Reinstallation of Win XP

Question

I have an Inspriron mini 1011. After performing Windows Update I experienced some severe blue screen problems and am unable to resolve this. None of the boot procedures improved the situation, cannot reboot in safemode.

Now I want to reinstall W XP but the mini 10 did not come with a build in DVD player.

I copied the content of the reinstallation DVD to a USB drive and adjusted the BIOS to start up via USB. However I get a notification: "Missing operating system".

Question: Is the DVD copy protected? and if yes how can I reinstall XP without a DVD Player?

Thanks in advance for yr help.

RoHe · Answer

Are you sure the mini doesn't have a DVD drive?

Does the Mini have PC Restore on the hard drive? That'll reset the hard drive back to its factory state in only ~10 min. After that you will have to install the latest XP Service Pack and all other Microsoft updates and hotfixes. You must back up all your personal files on external media (CDs, USB hard drive) before running PC Restore because everything you have on the hard drive will be lost. PCRestore will only reinstall XP, hardware drivers and software that Dell provided, but that's all it will do.

To run PC Restore, reboot and press Ctrl-F11 before Windows starts to load and follow the prompts.

If that doesn't work, read this Wiki by one of the Dell Rockstars about reinstalling XP. There's a discussion of using USB, starting on page 219.

bism · Answer

Yes, I am sure there is no DVD drive. The mini is too small for an internal drive. An external drive is only optional. I don't have one.

Tried Ctrl+F11 but this does not start PC-Restore. It let me enter the boot menu but none of these options works.

I will check the wiki and let you know if I found a solution there...

Thanks anyway.

RoHe · Answer

Odd that Ctrl-F11 opened a boot menu. If "Restore" was on that menu, that's what you want.

You may want to try again. You have to press and HOLD Ctrl as soon as you see the Dell splash screen and then press F11 as soon as you see the Dell splash screen. Release both keys at the same time.

NOTE: If the hard drive has been replaced or previously reformatted, you won't have access to PC Restore...

EDITED

bism · Answer

Hi Ron, Tried to follow the instructions written downin the Windows Reinstallation Guide and downloaded the two files. However in the WinSetupfromUSB ZIP file one file (TXTSETUP.SIF) in directory I386 is missing hence I cannot continue making a bootable USB drive. Do you perhaps have solution for this?

Thanks in advance.

RoHe · Answer

I haven't installed XP from USB, but I saw some things that suggest this might be a problem with the way the USB stick was formatted.

Will ask the author of that Wiki to review this thread and see if he has a solution.

RoHe · Answer

The author of that Wiki isn't able to access the forum for a few days but he had some questions and suggestions :

Are you trying to install XP Media Center? Media Center wouldn't install for him from USB.
Is your USB stick at least 4 GB or larger? Smaller USB than 4 GB probably won't work.
Did you use the app mentioned in the Wiki to format the USB stick? Other formatting may not work.

bism · Answer

Hi,

1. I am trying to install Win XP HE SP3

2. The USB drive has a capacity of 4 GB indeed.

3. I did run the app but just found out I made a mistake in selecting the wrong folder.

In the WinSetupFromUSB dialog box, when you move the cursor over the button on the right of the address line a text balloon appears where is written to select the folder named `I386`. The WinSetupFromUSB package also contains a folder I386. That´s the one I selected and apparently that was the wrong one.

Today I went through the Wiki again and wondered why the address line in the example was so different. When I checked the Reinstallation DVD I found another folder named I386.

So I went through the procedure again and selected the I386 folder on the DVD and guess what... it worked.

So I made a bootable USB drive and copied the content of the DVD to the Drive using the app.

I am now running the re-installation procedure on the Inspiron Mini 10.

So, thanks a lot for your suggestions. I´ll let you know when all is fixed.

Kind regards

Bert

bism · Answer

I am back in. It's working again! thanks again.

RoHe · Answer

I am back in. It's working again! thanks again. Excellent! :emotion-21: :emotion-21:

Philip_Yip · Answer

Hi I am the author of the wiki I have been away to Prague the last few days so haven't had a chance to catch up on my emails.

I hadn't noticed WinSetUpFromUSB had a I386 folder of its own, actually in the installer I have there are 2 I386 folders. These are part of the WinSetUpFromUSB program and should not be selected under add to USB Disk.

The Windows XP Reinstallation CD or folder that it is copied to should contain a folder called I386 itself. The parent folder should be selected opposed to the I386 folder directly. e.g. in the following two examples (I will need to update the guide to include them):

Windows General

Reinstallation of Win XP

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