# From boot floppy to boot cd



## mobo (Feb 23, 2003)

Turn All Of Your Old Bootable Floppies Into Bootable Cd's [the easy way]

First Of All You Need A Cd-Burner, Nero Burning Rom v5.5 or higher
A Floppie Drive, A Blank CDR Disk 
When You Have Everything: 
Load Up Nero With Your Floppy In The Drive And Blank Cd In The Cd-Recorder 
Close The Wizard 
Hold Ctrl + N 
Until A Box Appears 
Scroll Down The List Until You Reach CDROM (Boot) 
Click It 
Bootable Logical Drive Must Be A: 
Click The Burn TAB 
Click New 
Click File 
Then Write Cd 
Then Write 
Done


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## dai (Mar 7, 2003)

handy


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## juxtaposed75 (Nov 4, 2003)

so, if i did this and i did it with my windows start up disk to reformat hard drives with, i won't have to use the floppy anymore? i can use the cd-r and get to fdisk to format hard drives and such?


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## mobo (Feb 23, 2003)

I somehow don't think so because the cdrom will not operatedue to the fact that its drivers will not be loaded as they would be when a floppy is used.


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## juxtaposed75 (Nov 4, 2003)

hmm, 
what if i changed the boot sequence to where the floppy don't boot but the cd-rom does?


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## mobo (Feb 23, 2003)

Same scenario. Without the cdrom drivers which is what would happen, the cdrom would not boot.


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## juxtaposed75 (Nov 4, 2003)

see the thing is though, when you reformat a HDD it asks you if you want to start with cd-rom support... now doesn't that mean "drivers?"


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## mobo (Feb 23, 2003)

Its asking because of the floppy thats in the drive. The floppy doesn't need those drivers to begin its reading but the cdrom does.

I would love if you could prove me wrong by doing so . Why not give it a try then.. ?


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## juxtaposed75 (Nov 4, 2003)

it's kool bruva, i wasn't trying to get under your skin


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## mobo (Feb 23, 2003)

I'm not taking it that way so no worries..But please do try it out and let me know.


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## mobo (Feb 23, 2003)

Hang on I'm doing it now.


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## mobo (Feb 23, 2003)

Verdict is in....


It works...you can load your floppy based boot disks to cdrom and throw the old dinosaurs away unless you have a cdrom less laptop


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## juxtaposed75 (Nov 4, 2003)

man, thats pretty kool huh? thanks for trying it out and getting back with me with a verdict so fast!


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## mobo (Feb 23, 2003)

I couldn't wait, just had to know


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## pyritechips (Jun 3, 2002)

*MOBO!*

I just followed your instructions and converted my old W98se boot floppy into a boot CD! I changed my boot sequence in the BIOS to CD-ROM as 1st boot device, loaded the CD and rebooted...

...wow! The old W98se boot utility loaded at a snap! Thanks a lot friend!  :up:


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## mobo (Feb 23, 2003)

Welcome Jim..


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## prospect (Jun 13, 2002)

Hey mobo, what if ya don't have nero? I have easy cd creator.
I can feel a head ache coming. LOL 

prospect


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## mobo (Feb 23, 2003)

http://www.nero.com/us/631933457317970.html


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## zephyr (Nov 6, 2003)

OK, so let me understand this; if you load your bootable floppy onto a CD and make the CD bootable using Nero, you can boot to the floppy program and choose to load drivers for your CD-rom drive that must already be working since you booted to it. I think I understand,  Now I'm getting a headache!


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## DaveBurnett (Nov 11, 2002)

You still need the CD Rom drivers loaded.
What happens is this.
When you Boot from CD in the bios, the bios switches the address of the Foppy A drive to Floppy B. It then copies the address of the CD drive to where the Floppy A was and boots from floppy A (the bootable part of the CD) the address of the CD drive is still in the correct place for the CD so if you have the CD drivers loaded you can access the rest of the CD with the normal CD drive letter. This means you will have A: (boot part of CD - READ ONLY). B: the original floppy drive. Your hard drives and the CD drive. 
It is possible to take this even further and create a copy of a bootable hard disk partition on the CD and boot from it - but it must all fit and be read only.


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## mobo (Feb 23, 2003)

It does work and considerably faster as well..As I stated the only one I have done to date is 98 SE and it works exactly as the floppy does ...


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## pyritechips (Jun 3, 2002)

I just thought of another advantage of having a boot CD: A virus cannot write to it. On a normal boot floppy you are supposed to slide up the write protect tab but I think a lot of people forget.


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## zephyr (Nov 6, 2003)

Thanks * DaveBurnett *, for the clear explanation. I think I have it now and my head feels all better already. 

* pyritechips *, That's an excellent point.


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## prospect (Jun 13, 2002)

I couldn't get it to work. But I'm running XP. Does that make a difference?

prospect


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## zephyr (Nov 6, 2003)

Apparently so, I can't get it either (XP Home). It boots and just sits there tells me, "Booting from atapi 1.44 meg drive:" and does zilch forever. Hitting any key continues the boot from the C: drive.


