[EricB]

from howtohaven

How to Create a Bootable Windows XP Setup Disk on a Preinstalled / Preloaded Windows System

If you have bought an off-the-shelf computer recently, chances are that it came with Windows preloaded onto the system. Unfortunately, many of these systems with Windows preinstalled do not come with a Windows setup CDROM; at best they include a Recovery Disk that restores the system to its shipping condition. If you plan to reformat and do a clean installation of your system, you might think that you have to buy another additional Windows XP licence even though you have already paid for one for that same machine. This article shows you how you can re-create a usable and bootable Windows XP installation CD using your running system.
Why Create a Bootable Windows Setup CD?

There are at least a few reasons why you might need a bootable Windows Setup disc:

1. Very often, people want to reinstall a system to remove the crap that comes preinstalled on their system. If you have bought any PC or laptop from brands like Dell, HP, Lenovo, etc, you will know what I mean. The manufacturer typically installs tons of demo and trial software, toolbars and other junk that clutter up your system and slow it down. Uninstalling these programs takes a lot of time, and even when it is done, there are still residual pieces of the previous installation littered across your hard disk and the registry. In such a situation, it is useful to reinstall a pristine copy of Windows, load the drivers and only the software you actually want to use.
2. Another possible reason is that you've used your system for some time, and it's become incredibly sluggish and cluttered. You want to reinstall and start from scratch. To simplify the process, you want to integrate (slipstream) all the Windows hotfixes, device drivers, applications, etc, into your Windows install disk, so that when you finish running the Windows installer, your system is good to go, without the need to wait a few hours for Windows Update to catch up with the last few years' worth of Windows Update. For this slipstreaming to take place, you need a Windows setup CD.
3. If you want to do a repair install of Windows, you will need a bootable Windows install disc.

I'm sure there are many other possible reasons why you might need a Windows Installation CD, but let's get on with the procedure for making one.
Prerequisites

Before you can recreate a bootable Windows installation disk, certain things are required:

1.
A Windows XP System

This guide only applies to Windows XP systems, be it XP Home or Professional. I have not tested this procedure on other versions of Windows.
2.
An I386 Directory (Folder) on your Hard Disk

This is essential. Without this, the procedure outlined on this page will not work. To find out whether you can use the steps listed on this page to re-create your bootable Windows XP setup disk, look for into your system drive (usually the C: drive), and see if you can find a folder named I386 in the root directory. That is, see if you have the C:\I386 folder on your hard disk.

If your PC or laptop came from the major PC vendors like HP, Dell or Acer, chances are that there is an I386 folder at the root of drive C:, unless you've deleted it.

Note that only c:\i386 contains the files needed for this operation. Do not use the files in "C:\Windows\Driver Cache\i386" or any other folders.
3.
Windows License Key

When you bought your PC or laptop, it probably already came with Windows pre-activated, which means that you could use the computer out-of-the-box without having to enter your Windows licence key from Microsoft or needing to activate the machine.

However, when you reinstall Windows, you will need a Windows licence key. You can usually find this taped somewhere on your computer (sometimes on the underside or back of the computer). Without this, you won't get far in the installation.
4.
Device Drivers

Some manufacturers provide you with the device drivers for your system on a CD that comes with your system. Others require you to go to their website and download these drivers. Whichever the case may be, make sure you have all your drivers handy before you start. Burn them onto a CD or DVD. Do not leave them on your hard disk, since your clean installation of Windows will probably wipe out everything on your hard disk. If your computer has SATA, IDE, SCSI or other mass storage devices (for your hard disks) that the Windows installer does not recognize out of the box, you will need to create a floppy disk with the drivers for that device. At the appropriate time, when Windows prompts you to hit F6 to load the drivers from a floppy disk, you will need to so. This is however outside the scope of this tutorial.

If your manufacturer has not provided you with any device drivers, or if you have lost the drivers CD or DVD that the vendor has provided you, all is not lost. You can try using a device driver backup program to extract the existing drivers on your currently running system. Burn the drivers onto a CD or DVD before starting. You can get a device driver backup program from the Free Device Driver Backup and Extraction Utilities page on thefreecountry.com. Note that backing up your device drivers in this manner will not help you if your computer has SATA, IDE, SCSI or other mass storage devices (for your hard disk) that Windows setup does not recognise. In such cases, you need the manufacturers' textmode drivers which the driver backup utility will not recreate.
5.
CD/DVD Burning Software

You will need to have a CD/DVD burning software that will allow you to create Bootable CDs. Not all DVD or CD mastering programs allow you to do this, especially the OEM versions that are bundled with new computers or DVD/CD writers.

For the purpose of this tutorial, I will use ImgBurn, a free burning software that you can find listed on the Free CD and DVD Burners and Copying Software page. You can of course use other software, but since it is difficult for me to write a tutorial that covers every possible burning software around, this guide will assume that you are using ImgBurn. Since the software is available free of charge, I doubt that this choice will pose significant hardship for anyone.
6.
Windows Setup CD Boot Sector