Ok, so I'm posting this before I'm actually in the situation. A client of mine is going to buy a laptop from me sometime during the week. The laptop she has her eyes on is one of those mini 10 inch ones. Only one problem, it comes with Linux and doesn't have a cd/dvd drive. I'll have to put windows xp on that system, but how am I going to do it? USB? How will I get windows XP on their?

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=how+to+install+windows+on+a+computer+with+linux

And yes, use a USB cd rom drive.

Suppose I don't have one... what then?

Um no offense, but if she is paying you, shouldn't you already have the knowledge/equipment to do this sort of thing?

I've never come across one of these laptops. So its a first timer for me. I really don't know why anyone would want one of these anyways, except for the cheap price. These mini laptops really suck.

buy a netbook with xp on it already

no they dont

The price goes up about 1000 more pesos, my client does not want to pay another 1000 for it.



Yes they do. The specs are just horrible. A 160 gb 5400 rpm (slooooow) hd, 1 gb ram (could be far better), no cd/dvd reader or burner, a 1.6 ghz processor (sloooow).

Just boot from a usb key or hard drive.

edit: and 5400 rpm is not slow, lol. Toss in a couple of extra gigs or ram, do a hard drive swap if you want to, and netbooks are alright for web browsing/e-mail, which is what most casual users do. Just because it doesn't suit your purposes doesn't mean it isn't a good fit for someone else.

No they don't. The specs that you listed are, actually, pretty good.

Really? Then I must have high standards.

Dude, for crying out loud.

You can't compare netbook stats to desktop stats. They're used for different purposes. If you only use it to check e-mail, surf the web, type a quick paper, listen to some music, then it's FINE. No, make that GOOD.

Of course it's not a superfast mega ultra gaming machine. That's what desktop PCs are for.

like duh

Isn't there a way to install Windows from a memstick?

I installed my netbook with the free evaluation version of Win7. (Burned it to DVD first though, and used a USB DVD-Rom drive.) But I think it's not up for download anymore now.

I have a netbook with exactly the same stats and Win7 runs like a dream on it. But this version is optimized for netbooks.

A simple google search on 'install XP from usb' returns plenty of tutorials on how to install XP from a usb flash drive, but I have no experience doing this. Let us know how it goes

The point is, I'd never buy a computer for just that. That's why I have a cell phone. Far cheaper.

So you're charging her to put a bootleg version of Windows on there? I don't know of any place you can get a legit version of XP for less than 76$.

I'm not charging her. My provider sells laptops with Windows XP already installed, those cost a good 1000 pesos more.

Is your google broke, boy?

You run a store now? Neat.

But there are people for which netbooks can deliver what they're looking for. This is called STP (segmentation, targeting, positioning) and is part of a company's marketing mix.

A lot of people dismiss a product or an idea because it doesn't fit their needs ("Why would I buy a Mac when I can get an equivalently-specced PC for $400 less?") and act on the assumption that people who do buy such products are ill-informed, stupid, or need to be "shown the light" -- when in fact they simply have different attribute preferences (read: like different things and/or would pay more for those things). People have different tastes, wants, and needs and in general, if somebody thinks a product is stupid, the product is probably not targeted at him or her.

FYI this is something that is pretty important to keep in mind if you are running a business, as it is relevant to all businesses in being a fundamental portion of marketing*.


*marketing meaning the entire marketing mix and not just advertising [which is actually a pretty small part of it]

In order to make this post less douchey, here is some actual info on how you might install w/out an optical drive:

Install from a network drive (I haven't checked the video so sorry if it sucks but you can google more on it if needed)
Install via flash drive

Or, buy a USB external optical drive and install it like that.

Either way, be glad you're in Mexico. Pirating Windows is one thing, but that can you in big trouble if you do it as a part of any business operation.

(1000 pesos = 76 dollars)

Which is the cost of a retail copy around here, XP Pro SP3=75$ CDN.

E:Yeah, MS will have you *** if you pirate it like that. Home Users aren't where they get the money, so they really couldn't care less. OEM sales is the majority of their profit, if they see an OEM pirating they will sue them to hell and back.

Yeah, but if you are acting as any kind of official business you aren't a home user.

Ahh Gold and his crazy get rich quick schemes.

Note: You cannot install XP via a USB external CD-ROM. You must use one of the USB install methods.

I did not know that. Is that deliberate?

Windows 7 FTW. I have the RC on a bootable flash drive.

Selling a system with an illegal OS is bad juju.

No, XP is just ancient. Vista was the first OS to sport any sort of USB support in the installer. The XP USB install methods require some messy slipstreaming to boot off them.

Right, so you're stealing XP. You don't really learn quickly, do you?

Thats odd because I swear I have done this before.

If your BIOS can boot from a USB CD drive there should be no problem. CM, I think you are thinking of installing on to USB... installing from a USB CD drive is the same as installing from a USB flash drive.

Never worked for me. It might work if you do the same slipstream stuff like you need to do for USB I guess, but I couldn't do that either.

Why would the slipstreaming matter at all? The installer doesn't need USB support, the installer is already booted and running off the disc. Your BIOS needs to support it.

I would imagine for the same reason you can't simply copy/paste the files onto a USB disk and boot from it into the installer.

Huh? The reason you can't just copy the files is because the boot sector won't be correct. There are USB booting tools that will do it for you, however.

CoolMatty knows way more than I do on a bunch of stuff, but I absolutely KNOW Emon is correct. I've recently been installing/swapping/launching operating systems off of an 8 gig stick I bought. XP being one of them.

In any case, booting from USB is cheaper and better.

I've done the XP install via USB on my Aunt's EEE laptop, but a USB CD-ROM didn't work at all. It refused to boot, despite being detected just fine and reading it in in BIOS.

Sounds unrelated?

When I installed 7 on my netbook I couldn't get USB booting to work, so I used a networked CD drive. Worked, but I had to run it from within the preinstalled XP.

I'm confused, if all she's going to do is check email and browse the web, why the hell would she want windows xp on it? I think you should put the new ubuntu netbook version on there and tell her it's xp.