windows 2000 pro

[problms]

I just put windows 2000 pro on a gateway 3300 solo without a cd-rom drive and now the os starts up halfway across the 2000 pro startup page and goes to the blue stop error screen and says... inaccesable_hardive_device   since this laptop has no cd-rom drive I loaded the os to the hard drive via an adapter on another computer, on this computer it works fine, but wont work on the gateway. Before this I loaded 98 and 98se like this on it they worked but I was having driver problems. B-4 any of these os were put on the hard drive it was wiped each time with dban wiper. Anyone have any ideas?

[patio]

Windows OS's since Win2k tie themselves to the machine they are installed on...
Is the Win2K CD from Gateway ? ?

In normal circumstances you could do a Repair Install of Win2K but without a CD drive i don't see how this would be possible.

Does the laptop support booting to a USB device ? ?

[dahlarbear]

If you don't mind a "dual" boot system:
    o  Partition the hard drive into multiple partitions.
    o  With hard drive in computer (with CD-ROM drive), install Windows 9x (or MSDOS?) to a FAT32 partition.
    o  Copy Windows 2000 Pro installation files to subdirectory on that FAT32 partition or to a second FAT32 partition.
    o  Also copy any drivers (e.g. motherboard) needed for target computer.
    o  Place hard drive in "target" computer.
    o  Boot to the Windows 9x (or MSDOS?) operating system and let it rediscover appropriate drivers for "target" computer
    o  Initiate "custom" Windows 2000 Pro installation to different partition on hard drive using "winnt" or "winnt32" from Windows 2000 Pro setup files.

[problms]

Thanks for the ideas, Im new at this, so Im wondering,   I dont have nine x,  But I do have linux ubuntu. As Im writing this Im dbaning the hard drive again. would the linux work like the 9x for adual boot?  Thanx!

[dahlarbear]

Thanks for the ideas, Im new at this, so Im wondering,   I dont have nine x,  But I do have linux ubuntu. As Im writing this Im dbaning the hard drive again. would the linux work like the 9x for adual boot?  Thanx!

I don't have enough experience with "Linux" to say.  Plenty of opinions on the internet though.

I assumed you had access to Windows 98 and Windows 98 Second Edition.  See Windows 9x.

Since you don't have a CD-ROM drive, I was suggesting you place Windows 2000 Pro installation software (and any additional drivers you need) on the hard drive and then build your system in-place on the target machine.  In order to do that, you'll need a compatible operating system to kick-off the installation program (either "winnt.exe" or "winnt32.exe").  You need to boot that basic operating system either directly or indirectly from the target machine.

Normally you would boot from a floppy drive, CD-ROM drive, maybe a USB flash drive(?), or an existing operating system on the hard drive in the target machine.  Do you have access to an internal/external floppy drive on the target machine?

If you setup a small partition on the laptop to hold a "basic" operating system and the Windows 2000 Pro installation files (or the entire installation CD if you prefer), you greatly reduce your dependence on the installation CD and/or CD-ROM drive that you don't have.  You would then install your Windows 2000 Pro operating system to a second partition.

The "winnt.exe" is executed under a 16-bit operating system.  This is the version used to install to an empty disk when booting from the Windows 2000 Pro installation CD (which loads a minimal operating system).  I believe you may also use DOS, MS-DOS, or software from Windows 98 Startup Disk (boot floppy).

The "winnt32.exe" must be executed from a 32-bit operating system.  It has more options than the "winnt.exe" and may be used to upgrade or reinstall an existing operating system.

You need to pay attention to which "file system(s)" you want to use and which operating systems work with them.

I may not have all of this correct, but the point is there are lots of little background details that you are missing.  If you think you want to try a dual boot, you should do some background reading/research.

[problms]

Thanks for the help, unfortunately I am going to have to park this project for a while, something came up. I will attack it again in a few weeks. Thanks again for the help !!!