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#1 2009-07-20 7:19 pm
How do I make sure a Windows XP install CD is bootable?
So a while ago I gave my good friend a PC with Ubuntu installed on it. Now she wants to switch to XP, for online gaming purposes.
So I went over to her house and attempted to boot up using my custom Windows XP install CD, but the machine wouldn't use that CD as its boot drive.
This puzzled me at first, because that same CD has enabled me to install Windows on my Mac under Virtual PC, and more recently, VMware Fusion.
But then it occurred to me: under those circumstances, the CD doesn't actually have to be bootable, does it?
So, is there anything I can do on my Mac to check and see if the CD is, in fact, capable of booting up a PC? And assuming it's not, is there a way I can copy and re-burn it so that it will properly boot up a PC?
Thankew...
"It's better to be a pirate than to join the Navy."
--Steve Jobs
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#2 2009-07-20 7:45 pm
- Bat
- Flawless Cowboy
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- From: Björk, Björk
- Registered: 2001-05-14
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Re: How do I make sure a Windows XP install CD is bootable?
I hope 'custom' doesn't mean 'acquired by extralegal means.' We don't help with that stuff.
Otherwise, any real XP CD is bootable. Normally, you go into the BIOS when powering up and set to boot from the drive the CD is in. Simple as that.
The mobo manual should say. Normally you press Del or F6 to go BIOS.
Afterwards, you reset to boot first from the HDD.
Edit: it's still legal if you've, say, slipstreamed Service Pack 3 into a legit original (actually a good idea).
Last edited by Bat (2009-07-20 7:48 pm)
If all economists were laid end to end, they would not reach a conclusion - George Bernard Shaw
"Fire up a colortini, sit back, relax, and watch the pictures, now, as they fly through the air."
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#3 2009-07-20 8:01 pm
Re: How do I make sure a Windows XP install CD is bootable?
It's an MSI motherboard. I've tried hitting delete and F6, and enter, all to no avail.
"It's better to be a pirate than to join the Navy."
--Steve Jobs
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#4 2009-07-20 8:16 pm
- Bat
- Flawless Cowboy
- Royal Wombat
- From: Björk, Björk
- Registered: 2001-05-14
- Posts: 28541
Re: How do I make sure a Windows XP install CD is bootable?
Most manuals going back years are available online. With the model #, it should be available, likely in .pdf, on the MSI site.
I haven't used MSI, but someone like NC should be along who can do a better walkthru- it shouldn't be difficult, tho. Find the right key, blip rapidly or press and hold. The BIOS screen will come up. Then just set the boot order.
If all economists were laid end to end, they would not reach a conclusion - George Bernard Shaw
"Fire up a colortini, sit back, relax, and watch the pictures, now, as they fly through the air."
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#5 2009-07-20 8:17 pm
- Bat
- Flawless Cowboy
- Royal Wombat
- From: Björk, Björk
- Registered: 2001-05-14
- Posts: 28541
Re: How do I make sure a Windows XP install CD is bootable?
http://www.msicomputer.com/
http://www.msicomputer.com/product/p_li … &cpu=1
Last edited by Bat (2009-07-20 8:18 pm)
If all economists were laid end to end, they would not reach a conclusion - George Bernard Shaw
"Fire up a colortini, sit back, relax, and watch the pictures, now, as they fly through the air."
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#6 2009-07-21 1:45 am
Re: How do I make sure a Windows XP install CD is bootable?
Mashing F12 might also bring up the booting options menu.
As for the CD itself, it's pretty likely to be bootable, legit or not. I've even burnt (legit) XP to a DVD and used that before, not sure if it actually ended up being any faster though.
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#8 2009-07-22 4:29 am
- Bat
- Flawless Cowboy
- Royal Wombat
- From: Björk, Björk
- Registered: 2001-05-14
- Posts: 28541
Re: How do I make sure a Windows XP install CD is bootable?
my custom Windows XP install CD
...bearing in mind it can only legally be on one machine at a time, and OEM copies are basically tied to the original box (mobo).
If it's not a boughten copy of XP per se but a recovery CD with XP on it, all bets are off, tho that's beyond the stage of reaching the BIOS screen. Side note, it usually takes something of a savant to make a 'custom' XP CD. Oddly, they usually have little trouble getting there.
If all economists were laid end to end, they would not reach a conclusion - George Bernard Shaw
"Fire up a colortini, sit back, relax, and watch the pictures, now, as they fly through the air."
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#9 2009-07-22 1:20 pm
Re: How do I make sure a Windows XP install CD is bootable?
This particular version is one of those sweet ones that came from the factory requiring no activation key or serial number or whatever. I believe Microsoft created such things for developer or promotional purposes or something. I believe I originally downloaded it from Demonoid or some such.
"It's better to be a pirate than to join the Navy."
--Steve Jobs
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