I've got the same end goal as this like named question but a different starting point.
I have a Win7 Ultimate DVD (not an ISO), one XP box with a DVD drive and less than 4GB of free disk, an XP netbook with no DVD drive, a blank HDD I plan to install on, and a strong aversion to installing any more software on either.
The direction from the sited question (and others how-tos I have found):
- start with "install something" or
- require the win 7 version of diskpart or
- assume the system is already bootable.
Only the first of those isn't a killer for me but I'd really like to avoid it.
Any Ideas?
Also, anyone have an idea on how I can make XP treat a DVD drive as an ISO without having to copy it to disk? I know how I can make an ISO within my constraints (Linux live CD, dd, netcat, yuck) but it's going to be a pain.
Edit: I also have access to a linux box. Would using the Linux tools do the partitioning and then finishing out on with windows work?