How can I install an Windows XP onto a 4GB USB drive?

Question

It won't allow me to do that during the install process

Answer 1

Not quite sure what you could do with just the windows XP disk...if you have some form of ghosting software, you could install windows XP into a separate (around 4GB) partition on your hard drive, then ghost an image on it, and have the image written onto your 4GB USB drive.

what cuite1 might work, but she left out that in order to install XP in your USB drive that way, i believe your system must be capable of USB booting / legacy usb support and you might even need to install a driver for your USB drive, otherwise windows XP might not even recognize as a drive at all.

Answer 2

Windows XP won't install to a removable drive.

Answer 3

Format the partition that held the Windows XP operating-system files, and then reinstall the operating system. These can both be accomplished in the same session, by booting the system from your Windows XP installation CD. The rest of this step provides all of the details about how to do this.

When you boot from the CD, you will see the following message:

Windows Setup
===============
After a short time some options will appear, including:

To set up Windows XP now, press ENTER.


Press ENTER. Then, Accept the license agreement.
Result: New options appear, including:

To continue installing a fresh copy of Windows XP without repairing, press ESC.


Press ESC. After doing this (or if that option did not appear), there will be a new screen that lists the partition that held the Windows XP installation, and possibly other partitions.

Typically, the Windows XP installation is on the C drive. There will be a line that looks like:

C: Partition1 [NTFS] #### MB ( #### MB free)

or

C: Partition1 [FAT] #### MB ( #### MB free)

Note: Make sure that the partition used by your existing Windows XP installation is selected. One of the options will be:

To delete the selected partition, press D.


Press D.
Result: The screen will display the following message:

The partition you tried to delete is a system partition.

Additional text will appear, and the option:

To delete this partition, press ENTER.


Press ENTER.
Result: The following option appears:

To delete this partition, press L. CAUTION: All data on this partition will be lost.

Note: The system partition, which may contain both operating-system files and your own personal files, will be completely erased. In Step 1, you created a backup of your files. You will restore from the backup in a later step.


Press L.
Result: You will be presented with the option (among others):

To create a partition in the unpartitioned space, press C.


Press C.
Result: A text-entry box with the following text appears:

Create partition of size (in MB):

This will be filled in with the maximum number of MB. Press ENTER to choose that maximum value.
Result: Additional text appears, including the following option and selected line:

To set up Windows XP on the selected item, press ENTER.

C: Partition1 [New (Raw)] #### MB ( ### MB free)


Press ENTER.
Result: Four options will appear:

Format the partition using the NTFS file system (Quick)
Format the partition using the FAT file system (Quick)
Format the partition using the NTFS file system
Format the partition using the FAT file system


Choose the third option and then press ENTER.
Result: The following message appears:

Please wait while Setup formats the partition

C: Partition1 [New (Raw)] #### MB ( ### MB free)

Note: This may take more than an hour, depending on the configuration of your computer and the size of the partition. Once the format is completed, the system will proceed to the remainder of the Windows XP installation process.


In the installation process, you will need to select a password for the Administrator account. This needs to be different from any password used in the past. Do not leave the Administrator password or any other passwords blank. Review IS&T's Guidelines for Choosing a Password.


Boot the system and log in using the username that you created.


Set up TCP/IP Filtering on the computer. This is a necessary step to prevent a re-compromise during the time you are downloading patches:

Go to the Control Panel, then Network Connections.
Right-click the connection that you use. Typically, it is Local Area Connection.
Choose Properties from the menu.
Select Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) from the list of components.
Click the Properties button.
Click the Advanced button.
Click the Options tab.
Select TCP/IP Filtering.
Click the Properties button.
Select Permit Only in the left-hand column, above TCP Ports.
Note: Do not use the Add button, or make changes to UDP Ports or IP Protocols.
Click OK in each of the four windows.
If the computer requires a reboot, Agree to the reboot.

If your network drop has been turned off because of the compromise, you should contact [e-mail] to have the drop turned on. Once you receive email saying that the drop is turned on, reconnect your computer to the network (e.g., by plugging in the network cable). Do not leave your computer connected to the network while waiting for the drop to be turned on -- your computer should be connected ONLY when you are ready to proceed with the next step.


