Unbootable DL 380 G5

[RockyHabeeb]

Good people,  I have a DL 380 G5 I am trying to build to Win2K8 Server Enterprise R2 64bit.  It only has a CD reader. I need to get a bootable 3 GB .iso image from Microsoft readable on the device.  The only way to boot the device is with a 16 GB USB drive that has been made bootable with the USB Key boot utility from the drivers page.  But I cannot get it to accept the downloaded .iso from MS as a bootable image.  It seems to want only HP Branded OS media.  Is there some way I can get the authorized downloaded .iso file onto that thumb drive with the HP USB key boot utility?  Or is there some other way to get the image read?  I have an external USB DVD burner/reader, same one I made the boot image with but when I connect it to boot, it says there is no OS present.  ANY help would be appreciated.  Thanks.

RH

[JoshuaM]

Hi Rocky,

I don't have an answer for the USB boot, but I do an alternative option. I did this last week, and it took a little longer than I wanted.. but it got done.

Pick up a USB to DVD drive (20-30 bucks) and connect it to the server, and gets done in <20 minutes. Hopefully someone can chime in with the USB key you asked about to make things easier since you have the tools already.

[kvuong]

I downloaded and used Windows 7 USB/DVD tool from Microsoft to build a bootable thumb drive. I'd recommend using a 4GB or 8GB thumb drive. I have a 32bit and 64bit desktop for Windows 7, but the utility only seems to work on a 64bit system. Set the BIOS to boot from USB and boom, good to go.