Boot CDs for Windows - question

[Richard Fangnail]

When you need to boot the computer from a CDROM if something is wrong
with the harddisk - does it require a different cd depending on which
OS is on the computer?

If the computer has Windows ME and you have to boot from a CD, does the
CD have to be just the ME OS disk or can it be from a different version
of Windows?

I noticed this on EBAY - do you think it would work?

http://cgi.ebay.com/Windows-XP-2000...190936539QQcategoryZ11229QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Thanks!

 

[Larry Bud]

When you need to boot the computer from a CDROM if something is wrong
with the harddisk - does it require a different cd depending on which
OS is on the computer?

Yes. But if something is wrong with the HD, what do you expect to
accomplish booting from a CD?

Booting from a disk or CD will only get you to the file system.

 

[ANONYMOUS]

If there is something wrong with the HD, nothing will help you!! You
need to buy/change the new HD and start again.

 

[Richard Fangnail]

I thought there were times when you can't boot from the HD hence can do
nothing, unless you boot from a floppy or CD.

 

[Richard Fangnail]

The other day my computer wouldn't start normally so they told me to
boot from the OS CD and it ran Chkdsk and it fixed my problem.

I thought a lot of people booted from CDs if something was wrong with
the parts of the HD that have to do with booting!

 

[Bob Ward]

Yes. But if something is wrong with the HD, what do you expect to
accomplish booting from a CD?

Booting from a disk or CD will only get you to the file system.

But if the problem is with the boot sector, this would allow you to
repair it - or recover the data if it's damaged beyond repair.

Of course, pulling the drive and setting it up as a slave drive on
another system would work, too.

 

[Bob Ward]

If there is something wrong with the HD, nothing will help you!! You
need to buy/change the new HD and start again.

Don't give up your day job.

 

[Larry Bud]

When you need to boot the computer from a CDROM if something is wrong

But if the problem is with the boot sector, this would allow you to
repair it - or recover the data if it's damaged beyond repair.

Yeah, that's true. But no offense to the OP, but I doubt he would know
how to repair the boot sector if he doesn't know how to make a boot
disk.

Of course, pulling the drive and setting it up as a slave drive on
another system would work, too.

yep

 

[Larry Bud]

The other day my computer wouldn't start normally so they told me to
boot from the OS CD and it ran Chkdsk and it fixed my problem.

So does your computer work or not? If you booted from a repair disk,
what else do you need?

If it's in running order, there's a function that will let you make a
boot disk from the OS.

 

[Bob I]

If the "files/data on the harddrive" is the problem then the CD is
useful. If the "harddrive failed" is the problem no CD will help.

 

[The Real Bev]

Don't give up your day job.

A friend considered buying a new computer when suddenly he couldn't access his
email, although he could browse. He needs a new computer, but not for that reason.

Copying over your backup registry file(s) to replace the corrupted one(s) is one
possibility, and perhaps the easiest thing to do to get you running again. You
DID back up your registry files when everything was working properly, right?

Or not.

 

[anoldfart2]

When you need to boot the computer from a CDROM if something is wrong
with the harddisk - does it require a different cd depending on which
OS is on the computer?

If the computer has Windows ME and you have to boot from a CD, does the
CD have to be just the ME OS disk or can it be from a different version
of Windows?

I noticed this on EBAY - do you think it would work?

http://cgi.ebay.com/Windows-XP-2000...190936539QQcategoryZ11229QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Thanks!

You were supposed to make a boot floppy when you installed windowz.
If all you want to do is access the harddrive (with dos), you can use
anything. This may not be true for XP, I dont use it, so I dont know.
This works for dos, win3.x, win9.x and win-me. (Not sure about win2K
either, but I think it still works)).

 

[Mike T.]

You were supposed to make a boot floppy when you installed windowz.

If all you want to do is access the harddrive (with dos), you can use
anything. This may not be true for XP, I dont use it, so I dont know.
This works for dos, win3.x, win9.x and win-me. (Not sure about win2K
either, but I think it still works)).

NT operating systems use the NTFS (NT file system). You can install XP on
FAT32, but hardly anybody does that, and that is NOT the default setting.
Generally speaking, your boot floppy will work up to WinME, if all you want
to do is browse the contents of a hard drive. -Dave