How to install windows xp to a usb flash drive?

[michaelweaser]

I know it's possible to install windows xp to a flash drive, But how to do it? I have tried installing it with my windows xp usb drive installer, but weirdly it will install to a flash drive , but it won't boot, it somehow puts the mbr on a different drive , sometimes it will do it to the install usb drive, or even the main hard drive. Do I need to use the hitachi microdrive filter driver, that make windows recognize a usb removable drive as a standard fixed disk. Or is there a way to remove the standard disk driver and replace it with the hitachi microdrive filter driver for the usb flash drive, or use the hitachi microdrive filter driver. Would i have to replace the driver by making the hitachi driver as a textmode driver , so during installation it uses it as a the driver for the usb flash drive. 

[jaclaz]

what is "your" "windows xp usb drive installer"?

The Hitachi microdrive filter driver is a filter driver it only changes the way a device is seen from "removable" to "fixed", you don't use it "instead" of another driver, you may use it "in addition to" the normal mass storage driver.

To give you some background, the procedure to install a Windows XP on a USB stick originally dates back to several years ago, unfortunately the place where it was started is lost in the mist of the internet, some pages can be retrieved via Wayback Machine:

http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.911cd.net/forums//index.php?showtopic=14181*

You want to look at the "tutorial" links in Dietmar's signature.

Nowadays there are simpler ways/tools to obtain the same result, but different hardware might still need a few additional tricks, the usual reference is:
https://www.usboot.org/tiki-index.php

but it needs a (free) registration and it might not be suitable to some newish hardware, see also:
http://reboot.pro/topic/18107-integratedrv-install-xp-2003-to-a-usb-30-disk-and-boot-from-it/

if you look on reboot.pro, you will find many related topics, including using an XP inside a VHD (saved on a USB device), example:

http://reboot.pro/topic/18182-uefi-multi-make-multi-boot-usb-drive/

Depending on the specific USB stick it might be possible to "flip the bit" in the controller and make it a "fixed" device.

jaclaz

 

[michaelweaser]

I use winsetupfromusb to do the installation which is on a 8gb emtec flash drive, and i am trying to get it to install to 16gb sandisk flash drive. I am not sure if this is a help but in the bios settings, there is a setting  called usb mass storage emulation type, and it says it can set usb storage devices as  all removable or all fixed disk, and there is an auto and size , the auto figures out what it is and sets it accordingly and than size, sets it based on the size of the usb storage medium. I'm sure this won't help since im sure the usb mass storage emulation type is for like 16 bit OS, like DOS, Since when windows xp boots and not controlled by the BIOS really anymore that setting isn't applicable. I tested it and yes in DOS when you have that set to fixed disk it shows up in DOS with Fixed disk as a hard drive. Wondering if you could get around this by loading the windows xp installer from DOS?

[jaclaz]

Ah, so you are trying to install windows XP BOTH "from" a USB flash drive, AND "to" another USB flash drive?

If you are using Winsetopfromusb it should manage itself any possible issue with "removable" vs. "fixed" related to the "from" device (the "source" one) as it includes both a filter driver that can make a "removable" drive become fixed (if needed) and a filter driver to do the opposite (if needed), but last time I checked (quite a bit of time ago, so this may well be inaccurate nowadats) it was NOT suitable/aimed to install "to" a USB device.

As said this procedure needs some particular methods and need some specific Registry modification (and on most system also an added "watch service" for the USB stack drivers).

Generally speaking, anything that happens in DOS, remains in DOS, as soon as the NTLDR switches to protected mode, the HAL (Hardware Abstraction Layer) kicks in, and everything is re-scanned and managed by Windows drivers.

I don't think anyone experimented with two USB source and target devices.

This would explain why WinsetupfromUSB gets confused.

You really cannot have/use a more "common" setup?

jaclaz

 

 

[michaelweaser]

The USB emulation feature in the bios does make DOS recognize the usb drive as a fixed disk , so i attempted to install it using that way, it tries to install, but, then, it does the blue screen of death, with something to do with HAL and the hard drive

[jaclaz]

Yes, that's normal:

7 hours ago, jaclaz said:

Generally speaking, anything that happens in DOS, remains in DOS, as soon as the NTLDR switches to protected mode, the HAL (Hardware Abstraction Layer) kicks in, and everything is re-scanned and managed by Windows drivers.

jaclaz