FlameMoth
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Can't install Windows XP on Dell Inspiron 910
I have a Dell Inspiron 910 (Mini 9) without optical drive. I need to clean install Windows XP, and am trying to use an external DVD-RW drive which has never had a problem before on either Windows or Mac machines. The initial part of the install goes smoothly, it detects it in BIOS, it goes through the text-based part fine, but once it restarts into the graphical interface, it immediately says that it cannot find the file 'asms' and do I want to point it to an alternate location. The location it is looking in is CdRom0\I386, with no other options. If I hit cancel, it says it cannot continue and reboots. I have tried 2 separate Dell Windows XP install discs.
What can I do to get Windows XP installed?
What can I do to get Windows XP installed?
ASKER
Yes it is the CD that came with the computer, but there is nothing special about it (at least on the label), it is a regular Dell Windows XP Home Edition OEM CD. I can install Windows 7 perfectly on it from the same DVD drive, but I need XP.
It sounds like the USB drivers for either the internal usb controller or your dvd-rom aren't installed. You may need to use something like nlite to rebuild a install cd with the drivers already installed. Or you can try installing an internal CD/DVD rom.
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When it complains at you that it can't find it in CdRom0\I386, just tell it to look in d:\I386 (assuming your CDROM is drive D:).
I bet it'll work just fine...
I bet it'll work just fine...
ASKER
The Microsoft article worked if I formatted with FAT32, which is fine for what we need. Thanks!
I believe that is critical.
I take it that the notebook boots from whatever CD you are using in the external DVD??