# MS-DOS Boot CD that can access the C: drive?



## eb001

I went here and found a nice MS-DOS 6.22 boot cd with cd-rom support.

http://www.answersthatwork.com/Downright_pages/Boot_Disks_and_Boot_CDs.htm

But I am wondering if its possible to get one with hard drive support?

I'm sorry if this a stupid question, I'm not very experienced with these things.


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## ChuckE

Hard drive support (IE. drive C:, or possibly other letters) is there by default (that's the short answer, but please read further).

You are assuming that since drivers are needed to be installed to access a CD drive, that there must be similar things needed for the hard drives. Not so.

If the hard drives are installed using the typical cables inside the computer (such as the IDE cables or recently the SATA cables) and if the format of the drives is recognizable via the operating system (the OS) that you boot-up with, (usually that may be some version of DOS) then the hard drives will be seen, and readable as well.


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## eb001

Yes but I am not booting to an OS, I am booting to a boot cd.
i can see the a: drive which has all the boot files listed in the iso image, and i can change directory to the d: drive which has the files i added to the cd using UltraISO, but i cant change directory to the c: drive.
how can i make an msdos boot cd that sees the hard drive?


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## Frank4d

You need a boot CD that is capable of accessing NTFS formatted partitions if that is how the drive is formatted. A MS-Dos boot CD won't do that. Here is one: http://netbootdisk.com/index.htm


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## eb001

Thanks for the help.

I also found this:

http://www.ubcd4win.com/

and this:

http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/


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## ChuckE

A boot CD may be loading MS-DOS, which is an operating system (it is not GUI, by default, but it is an OS). Any system that allows you to operate some commands, by definition, is an operating system. Whether or not you are able to see the usual, and expected, hard drives would be dependent upon whether or not that OS can read the file system on your hard drive.

Like *Frank4d* mentioned, if your hard drive is formatted with NTFS (which, more than likely, is your file system) on that hard drive will depend upon your OS'es ability to read NTFS. If you are booting up with MS-DOS, it (by itself) can not read - or see - NTFS. If you are using a boot CD - such as MadBoot, that has the ability to see, and read, NTFS. There are other boot CD's that also can read NTFS, but you may need to select an option, while booting, to pick up that ability. Tell us which boot CD you are using, and someone here can give you more direct instructions. Not just to gain NTFS readability, but perhaps even to determine what the file system is on your hard drive. . . or do you know that already?


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## monckywrench

CDs are cheap, so burn a selection of live CDs as the basis of your computer "tool kit".

Knoppix, BartPE, WInPE, etc are excellent. DOS has uses, mainly on very old low-powered systems, but modern OSs offer much more capable live CDs. They have far superior driver support, etc.


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## ChuckE

This person was having trouble reading a hard drive, when supposedly using MS-DOS, and they admitted being not very experienced.

I don't think s/he is wanting to know anything about burning a CD, a liveCD or otherwise, and probably not a prime candidate to know anything at all about any of the flavors of Unix.

I would hope to resolve his/her initial issues before sending them down that yellow brick road.


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## eb001

Thanks for all your help guys.

Actually, the reason I wanted to access the hard drive from a DOS boot cd is because I was trying to see if cbrom would run in pure DOS, because it would freeze in the XP command prompt. It didn't work.

Cbrom is a BIOS editing program. Unfortunately it only works with Award and I have a Phoenix BIOS.
I found Phoenix BIOS Editor and got a copy but when I try to open the BIOS file, I get a "Wrong BCPSYS version!" error and it wont open. So I still cant edit my BIOS.

Ok, why do I want to edit my BIOS? Because I have been searching for weeks on how to get rid of a certain undesirable Computrace process called "rcpnetp" which seems to regenerate itself even if you delete the .exe and .dll files in the system32 folder. I found out that it is built into the BIOS and the only way to delete it is to edit the BIOS, find and release the OEM string that it is contained in.

Well, I still havent been able to find a BIOS editor that works with my Phoenix BIOS, so I have been unsuccessful so far.


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## monckywrench

The suggestion for using a more advanced liveCD was to make things easier than hassling with command-line navigation in DOS, NTFS support, and driver support.

The Original Poster specified nothing about his system. It could be an XP box with SATA drive like some recent Dells that a DOS CD is useless on.

There is much that a DOS boot CD will not do, much that others will, and they are as easy to download, burn and boot. The DOS CD is therefore a distraction because DOS is so obsolete it is crippled by comparison. OP understands .isos (he used UltraIso successfully) so if he can burn a DOS .iso he can burn something superior that will let him do things easily.

OP:
Grab a Knoppix .iso, burn it (always at slowest burn speed) and you can boot to a nice GUI requiring no Unix knowledge. Boot it and you can do everything from explore your Windows box to surf the net without a hard disk.

