Hey guys, here's a question for you. How can Install Windows XP from a cd image via Grub?

There IS a reason for why I'm doing this. My laptop fans won't spin, and that's because at the root of the cause, there are no DSDT values for fan control. Let's not talk about it :P

Do you think that I would be able to use the method for updating BIOS via grub except for installing XP? The method was to make a freedos boot image and add the bios update tools, then run it from Grub as a single image. I'm not sure how to do that with the i386 directory though...help?

Sorry, you lost me.

Are you saying that you can't boot from a CD because there is something wrong with your fans?

Then you talk about updating the BIOS via GRUB


GRUB is a bootloader---it is not used to install things, but to boot them after they are installed. I suppose there might be a way to get GRUB to boot a CD image......I would check the manual: http://www.gnu.org/software/grub/manual/grub.html

BUT---if your fans are not working, fix that first. Otherwise, any effort installing OSes or SW will surely be wasted.......

Sorry, I wasn't clear enough. I've exhausted all of my options of running Linux and having a working fan on this laptop. I have no cd drive and no boot-from-usb options, and no BIOS updates. The fans ONLY don't work in Linux, they work fine during bios and Grub. I saw that Grub had an option to boot a .img file, and I'm trying to figure out if I'd be able to boot freedos in such a way that I'd be able to install windows xp from the HD onto itself.

You want to flash your BIOS?
Is that right?
And you look for a way to boot to freedos which in turn will allow you to do that?

Er..no, I wanted to use the same steps for booting FreeDOS with a bios update (as a floppy .img file in Grub) and find out if I could boot FreeDOS with a windows xp installer. I just finally figured it out, so nevermind, and thank you anyway

I still don't understand.
But as you did whatever you wanted - nevermind

Installing Windows XP without a cd drive can be difficult...requires either a usb-boot of Win98 (Or some DOS thing) or a Win 98 boot floppy, with the Windows Install files already stored on the hard drive onto which you're installing WinXP. From there, DOS is used to start up WINNT.exe to begin the installation. I realized that Grub can boot images of floppies, which made it a lot easier for me seeing as..I don't have any floppies. I hope that explains what was going on?

As we used to say in our shade-tree motorcycle shop: "If it works, it's OK......" We don't need to understand what you did---as long as YOU do.

http://store.microsoft.com/Help/ISO-Tool
made for installing windows 7 via USB.
Netbooks have USB but no CD drive
Have not used it myself - my brother used it to install win 7 on his new netbook.

looks like it should work for any iso, so for XP as well

Still need a working windows installation to use it.