Hello,
i would like to simply copy the windows installation cd in a new partition on my hard disk, and boot from it..
is that possible?

Welcome to PCHF Morphix!

You can create a partition when you install windows xp from the cd and then it will boot from it on the hard disk.

Hi morphix, welcome to the PCHF.

It is possible but almost useless....what purpose do you wish to use this for?

hi Garhar,

it might seem useless, but since i am reinstalling freequently, it would be helpfull, can you help me do it?

--hi upgrader768, that's what i don't want to do..! i simply wont use my cd..!

I understand now i didnt quite understand before. Im sure GarHar or another tech can help soon.

I posted the same question a few days ago but there were no useful replies ('get norton ghost'), so I'll see if there's any progress here

There are a few ways that I know of to create a partition on a hard drive, the first way that I know (I belive it requires that you format your hard drive) of is to insert you windows CD into your computer and reboot, just before the boot process begins you will be prompted with a 5 second message, 'to boot from cd hit any key', or something similar to that. Hit the any key (if this message never pops open then you will need to go into your bios and change the boot order), and then wait the the process to follow through delete all partitions, and then create a partition. A partition of no more then 2 gigabytes should store 1 CD and also give a little breathing room. Install windows on the larger partition and then do nothing with the other. When you get to your desktop you may need to format the partition, to do that all you need to do is go into 'my computer' and right click the other drive and the click format, I am not sure what letter it will be assigned so it is up to you to tell what drive it is, it will not let you format the drive (when I say drive, it will recognize the partitions as seperate drives, but they are all still on the same hard drive) that has windows installed on it so don't be afraid to make that sort of mistake. Then simply format the drive and copy the disk onto it. As far as copying a disk onto a hard drive, you are on your own there, that sounds a bit illegal, although in many eyes that seems harmless there is a reason why people do not want you to copy there musical CD's onto your hard drive (they don't want you to share the file with 1000's of others). The other method is through some software, although I have no experience in going the software route. Here is a link that I found that seemed somewhat promising, although it is only a trial version. Download Partition Manager Personal Create, copy, resize and move hard drive partitions without data loss free download trial try
Good luck!