Floppy Boot Disk
Candi Ruman
I'm trying to preserve some old bootable floppy disk by trying to clone it to a hard drive (disk C:) to run on the same hardware. (Important note: The hardware shall remain the same. I cannot use a VM or another computer!)
In the current configuration this computer doesn't have a hard drive (but I can add one via a 34-pin ribbon cable.) At the moment computer boots directly off of this floppy, but I can change it to boot from disk C in BIOS.
These disks are original boot floppy disk media for use with Microsoft Windows CD-ROMs. Not all Windows 9x/ME CDs are bootable, not all CDs included boot disks, and DOS will not see a CD-ROM drive unless a driver is loaded. OEMs were expected to provide compatible CD-ROM with the boot media provided with their systems. However towards the very late 90s, most vendors standardized on IDE/ATAPI CD-ROM hardware and the use of the OEM Adaption Kit (OAK) driver. If your CD drive is not IDE compatible (such as an MKE or Panasonic interface) you must manually add your own driver. Note: you can use the Windows 98 boot disk with Windows 95 to make things easier. If you have any UNTOUCHED OEM boot disks with different drivers, please submit them.
they dont quite have wot i m looking for ? i m talking about the boot up floppy disk that comes equiped with the windows 98se cd package itself. when you boot it, it gives you the option of intsalling win98, or boot up with or without cd rom drive support.
I thought the OEM disks on the site were the correct ones? Dont know havent used a proper MS disk in years. I just a generic boot disk and run setup manually that way you get the bonus of using switches to skip the scandisk before setup starts
If you have a working copy of Win98 you can always do the following
The "Self-Extracting" ZIPs contain a DOS EXE that will automatically recreate a floppy, without having to use the "Disk Imager" utility (insert a non-write protected floppy, and then execute the DOS program EXE).
"Disk Imager" has options to either create a standard "IMG" binary image file, or a DOS self-extracting/recreating EXE to recreate the floppy with... which is the format of the files contained in those ZIPs.
P.S. Back in the day, I used the floppy created with the Windows_98_Second_Edition_Self-Extracting_Bootup_Floppy_Image.zip quite extensively... mostly for wiping out a customer's hard drive in preparation for reinstalling Windows 98 SE:
I have tried several boot disk images, copying files on to various floppies, and my system WILL NOT boot from any of it! I keep having errors of all kinds. Even copying files to the floppies is encountering many problems such as errors copying various files. I am about to give up.
I'm using an IDE/SATA adapter. I was able to compete the install using the adapter with a spare 40gb HDD from my old PS3. The motherboard is an Asus A7V which should support the 120gb SSD. Anyway I gave up messing with the SSD for now. The install went perfectly once I swapped to the SATA HDD.
Create a Boot Floppy Disk with a Windows XP-Based Computer
1. Format a floppy disk by using the Windows XP format utility. For example, with the floppy disk in the floppy disk drive, type format a: at a command prompt, and then press ENTER.
2. Copy the Ntldr and the Ntdetect.com files from the I386 folder on the Windows XP Setup CD-ROM, Windows XP Setup floppy disk, or from a computer that is running the same version of Windows XP as the computer that you want to access with the boot floppy.
3. Create a Boot.ini file (or copy one from a computer that is running Windows XP), and then modify it to match the computer that you are trying to access. The following example works for a single-partition IDE drive with Windows XP installed in the \Windows folder, but the exact value in the [operating systems] section depends on the configuration of the Windows XP computer that you are trying to access: [boot loader]
timeout=30
Default= multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\windows
If your computer boots from a SCSI hard drive, you may need to replace the multi(0) entry with scsi(0). If you are using scsi(x) in the Boot.ini file, copy the correct device driver for the SCSI controller in use on the computer to the root of the Setup disk, and then rename it Ntbootdd.sys. Change the disk(0) number to represent the SCSI-ID of the hard drive you want to boot to. If you are using multi(x) in the Boot.ini file, you do not need to do this.
