XP CD from Recovery

Preamble


The XP folder - in my example D:\XP_Pro - can be burned after the upgrade on a CD, so that you have an "useful" Windows XP CD.

Prerequisite Preparation Create files Additional Burn XP CD Create a XP USB stick

Prerequisite:


Preparation:

Create a folder on your drive:
D:\XP_Pro => contains Windows XP Professional installation files
or
D:\XP_Home => contains Windows XP Home installation files
Then enable hidden files and system files!
(Workplace -> Tools -> Folder Options -> View
--> deactivate "Hide protected system files (Recommended)"
--> "Hidden Files and Folders" --> activate radio button "Show hidden files and folders").

Next, look for the I386 folder on your computer (often under C:\ or C:\Windows).
This contains all necessary installation files and will be created by installing the Recovery CD.
The path may, however, vary from manufacturer to manufacturer.
Therefore, do not give up, if this is not like I have stated above! Simply using the Windows Search (Start --> Search --> Files and Folders --> I386)
Once you have found the I386 folder, copy it completely into you directory (D:\XP_Pro\I386).


Create files:

In the main directory (D:\XP_Pro) some files has to be created. (Just open Notepad and create a new file)Both contain only the word "Windows" nothing else! And yes really they have no file extension!

Is there one or more Service Packs integrated some more files must be created.these files have no content, so they are completely empty!


Additional:

On my Acer Aspire, I still needed additional files that did not exist in the I386 folder, but have to be placed in the I386 folder (D:\XP_Pro\I386). These are:

Burn XP CD:

Now we come to the next file CDImage
Therefore, we unpack the file with 7-Zip or another zip program into a directory of your choice.
I suppose this D:\CDImage.
After this is done, we open the new directory. There are now 2 interesting files (WinXPHome.cmd and WinXPPro.cmd).
If you used the above folders for your XP version, you can even use the depending .cmd file without any changes and create an image file to D:\.
If you used other directories you must select the appropriate .cmd to adjust your paths. Only then you can create the image file.
While the image is created, you have the following or a similar message:

Create Windows CD-Image


After that window has closed itself, the image file is created to D:\. This file can now be burned with any burning program as an Image.
After successfully burning, you have a bootable Windows XP CD!

Congratulations


Create a XP USB stick:

Here we work with the following file HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool.
Now connect a minimum 1GB USB stick with your computer. After this is done please open the downloaded file HPUSBFW.exe.
As the "Device" please choose your connected USB stick.
For the "Filesystem" please choose "FAT32".
Then you can check "Quick Format" and "Start" the formatting.
ATTENTION!!! All your data on the USB stick will be completely deleted during this step!!
This screenshot shows you the configuration to format the USB stick and make them bootable.

Bootable USB stick


After the USB stick is formatted, you have to copy all files to the USB stick. Therefore please enter the following text to "Start -> Run":
xcopy "D:\XP_Pro\*.*" /s/e/f "USB stick drive:\"
After copying, you have a bootable Windows XP USB stick!

Congratulations