Copying Windoze to the hd - Tech Support Forums

fyxxer32 · January 7th, 2003, 12:49 PM

I have copied my OS cd to the hd for awhile now but I watched a friend some time back copy it to his so that when drivers etc are needed Win automatically knows where to look. I've always browsed to it. I forget how he did it, can someone enlighten me?

howste · January 7th, 2003, 12:52 PM

If you installed it from the hard drive, it will go there by default. If you copied the CD there later, you'll have to modify the registry to tell it where the install files are. I don't remember off the top of my head where in the registry it is, but I'm sure somebody here knows...

fyxxer32 · January 7th, 2003, 12:56 PM

I usually install from booting the CD.

howste · January 7th, 2003, 01:10 PM

OK, I searched the registry and it looks like it's in the SourcePath key in

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\ Windows\CurrentVersion\Setup

Go there and change the path to the directory of the *.CAB files you copied from the CD.

fyxxer32 · January 7th, 2003, 03:53 PM

I think you're going to have to put that in simpler terms, like small words (none over 4 letters lol) and step by step. I have so far been able to stay away from editing the registry.

howste · January 7th, 2003, 04:08 PM

BTW, you didn't mention what OS you're using. I'm assuming Win9x/ME with this. It's not tough at all. Here we go:

Click Start -> Run, and type "regedit" then enter. This will open the Registry Editor. The path I listed above is just like a directory structure in Windows Explorer. So, find "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE" and double-click it. Then find "Software" and double-click it. etc., etc. etc. When you get to "Setup" look in the right window, find the "SourcePath" key and double-click it. It will have the current install directory in it. Change it to the directory you want it to be and click OK. Close the Registry Editor. That should be it.

fyxxer32 · January 7th, 2003, 05:48 PM

Cool, I see , and I think I can do that. BTW I am using 98SE on that particular machine, but I have 2K and XP Pro on 2 other machines. Does the same go?

howste · January 7th, 2003, 05:58 PM

I know it works for Win98SE. Someone else will have to answer for the other OSes, since I don't have any of those here to check.

fyxxer32 · January 7th, 2003, 06:19 PM

Well as far as I can tell in XP it doesn't apply.

howste · January 7th, 2003, 06:24 PM

You can probably search the registry for the path of your current install directory and find the key to change.