mehargags Posted March 27, 2007 Share Posted March 27, 2007 i know most of us have seen, "How to Install Windows Vista from a high speed USB 2.0 Flash Drive"where u use these commands 1. diskpart 2. select disk 1 3. clean 4. create partition primary 5. select partition 1 6. active 7. format fs=[i][b]fat32[/b][/i] 8. assign 9. exit 10. xcopy d:\*.* /s/e/f e:\ (Copy Windows Vista's DVD ROM content to the Flash Drive E:)being a sys admin I always carry my USB hard drive (Transcend Storejet 160gb). Its partitioned as single NTFS & not FAT32 as mentioned in the above code. I can't boot from the USB hard drive even though the bios supports it. I tried FixMBR on the USB hdd but it still din't work. All I get is "NTLdr missing".Is there no way i can use my 2.5" USB hard drive to boot & install Vista from it, just like i'd do from a FlashDrive ??any pointers pls, im desperate at achieving this.Thx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zorphnog Posted March 27, 2007 Share Posted March 27, 2007 All the documentation that I've read says that it has to be formatted in FAT32 as a single partition spanning the entire drive, although I'm not sure why. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike69 Posted March 28, 2007 Share Posted March 28, 2007 i have the same problem...ive tried with fat32 and i still cant boot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmarable Posted March 28, 2007 Share Posted March 28, 2007 (edited) I use a 40GB USB drive with a 10GB FAT32 partiton and a 30GB NTFS partiton.I just copied the Vista DVD as is directly to the FAT32 partition and it boots and runs the Vista install. If you are looking for something simple like that, it works. Edited March 28, 2007 by mmarable Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike69 Posted March 28, 2007 Share Posted March 28, 2007 I use a 40GB USB drive with a 10GB FAT32 partiton and a 30GB NTFS partiton.I just copied the Vista DVD as is directly to the FAT32 partition and it boots and runs the Vista install. If you are looking for something simple like that, it works.how did you manage to do that???wont it needs a boot loader to start the setup? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zorphnog Posted March 29, 2007 Share Posted March 29, 2007 (edited) I've just tried this out on my 60GB usb hard drive and confirmed that it works. Here are the steps I used.Run diskpart (v6.0.6000):select disk 1cleancreate partition primary size=10240create partition primaryselect volume 2 //10GB USB partitionformat fs=fat32 label="VISTA_BOOT" quickactiveassignselect volume 3 //46GB USB partitionformat fs=ntfs label="USB_DISK" quickassignexitCopy Vista contents to USB drive:xcopy d:\*.* /s /e /f e:\Just make sure that you mark the VISTA_BOOT partition as active and you should be good to go.*EDIT: I just tried it with NTFS format and it works also. Edited March 29, 2007 by zorphnog Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaclaz Posted March 29, 2007 Share Posted March 29, 2007 Some related info:http://www.boot-land.net/forums/index.php?...ic=1123&hl=jaclaz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacesurfer Posted May 18, 2007 Share Posted May 18, 2007 (edited) I'm getting a Remove disks or other media.Press any key to restart.error when I do this.My Vista is vLited. My HDD is in a external HDD enclosure and is 2GB and formatted to FAT32.Wonder if vLite had anything to do with it.Thinking that vLite may have modified my boot files, I tried replacing my vLited install.wim in the original ISO image of Vista (using UltraISO) and still got the same error.I have to vLite because my external HDD is 2 Gb. I can't fit the darn whole Vista on it.Any thoughts appreciated. Edited May 18, 2007 by spacesurfer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kentk Posted October 24, 2007 Share Posted October 24, 2007 (edited) Tried this yesterday without success copied my files from my working ISO to the usb stickGot it to boot once, but after the first pictures vista tells me some driver is missing Tried different settings in bios and after a while I cant get it to boot from the usb at all, invalid partition, insert bootable media and so on..Made all steps again several times...no successIs there a problem that I have a 8gb stick ?Any suggestions ?? I really want this to work... Edited October 24, 2007 by kentk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Static_Nexus Posted June 18, 2008 Share Posted June 18, 2008 I'm getting a Remove disks or other media.Press any key to restart.error when I do this.My Vista is vLited. My HDD is in a external HDD enclosure and is 2GB and formatted to FAT32.Wonder if vLite had anything to do with it.Thinking that vLite may have modified my boot files, I tried replacing my vLited install.wim in the original ISO image of Vista (using UltraISO) and still got the same error.I have to vLite because my external HDD is 2 Gb. I can't fit the darn whole Vista on it.Any thoughts appreciated.i have this same problem using a 250gb sata 2.5" in a usb enclosure. did you ever find a solution?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacesurfer Posted July 8, 2008 Share Posted July 8, 2008 nope. i abandoned vista. good old xp! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
$h@d0w Posted September 5, 2008 Share Posted September 5, 2008 (edited) I've just tried this out on my 60GB usb hard drive and confirmed that it works. Here are the steps I used.Run diskpart (v6.0.6000):select disk 1cleancreate partition primary size=10240create partition primaryselect volume 2 //10GB USB partitionformat fs=fat32 label="VISTA_BOOT" quickactiveassignselect volume 3 //46GB USB partitionformat fs=ntfs label="USB_DISK" quickassignexitCopy Vista contents to USB drive:xcopy d:\*.* /s /e /f e:\Just make sure that you mark the VISTA_BOOT partition as active and you should be good to go.*EDIT: I just tried it with NTFS format and it works also.Used this process with my 500GB Porsche Lacie drive and it worked great. I am installing to an Asus eee 1000H Edited September 5, 2008 by $h@d0w Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Static_Nexus Posted September 5, 2008 Share Posted September 5, 2008 let me know how it performs! i was thinking about doing that myself but unsure of vista on a 1.6ghz atom with 1gb ram.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrxnelson Posted October 2, 2008 Share Posted October 2, 2008 Don't forget to rename 'bootmgr' to 'ntldr'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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