Can I use boot floppy to launch iso on CD in non-bootable CD drive?

  • Thread starter Thread starter PaulFXH
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PaulFXH

We have a home-made desktop (20 GB HDD, 512 MB RAM, Pentium IV) with
Windows XP installed.
Our intention is to partition the HDD using a Gparted ISO on CD.
Problem is that the CD drive is unbootable.
However, the box has a bootable floppy drive so we're looking to boot
from the floppy and use this to launch the ISO from the CD drive
(with, of course, no intervention from the HDD).
Is this at all possible and, if so, how?
 
PaulFXH said:
We have a home-made desktop (20 GB HDD, 512 MB RAM, Pentium IV) with
Windows XP installed.
Our intention is to partition the HDD using a Gparted ISO on CD.
Problem is that the CD drive is unbootable.
However, the box has a bootable floppy drive so we're looking to boot
from the floppy and use this to launch the ISO from the CD drive
(with, of course, no intervention from the HDD).
Is this at all possible and, if so, how?
Click to expand...

You need to convert/burn a new CD with the .ISO file as
the source to create a bootable CD.

See GParted Live: http://gparted.sourceforge.net/livecd.php

ImgBurn - In addition to supporting the creation of CD's from .ISO files,
it supports a wide range of other image file formats, and it's free.
(BIN, CUE, DI, DVD, GI, IMG, MDS, NRG, PDI and ISO)
http://www.imgburn.com/
 
You need to convert/burn a new CD with the .ISO file as
the source to create a bootable CD.

See GParted Live:http://gparted.sourceforge.net/livecd.php

ImgBurn - In addition to supporting the creation of CD's from .ISO files,
it supports a wide range of other image file formats, and it's free.
(BIN, CUE, DI, DVD, GI, IMG, MDS, NRG, PDI and ISO)http://www.imgburn.com/
Click to expand...

Thanks for your reply. However, I'm aware I need the Gparted iso
burned to a CD (already have this). The problem is that the CD drive
in UNBOOTABLE. The only bootable device on this computer, other than
the internal HDD, is a floppy drive.
So, I want to use the floppy drive to boot the Gparted iso CD.
Is this possible and, if so, how?
 
Thanks for your reply. However, I'm aware I need the Gparted iso
burned to a CD (already have this). The problem is that the CD drive
in UNBOOTABLE. The only bootable device on this computer, other than
the internal HDD, is a floppy drive.
Click to expand...

CDs, not CD drives are bootable. I guess you could say the CD drive is
bootable provided the CD in it is bootable...

What exactly do you mean to say? What do you believe is wrong with the
CD drive? What happens when you place a bootable CD (note that a CD that
merely contains an .iso file is not bootable!) in the drive and
configure the BIOS to have the PC boot off the CD? If you don't have any
bootable CDs handy, do you know how to create one? JS's advice to use
ImgBurn to create a CD *from* an .iso file is spot on, by the way.
 
PaulFXH said:
Thanks for your reply. However, I'm aware I need the Gparted iso
burned to a CD (already have this). The problem is that the CD drive
in UNBOOTABLE. The only bootable device on this computer, other than
the internal HDD, is a floppy drive.
So, I want to use the floppy drive to boot the Gparted iso CD.
Is this possible and, if so, how?
Click to expand...

How are the files stored on the CD? If they are one file with the extension
of .iso then you can never use that file to do anything anyhow even with a
boot floppy (I'll talk about creating one later.)

If the file is an .iso you need to expand the data on the CD into it's
component files and have at least one .exe, .bat, or .com file on the CD to
start the program that is stored there. Google on expanding/extracting the
files from the .iso file.

If there are individual files then no extraction is needed and build your
boot floppy.

Now, about the floppy disk. The easiest way to create a bootable floppy
drive that includes all the files needed to boot the computer and be able to
read a CD disk is with an older Windows 98 or Windows ME operating system
computer. It's format program could create a system bootable disk and copy
the files necessary to run the CD.

The download on this page
http://www.onecomputerguy.com/software_download.htm for the Windows 98 boot
Floppy looks like it will automatically build the disk I recommended above.
I checked it as best I could for malware but won't guarantee it is free of
malware. Run the .exe file in a Windows computer with a freshly formatted,
blank 1.44 MB floppy in the drive and see what it does. If it boots the
computer and gives you the C:\> prompt you are almost there. Type D: and
press Enter. Type in the name of the executable file to start your program
and press Enter.

The NT systems (Win 2K, XP and Vista) can't create an exact copy needed but
can only create the system boot disk. It won't include the necessary files
to access the CD.

If you read http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/310994/ it will
tell you how to create the 6 disk XP boot disk (for installation of Win XP)
but IIRC you can cancel out of the installation and use it to read other
CDs.

Hope this information helps. Let us know.
 
Daave said:
CDs, not CD drives are bootable. I guess you could say the CD drive is
bootable provided the CD in it is bootable...

