HP mini Won't boot XP from USB

[Bigwilly]

Hi guys,

I have a HP Mini 210 something or other that I'm playing with. It started with 7 and I then went to Ubuntu but didn't like it!

Now I have DBAN the hard drive and I'm trying to load XP into it through USB but it won't recognise the USB!

I DBAN'd it using a boot USB and and ran partition wizard off a USB to repair MBR but can't get it to take XP? Tried two different XP ISO's but won't take either of them!

Any ideas ?

 

[ubuysa]

I don't know what DBAN means (there's a lot I don't know ) but are you sure the BIOS is set to boot from the USB before the hard disk? Have you prepared the XP system on the USB's properly? You can't simply copy the iso on to there. In the past I've used WinToFlash to prepare a bootable USB drive with a Windows install system on it (from an iso).

 

[Bigwilly]

DBAN is dariks boot + nuke software. Yep I have changed the BIOS to USB and it has loaded fine with DBAN + partition wizard.

I've tried Rufus boot creator so far. Wintousb crashed lastnight and haven't re tried yet!

 

[ubuysa]

DBAN is dariks boot + nuke software. Yep I have changed the BIOS to USB and it has loaded fine with DBAN + partition wizard.

I've tried Rufus boot creator so far. Wintousb crashed lastnight and haven't re tried yet!

You shouldn't need to use third-party products to mess with the disk partition. Once you get the XP install started you delete exiting partitions from there and then recreate and format the new partitions. Far better to do it from the XP install software.

 

[Bigwilly]

I thought that but it wouldn't upload so wondered if DBAN had done something to the disk an XP wasn't seeing a suitable slot.

Is there anyway I can check the bootable USB to try and narrow down if it's the HP machine or the USB that's at fault ?

 

[ubuysa]

I thought that but it wouldn't upload so wondered if DBAN had done something to the disk an XP wasn't seeing a suitable slot.

Is there anyway I can check the bootable USB to try and narrow down if it's the HP machine or the USB that's at fault ?

I've no idea what DBAN may have done to the disk, it's possible it's no longer recognised as a suitable hard disk. However, early SATA drives needed an external driver to be loaded with XP installation, you get a message to that effect when you boot the install media. Perhaps that's your problem?

The obvious way to test the USB stick is to plug it in another PC and see whether it boots.

 

[kruppsy]

As an aside, have you read this, it may help get your USB properly set up. You may not have done? which is why it wasn't recognised in the first instance. As ubuysa says, you shouldn't need 3rd party software.

http://www.wikihow.com/Install-Windows-from-a-USB-Flash-Drive

I would also suggest going for a newer OS if possible. Windows XP won't be supported by Microsoft (no security updates etc.) after April 2014.