Installing Windows XP is something everyone will have to do from time to time. Installing Windows XP from the i386 folder or flash drive can be helpful. Unfortunately Windows is not a self tuning or self maintaining operating system so in time it will slow down and die. Most people who purchase a new computer will not receive a Windows install disk. However, the install files are usually on the hard drive in a folder called i386. This folder has over 6,000 files and about 600,000,000 bytes. I would suggest you burn it on to a CD or copy it to a flash drive, so in the event the hard drive fails you can install a fresh copy to a new drive or even a new partition on the same drive. Your Windows install keycode is usually on a label attached to the computer. I teach my students to use another operating system, such as, DOS, Linux, or Windows to maintain Windows. When Windows stops working you can't use it to fix it. So another operating system can be very helpful. This second operating system could be on a bootable CD or flash drive. Nero CD burning software can create bootable CDs and there are utilities for creating bootable flash drives.

If Windows becomes unstable or stops working you will need a second operating system to recover your important files and data. Learning how to reinstall Windows XP is essential. There are several ways to create additional operating systems. You could partition your current hard drive and there are many tools for doing that, such as, Partition Magic and GParted (free Linux utility). You could also purchase a second hard drive and partition it using Windows disk manager. WARNING! Windows disk manager will destroy your data. You should always backup important files or data before using any utility on your hard drive. Installing a second hard drive can be either internal or external to the computer case. The SATA drives are fast and not very expensive. You should setup the new drive with at least 2 partitions. (One partition for the operating system and one for important files.) If your current operating system is still working you can use it for the new installation.

WARNING!!! (Backup...Backup...Backup) The first time setting up a second drive or second operating system you should perform this procedure on a computer other than your primary computer. It always happens with my students that they will do something wrong and lose all their data and operating system. So a second computer can be helpful for learning without having catastrophic losses.

The following should help you setup a second hard drive:

1. Attach your second hard drive to your computer. If it is an external hard drive Windows should recognize it and make it available for you.

WARNING!!!  Before removing a device have Windows remove the device first and provide you if a safe removal notice.  Otherwise, if Windows is accessing the device you could burn out the device and burn out the computer port that it is attached to.  This happens a lot so be careful. 

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2. If Windows can't find it or make it available go to the My Computer icon and right click and select Manage or go to the start button, right click, select explore, and then right click My Computer. Now select Disk Management. Disk Management will display all drives and storage devices, including CDROMs, hard drives, and flash drives. There are several utilities that you can use for partitioning and formating the new device

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3. When you format a new device (depending on its storage capacity) will have the option of formating FAT32 or NTFS. NTFS is recommended because it is faster and has file recovery features that FAT32 does not have.

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4. Copy the i386 folder to the new drive or partition where you want to install Windows. Right click and select copy. Go to the device right click and select paste.

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5. On the new device click to open the i386 folder and click on winnt32. Windows installation should begin. If you start your installation now and select clean install, Windows will modify the boot records on your primary active partition so that the next time the computer boots you will have a choice to select either the old or new operating system. The default will be the new operating system, but that can be changed. The problem that could occur is the older drive fails and has the needed boot files to start the computer. What I suggest to my students is to do an independent install to the new device so that in the event of a drive failure you can still start your computer from the second drive.  You will need a Windows install CD disk or some other Windows PE device or you can still accomplish this from a bootable DOS device. Inside the i386 folder is another file winnt that can be used to install Windows from DOS. I have a youtube video that shows how to create a bootable DOS flash drive that can be used for installing Windows from DOS.

Some other Hubs that you might find useful.

GParted - Great Open Source Hard Drive Partition Utility GParted is a very good open source partitioning utility that is easy to use. GParted will also run from a Linux Live CD.

FDISK DOS Partition Utility Tutorial Fdisk is a DOS utility for partitioning hard drives. You need a partition for important data and for operating system images. Images will allow you to restore your system quickly.

Installing Windows XP From the i386 Folder or Flash Drive Installing Windows XP is something everyone will need to do from time to time. Windows will get slower because it is not a self tuning or self maintaining operating system so in time it will slow down and die.

Computer Repair Tools - Great Free Software Some of the best computer repair tools are free and open source software. These tools are sometimes better than some of their commercial counterparts.