Comments on: How To Install Windows XP On Any Laptop Without CD Drive

By: Mitch

Mitch — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 04:16:04 +0000

I posted a fix for the NTLDR is missing problem, but it never appeared. Oh well.

By: Mitch

Mitch — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 11:21:49 +0000

NTLDR is missing can be fixed by formatting the laptop drive in the laptop. 1) connect the laptop drive to a computer with a cd drive that contains a bootable DOS 7.1 cd 2) reboot 3) install DOS 7.1 on the laptop drive 4) remove the laptop drive and put it in the laptop 5) start laptop 6) change directory to DOS 7.1 7) type format c: the laptop drive will lose everything, including the DOS 7.1 files do the entire procedure above all over again, i.e. load DOS 7.1 on the laptop drive then copy the i386 files to it then put the laptop drive in the laptop 9) small correction to the instructions above: you have to change directory to DOS 7.1 to execute smartdrv.exe and change directory to i386 to execute winnt.exe. GUARANTEED TO WORK WITH NO NTLDR IS MISSING PROBLEM UPON REBOOT.

By: Sudheera

Sudheera — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 03:44:18 +0000

Thanks lot for your guide.

I install windows xp sp-2 to Toshiba A40L laptop using this method. i use another laptop to install DOS 7.10 and copy i386 via usb IDE convertor.

By: ToshibaMasher

ToshibaMasher — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 10:55:55 +0000

@John Fahlsing: the ‘male into slot’ thingie is likely a plastic piece that was placed over your “male” pins on the hard drive. Try to carefully pry it away from the body of the hard drive – you should find the expected pins there.

By: John Fahlsing

John Fahlsing — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 01:15:25 +0000

what if the toshiba 2.1 hdd doesnt have male or female pins, its more of a slotted or male into the toshiba slot (female)
still wish for an answer to this, bought and had shipped the above 40 pin doohikie. Mistake noted.

By: Razor91687

Razor91687 — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 22:48:59 +0000

for those who have the same problem i have/had,
has cd rom but will not boot from cd, it could be because the cd you are using is a burned cd…..

which ultimately disregards the op’s whole post

By: scott

scott — Sat, 02 Oct 2010 04:21:43 +0000

Your NTLDR missing problem is probably because you haven’t set the fat32 partition as “active”.
While you have the laptop HD connected to your desktop in windows mode, goto control panel, administrative tools, computer managment, storage, disk management.
Right Click on the proper drive and left “mark partition as active”

By: Munidasa

Munidasa — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 10:46:10 +0000

I followed the same procedure and after windows copies files to the hard disk and restarts for the second phase of installation My laptop shuts down. I am installing winxp on Toshiba a60. Any solution to this problem?

By: patrick

patrick — Wed, 26 May 2010 19:23:24 +0000

ik krijg de ntldr missing
maar niet met windows
maar al in de pc als ik de dos cd erin doe om op de harde schijf te zetten

Plaats vervolgens de MS-DOS-cd, electrische vaststelling van de desktop en zet de laptop hdd naar de 1e IDE poort. This will help DOS recognize the hdd you wish to install on. Dit zal helpen DOS herkent de hdd die u wilt installeren op

bij deze stap gaat het dus al mis
iemand enig idee.
het bestand staat wel op de dos cd

By: ReeBKK

ReeBKK — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 09:30:26 +0000

Again, this is probably a corrupt file. A portion of the Windows disc may not be reading the info, and not copying it across – that’s why you can’t find it when you’re browsing the files.

I’ve had this problem before, and I was using an official Windows disc. I then tried it with a copied backup version of the same CD, and it worked fine.

By: ReeBKK

ReeBKK — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 09:27:22 +0000

The NTRL could be missing for a several reasons, the most common of which would be:

1. Your installation disk might be corrupt, therefore it’s not copying the necessary files over.

2. You could have installed the Windows OS on the wrong partition of the drive.

If you know for sure you have followed the process exactly, the chance are it has something to do with your Windows disc.

By: ReeBKK

ReeBKK — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 09:22:18 +0000

Exactly the same problem I had. Seemed like my CD drive was working, but it failed to read anything on the CD’s!

Unfortunately, sounds like you’ll have to replace your CD drive to get it working, or use an external one. But if your Windows crashes, this article will help you re install everything without buying a new CD drive (if you have access to a desktop pc)

By: ReeBKK

ReeBKK — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 09:13:33 +0000

Sorry if my wording was confusing. I was continuing from the previous step, in which case the laptop HDD should already be placed in the 1st IDE port of the desktop, then “insert the MS DOS (installation) CD” into the CD drive of the desktop. It is from here you will install MS DOS on your Laptop HDD, using the CD drive of your desktop.

By: Gus

Gus — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 22:59:48 +0000

Next insert the MS DOS CD in to the hard drive?

By: ravinder

ravinder — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 06:19:04 +0000

i have lenovo y410 laptop. i am facing problem regarding cd drive. cd drive is unable to read any cd but the folder of cd drive is displayed on my coomputer. plz help me.