installing win2k professional w/out cd-rom

I just bought a new laptop running win98 SE but I've really grown accustomed to windows 2000 so I want to install that instead. The only problem is, the laptop is an ultra-light model that doesn't have a built in cd-rom drive. Does anyone know how to perform a network install of windows 2000 or how to install from a USB or PCMCIA cd-rom drive? Thanks,
ROss

1. RE: installing win2k professional w/out cd-rom
lbyard Feb-04-02 06:23 PM
In response to message 0

Clean install or upgrade? The later is fairly easy. Just copy files in i386 from the 2K CD to a directory on the hard disk and execute winnit.exe in that directory from the DOS prompt. Backup first! Larry

2. RE: installing win2k professional w/out cd-rom
lone Feb-04-02 06:29 PM
In response to message 1

Thanks for the info! I would rather do a clean install, though, if that's possible. Any idea how? Thanks again,
Ross

3. RE: installing win2k professional w/out cd-rom
lbyard Feb-04-02 06:38 PM
In response to message 2

Do you have anything that you can use to shrink the partition on the hard disk so you have room to create a new one for the i386 files? Programs that can do it include Acronis OSSelector (http://www.acronis.com/products/oss50/list.html), Paragon’s Partition Manager (http://www.partition-manager.com/n_pm_main.htm), and PowerQuest's Partition Magic (http://www.powerquest.com/partitionmagic/). Download.com may have others. Backup your data! Larry

4. RE: installing win2k professional w/out cd-rom
lone Feb-04-02 10:46 PM
In response to message 3

Ok, I'll try that out. Thanks for the help!
Ross