Pathik Shah

How to Create a Bootable USB Drive For Windows XP and then Install Windows XP Using the Bootable USB Drive

Most netbooks don’t have an optical drive so to install Windows XP on them, you need to create a bootable Windows XP USB drive. Here’s how! You can also use this to install XP on your PC or Laptop if they can boot from a USB drive.

What you need -

- Windows XP Home / Professional CD/ISO
- 1 GB+ USB Drive
- USB Boot enabled Netbook / Laptop / PC

Download these three files -

PEtoUSB
BootSect
USBPrep8

Extract the files in these 3 archives in separate folders using WinRAR. Then copy the PEtoUSB executables in the USB_PREP8 folder.

Run the usb_prep8.cmd file – a command window should open. Press any key to move to the next screen. In the PEtoUSB window, select the USB drive and enable the tick on these options

- Enable Disk Format
- Quick Format
- Enable LBA

Give it a drive label and click Start.

Now minimize all the windows, open the Command Prompt – Start > Run > CMD.

Navigate to the folder with the Bootsect.exe file and run this command -

:> bootsect.exe /nt52 X:

where X: is the USB drive letter. This should write the boot sector to your USB drive. You should get a message saying – Bootcode was successfully updated on all targeted volumes. Close this window now. Also close the PEtoUSB window. The USBPREP8 window should now show you a list of options -

1. Change XP Setup Source Path

Press 1 and browse to the XP setup path. Select the CD drive if you inserted a CD or to the folder where you have the setup files saved.

2. Change Virtual Temp Drive

Press 2 and assign any unused drive letter to it like X, Y or Z.

3. Change Target USB Drive letter

Press 3 and enter your USB drive letter.

4. Make new Temp Image with XP LocalSource and copy to USB drive

Press 4 to start the process. Enter Y or Press Yes to any prompts that come next.

Your Bootable USB Drive with the Windows XP Installer is now ready.

To Install Windows XP using this bootable USB drive,

Insert the USB drive in your PC or laptop. Select the boot option as USB in the BIOS or Quick Boot settings to boot from the USB drive and the XP Installation process should start.

How to Install Android OS on your PC / Netbook / Laptop?

This tutorial will show you how to install Android 2.0 Eclair on your Asus EEE PC. It also works with most other netbooks.

Download the Android X86 port from http://www.android-x86.org/

-> Android-X86 Download Link

How to Install Android OS on your EEE PC?

After downloading the bootable android-x86 ISO, burn it to your USB drive using Win32DiskImager –  or UNetBootIn

Insert the USB drive in your netbook, set it to boot from USB drive from the BIOS options and then restart your netbook.

The installation process should start soon. You can use it as a Live USB to run Android without installing it or install Android to your harddisk.

If you choose to install it, select a partition to install it to and then format it using the EXT3 format. Choose to install the GRUB boot loader.

After the installation is complete, you can reboot your EEE PC to run the installed Android OS.

The OS is very responsive and works perfectly well, atleast with the EEE PC. Everything just works out of the box – Wi-Fi, Ethernet, Display, Mouse, Keyboard etc.

It can be used as a backup OS or just to show off a bit. It also has a makeshift version of the Android Market with a few apps compatible with the X86 platform.

Android is a free operating system for mobile phones developed by Google. I’ve always been a huge fan of it; most probably my next phone is going to be an Android. It is mostly run on smartphons powered by ARM chips, though it is being ported to various platforms and architectures, including X86.

LiveAndroid is a Live CD for Android running on X86 platforms. You can use it to run Android directly on your PC.

To Install Android on your PC,

Just download LiveAndroid

Live Android – Part 1
Live Android – Part 2

After downloading these files, just join them using HJSplit.

You can also download it via the LiveAndroid torrent.

Next, burn the ISO (disk image) to a CD using any CD burning application like Nero, Magic ISO, Power ISO etc.

You can also use W32DiskImager to copy the image to a USB drive.

After this step, just reboot your computer and boot from the CD or USB drive. You should be greeted by the LiveAndroid startup screen.

Alternatively, you can also load the ISO in any virtualization application like Microsoft Virtual PC or Virtual Box.

This is a tutorial to try Android as a Live option. To install Android on your EEE PC or netbook – How to Install Android OS on EEE PC

This tutorial will show you how to install APK files on your Android device. There are two ways to install applications on your Android phone. The first is through the Android Market and the second is by directly installing APK (Android Package) files to your device.

There are two ways to install APK files directly on your phone:

1. Copy the APK file to the root directory of your memory card.

2. Download an application called Apps Installer from the Android Market. Install it and fire it up.

3. In the Apps Installer application, you will see a list of the APK files stored in the root directory of your memory card.

4. Select the APK you want to install and you are done. You can now access that application from the menu.

What is Moblin?

Moblin is an open source project focused on developing software for Mobile Internet Devices (MIDs). It is jointly being developed by Intel and the Linux Foundation. It is optimised for Netbooks powered by the Intel Atom processor. Moblin v2.0 Beta was launched very recently.

Official Site – Moblin.Org
Moblin – Wikipedia

Download Moblin

You can download Moblin v2.0 beta from the official Moblin site – Download Moblin

It’s a 670 MB IMG which you can then burn on your USB drive or a CD and then install it on your Netbook or Laptop.

Here are the Official Download Links -

Moblin Download

Moblin Torrent – MD5

Read the rest of this entry »