nLited iso on usb

[mireazma]

I've made a bootable image with nLite to use it on my eee but as you may know, the laptop hasn't an optical drive, thus I can only use usb sticks.

I've searched for methods to install xp via usb sticks and the I got as far as I must copy the i386 on the hdd first and then install from there. It doesn't look too neat, as I have to install xp on the same partition.

One simple nice and clean solution would be to "burn" the iso on the stick. I tried physdiskwrite-0.5.1 that they say it writes an image on a stick but whenever I write an iso Windows doesn't recognize the format and asks if I want to format the stick.

I'm not much of a boot freak and my knowledge ends at slimming the windows with nLite.

I've also found usb_multiboot_10; from what I've understood, you have to copy i386 (maybe?) to the stick? what about the other files in the iso?

So, which is the way as close as possible to having a usb image write capability tool?

I think nLite could've had an option - make bootable usb - along with write image on hdd. After all, most users want lite windows to use on low-end pc's. Now, if I had money for a decent laptop with optical drive and all, I wouldn't care for the hdd size, would I?

Edited October 2, 2008 by mireazma

[jaclaz]

Just read here:

http://www.msfn.org/board/Install-XP-from-USB-f157.html

http://www.msfn.org/board/How-to-install-X...SB-t111406.html

The method has been used by eeepc users and is all around the eeepc forums, see here as an example:

http://forum.eeeuser.com/viewtopic.php?id=17294

The procedure is fully automated, you only have to make some (right ) choices, both when nliting and when running the batch, read FAQ's first thing:

http://www.msfn.org/board/FAQs-t116766.html

jaclaz

Edited October 2, 2008 by jaclaz

[mireazma]

Ok. So, it's not possible to put an iso on usb...

There are 2 ways, from what I see:

1. GUI WinSetupFromUSB

2. multiboot_10

1. No usb drive detected... (verbatim 4 GB)

I've done it eventually with multiboot.

I've tried FlashBoot and other stuff to write the goddamn iso to a flash...

Apparently all of them can only handle floppy or isolinux-based images; beyond me.

Man, I've seen you're mod at cd-forum, I've read some posts. You know very much about boot sectors and all. If you don't know a tool that can do the magic, it means there isn't one.

But at the same time my mind refuses to accept that noone can stuff an iso into a usb flash. It's unconceiveble!

Edited October 2, 2008 by mireazma

[ilko_t]

1. No usb drive detected... (verbatim 4 GB)

From ReadMe.txt

How to start-

1. First make sure you have a properly formatted USB disk or flash media.

It must have MBR and active partition set.

a) USB flash media- format it with PEtoUSB in FAT16 or FAT16x (LBA checked) for partitions up to 2GB. This will preserve all partition information.

If your media is above 2GB you will have to use FAT32- use HP USB disk format tool. Note that it will DELETE all partitions and create a single one, occupying the whole disk. NTFS is reported faster on some systems, your USB stick parameters are also factor. Whereas NTFS generally is not recommended for USB flash media, if you are not planning excessive usage, but rather occasional installs from it, then it should be safe to use it as long as you can boot from it.

...

!!!Make sure you set an active partition, either from Disk management, or from your favourite external program.!!!

!!!Use primary partitions when placing Windows based sources!!!

!!!Usew first partition when copying Windows Setup!!!

...

When in doubt point your mouse over object and read the tooltip...

There are two tooltips, both on USB disk field and REFRESH button saying the same...

But at the same time my mind refuses to accept that noone can stuff an iso into a usb flash. It's unconceiveble!

It all depends on the ISO in question. There is a major difference between boot from CD and from USB, and the latter is a hard disk media, usually.

If you really are after "stuffing" an ISO into a USB read this:

http://www.msfn.org/board/Install-XP-from-...th-t121502.html

[Maxfutur]

But at the same time my mind refuses to accept that noone can stuff an iso into a usb flash. It's unconceiveble!

