windows format using usb

[George_D13]

hey people, i'm having a tough time formatting my laptop. its an old sony which doesn't have a cd drive and runs on windows 2000. So i want to format it using a usb. Already did the whole usb preparation so it has all the files from the windows xp cd rom on it. the usb is fat32. I connect it on the laptop boot it but it doesn't show anything else than 'diskette' 'cd drive' and 'hard drive' to boot from. What can i be doing wrong so that it doesn't recognize it?

[George_D13]

usb isn't recognized in BIOS

[Sylvander]

1. I guess your laptop's BIOS cannot boot USB devices.

2.
(a) It IS possible to boot Puppy Linux installed to a USB Flash Drive by using a "WakePup2" bootable floppy [can be made by any Puppy running on any PC with a FDD].
I do that myself on this PC [working from BoxPup right now] because its BIOS cannot boot USB.

(b) Most Puppies include GParted, which can do various partitioning work including reformatting existing partitions.

4. Does your laptop have a FDD?

5. Are you attempting to reformat, then install XP onto the reformatted partition by using only a USB Flash Drive?

[George_D13]

FDD? =s
yes tryong to reformat the laptop. the usb i'm using was used on another pc which it formatted with no problem.
So if i use Puppy Linux i'll be able to reformat partitions ''make'' the bios boot from usb devices?

[Sylvander]

1. "FDD?"
FDD = Floppy Disk Drive.

2. "So if i use Puppy Linux i'll be able to reformat partitions ''make'' the bios boot from usb devices?"
(a) A "WakePup2" bootable floppy is easily made by a special dedicated program within any running Puppy.
When that is booted on a PC, it looks for a USB drive with a Puppy installed on it, and when it finds it, boots/loads that Puppy.
It is specifically designed to be used when the PC's BIOS is incapable of booting USB devices.
There are 3 easy choices to be made by hitting keyboard keys during the boot sequence; it's all explained during the process.

(b) Once a Puppy has been loaded [from a USB Flash Drive say] you run GParted [GREAT program], and that can be used to do the partition work.
e.g. It can easily re-format existing partitions.

2. "yes tryong to reformat the laptop"
(a) That would be OK, but are you attempting to to do more than that?
To install XP [to an internal HDD partition] using nothing but a USB Flash Drive?

3. The important problem in getting a Puppy running from a USB Flash Drive is:
How to install a Puppy onto a USB Flash Drive when there is no optical drive in the PC on which you want to use it.
N.B. I'm a Puppy & Linux newbie, and not experienced in doing the more tricky stuff with Puppy.

(a) You might be able to easily use some other PC with an optical drive to run a Puppy "live" CD, and [immediately, without going to shut-down and during that making a pup_save file] to then use the "Puppy Universal Installer" to install that Puppy to a Flash Drive.

(b) Then you go to the "Puppy Package Manager" and install the "wakepup2" program, reboot and [once back in] make the "WakePup2" bootable floppy.
Again, don't ever make a pup_save file on that helper PC unless it is intended to run the Puppy on it in future, and you want to save the configurations and new package installations for use on that PC.

3. A Possible problem to consider:
(a) Normally a Puppy is matched in a small way to the hardware on which it is used as follows:
When you boot a Puppy "live" optical disk for the 1st time, you are asked to specify configuration settings like type of mouse and keyboard, and language, and region.
Those settings are then used during the session, and if during that session you install that Puppy [e.g. to a USB Flash Drive?], those config settings are applied each time that Puppy is booted.

(b) If you then try to use that Puppy on some different set of hardware, those config settings might be inappropriate [not match the hardware].

(c) I think there's a way to by-pass such a problem by copying the Puppy files [extracted from a Puppy iso file] directly to the USB drive.
Then when you boot the Puppy on the USB drive [on the PC on which you want to use it], it behaves just as it aught when booting for the 1st time; it asks you to make the configuration choices, and the Puppy installation then matches THAT hardware.

[Paul Komski]

If you want to run puppy stay with Sylvander but the original post was with respect to Windows 2000 or Windows XP.

which doesn't have a cd drive and runs on windows 2000. So i want to format it using a usb
There is little to be gained by formatting (even if you manage to somehow boot to a USB drive and which would seem very unlikely on an older PC) since you will somehow need to run the Win2K/WinXP installation setup in any case and you can then do all necessary partitioning/formatting/reformatting as part of the setup itself.

What you need to do is to first copy the Win2K/WinXP installation files (the i386 folder) onto a FAT32 PARTITION on the hard drive. I suggest you do this by using a 2.5 to 3.5 IDE adapter (http://www.amazon.co.uk/StarTech-com-2-5-inch-3-5-inch-Drive-Adapter/dp/B00006B8C2) and attach the drive into a PC with an available IDE slot. Since DOS will be involved at some stage this is better than trying to attach it via a USB converter. You should then be able to do any partitioning and file copying directly from that PC before moving it back to the laptop.

If you have a floppy drive on the laptop you can then start the installation on the hard drive by running C:\i386\winnt from a DOS boot floppy. That floppy should contain a copy of smardrv.exe and smartdrv should be run before you run winnt. If you want to run winnt from the hard drive itself you would need the partition to have been made active and bootable by "sys"ing it. Post back if you need help in how to go about this.

usb isn't recognized in BIOS
This is likely to be the case with an older system but it is not a fact as such. On modern systems the BIOS usually does reconize USB and even allow booting from USB devices. The catch is that (Win2K/XP etc) Windows or Windows setup wont load even when chosen by the BIOS. The drive will start to boot but will then fail.