I wanted to install Windows XP on an old IBM/Lenovo Thinkpad R51. There's an iso file for a Windows XP installation. It is the only file on the USB. But when I go into the computer s bios and select it to boot from the USB, it says "operating system not found." Then when I try to press something, the computer just beeps at me. Any help?
Added (1). This laptop is running Ubuntu 12.04
A single file is not an install for WinXP. You have to take the ISO file of the whole installation disk of an OS and unpack all the files on a computer in a folder. Then you can transfer those files to the USB memory stick. Only then can you do an install onto another computer.
You must have a valid Micro$oft product code for the WinXP that came with that laptop or buy a new one. Another computer's code is not legal.