Win2000-XP Install without Win2000-XP Boot Disks

use a Win98 Boot Disk !!!

To install WinXP from scratch on a blank, formatted drive, normally requires booting by the CD.  But some systems do not have that option in their BIOS.  So people go and download the 4 or 5 XP boot disks from Microsoft.

But you do NOT need the 4 or 5 setup disks in order to install Windows 2000 and XP.  A common Win98 boot disk can be used to install these OSes. 

Here's how to do it:

  1. Start the computer with your chosen boot disk.
  2. Change to the cdrom drive.
  3. Go into the \i386 directory on the cdrom.
  4. Run WINNT.EXE to begin the install process.