This small tutorial is designed to help those in need of installing Microsoft Windows XP on any PC that is capable of booting from a UFD (USB Flash Device). Hopefully, you will find this as easy and problem free as I have.

I must send out thanks to the people at EEEguides.com, as that is where I learned how to perform this installation technique. Please, visit their site and instruction guide at:

http://www.eeeguides.com/2007/11/installing-windows-xp-from-usb-thumb.html

The site includes hundreds of posts with problems and answers, as well as some technical details that I have left out.

For my experiment, I used the following:

· PNY 4 gig UFD

· Kingston 1 gig UFD

· Frankenstein home PC – running legit copy of Win XP Pro

· Win XP Pro – store bought (this makes sense if you understand the technical problems with copied discs as described on the EEEguides.com site)

· Compaq TC1000 Tablet PC – as the first installed to system

· Sony Vaio PCG-FRV37

I hope you have fun with this! I did.

Scardog

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Prior to starting your work you will need to gather the following files/hardware:

• usb_prep8
• petousb_3007
• bootsect
• A properly functioning windows PC
• 1g UFD (USB Flash Device)
• A Windows OS CD or image

1. Insert UFD to any open USB port

2. Create a workspace folder

a. I created a folder on my desktop called – USB OS Load Workspace

3. Extract the following files to your workspace folder

a. Bootsect.zip

b. PeToUSB_x.x.x.x.zip (I used v3.0.0.7 for my install)

c. Usb_prep8.zip

4. Copy the PeToUSB executable file into the USB_prep8 folder

5. Within the USB_prep8 folder run the usb_prep8.cmd file by double clicking

a. Running the file will give a window that looks like this:

6. As instructed press any key to continue resulting in the following window:

7. Click “Start”

8. Click “Yes” to continue popup

9. Click “Yes” to format warning popup

10. Click “OK” to successful completion popup

11. After format is complete DO NOT close the window for PeToUSB

NOTE: When format is complete it will open a window displaying the contents of your flash disk. Close this window. An open window will prevent bootsect.exe from locking the drive and writing the bootsector correctly

12. Click on Start menu and click run – type cmd and press enter

13. Navigate via “CD” to folder where bootsect is stored (see step 2 and 3)

14. Once in your folder where the bootsect files are stored enter the following command

a. Bootsect.exe/nt52 J:

i. NOTE: in line of code above substitute the J: for the drive letter of your UFD that you want to copy OS setup files to

15. Press Enter

16. Ensure that “Successfully updated FAT filesystem bootcode.” message appears

17. Type Exit and press Enter to close cmd window

18. Click Close on the PeToUSB window

19. Within the usb_prep8.cmd window enter 1 and press enter

20. Within the Browse For Folder window navigate to drive where Win XP CD or .iso is located and click OK

21. Within the usb_prep8.cmd window enter 2 and press enter

22. Enter any UNUSED drive letter to create a Virtual Temp Drive

23. Within the usb_prep8.cmd window enter 3 and press enter

24. Enter the drive letter of your chosen UFD – pay attention to enter same drive letter as you entered in Step 14 – and press Enter

25. Within the usb_prep8.cmd window enter 4 and press enter

26. Enter “Y” at command line to proceed with format and press enter

27. Ensure that you get message that formatting you Temp Drive was successful – Steps 21 and 22

28. Press any key to continue operation

29. Select “Yes” to Copy to USB Drive popup window

30. After setup files have copied to drive click on “Yes” for Change Migrate.inf popup window

31. Click on “Yes” to unmount virtual drive

32. Within the usb_prep8.cmd window press any key to continue

33. Within the usb_prep8.cmd window press any key to exit

34. Now take the newly formatted UFD and set target PC to boot from UFD and install

35. At first boot select Option 1 (the second option oddly enough) for text mode setup

36. From here it’s the same as a normal Win XP setup – when the text mode setup portion completes and system reboots select Option 2 (the first option) for GUI setup

37. DO NOT REMOVE THE UFD FROM USB PORT UNTIL YOU SEE THE WINDOWS START MENU

It’s no big surprise to me. I’ve talked to plenty of people who have a negative opinion of Vista who have never used the OS. Then you’ve got the folks who have been using the same arguments recyled from the Windows XP days, and yet XP is now “the good old OS”. I don’t think you can discount the Apple switcher adds either. If you know me, you know that I’m not a Windows zealot. I’ve even been known to run Linux on one of my home PCs, but I don’t think the case has been made that XP is still a better bet than Vista. Especially now that Vista has been out for over a year and a half, and we’re not seeing the compatability issues that were experienced at its launch.

To me, a huge part of the problem with Vista is an image thing. The Apple marketing team does such a good job at marketing the Mac. They make it look like the cool kid everyone wants to hang around with, and Windows looks like some reject whose mom dresses him funny so he ends up writing a tech blog and never having any girlfriends or fun. But I digress.

The bottom line is that too many times conclusions are drawn without knowing all the facts. This is applicable to a wide range of topics (climate change, energy policy, beer selection), and it’s just as applicable to the Vista question.

• Databases
• Form fields
• Session variables
• Query string
• Cookies

Using the library is very simple. Just add a reference to the dll to your project, and you’re ready to go. Here’s a quick and dirty code example encoding a value from the query string:

string Name = AntiXss.HtmlEncode(Request.QueryString["Name"]);

A good rule to live by is “When in doubt. Encode it.” Just don’t encode it twice.

You can download the library from Microsoft here.

Now let’s tackle the issue of IE not following web standards. So what. Why is it any business of Opera’s how Microsoft designs its browser? As a developer I would love it if all browsers were standards compliant, but that’s not for a court to decide. That should be settled in the market. Not by a cadre of lawyers. I can just see it now. IE8 is delayed for release because it’s still being code reviewed by the lawyers. Do we want the government mandating software features in a consumer product like a browser?

I could see there being a legitimate claim if Microsoft limited Windows to only IE and blocked other browsers, but that’s not the case. I’m running Windows XP, and I’ve got IE7, FireFox 3 Beta and Safari installed, and they all work as advertised. I’ve used Opera in the past (pre-FireFox days), but it’s just not my cup of tea. Maybe their browser isn’t being used as much as they would like because their browser just isn’t that attractive to consumers. Instead of spending the time and money to fight Microsoft in the courts, they should devote those resources to design and marketing if they truly believe they’ve got a superior product.

There’s plenty of room for lots of different browsers. The bottom line is that as a consumer I’ll make the decision which ones I’ll install and use. I don’t care what’s bundled with the OS.