I am trying to install XP on a Compaq netbook. I am getting a pendrive ready to boot the system with xp installation. Which of these three options is the correct one when choosing the boot order option?
- usb diskette on key
- usb floppy
- usb hard drive
Thanks
12 Answers
If I understand your question: The boot order is the order in which you'd like your system to look for a bootable OS. If it doesn't find a bootable OS on the first choice, it tries the next. If you want it to start by looking for a USB thumbdrive, then that should be first.
@Appup: Try the following order, although as Nicole said order shouldn't matter since it just falls-through to the next option if one doesn't work.
- usb hard drive
- usb floppy
- usb diskette on key
@Nicole: I don't know about the latest BIOSes, but at least in the older ones support for booting from a USB device was accomplished via IDE emulation. This let the BIOS scan all the USB ports looking for actual IDE devices or devices that looked like (emulated) an IDE device. So, if a BIOS supported booting from a USB floppy drive, it looked for a real USB floppy drive or any device that could emulate the behavior of a USB floppy drive. Similarly for USB hard drive emulation and zip diskette/drive emulation (thus the 3 options above).
The poster must just be confused about why all these separate options exist, and which one s/he should select. Shouldn't assume that everyone's done this before, you know. :)