There is much Knoppix documentation on the net. Here's a good beginner tutorial with screenshots you could print if that serves you:

http://www.shockfamily.net/cedric/knoppix/

Download mirrors including BT and emule:
http://www.knopper.net/knoppix-mirrors/index-en.html

EDIT:
I started typing this response before OP posted his latest.
Thanks for mentioning the connection between rpcnetp and Phoenix BIOS.

Of course disabling Computrace is like cracking passwords, because it is an antitheft feature. Being able to edit it out of BIOS would facilitate easy reselling of stolen machines. Mods may wish to weigh in on this one, but no bad on the OP since he mentioned it and now we know something new.


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## ChuckE

*eb001* I believe you are going about this all wrong. You are assuming that if you can edit the BIOS you can remove some supposed viral string (??) that is contained in.

How would you, a self-admitted un-experienced person, know what and how to edit it. Most BIOS routines, in any modern computer, have self-tests (called POST, Power On Self Tests), and one of the first things they do is to check the validity of their own code. They will do a quick CRC or sum-check of the BIOS contents and any deviation of the results, not comparing against some also contained value, will result in a failure to start, with a resulting (usually beeping) error code. By simply changing some string, value, any character or code, in the BIOS will result with that error. 
Sure, there are ways to change the BIOS, and still come back with a compliant result, but I would guess you are not up to it. I have many years of computer experience, and I would not attempt it - not without some real expert assistance, a lot of web-searching (Google is my friend), and a lot of soul searching.

Better, if you suspect that your BIOS is affected, just get the latest version for your motherboard/BIOS from the supplier, and install that. It is a lot easier, quicker, more failsafe, and more reliable that the way you are attempting it.


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## eb001

I did a lot of research on it. The only solution I found was this:

http://www.freakyacres.com/remove_computrace_lojack

This was the only guy who was successful so thats why I was following (or trying to follow his procedure).

I think I am within my rights to remove this. If I wanted Computrace on my laptop, I would have ordered it.


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## monckywrench

"I think I am within my rights to remove this. If I wanted Computrace on my laptop, I would have ordered it."

You are perfectly within your rights. It is hardware and you own it. 
The only question is if the mods approve. 
After all, cracking passwords on software you own or are authorized to work on is also perfectly legal, but discussions of same are subject to forum rules. 

BTW, if privacy is that important, I suggest ditching Windows completely for an OSS solution. The process won't run under Linux or BSD which can be far more secure.


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## eb001

Really? How can you be sure the process won't run in Linux or FreeBSD?

Also, wouldn't that void my warranty with Dell?


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## monckywrench

"Really? How can you be sure the process won't run in Linux or FreeBSD?"

It's a Windows process and would have no ability to execute under a 'nix system. A 'nix SOFTWARE version is available for Apple machines, but that would require deliberate installation by loading it yourself.

Any doubts, boot a Knoppix CD and look for it by using the pstree command in a terminal.

"Also, wouldn't that void my warranty with Dell?"

Consult your warranty. I wouldn't tell them anyway (that's my business, not theirs), and wouldn't send a computer for warranty repair without wiping the hard disk no matter what OS I ran.

If you want to keep Windows:
http://www.addict3d.org/news/5694/.html
"You could search the registry for it and rename it, delete it entirely, stop
the services by going to the Windows Control Panel/Administrative
Tools/Services and stop it from there."

If you want to see what it writes to the hard disk, I'd format the hard disk, then boot from live CD, and see what new files have appeared.


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## eb001

> If you want to keep Windows:
> http://www.addict3d.org/news/5694/.html
> "You could search the registry for it and rename it, delete it entirely, stop
> the services by going to the Windows Control Panel/Administrative
> Tools/Services and stop it from there."


Yes I also read that article, it was for the program before they embedded it into the BIOS.
I have the service disabled, it still starts. I deleted it from the system32 folder, it just recreates itself the next time i turn on my computer. I have searched for it in the registry, and the search turned up nothing.


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## monckywrench

Another experiment would be to run Linux as the main OS then run Windows in a virtual machine. With Windows running on virtual hardware the BIOS might not be able to load the process to the VM.


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## eb001

probably not but that doesnt help me fix my windows machine.


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## monckywrench

You may not be able to "fix" the BIOS, but it would be a "Windows machine" with an underlying Linux OS. 
Advantages include being able to restore VMs more easily than conventional reloads and ability to run multiple versions of Windows. If one is security conscious enough to delete Computrace it would make sense to either dump Windows or run it in a contained VM anyway.

BTW, does blocking it with a modified hosts file work?


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## eb001

How do you block it with a hosts file, I thought the host file is used to block URLs, not processes?

It makes sense what you said about running Linux with Windows on top but my experiences with UNIX have all been frustrating because you really need to understand the command-line shell to properly be able to use any UNIX based OS, and I have tried but it doesnt feel comfortable, I feel as if I am always strugggling just to do basic things which I could do with no trouble in Windows.

Update - I tried deleting the registry key for rpcnetp, which is at LOCAL MACHINE--->SYSTEM--->ControlSet001---->Services, the process was gone for 1 bootup, then the second bootup, it recreated itself again.


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