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Summary: At some point you'll need your Windows installation CD. If you don't have one, you could be out of luck. Be sure to get one and keep it safe.
I don't have an installation CD for Windows XP - what if I need one?
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There are circumstances where you may have a legal installation of Windows XP without an installation CD. This can cause some panic when you're later instructed to make sure you have the CD before installing some other software or hardware. If you're legal, chances are you're okay though.
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The scenario that seems most common is a manufacturer that pre-installs Windows XP for you and then does not give you a CD to go with it. I think this is a bad practice but I understand that it may save the manufacturer and ultimately you a little bit of money.
Hopefully what that manufacturer has done is copy the Windows XP CD-ROM image to your hard disk. Hard disks are so big these days that doing so takes up very little room and has some advantages I'll talk about in a second.
To find out if the CD-ROM image is on your machine, search for a folder named I386. There may be several but the one we care about will contain close to 7,000 files, two of which will be winnt.exe and winnt32.exe. The I386 directory is typically one of the top-level directories on the distribution CD-ROM but most importantly it is the directory that contains the distributed copy of Windows XP. Winnt.exe and winnt32.exe are the DOS and protected mode setup programs, respectively. (You'd only need those if you were planning to re-install Windows XP from scratch - I use them here as an easy way to identify that we have the right directory.)
So now that you know you have the CD-ROM image, what if some later installation asks for the CD-ROM?
Not to worry, it's actually pretty simple. Typically the "Insert CD" message has only an OK and Cancel button. Press OK, allowing it to fail. The next dialog will typically ask you to provide the location of the CD-ROM; just type in the full path of the I386 directory you discovered above.
That's it. But it gets better.
Windows remembers. Now that you've told Windows where your installation CD image is, it'll remember that. The next time you're in a situation that might require your installation CD, Windows will look there first; if it finds what it needs then it won't bother to ask you for it.
Personally I find that pretty handy - so much so that even though I have my Windows CD I'll also copy it to my hard disk and point Windows to that copy the first time it asks. Then I don't have to think about it or insert the CD again. And this technique works for many other CD-ROM based products including Microsoft Office.
Article C1873 - December 26, 2003
Where can a person purchase an XP CD-Rom for the one that is pre-installed on their computer? We cannot run some video games because we need the XP CD-Rom (because Explorer will not recognize certain Active X files). Just want to get a copy for what I already have installed, that's all.
13-Jun-2010
We purchased an HP computer with Windows XP. Long story short... the Tower on/off button kept sticking/took it to Staples to fix and they broke it completely. Had to take it to another repair shop who reinstalled the "memory" into another computer (built in his shop). The old HP disks do not work on this new machine. We have no XP CD now (new tower will not accept the HP copy) from the original). The I386 files are there with WINNT and WINNT32. HOW do we find the path (what do we look for, and where do we enter it) to tell Windows how to find it. Totally not-savvy here about things computereze. Thanks!
Posted by: Roger and Cyndy at June 30, 2010 5:28 AMTo all those missing the i386 folder and never got a CD and are not looking to reinstall:
1. Remember that company next time you buy a computer.
2. Find someone who has a matching CD (Home vs. Pro, also match the service pack if possible, retail vs. OEM is unimportant) and use it.
Yes, it's often just that easy.
On the other hand:
If you are looking to re-install and can get a matching CD, it's still quite possible but a lot trickier. I'm guessing from Leo's comments that I won't be allowed to post the directions here but you can use google to search for:
+MikeB XP retail OEM oembios
I've also scattered instructions elsewhere on the net.
It's a grey area in law but it's the key that's important, not the disc so this remains perfectly legal even without using any loopholes.
Posted by: MikeB at July 3, 2010 12:26 PMmissing i386 file
Posted by: Wayne Thurston at July 15, 2010 3:37 PMwinnt.exe and winnt32.exe. won't get past the first part of checking the system. Then they tell me there is an error and close down.
Posted by: Jean at August 30, 2010 11:08 AM