what is the easiest way to convert a VHD to an actual harddisk on a new partition, im asking as i have v*sta(sorry for cursing) installed on my computer, and i have tried EVERYTHING else to get XP back, my legit boot disk, isos, etc, but none of that seems to work for emachines em350 netbooks, so how do i do this?
As you are aware, netbooks DO NOT come with CD/DVD drives.
You can create bootable flash drives from Windows 7 that work great, but Windows XP is very hard to do the same with.
To install XP to your netbook, you need to:
1) Connect a working USB CD/DVD drive to an empty USB slot on your netbook with your XP disk in it.
2) Power on the netbook & use F12 to bring up the select screen & choose USB CD/DVD drive.
3) If this fails, F2 on power on to enter BIOS setup & select USB CD/DVD drive as the 1st drive the netbook loads from.
I have an Acer netbook & this works for me whenever I want to test XP/Ubuntu/React OS on it. It doesn't support 95/98/ME. Haven't tried W2k yet.
* While this works for many models, some do use non-standard F9 or other for select screen. Watch what it says when it powers on.
As you are aware, netbooks DO NOT come with CD/DVD drives.
You can create bootable flash drives from Windows 7 that work great, but Windows XP is very hard to do the same with.
To install XP to your netbook, you need to:
1) Connect a working USB CD/DVD drive to an empty USB slot on your netbook with your XP disk in it.
2) Power on the netbook & use F12 to bring up the select screen & choose USB CD/DVD drive.
3) If this fails, F2 on power on to enter BIOS setup & select USB CD/DVD drive as the 1st drive the netbook loads from.
ive tried using a usb dvd drive, it STILL doesnt let me install it, it lets me get as far as the boot from cd/hdd menu, but it doesnt let me install xp
edit: also emachines EM350 netbooks with v*sta suck ram
Is your XP disk a bootable disk? If it isn't, you will need to locate a bootable disk with a similar OS.
Always use a copy of the bootable disk so as not to ruin the original.
Open your copy of the bootable OS in an iso editor. Delete the OS files & import the files from your non bootable XP disk. Save changes.
The main thing is, your XP Disk MUST be a bootable CD in order for this to work.
Does this help?
* Edit: You could try React OS, Linux Mint, or even Splashtop OS if worse comes to worse. React OS aims to be similar to Windows, but free.
Additionally, you can remove the drive from your netbook, attach it to your desktop PC & install XP, then add it back to your netbook.
If you have not updated the BIOS, you could search your eMachines EM350 model for drivers on Emachines support, then download an updated BIOS. Sometimes an updated BIOS can help fix problems booting from external media & may contain fixes for certain problems for your model.
Be sure if you update the BIOS, that you have the correct model, & you may want to check for the BIOS update for your model for Windows 7 if available, or if not, Windows Vista. Even though you intend to use XP, the latest BIOS for the latest Windows version for your netbook will usually work quite well with XP.
Before applying the BIOS update, be sure your battery is charged well, that you have it plugged in to a reliable power source, & that you disable all antivirus/antimalware solutions until you have given the BIOS update time to apply/reboot/update so they do not block the update process.
If you wish to update the RAM, try Crucial Memory Scanner. It is fast, reliable, & you can order directly from their system specs page. It will show you exactly what your netbook/laptop/PC uses, what it supports maxed out, & how much it will be to upgrade if needed.