Install via mounting but don't want boot loader?

zigzag3143 said:

However my question now is, how would you run those setup files if I detach the hard drive with the XP installation on? As I mentioned above, unless copying the files over makes that partition bootable, I don't see how that would work . Once it is installed it doesn't matter

By "installed" do you mean after I've copied the iso files over to an empty partition or do mean once Windows 7 is installed?

zigzag3143 said:

Install from hd onto hd2 fine. f8 to boot drive will work but is going to be a pain.

Installing from HD1 to HD2 is no different to mounting the iso (whilst using XP which is on HD1) and installing it conventionally that way. This is precisely what I'm trying to avoid as Windows 7 will create a boot loader on the XP drive and add boot entries.

The F8 booting method maybe a pain, but that's what I actually prefer to use, I don't intend to use Windows 7 all that much given that the version I have is a beta and with build 7600/RTM I'd have to constantly rearm.

bearbear said:

There is no grandiose reason, as I mentioned earlier, I just don't want Windows 7 to touch my current XP installation.

Just unplug the hard-drive containing your XP installation before you install Windows 7, Your still going to need a DVD to install from though

Then you can use F8 to manually boot the selected hard-drive containing the Operating System you feel like running

Steven

dmex said:

Just unplug the hard-drive containing your XP installation before you install Windows 7, Your still going to need a DVD to install from though

I think everyone's missing the point of what I was trying to do - which I said I think is impossible anyway.

The best I can explain is this: how can I install Windows 7 without burning a DVD and without using an external USB device (unless it can fit onto a 2GB USB stick) onto a completely blank/empty hard drive?

I think my friend came up with the only viable workaround which was to put XP on my 2GB USB stick, boot to that, mount the Windows 7 iso and install onto the blank hard drive.

Buy a usb drive and be done with it.

copernicus said:

Buy a usb drive and be done with it.

Well yes... I could also burn the iso to DVD but that's ignoring the whole point of this thread and my initial question, which was to see if it was at all possible to do without that.

bearbear said:

I don't want to dual boot, or more precisely I'd rather use my motherboard's F8 boot menu to pick which hard drive to boot, which negates the need of a boot loader/menu created by the Windows 7 installation.


No no, I want to install purely on the 2nd hard drive. The only reason why I mention I have a 1st hard drive is because this is where my XP installation is. The 2nd hard drive is completely empty, but has several partitions.

Now according to mickey megabyte, I can copy the iso setup files onto a partition on the 2nd hard drive and then install onto the same hard drive as along as it's to another partition, which is fine.

However my question now is, how would you run those setup files if I detach the hard drive with the XP installation on? As I mentioned above, unless copying the files over makes that partition bootable, I don't see how that would work.

bearbear said:

I think everyone's missing the point of what I was trying to do - which I said I think is impossible anyway.

The best I can explain is this: how can I install Windows 7 without burning a DVD and without using an external USB device (unless it can fit onto a 2GB USB stick) onto a completely blank/empty hard drive?

I think my friend came up with the only viable workaround which was to put XP on my 2GB USB stick, boot to that, mount the Windows 7 iso and install onto the blank hard drive.

bearbear
One Last time. take your image of win 7 drag it to a place of your choice on the HD. If it makes you feel better put it in a seperate partition. double click the setup file and go have coffee. thats it. NO DVD, NO USB. you are getting hung up abt having an OS. you have one now, and you dont need to reboot until windows has already copied the files it needs. Understand?

Ken

I think we're going around in circles.

When I have these files copied to my new partition, on an otherwise blank hard drive, which is the only hard drive plugged into the computer, what exactly do I then "click on" these files in? Or with?

Setup.exe

bearbear said:

I think we're going around in circles.

When I have these files copied to my new partition, on an otherwise blank hard drive, which is the only hard drive plugged into the computer, what exactly do I then "click on" these files in? Or with?

bearbear-- what we have here is a failure to communicate. when you look at the win 7 file you are in an OS. double click the setup file tell it where you want to install it. I think if you are having trouble understanding this maybe its the way I am explaining it and it might be of more use to you if someone other than me gave you a hand

To do what he wants to do he needs a second source to install from. Disconnect HDD 1 so W7 install doesn't see it. But with no OS on hdd2, you can't start the installs process. You could possible load something like dos or linux or something else to a second partition of HDD2, but then you'd probably run into the boot loader issue again.

Seems like a lot of hassle for not wanting to burn a dvd and use easybcd to edit the boot manager.

You can try extracting the iso into the second partition of HDD 2, setting it as active, disconnect HDD1 and see if the setup will start on first boot. It's essentially doing the USB install. The only issue is that all your boot stuff for W7 will be on partition 2 of HDD2