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## prospect (Jun 13, 2002)

I can't even get Nero to work right. I try and do what is suggested and get no where. But this is my first time working with Nero. I have to try and reinstall it. It doesn't even have the help file installed. 

prospect


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## jydiver (Dec 27, 2002)

in order to make a boot cd in xp you need a boot.bin image file, I was going to attach it but the site won't let me


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## prospect (Jun 13, 2002)

Will that make Nero work for me as per the instructions?


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## zephyr (Nov 6, 2003)

To allow it to be attached, you can rename the .bin to a .txt and we'll understand


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## prospect (Jun 13, 2002)

I don't understand. I thought you have what XP needed. LOL


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## jydiver (Dec 27, 2002)

Ok, here it is.


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## prospect (Jun 13, 2002)

Ok now what do I do with it? It just opened up in notepad and went away when I tried to save it. LOL


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## jydiver (Dec 27, 2002)

Right click "Save Target as.." ? Rename to .bin. In nero Source of boot image data, browse to that file.


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## prospect (Jun 13, 2002)

Ok I saved it to my desktop. Do I rename it now? or when I find it in Nero? And by the way, do I use Nero burner rom? or what? I knew this was gonna be a headache for me. But I want to learn.
Or am I giving you the headache? LOL


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## jydiver (Dec 27, 2002)

I gave myself the headache trying to figure it out.LOL 
Rename it now. I'll start from the beginning. Open My Computer\Tools\Folder Options\ uncheck Hide Extensions for known filetypes\click ok. rename file to boot.bin then go back in and recheck Hide extensions... 
In nero CD-ROM(Boot), change Source of boot image data to Image file\Browse\ Files of type All Files find Boot.bin open and the cd will boot.


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## prospect (Jun 13, 2002)

I have to take off for about an hour. So i'll try this as soon as I get back. Thanks for your time.


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## prospect (Jun 13, 2002)

Ok I think I did it. Now what?


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## jydiver (Dec 27, 2002)

I'm sorry Prospect, i must be getting tired I lost you someplace. what are you trying to make bootable?


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## prospect (Jun 13, 2002)

Oh that's ok. Yes I was. I did like ya said. then went back to first page and tried to do what was said there. No luck. Plus this is my first time using Nero. So there are all kinds of first for me today.


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## prospect (Jun 13, 2002)

Ya know what else happened. After I renamed that file. It went to that funny looking thing when windows doesn't know what to open it with. That's what I have now.


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## jydiver (Dec 27, 2002)

are you trying to make a win 98 startup disk work in xp?


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## prospect (Jun 13, 2002)

yeah.


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## jydiver (Dec 27, 2002)

I'm sorry, it won't because dos can't access an ntfs file system. that file will make a non bootable winxp disk boot.


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## prospect (Jun 13, 2002)

So what are ya trying to tell me? I can't make a disk for win 98 from XP. If not, all is not lost. Cause at least I got to play with Nero a little.


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## jydiver (Dec 27, 2002)

well at least something good came of it


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## prospect (Jun 13, 2002)

But your instruction will work on a win 98/me machine right. Just not XP.


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## zephyr (Nov 6, 2003)

OK, lemme see here if I'm makin' any headway:



> OK, so let me understand this; if you load your bootable floppy onto a CD and make the CD bootable using Nero, you can boot to the floppy program and choose to load drivers for your CD-rom drive that must already be working since you booted to it. I think I understand, Now I'm getting a headache!


Now I've had that explained to my satisfaction, as disappointing as it was. 

Now I have downloaded a .bin file that will help me make a non-bootable Win XP boot CD. I think we are not getting somewhere, yes? What? My XP is actually formatted in FAT32 and the creation wouldn't work there either so it's pretty well cross platform non discriminatory. 

Is the non-bootable XP boot cd intended only for people who have a fully bootable system? If so, I think I now can accept why the Start Button is used to Stop Windows. 

When I booted the creation, I got, "Cannot boot from cd - code 4"

Now I think my headache is comin' back...


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## prospect (Jun 13, 2002)

zephyr, We were trying to make the cd from an XP system. I guess we can't do that. I'm formatted in NTSF. I would like to know how the others got it and I can't. LOL

prospect


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## jydiver (Dec 27, 2002)

all formatting and partitioning in winxp is done from the os installation disk, you don't need a floppy


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## jydiver (Dec 27, 2002)

Zephyr, if your formatted in fat32 the instructions in the first post should work for you. I found the bin file because I had a backup image of an xp installation disk that wouldn't boot, so I couldn't install it.


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## prospect (Jun 13, 2002)

Yeah when it works right. I had to go get some floppies for XP. Ya know how many there were?. 6. LOL I was almost ready to go back to Win 98. I'n my opinion, there is nothing wrong with 98. But I didn't want to go out and buy another OS. But that's a story for another day.


