XP Professional install

[tmjpdotcom]

Hi. I'm trying to install windows XP pro on my new vaio, which arrived with XP home pre-installed. When I try to run the windows setup, it warns that 'a mass storage device is not recognised' - presumably the hard-disk. The install then appears to complete, but the system does not start. Even in safe mode. I've reverted to the xp home startup courtesy of the recovery cd from Sony. I neeeeeed to get xp pro to work cos I need IIS. Does anyone know how I should proceed, or what information to provide to get a solution.

Cheers guys.

Toby

[tmjpdotcom]

OK, here's my model: RS602 P4 3.2GHz 160/512MB.
Having started again with the Win XP Pro disk, running a direct setup rather than upgrade through xp home, it asks for a floppy driver disk. Where can I get such a thing for my hdd? All replies gratefully appreciated.

My alternative would be to bung another hdd into the machine and create it as my C: drive. I don't really want to do this as I've currently got 160 GB of space, which should really be enough for the rest of my life...

Sob.

[kee-lo_]

Toby

I found this on google, only do it at your own risk, Sony and MS don't support this workaround.

How to get IIS running...

(The information from this how-to guide for installing IIS was taken from a newsgroup post by Richard Sandoz on January 8, 2002. I take no credit for this workaround.)

1.) Open C:\WINDOWS\INF\SYSOC.INF in Notepad or your favorite text editor.
2.) Locate the [Components] section.
3.) Change the following line:
iis=iis.dll,OcEntry,iis.inf,hide,7
should be iis=iis2.dll,OcEntry,iis2.inf,,7

Note: Removing the "hide" option from any entry in this file will cause the specified service/program to appear under the Add/Remove Programs.

(The reason for changing the DLL name to iis2.dll instead of just replacing the current DLL's is that Win XP tends to delete the replaced version with the original -- perhaps due to System Restore??)

4.) The next step is to find working copies of iis.dll and iis.inf. These can be taken from a Windows XP Pro CD, Windows 2000 Professional, Windows 2000 Server, maybe even Win98...

The files on the CD will be named iis.dl_ and iis.in_. This is because these files are compressed. To expand them, first copy them off the CD onto your hard drive. Next, go to the DOS command prompt (Start...Run...cmd) and type the following commands EXPAND IIS.DL_ IIS.DLL and then EXPAND IIS.IN_ IIS.INF. This will give you the two expanded files.

5.) Now, you just have to copy these files to the following folders:
IIS.INF C:\WINDOWS\INF
IIS.DLL C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\SETUP

6.) Now, go into Control Panel...Add/Remove Programs...Add/Remove Windows Components and you will find that Internet Information Services (IIS) is an option. Unless you have a Win XP Pro CD, I would not recommend installing the SMTP service because the required files cannot be found on the Win2000 CD...

In order to install IIS, you will need one of the following:

* Windows XP Professional CD
* Windows 2000 Professional, Server, Advanced Server, or DataCenter CD

Simply insert one of these CD's, and away you go...

7.) After IIS installs, you will be able to change settings from Administrative Tools under the Control Panel. You will most likely get errors when you first try to use your web server. This is because the default user account used to access the Inetpub folder does not have the correct permissions. To fix this, do the following:

1. Open Internet Services Manager from the Administrative Tools.
2. Right-click on Default Web Site and choose properties.
3. Go to the Directory Security tab.
4. Click the Edit button for anonymous access.
5. Choose your main login account as the account to be used for anonymous access...or else create a separate account that has access only to the Inetpub folder for increased security.