Steps to install DOS and Windows XP using bootable USB disk in Ubuntu

If there is no optical drive or floppy drive, use Ubuntu boot USB disk to install DOS and WindowsXP.

If you have a computer that does not have a CD-ROM drive or a floppy drive, or there is a CD-ROM drive but no installation CD, or the CD-ROM drive is broken, what should you do if the Windows XP system fails and cannot even start?

Here I think of a way to reinstall the system, but of course this is not the only way. If you have a mobile hard drive or a relatively large-capacity USB flash drive (I will call it a mobile hard drive from now on), and the computer can boot from USB, I recommend you use this method (this method can also be used for bare metal installation systems). Divided into several steps:

1. Install an Ubuntu system on the mobile hard disk

You can use another computer to install an Ubuntu system on the mobile hard disk. Ubuntu is free. You can download the installable ISO file from its official website, and then burn it to a CD (or make a bootable installation mobile hard disk. Note: If you only have one mobile hard disk, you need to divide it into at least 3 partitions, one primary partition is used as the installation disk, leaving enough space for installing the Ubuntu system).

After the Ubuntu installation disk (CD or mobile hard disk) is ready, use the installation disk to start the computer and install the Ubuntu system into your mobile hard disk. Regarding the specific installation method of Ubuntu, there are many introductions on the Internet, and there are also detailed instructions on the official website, so I will not go into details here. Note that you need to select the partition of the mobile hard disk for installation, and just install GRUB on the MBR of the mobile hard disk.

2. Use the mobile hard disk with Ubuntu system to start the computer

Now go back to the computer where you want to reinstall the system, connect the mobile hard disk with Ubuntu installed to the USB interface, modify the BIOS settings to prioritize USB boot, and boot from USB to enter Ubuntu. I won’t go into the specific methods of using Ubuntu, there are many introductions online.

After entering Ubuntu, you can do most of the things you can usually do on WindowsXP. Here, we first configure the Internet access function. You can also use GParted to adjust partitions on the hard drive in your computer.

3. Install virtual machine software in Ubuntu

Because I want to use a virtual machine to install DOS, I first install the virtual machine software. I chose VirtualBox, which is also free and can be downloaded and installed from its official website. Because it is under Ubuntu, it is recommended to add the source of VirtualBox for installation.

4. Use a virtual machine to install DOS on the hard disk

To install WindowsXP, you need to install DOS to the computer hard drive first. You can use VirtualBox virtual machine to install DOS to a real hard disk.

First use GParted to adjust the computer's hard disk partition. There must be a FAT16 or FAT32 primary partition for installing DOS, and this partition must be marked as boot.

Then use VirtualBox’s command line tool to create a virtual hard disk file Hard.vmdk that uses the entire real hard disk. The command is as follows:

VBoxManage internalcommands createrawvmdk -filename Hard.vmdk -rawdisk /dev/sda

Then create a new virtual machine in VirtualBox using Hard.vmdk as the hard disk, download a DOS installation CD ISO file (such as [MS-DOS.7.10 complete installation CD ISO version].DOS71CD.ISO), and set it as a virtual machine CD-ROM drive. Start the virtual machine and install DOS; restart the virtual machine and test DOS.

5. Install WindowsXP from DOS

After installing DOS, exit the virtual machine. In Ubuntu, copy the WindowsXP installation file to the FAT32 partition of the computer hard drive. If you don't have the Windows XP installation file, you can also find it and download it from the Internet. Ubuntu can directly extract the ISO file into a directory. Note that the directory name used for DOS cannot exceed 8 characters.

Restart the computer, modify the BIOS setting to give priority to hard disk boot, and boot from the hard disk to enter DOS. If your DOS installation does not automatically run smartdrv.exe, you need to run it first. CD to the WindowsXP installation file directory, CD to the I386 subdirectory, and run winnt.exe to install WindowsXP.

Okay, now the WindowsXP system has been reinstalled. All software used in this method is free (except for Windows XP) and can be easily found online. I hope this method can help friends in need.

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