What to do if my windows bootable usb drive boots in DOS mode

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ricod306

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Dec 3, 2013
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Hi guys i want to fromat my mom's netbook but i seem to have a problem. When i try to boot the usb it boots in dos mode and when i try to command it to run setup.exe it says it can't. When i try to install it directly from the usb (without boot) it says error it is not a valid windows 32 file( upgrading it from xp to 8.1)
I checked it is capable of running windows 8
 
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A


Remove the drive from the netbook, install it as the only hard drive (temporarily) in your desktop and see what kind of luck you have.
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avarice

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May 10, 2006
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The setup.exe requires windows foundation to be present. If you simply want to format it - the dos command is 'format C:'.

However in reading what you mention and comparing that with the context - you don't want to format - you want to install windows. These are two semantically different things and should not be confused.

IF you have two USB connections you might be able to boot off of one thumb drive and install windows 8.1 on the other (by referencing the other drive.)

Otherwise - booting from a CDROM is always a good idea - but you have a netbook.

Alternately - you can take out the hard drive from the netbook - install it in a regular desktop and use the desktop CDROM to install the OS.

MAY I SUGGEST.....in an effort to make the netbook actually usable - buy a new SSD of around 200GB and replace the drive in the netbook. You will be amazed that it actually becomes usable.
 
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ricod306

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what i meant is that yes i do want to install windows 8.1. Because it is a netbook ,I use a usb drive ,I used the same to install it on my desktop. But when i set the netbook to boot it from the usb like i did with my desktop it boots the usb in DOS mode instead of booting the setup.
 
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avarice

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Remove the drive from the netbook, install it as the only hard drive (temporarily) in your desktop and see what kind of luck you have.
 
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