What exactly do you mean to say?
Click to expand...

Possibly that the computer is SO old (it's only got a 20gig drive!)
that the CD drive can't be set in the boot order?
 
PaulFXH said:
Thanks for your reply. However, I'm aware I need the Gparted iso
burned to a CD (already have this). The problem is that the CD drive
in UNBOOTABLE. The only bootable device on this computer, other than
the internal HDD, is a floppy drive.
So, I want to use the floppy drive to boot the Gparted iso CD.
Is this possible and, if so, how?
Click to expand...

Hello Paul:

Are you saying that your computer system's BIOS fails to meet the so
called "El Torito" standard:

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Torito_(CD-ROM_standard)>

If this is then case, can your BIOS be updated? A new world of
bootable CD based utilities can be yours let alone LiveCDs.
 
PaulFXH said:
We have a home-made desktop (20 GB HDD, 512 MB RAM, Pentium IV) with
Windows XP installed.
Our intention is to partition the HDD using a Gparted ISO on CD.
Problem is that the CD drive is unbootable.
However, the box has a bootable floppy drive so we're looking to boot
from the floppy and use this to launch the ISO from the CD drive
(with, of course, no intervention from the HDD).
Is this at all possible and, if so, how?
Click to expand...

The .ISO file on the CD does not run on its own. It is an image of a CD
(possibly even bootable) in a standard format recognised by all good CD
burning software. If your PC has a suitable CD burning package then double
clicking on the .ISO file should automatically open the CD burning package.
It should only be necessary to select 'burn'. If you only have the one CD
drive you will probably have to copy the .ISO file to your hard drive first.
 
The Real Truth MVP said:
Change the boot order to make the cd drive bootable
http://pcsupport.about.com/od/fixtheproblem/ss/bootorderchange.htm
or if the boot floppy loads drivers for the cdrom then you can do
what you are asking, just change the A prompt to the correct drive
letter of your cd drive.
Click to expand...

That response comes from one who poses as other users, libels good
posers, offers pirated software solutions, porn and other nefarious
things on top of being a powerless homo sapient with serious social
issues.

PAY NO ATTENTION to this person's advice.
 
You need to convert/burn a new CD with the .ISO file as
the source to create a bootable CD.

See GParted Live:http://gparted.sourceforge.net/livecd.php

ImgBurn - In addition to supporting the creation of CD's from .ISO files,
it supports a wide range of other image file formats, and it's free.
(BIN, CUE, DI, DVD, GI, IMG, MDS, NRG, PDI and ISO)http://www.imgburn.com/
Click to expand...
Thanks for your reply. However, I'm aware I need the Gparted iso
burned to a CD (already have this). The problem is that the CD drive
in UNBOOTABLE. The only bootable device on this computer, other than
the internal HDD, is a floppy drive.
So, I want to use the floppy drive to boot the Gparted iso CD.
Is this possible and, if so, how?
Click to expand...

Check your BIOS settings.
The "Boot Order" should be set
to the CD drive as the first boot device.

Then during the boot process look for
a message to the effect "Press any key to boot from CD"
 
Twayne said:
That response comes from one who poses as other users, libels good posers,
offers pirated software solutions, porn and other nefarious things on top
of being a powerless homo sapient with serious social issues.

PAY NO ATTENTION to this person's advice.
Click to expand...

He didn't even address the OP's question but an entirely different question.
Presumably in a desparate attempt to try look knowledgeable.
 
He didn't even address the OP's question but an entirely different question.
Presumably in a desparate attempt to try look knowledgeable.
Click to expand...

Thanks to everybody for the suggestions.
However, the problem is now solved. The computer actually has TWO CD
drives but I had only attempted to boot from one of them.
Unfortunately the one I tried was unbootable (yes, truly unbootable
despite using a bootable CD and placing the CD drive first in the BIOS
boot order).
The second CD drive, however, was bootable and this enabled me to
achieve everything I wanted.
Can't understand why I didn't try this one earlier, though.
 
Thanks for your reply. However, I'm aware I need the Gparted iso
burned to a CD (already have this). The problem is that the CD drive
in UNBOOTABLE. The only bootable device on this computer, other than
the internal HDD, is a floppy drive.
So, I want to use the floppy drive to boot the Gparted iso CD.
Is this possible and, if so, how?
Click to expand...

Hi Paul,

Here are some links that may be of use:

Using a floppy to boot the CD
http://www.knoppix.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=50344

Bootable CD Utilities by reanimatolog - Index
http://bootcd.narod.ru/index_e.htm
Bootable CD Loader v1.50Z: bcdl150z.zip

Use a Floppy to Boot USB Pendrive Linux
http://www.pendrivelinux.com/use-a-floppy-to-boot-usb-pendrive-linux/

How to obtain Windows XP Setup disks for a floppy boot installation
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310994

Create a bootable floppy disk for an NTFS or FAT partition in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/305595

HTH. (Hope This Helps. :)
--Richard
 
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