How to Make a Bootable Disc for an HP Pavilion A350n Computer

How To Make A Bootable Disc for the HP Pavilion A350n

• 1). Log on to Microsoft Help and Support. Check which version of Windows XP is already installed on your hard drive by referring to the Certificate of Authenticity (COA) keycode sticker on your computer's side panel. Choose between either Windows XP Home or Windows XP Professional.
  
  
• 2). Select Windows XP Service Pack 2 from the next set of choices. The boot disc files for Service Pack 3 aren't available for download to a floppy as of October 2009, according to Microsoft Help and Support, so select Service Pack 2 for now.
  
  
• 3). Download the compressed master file by clicking "Save." Once the entire file is downloaded, the program will automatically begin to extract the file contents.
  
  
• 4). Read the Microsoft prompts carefully. Specify that you want the compressed file to be extracted to the floppy drive, which in most computers is configured as the A drive.
  
  
• 5). Insert the first of six blank and formatted floppy discs into the floppy drive. Press Enter. The program will begin extracting onto this first floppy disc. When the storage capacity of the disc is reached, the program will prompt you to insert a second disc. Remove the first disc from the floppy drive, and label it "Boot Disc 1."
  
  
• 6). Repeat "feeding" discs into the floppy drive until the extraction process is completed. Label each disc in sequence. If the process is accidentally terminated, you will have to start over, beginning with Disc 1.
  
  
• 7). Insert Disc 1 into the floppy drive of your computer and reboot. The floppy drive is usually the first drive the computer will search for a boot program. If your machine skips the floppy drive, reboot and press F2 to bring up the BIOS. Look under the "Boot Order" tab in the BIOS to set the floppy drive as the first drive in the boot order. Save the changes to the BIOS, and restart the computer. Disc 1 will begin installation. Insert the remaining disks into the floppy drive as instructed on screen until the process is completed.