BleepingComputer.com: Installing XP on Dell mini

Hello,

I have a Dell Inspiron 910 mini. It has Ubuntu Linux operating system on it. I would like to put XP. Can I do this through a USB thumb drive? It has no cd drive. Here are the specs. Also it only has 8gb hard drive..... is that enough for XP? I have read where some have ran XP on these but don't know how.

1W959FPRC,N270,1.6,512KB,DMV,C01H510GGDE,PROD,INFO ,SERI,ENG,WW1G383GGDE,PROD,INFO,WSI,ENG1U943PTSH,D RIVER DOWNLOAD,ENG1H840JTSH,UBUNTU,ENG1Y877GAssembly,Ada pter,Alternating Current,30W,2P,United States 9101M770HGuide,SETUP,Inspiron,910,English1M958HKey board,61,United States English,Single Pointing,Qiao Hong,Windows1C901HBattery,Primary,32WHR,4C Lithium,Simplo1P896HKit,Software,UBT8.04+,910 Media1Y614GLiquid Crystal Display,8.9WSVGA,Light Emitting Diode,True Life,Lg Philips Lcd1G558JAssembly,Cable,Low Voltage Differential Signaling,WO/CMRALCD,9101J141HASSY,BASE,NBK,WO/WWAN,9101N204HCard,Wireless,Minicard Broadcom Corporation,ARCD United States1PP102Dual In-Line Memory Module,1G 800,128X64,8,200,1GBIT1D154HSolid State Drive,8G,Parallel Advanced Technology Attachment,4GX2,STEC1N302HBezel,Liquid Crystal Display Silver,8.9,WO/CMRA,9101Y173MAssembly,Cover,Liquid Crystal Display,IMR,BLUE,Wireless Local Area Network Card,

There are USB DVD burners out there for laptops, you could use one of those and it will install XP right from the installation disk.
If you don't intend on keeping the drive after the install, just return it.

If you are in the USA Staples Super Stores have USB DVD burner drives that will do the trick.

Hope this helps.

MrBruce1959, on Jul 5 2010, 11:55 PM, said:

Great I will do that thanks. Do I have to uninstall the Ubuntu Linux operating system first?

That would be a matter of preference, you can install XP on a second partition if you prefer, or you can use Gparted and delete the GNOME partition and start fresh with XP then install Linux on an extended partition afterwards.

Gparted can be found here at this web site http://sourceforge.net/projects/gparted/

This post has been edited by MrBruce1959: 06 July 2010 - 02:39 AM

MrBruce1959, on Jul 6 2010, 12:35 AM, said:

It only has a 8gb hard drive so I would think I need to clean off as much as possible before I install XP right? How much gb space does XP need? What is the minimum?

With only an 8 gig hard drive I would do a clean install of XP only. That will take about 2 gig +/-.
Then you need to install all the device drivers which are available here
Install the chipset first, then video, audio, network and communications.

You will not be left with much room. About 5 gigs free
Remember that Windows needs space for the swap files, system restore files ect ect which will gobble up space rapidly

You can try running your xp from a flash drive because of the limited space on your hard drive
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/windows-pocket,1113.html

Install XP from a flash drive here
http://www.pctipsbox.com/installing-window...sb-flash-drive/

This post has been edited by Joe C: 06 July 2010 - 06:44 PM

Eyesee, on Jul 6 2010, 03:38 PM, said:

Is the 2 gig +/- XP with SP3 installed? I am getting conflicting comments..... some say I need at least 10 gig for XP. Want to make sure this is going to work before I try removing Ubuntu Linux operating system & putting XP on.



Thanks for the info.

I just installed XP with SP 3 and all updates clean on a system yesterday. The Windows folder is 2.05 gig with 3.3 gig used total. That is with Avast, Malwarebytes and SuperAntiSpyware only and all updates.

On the system that I use daily the Windows folder is 3.4 gig but I have a lot of stuff installed.

Consider purchasing an external USB drive for additional storage for such things as pictures, music etc