4. Start your computer by using the floppy disk, and then log on to Windows XP.
Create a Boot Floppy Disk Without a Windows XP-Based Computer
1. Refer to the article Q310994 for directions to download and create the Windows XP Setup disks by using a computer that is running Microsoft Windows 95, Microsoft Windows 98, Microsoft Windows 98 Second Edition (SE), or Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition (Me):
310994 ( -US/) Obtaining Windows XP Setup Boot Disks
2. Delete all the files from the newly created Setup disk 1.
3. Copy the Ntdetect.com and the Ntldr files from the I386 folder on the Windows XP CD-ROM to the new disk.
4. Rename the Ntldr file to Setupldr.bin.
5. Create a Boot.ini file. The following example works for a single-partition IDE drive with Windows XP installed in the \Windows folder, but the exact value in the [operating systems] section depends on the configuration of the Windows XP computer that you want to start: [boot loader]
timeout=30
Default= multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\windows
If your computer starts from a SCSI hard drive, you may need to replace the multi(0) entry with scsi(0). If you are using scsi(x) in the Boot.ini file, copy the correct device driver for the SCSI controller in use on the computer to the root of the setup disk, and then rename it Ntbootdd.sys. Change the disk(0) number to represent the SCSI-ID of the hard drive you want to start to. If you are using multi(x) in the Boot.ini file, you do not need to do this.
6. Start your computer by using the floppy disk, and then log on to Windows XP.
Troubleshooting
If the path that points to the system files is incorrect or includes the drive letter, you may receive the following error message:
Windows XP could not start because of the following ARC firmware boot configuration problem:
Did not properly generate ARC name for HAL and system paths. Please check the Windows XP (TM) documentation about ARC configuration options and your hardware reference manuals for additional information. Boot Failed.
If an incorrect SCSI driver has been selected or the Ntbootdd.sys file does not exist, you may receive the following error message:
Windows XP could not start because of a computer disk hardware configuration problem. Could not read from selected boot disk. Check boot path and disk hardware. Please check the Windows XP (TM) documentation about hardware disk configuration and your hardware disk configuration and your hardware reference manuals for additional information. Boot Failed.
Resolving Boot Issues with a Boot Floppy Disk
You may be able to use a Windows XP bootable disk to start the operating system on a computer running Windows XP. Use the procedures in this article to work around the following boot issues: ? Damaged boot sector.
? Damaged master boot record (MBR).
? Virus infections.
? Missing or damaged Ntldr or Ntdetect.com files.
? Incorrect Ntbootdd.sys driver.
? To boot from the shadow of a broken mirror. Please note that you may need to modify the Boot.ini file to do this.
You cannot use the Windows XP boot disk to help resolve the following issues: ? Incorrect or damaged device drivers that are installed in the System folder.
? Boot issues that occur after you see the Windows XP startup (Osloader) screen
As the Chas suggested the Recovery Console will give you the access that you need. Press the first R to get into the Recovery Console. Press 1 for Windows. You will be at the Command prompt in the Windows directory. Type in cd system32 and press enter. Rename your file and you will be up and running. ?
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A boot disk is a removable digital data storage medium from which a computer can load and run (boot) an operating system or utility program.[1] The computer must have a built-in program which will load and execute a program from a boot disk meeting certain standards.
While almost all modern computers can boot from a hard drive containing the operating system and other software, they would not normally be called boot disks (because they are not removable media). Fixed drives (such as hard drive)s that are bootable may be called boot drives. CD-ROMs are the most common forms of media used, but other media, such as magnetic or paper tape drives, ZIP drives, and more recently USB flash drives can be used. The computer's BIOS must support booting from the device in question.
The term boot comes from the idea of lifting oneself by one's own bootstraps:[5] the computer contains a tiny program (bootstrap loader) which will load and run a program found on a boot device. This program may itself be a small program designed to load a larger and more capable program, i.e., the full operating system. To enable booting without the requirement either for a mass storage device or to write to the boot medium, it is usual for the boot program to use some system RAM as a RAM disk for temporary file storage.
As an example, any computer compatible with the IBM PC is able with built-in software to load the contents of the first 512 bytes of a floppy and to execute it if it is a viable program; boot floppies have a very simple loader program in these bytes. The process is vulnerable to abuse; data floppies could have a virus written to their first sector which silently infects the host computer if switched on with the disk in the drive.
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