Install Windows on old laptopwith no DVD.

[Geek-9pm]

You might come across an old laptop that will not boot from a USB stick.And the CD-ROM is not DVD, just CD. Or the CD-ROM is networking.
I have an old Think pad X20 with no CD drive. What do you do?
Well, doings some research I found a number of ways to do that. Once upon a time there was a way to do that in Windows NT. But l'  skip that.

From the web site www.intowindows.com

There are two ways to install Windows 7/Vista without using A DVD or USB. The first one is using VPC (Virtual PC) and the second one is mounting an ISO file using free tools like Daemon tools or Virtual Clone Drive.

Installing Windows 7 Without Using DVD/USB Drive [Method 1]

Installing Windows 7 Without Using DVD/USB Drive [Method 2]

Has anybody here done this?

[strollin]

You can't install Windows using something like Daemon tools or Virtual Clone drive since you need to boot into Windows first before you can mount the ISO as a virtual drive.  In order to install Windows, you need to boot from an install disk.  An ISO mounted via Daemon tools can't be booted from.

You can install to a VM such as Virtual PC or Virtual Box because those emulate a machine that includes a virtual DVD drive where the ISO can be mounted and booted from.

If the old laptop supports booting from LAN, you could install Windows from a shared DVD drive on a network.

[BC_Programmer]

My understanding of LAN boot is that it requires a special PXE Server, Which must be the only DHCP server and has special configuration requirements. Allegedly it can be set up with TFTPD32.

Here's some information from the Thinkpad Wiki.

I might add that it is unlikely that Windows Vista or later can be run on the Thinkpad X20. The fastest Models are Pentium III 600Mhz and the systems max out at 320MB of Memory.

[Geek-9pm]

The Thickhead I have is a very old model and might not run any recent Windows OS.  It had been running Windows 2000 until something happened to the hard drive.
It requires an external CD-ROM drive to do a clean install after replenishment of the hard drive.hard drive.
A few years back, on a different PC,  I did an install of Windows 2000 without directly  using the CD-ROM.
In that case I prepared the HDD on another machine and  got the target machine to boot into the recovery console. I can't remember how that was possible.

Maybe I will just toss the think pad. Thanks anyway. 

[BC_Programmer]

You might consider selling it instead, many people collect Thinkpad laptop systems and if it is in reasonable shape you might get a reasonable amount to justify the trouble.

Well, either that or you buy the DVD/CD-RW drive for it, though that goes for about how much the laptop does!

[Geek-9pm]

You might consider selling it instead, many people collect Thinkpad laptop systems and if it is in reasonable shape you might get a reasonable amount to justify the trouble.

Well, either that or you buy the DVD/CD-RW drive for it, though that goes for about how much the laptop does!

Yes, I should do that. 

[strollin]

The Thickhead I have is a very old model and might not run any recent Windows OS.  It had been running Windows 2000 until something happened to the hard drive.
It requires an external CD-ROM drive to do a clean install after replenishment of the hard drive.hard drive.
A few years back, on a different PC,  I did an install of Windows 2000 without directly  using the CD-ROM.
In that case I prepared the HDD on another machine and  got the target machine to boot into the recovery console. I can't remember how that was possible.

Maybe I will just toss the think pad. Thanks anyway. 

Windows 2000 had the ability to create a set of floppy disks that you could boot and do an install from:  https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc938505.aspx

[patio]

Actually if you do intend to keep it you can do a clean install of Win2k on any working PC and then swap the drive in...
It was probably the last Win OS that was this forgiving but i've done it a few times successfully.

[Geek-9pm]

Actually if you do intend to keep it you can do a clean install of Win2k on any working PC and then swap the drive in...
It was probably the last Win OS that was this forgiving but i've done it a few times successfully.

Really?
Then that is the answer!  I have another laptop in good  shape. I will make a  install Windows 2000 on it.  Then I will pull the drive and put it into the Think pad. That way I can get more money from it when I sell it.
Thanks. 

[patio]

Only if you have the liscense key for the Win2K your selling...
Up to you.

[Geek-9pm]

Only if you have the liscense key for the Win2K your selling...
Up to you.

Now you tell me...
Took twenty minutes to discover that is the only key that works. The IBM key does not. I hate product keys.
Anyway, it is in progress.

[strollin]

If your intention is to sell it, why not install a Linux distribution on it?  Of course you're still going to have the issue of how to install it without a working CD\DVD drive.  Maybe you can borrow an external drive from a friend?  If you decide to go this route, take a look at the Mint Mate distribution, it's GUI is fairly similar to Windows so it makes the transition to Linux a little easier for users that have only used Windows in the past.

[Geek-9pm]

strollin,
Good idea. Thanks for the tip.
I don't see that on the MINT site, but found it in Softpedia.
MATE is a GUI alternative?

[patio]

If it's Mint or Ubuntu you could still use the method i mentioned above...

Just make sure to install the laptops's drivers on it before powering down and transferring the HDD to the laptop.

[BC_Programmer]

I don't see that on the MINT site, but found it in Softpedia.
MATE is a GUI alternative?

It's on the Mint Download page:

https://www.linuxmint.com/download.php

"An edition featuring the MATE desktop"


The biggest issue here for a lInux system is likely the specifications in question.

You haven't actually detailed the specs you're aware of, but even assuming maxed out specifications for the model things might be problematic:

600Mhz Pentium III
320MB of RAM (maximum 256MB Slot +64MB soldered)
ATI Rage Mobility  4MB. This is based on the ATI Rage Pro.

These specifications present a challenge for finding an OS to run, and I'd argue likely eliminate modern distributions like Ubuntu or Mint, instead probably requiring one look into the distributions built for older systems or systems with limited capabilities, such as LUbuntu, VectorLinux, etc.

Just by way of example, I have a Thinkpad T41p which is a more modern system and it was unable to run Linux Mint without the cinnamon desktop constantly crashing and major graphical problems; MATE could run fine, but that system had a much more recent Radeon 7500 M chipset, much more memory, a faster processor, etc.

back to the booting issue- it is not possible to boot the Thinkpad X20 from USB at all, so unfortunately flash drives, external CD/DVD drives, etc are all out. There are external CD/DVD drives for it which use a proprietary connector interface that can be used, but I doubt those can be found cheaply and I suspect you'd rather not throw money down a hole on that sort of thing.

This leaves Patio's suggestion- install Windows onto the HDD from another system, then replace it into the computer. I'd recommend copying the contents of the Windows CD to the HDD after doing the initial install on another system, as well, in case Windows requests driver files during boot-up when you replace the drive in the Thinkpad.

Once Windows is able to boot, you'd be able to use External CD/DVD USB drives as needed further, to transfer additional software for example.

Another option could be to install MS-DOS (Assuming it has a Floppy drive) to at least have it have an OS.

My thinking when I originally suggested selling it is because people "collect" models like the Thinkpad; even without a CD/DVD Drive if it is in fairly good shape I think it would be worth selling it that way, as the alternative would be to throw your money down a hole on a drive to get it booting and it's not a particularly capable system either, so you'd have to decide if it's worth it. Chances are the sort of fella who would buy it off eBay/craigslst/etc. may already have the necessary parts to get it booting.