Chapter 2 Installation and Configuration
NI PXI-8104 User Manual 2-16 ni.com
If you need to recover your factory-installed operating system from a CD,
you can use the included OS re-installation CD with an external CD-ROM
drive such as a USB CD-ROM drive. Boot the PXI controller using the
OS re-installation CD to recover the OS. You also may need to reinstall
other software after using the CD to recover the OS.
Note Recovering the OS erases the contents of your hard disk. Back up any files you want
to keep.
Installing an OS
NIPXI-81 04 controllers include a pre-installed OS. In some cases, you
may want to install a different OS. When doing so, consider the following
guidelines.

Installing from a CD-ROM

The NIPXI-810 4 supports the installation of Windows XP from a USB
CD-ROM. However, many other operating systems do not support
installation from a USB CD-ROM. For example, Windows 2000 aborts
during the install process because it does not have drivers for the CD-ROM
device.
With DOS drivers, you can install Windows 9x operating systems.
However, only a few USB CD-ROM drives have DOS drivers.
As an alternative to a USB CD-ROM drive, you can use an external SCSI
CD-ROM with a PXI-SCSI adapter.
Note For additional assistance with installing or changing an operating system, refer to
KnowledgeBase 2ZKC02OK at ni.com/support.