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## prospect (Jun 13, 2002)

Yeah, Isn't that weird. I just found out we can do that with XP. fat 32, instead of NTSF. But I'm gonna leave well enought alone.
 Ok, I'm chicken 

prospect


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## jydiver (Dec 27, 2002)

Prospect, it sounds like you had the exact problem I had. It's why I got the bin file


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## prospect (Jun 13, 2002)

Yeah, But it didn't work for me I feel left out.


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## thib4 (Jul 6, 2001)

WITH NERO YOU CAN MAKE A BOOTABLE CD AND PUT THE WIN98 DIRECTORY ON IT 
COPY THE WIN98 DIRECTORY TO THE HARDDRIVE 
CHANGE DIRECTORY ON THE HARDDRIVE TO WIN98
TYPE SETUP 

PS 
YOU CAN DO FDISK AND FORMAT FIRST 
THE COMPUTER WILL SHOW THE A PROMPT BUT IT WILL READ THE CD ROM


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## thib4 (Jul 6, 2001)

IM SORRY I DIDNT READ THE REST OF THE PAGES IN THE FORUM

I COULDNT GET WINXP TO WORK THAT WAY EITHER


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## alphanumeric (Jul 12, 2003)

> _Originally posted by prospect:_
> *Hey mobo, what if ya don't have nero? I have easy cd creator.
> I can feel a head ache coming. LOL
> 
> prospect *


Start easycd, select data cd, new cd project, bootable cd. A new window should popup, select floppy disk emulation. Put your windows 98 or similar boot disk in your floppy. It will create a bin file for the cd using an image of the floppy. You can also fill the rest of the cd up with utiles. I have several emergency cd's. I use a win 98 floppy. When i boot from the CD I get the same menu I would from the floppy. I select with cd rom support and now i can use all the files on the CD. You actually end up with a virtual floppy A:\, my real floppy ends up as B:\. The cd-rom ends up with a drive letter too, depends on how many drives you have.
Sorry if someone already answered this I haven't read the whole thread yet,


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## alphanumeric (Jul 12, 2003)

> _Originally posted by prospect:_
> *So what are ya trying to tell me? I can't make a disk for win 98 from XP. If not, all is not lost. Cause at least I got to play with Nero a little. *


If you use a win 98 boot floppy for the image it should still make a bootable cd. You just can't read your NTFS drives with it. If you also copy "NTFS DOS" to it you can mount the NTFS drives from the command line and then read them from dos. That's the way I made mine, i've tried it, it works fine. The drive letters get a little messed up, you just have to keep track of what's what.


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## alphanumeric (Jul 12, 2003)

I have made a bootable cd on my 2k machine using Easycd. I used a win98 boot floppy for the boot image. I let easycd read the disk from the floppy drive and create the image. You can create an image (bin file) and save it to use the next time. If you need a boot floppy you can download one from bootdisk.com. The Dos boot disk that XP can create is an ME boot disk, I wouldn't use it for your image. If you want to try it go for it, use a CD-RW disk until you get it working. The cd I created is bootable and it doesn't matter what OS I'm using. As I mentioned in my other post you won't be able to see an NTFS formated drive unless you use a utility. I use NTFS DOS Pro, I just run it from the command line. It mounts the drives and gives them DOS drive letters. It shouldn't matter what OS you create the cd on, if you use a 98 boot image the cd should be bootable. If you boot from a windows 98 cd you will see the same menu that the floppy uses. The windows 98 cd uses floppy emulation. I never realized that until i made my bootable cd. I actually made mine on one of those mini CD's, 200 meg. In it's case it's the same size as a floppy, so I can just slip it into my shirt pocket or in the case with my boot floppies. Hope this helps.:up:


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## prospect (Jun 13, 2002)

I'll give it a try. Thanks. This will take me a few times. I'm not sure what your saying about the NTSF tho.


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## alphanumeric (Jul 12, 2003)

> _Originally posted by prospect:_
> *I'll give it a try. Thanks. This will take me a few times. I'm not sure what your saying about the NTSF tho. *


A 9x OS like windows 98 can't handle NTFS formated drives. It can't see them or read them. If you use a 98 boot floppy for the boot image you won't be able to see your hard drive if it is formatted in NTFS. Windows NT4, 2k and XP can format a drive in NTFS. NTFSdos Pro is a utility that lets you read NTFS drives from dos. The free version reads only, the full version lets you move and replace files.


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## prospect (Jun 13, 2002)

Ok, Now I get it. What version do I want? The free one or the one that I have to pay for? Thanks again.

Prospect


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## alphanumeric (Jul 12, 2003)

> _Originally posted by prospect:_
> *Ok, Now I get it. What version do I want? The free one or the one that I have to pay for? Thanks again.
> 
> Prospect *


Thats up to you. The free version will let you copy files from your drive. If you want to be able to delete or replace files you need the Pro version. I believe you can do all of the above from windows recovery console, which is free, but to use it you have to boot from your windows CD. You can install it to your hard drive, but I haven't figured out a way to run it from my emergency cd.


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