NTFS bootdisk/Windows XP hard drive install?

I have a Sony Laptop that needs a clean install of XP.
My problem is that the CD-ROM drive is failing every time I try to install the OS (I have tried with 2 different disks). Being that I spendt my money on Bill Gates, I cant afford to replace the CD-Rom yet....so I came up with a crazy idea:

I bought a cheap 2.5" to 3.5" IDE connector, and put the laptops hard-disk in my desktop. I used the desktop computer to format the laptop hard-disk (NTFS) and copy the entire Windows XP CD into its own folder. The problem is that I want to retain NTFS file system, and now I need a NTFS boot disk.
I found that on bootdisk.com, but they all seem to work only when you have windows installed on your hard disk already.

So my questions are:
Can an NTFS boot disk get you to a c: prompt without windows?
Can I install Windows Xp Home from a directory on a hard disk to the same hard disk?

Like I said....crazy idea.

 

Scandi, The idea wasn't crazy at all. However, it is impossible from a practical standpoint. You just can't get any free boot disk that will allow you to perform an install from a directory on the c:\ if it is formatted NTFS. You would need to spend hundreds of dollars for the necessary software (NTFS DOS Read/Write) and even then I wouldn't guarantee a trouble free install.

The disk that Steve suggests will not do that since it is mainly for bootloader substitution on an existing OS.

Your easiest out is to go with the fat32 file system and convert it later. Of course fixing the cd-rom drive is looking good too.

 

Problem solved!

You were right Surferdude! FAT32 was the way to go.
I reformatted the drive with FAT32, copied the I386 Windows CD folder onto the drive and installed from there. Worked like a charm! Haven't converted to NTFS yet, but don't see that becoming a problem.

Even discovered that Microsoft put some old DOS tools on the Windows XP CD, like SMARTDRIVE, DELTREE etc that come in handy when making a bootdisk.

Thanks for the tip!

 

Thank you for posting your results so others can share.

BTW, I ran XP on FAT32 for a couple years. I see no big downside other than the loss of some multi-user security features. I didn't need those anyway. The upside is, you have access to your files from a common Win98 boot floppy. Some will tell you that FAT32 gets more errors and needs defragging more often - I didn't find that to be true.

There's a lot to be said for leaving well enough alone. Your choice however.

Best regards.

 

Sometimes trying to find a shortcut takes longer than just doing things the old fashioned way...i have put xp pro on several machines (both laptop and desktop) from scratch with NTFS...the only surefire way to get it right the first time was to FDISK and Format and load a basic Win 98. don't worry about fixing any errors in the device mgr. then it will allow you to put in your XP disk. choose the advanced installation and choose to convert to NTFS. you will have a clean new xp with ntfs...if you try to convert any xp os with fat 32 after you've used it and installed programs on it, converting to ntfs at that point is asking for trouble.