Installing Win2000 on a ThinkPad 240 (having no CD-boot opt)

[Shurato]

Hello all

So here's the scoop:
The initial procedure is to copy all Win2000 install files on the HD.
So I take this ThinkPad 240 boot disk in order to access the CD-ROM though DOS which is my only option anyway. I switch to the I386 directory on the Win2000 CD and execute winnt.exe. It starts copying the files onto the HD, so far everything's fine.
Now according to the Mircrosoft KnowledgeBase, once the files are copied it tells you the following: (taken for an XP installation, the Win2000 installation procedure would work identical)

[...]
When the files are copied, you receive the following message:
The MS-DOS based part of The Setup Program Is complete.
The Setup program will now restart your computer. After your computer restarts, the Windows XP Setup program will continue.

If there is a floppy disk in drive A:, remove it now.

Press ENTER to restart your computer and continue Windows XP Setup.

8. Remove any floppy disks from the computer, and then press ENTER. The computer restarts, and the Windows XP Setup program resumes.
Press ENTER to continue.
[...]

(As explained on http://support.microsoft.com/?scid=kb%3 ... 48&x=7&y=9)

So I remove the boot floppy, press enter, the notebook restarts and then I get this glorious message "Operating System not found".
Well of course not, I want to continue the installation!
So to sum it up, the Setup program doesn't resume.

Can anyone give me an advice on this issue?

Some key-figures:
- I updated the BIOS to the latest available version
- I made sure that it also would boot from the HD
- The HD's capacity is 30 Gbyte only one partition and formatted in FAT32.
-> The only thing I can think of right now is if having a one 30 Gbyte partition would be too much to handle for the ThinkPad 240 for the initial bootup procedure?

Any help bringing me further is greatly appreciated.[/i]

[Harryc]

This thread talks about tips for installing XP on a 240, but W2K should be similar -

Installing XP on a TP 240

[leoblob]

I have had similar problems installing WIN2K. I think what I did was this... after I copied all the files over, I re-booted with a bootable floppy still in the floppy drive. Then I looked for a set-up program on my hard drive and ran that.

You can check if your BIOS can handle a 30GB drive by going to Western Digital's site and download & run EZ-drive (it's free).

[Shurato]

Thanks for the replies.
I actually found out what it was; I had to set up the partition where the files got copied as "active" and - hey presto - it booted up from the HD to proceed with the installation.

[davidspalding]

FYI. One of the classic ways to install 2000 Server was to produce boot floppies from the SETUP.EXE program (a specific switch, which of course I don't remember), and then you could boot from floppies and load the CD. I don't think I did the copy to HDD method often, as I wanted to format the drive before installing.