You must immediately obtain Service Pack 2 by entering the following URL in the web address field of Internet Explorer. Be sure to enter the address in a single line:

http://download.microsoft.com/download/1...

Result: After entering the address in Internet Explorer, a File Download window appears asking if you would like to open the file or save it to your computer.


Choose Save. After the download completes, launch the downloaded file.
Result: An Extracting Files window appears for a few minutes. Once the process of extracting files finishes, a window will appear with the message "Welcome to the Windows XP Service Pack 2 Setup Wizard". This will guide you through the process of installing Service Pack 2.


After restarting the computer, undo TCP/IP filtering. This is exactly the same as step 13 above, except Permit All is used in step j:

Go to Control Panel>Network Connections.
Right-click the connection that you use. Typically, it is Local Area Connection.
Choose Properties from the menu.
Select Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) from the list of components.
Click the Properties button.
Click the Advanced button.
Click the Options tab.
Select TCP/IP Filtering.
Click the Properties button.
Select Permit All in the left-hand column, above TCP Ports.
Note: Do not use the Add button, or make changes to UDP Ports or IP Protocols.
Click OK in each of the four windows.
If the computer requires a reboot, Agree to the reboot.


Install every Windows critical update that is applicable to your system:

Go to the Microsoft Update site.
Click on Start Now.
Answer Yes to the questions about installing the update software.
A question about your Automatic Updates setting may also appear. Obtaining updates automatically is recommended.
Click on Check for Updates.
Click on Express.
If there are no updates available, proceed to Step 19.
Install the updates.
If a window stating You must restart your computer for the updates to take effect appears, save any open documents on your computer, then click on Restart Now.
When the computer restarts, return to the Microsoft Update site. There may be more updates available. This occurs because some updates are not applicable until after other updates are in place.
Go back to step e of this procedure to continue. (You will be installing different updates each time, and you will finish after a few sessions, at most.)


Windows XP supports the IIS Web Server, although it is uncommon to have a web server present on a desktop or laptop computer. If you have decided to run a web server on this computer, obtain and run the IIS Lockdown Wizard from Microsoft's IIS Lockdown Tool page.

Windows XP also supports the Microsoft SQL database servers, although it is uncommon to have a database server present on a desktop or laptop computer. If you have decided to run one of the database servers (SQL Server 2000 or MSDE 2000) on this computer, it is critically important that you obtain SQL Server 2000 Service Pack 4.

If your SQL Server or MSDE installation is set up for Mixed Mode authentication, the password for the "sa" account must be selected according to IS&T's guidelines.


Obtain current anti-virus software and virus definitions. VirusScan is available free to everyone at MIT. Restart the computer immediately after the VirusScan installation finishes.
Note: VirusScan is recommended by IS&T and is supported by the Computing Help Desk. You may instead use anti-virus software from another vendor, if you wish to do so. Typically, this is a good choice only if you are a visitor at MIT and your own school or employer requires a different anti-virus vendor.


Restore your own files from your backup onto the system. After doing this, scan your computer immediately using VirusScan in case an intruder attempts to run a program that can infect your files. To do this, go to the Start menu and select Programs, Network Associates, VirusScan Console. You will obtain a new window with the title VirusScan Console. Then, follow these three steps:


Right-click on AutoUpdate and choose Start.
Wait for the update to finish.
Right-click on Scan All Fixed Disks and choose Start.


Assign a password to each account that was created during the installation process. Make sure each account gets a different password than it had during the time when the machine was compromised. This is important because an intruder may have copied your machine's encrypted-password database and fed it to a password-guessing program. To set passwords, go to Start>Control Panel>User Accounts. All passwords must meet IS&T guidelines.


If any passwords for any other systems had been typed on the compromised machine (either typed directly on its keyboard or typed in a remote-login session involving the compromised machine), arrange for those passwords to also be changed. This is important because an intruder may have been logging keystrokes and other i/o activity on the system in order to gather passwords.

Intruders try to obtain personal financial information, including passwords for online banking. You are at risk if you have been using this computer to manage your finances, or to purchase goods or services. After changing passwords, watch for unauthorized transactions. See the IS&T Sensitive Data pamphlet for more information.


Reinstall application software from CDs or web sites. Be sure to obtain any required security updates for each application