Did you mean setup windows from USB (as a CD).

Or run windows on USB without hard drive:

http://img444.imageshack.us/img444/9216/usbootjd6.jpg

My Windoze running from USB, i don't know about boot sectors, total newbie here.

Id like to make and post a video turning on mi PC and only running windoze from USB, not HDD but need some time and little knowledge about video & stuff.

mireazma it tookme about 3 full days to sucess with trial and error, start reading a website, anyway, i did read about 3 and the last one with some more insteresting info.

Take your time, read, try with a full windows first, when you sucess then start with nlited windOwS.

You can do it!

[jaclaz]

But at the same time my mind refuses to accept that noone can stuff an iso into a usb flash. It's unconceiveble!

Yep, the point is whether you want to install on your eeepc or not.

You can do that while still believing that there must be another way.

To keep your mind peaceful , it is PERFECTLY POSSIBLE to "stuff an iso into a usb flash", AS LONG AS the USB stick is "compatible":

http://www.msfn.org/board/Install-XP-from-...th-t121502.html

jaclaz

[mireazma]

@ ilko_t :

Thanks. I think it's the closest thing to what I want. Not exactly what I want, cuz unfortunately I've already bought a Verbatim and I suppose there's nothing to do without U3...

All I know about boot sectors, formats, allocation units and alike, is what they are, not the inner mechanisms. In my logic I'm just wondering: aren't the same elements (mbr/boot sector...) present in all media (hdd,flash,cd-rom)? Probably the precise location differs on each media. Plus I'm not constrained to BIOS detection.

@ Maxfutur :

I wanted just the ISO on the stick. Sorry, man but my guess is that it ain't worth it to run the windows from the stick, because of the speed; imo it's like having half the ram... Can't remember now the speed, but a HDD has ~150 MB/sec read/write speed, whereas a flash can get to ~7 MB/sec read and ~5 MB/sec write; better buy a class 6 SDHC (~20 read, ~16 write). The values are very approximated and they vary from brand/model to another.

The idea is nice, though. Muchas gracias

Thanks to Jaclaz (and of course, Wimb_2) I have the windowsXp on my Eee Pc via USB_Multiboot_10. It's not too intuitive (you must know a little stuff) but it gets the job done. It leaves an entry in the boot.ini after xp install, but it's ok.

[jaclaz]

All I know about boot sectors, formats, allocation units and alike, is what they are, not the inner mechanisms. In my logic I'm just wondering: aren't the same elements (mbr/boot sector...) present in all media (hdd,flash,cd-rom)? Probably the precise location differs on each media. Plus I'm not constrained to BIOS detection.

This should be enough:

a hard disk or USB stick usually has sectors sized 512 bytes

a hard disk or USB stick MBR (Master Boot Record) is on first sector of the device

a CD-ROM has sectors sized 2048 bytes

a CD-ROM has it's boot record (equivalent to the MBR) at sector 17

It is possible to write a MBR and some other piece of code capable, once BIOS has accessed 1st sector (MBR) of the HD-like device, to load the actual bootrecord of the CDROM, but such approach won't work for second part of install.

Grub4dos has such capabilities (.iso mapping), but they do not (and cannot) work when the "real mode" part ends and the protected mode "kicks in", see here:

http://www.boot-land.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=5041

http://www.boot-land.net/forums/index.php?showforum=66

An alternative is using RAMDISK booting, but of course you need files from Server 2003 SP1 - which are however limited to 512 Mb size of the .iso - and of course LOTS of RAM.

Maybe it is possible to "extend" the use of the "XP Kansas City Shuffle" trick (or a similar on-the-fly-swap) on CD-like devices, but the method is still VERY, VERY experimental with hd-like devices, and noone has yet tried applying it to a CD-like image:

http://www.911cd.net/forums//index.php?showtopic=21242

http://www.911cd.net/forums//index.php?showtopic=21939

jaclaz