How to Install Windows XP using a USB Drive / Flash Drive the EASIEST way

NOTE: I used Lenovo IdeaPad S10-2 as a test machine in this post but this will also work to any laptop/netbook/pc that can recognize USB devices as a boot option. This also works if you want to use Windows Vista.

The owner of this Lenovo S10-2 tried to upgrade his operating system to Windows Vista. The problem is he had some problem while installing it and his machine refused to load the OS. He also accidentally deleted the recovery partition, so the one-key recovery won't work to restore to factory default. The owner now wanted to install Windows XP instead of Vista.

I usually use my external DVD Rom drive for this kind of work (it's the easier than USB method) but it broke down a couple of days ago. So I have no other choice but to install from a flash drive).

Fortunately, installing from a USB drive is now easier than it used to be. There are programs out there that handle all the work for you. Unlike before that you need to fire up command prompt and issue some commands to prepare the flash drive/usb drive before it can be use to install Windows XP. That's the reason why I prefer installing from external DVD ROM drive before.


What you need:

1) An empty USB flash drive, at least 1 GB in size (Is it necessary to be empty? Yes, because the program we will use formats the USB drive before copying window files)
2) NoviCorp Wintoflash (download here)
(NOTE: As of this writing, the program is still in beta, though I have not encountered any error or problem using it, we all know that using beta softwares may cause problems or still has some bugs in it.)
3. Windows XP installer CD or a copy to your hard drive.


Steps on installing Windows Xp from Flash Drive:
1. Prepare your flash drive. Run WinToFlash.exe and choose the wizard.


This one is self explanatory. Windows files path would be your Windows CD and USB drive is your flash disk. Next window will be copying the setup files to your flash drive. In took about 30 minutes in my test using a 2 GB KingMax flash drive (I believe this result may vary depending on the speed of your source and your USB drive).

2. Turn on your laptop. Enter BIOS by pressing F2. Make sure that SATA Controller Mode is set to Compatible under Configuration. If you do not do this, the windows installer will not see your hard disk upon setup. Now Save and Exit.


3. Upon restart press F12 to choose Boot Device. Select your Flash Drive from the list:

4. This window will appear. Select 1st, text mode setup (boot from flash again after finish) here. You will now see the usual setup process when you install windows from CD.

5. When the initial copying of files is finish and the system restarts, you need to boot from flash drive again. But this time you will choose the first option in the picture above. (2nd, GUI mode setup). You will choose this option until the next 2 restarts and the first boot of windows. If you let it boot in hard disk, you will receive the error:

Windows could not start because the following files is missing or corrupt:
\system32\hal.dll
Please re-install a copy of the above file.

If that happens, just restart your laptop and choose to boot from flash drive. Installation of windows finished after 35 minutes in my test. It may vary depending on the speed of your laptop and your USB drive.