Hey guys,
So I'm currently running XP and I want to install the W8 Preview, using an 8gb flash drive. Obviously, I want W8 to run in 64bit so I've downloaded that ISO and the Windows 7 USB DVD Download Tool to chuck it all on. Flash Drive is formatted to FAT32 and the tool completes all progress, but as soon as it finishes it says the drive is complete, but unbootable. Does this mean, because I'm trying to do this on XP, I just simply won't be able to run W8 on 64bit?
Please help, I'm so frustrated and nothing on the internet is helping
Running off XP Service Pack 3 btw with lots of new, modern, 64bit parts inside the box
Hmm, it's saying that your flash drive is unbootable? In that case, you should mount the .iso using Daemon Tools or something, and then run the setup.exe from inside XP. That'll let you do a partial upgrade too (personal files will be maintained after upgrading. Apps and settings will need to be manually restored.)
[QUOTE=ShaunOfTheLive;37174132]Hmm, it's saying that your flash drive is unbootable? In that case, you should mount the .iso using Daemon Tools or something, and then run the setup.exe from inside XP. That'll let you do a partial upgrade too (personal files will be maintained after upgrading. Apps and settings will need to be manually restored.)[/QUOTE]
That won't make it 64 bit though
I have no desire to keep files on the computer - I have them all backed up on a separate 1tb external. A couple of guides suggested formatting the usb through command prompt, but it actually doesn't appear under >list disks, which is strange(?). Everybody else who has had similar problems seems to not be able to complete the .iso transfer, but mine actually does, just with the boot error
[QUOTE=arg_zombies;37174455]A couple of guides suggested formatting the usb through command prompt, but it actually doesn't appear under >list disks, which is strange(?)[/QUOTE]
Yeah there's probably just something wrong with your drive. Try going to Disk Management in Administrative Tools, and try to format it set it as "active" through there.
It is active :tinfoil:
I typically use the Universal USB Installer application (since it supports making a bootable Windows 8 image) (The windows 7 bootcode also worked just fine, but seeing that it officially lists it as Windows 8 now makes me feel better about it.)
I havn't had any problems using Universal USB Installer to boot and install Windows Images onto my machines via flash drive.
I think the main problem lies in coming straight from XP - maybe they haven't fully ironed out that process yet from 32 to 64 direct with those tools
So have you actually tried to boot from the drive, despite the fact that it says it isn't bootable? Just try.
EDIT: and if that doesn't work, mount the ISO image, and run bootsect.exe from the ISO's boot folder with the following parameters: "bootsect /nt60 X:" (where X: is your flash drive letter)
You may need to give me a bit more detail than that - sorry!
I can't run setup inside the drive, it instantly says the 64bit is incompatible whilst on XP, and I can't find how to start windows up off the flash drive (I'm very much more used to macs in that respect).
Where would I input the parameters for bootsect? I downloaded a 32bit version and it didn't do anything, whilst the one inside the ISO says the same 64bit message
[QUOTE=arg_zombies;37175165]I think the main problem lies in coming straight from XP - maybe they haven't fully ironed out that process yet from 32 to 64 direct with those tools[/QUOTE]
The OS already installed on your computer doesn't matter when you're booting off a new device - as long as you can boot off your alternate boot device, it doesn't matter if you already had XP, Win7, Linux, or DOS installed on your hard drive. Do you have a DVD burner? It's much easier to just burn the ISO to a DVD with ImgBurn and then boot from the DVD to install. But if you must use the flash drive:
1. Get the flash drive's disk ID, normally done with the commands:
[code]diskpart
list disk[/code]
But if that's not working for you, you can also open the "Run.." prompt (Windows key+R) and type
[code]diskmgmt.msc[/code]
And get the Disk # on the left side of the window, by looking at the partition layout, sizes, names, and mount letter (F: etc) of the disks listed.
2. Prepare your flash drive by formatting it NTFS and marking it active (bootable) with the following diskpart commands:
[code]diskpart
select disk [highlight]# <disk number from step 1>[/highlight]
clean
create partition primary
select partition 1
format fs=ntfs quick
active
assign
[/code]
3. Use 7-zip or similar to extract the ISO contents onto the root (top-level) directory of the flash drive (so you end up with F:\boot, etc)
4. Write the bootcode to the drive so that it can actually be booted using bootsect.exe:
[code]bootsect /nt60 [highlight]flash drive drive letter, ex. F:[/highlight] /force[/code]
5. Reboot the computer and open the boot device menu, selecting your flash drive. Windows setup should begin loading.
[editline]10th August 2012[/editline]
If your bootsect.exe isn't working or you need a copy, just ask and I'll upload mine. I have both 32-bit and 64-bit versions, extracted from Windows 7.
Right, ok, I've gone out and bought a couple of 4.7gb DVDRWs (we couldn't get the usb to work, as it wasn't allowing access to the drive), but still having the 32 to 64bit problem - the minute the ISO is transferred, I get an error saying it cannot run
We talked over steam chat and turns out Zombies was running the 64-bit install disk from within the 32-bit XP environment instead of booting from it. Found the boot device menu key for his mobo and now he's going to run the install.
This man saved my life and now I'm running Windows 8
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