next time.

This software has lot many other features other than creating a one click installer, with this software you can

• Quickly backup drivers installed in system. It can compress the backup drivers to a zip file, self extracting file or an independent executable auto installer program.
• You need not install drivers one by one after reinstalling Operating System. Just need only one click you can install all your backup drivers automatically. You can also install drivers in command mode silently. If you need install drivers on multiple PC with the same hardware configuration, Driver Genius can save your much time to reinstall system.
• Are you still using an old version or beta version drivers? Those faulty drivers always cause compatibility problem. They are the biggest hidden trouble that cause system crash. A suitable drivers can upgrade 50% or even more system performance . There are more than 30,000 devices drivers information in Driver Genius Database that including Motherboard, Sound card, Video card, Network card, Modem, Mouse, Keyboard, Scanner, Printer, Digital device etc. All you need to do is one click, Driver Genius will find out all drivers that need updating. All drivers we offer are official version or WHQL version, you can use them without any compatibility worries.
• There could be some leftover drivers in your system because of changing hardware or updating drivers. Driver Genius can find out these useless drivers quickly and uninstall them.
• You can synchronize your database with driverGenius download server to get the newest version drivers by Liveupdate program.

Note: Make sure your computer is free from viruses before making a backup of your drivers, else the virus may come along with the drivers.

Backup drivers using Driver Genius

Backup drivers using Driver Genius

Update Drivers Database

Drivers Download Manager

Device Diagnostics

Drivers Auto Installer

Download DriverGenius

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Creating a bootable ubuntu / linux pen drive

Creating a bootable ubuntu pendrive is pretty easy

1. First copy the iso file of the linux version you want to install on to your hard drive.
2. Download unetbootin from http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/
3. Then double click the unetbootin file.
4. This will open up a small window, select disk image and browse to the image on your hard drive and click ok.
5. You bootable pen drive should be ready in 5 to 10 minutes

Creating a Ubuntu bootable pen drive with Unetbootin