simple utility to create windows xp bootable disk on CD

  • Thread starter Thread starter snomazushi
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snomazushi

I use Windows XP Home Edition

Just in case of emergency, I would like to create Windows XP bootable disk
on CD. Can someone guide me to a simple utility to create this?
 
snomazushi said:
I use Windows XP Home Edition

Just in case of emergency, I would like to create Windows XP bootable disk
on CD. Can someone guide me to a simple utility to create this?
Click to expand...


Your XP cd is bootable
there is nothing you have to do other than set the bios on your machine to
boot from cd first
 
Very simple. Check your motherboard manual for instructions on how to set
the BIOS to boot from your DVD/CD-Rom device. You can then boot your XP
installation CD from there. Nothing to create.
 
snomazushi said:
I use Windows XP Home Edition

Just in case of emergency, I would like to create Windows XP bootable
disk on CD. Can someone guide me to a simple utility to create this?
Click to expand...

Some manufacturers like HP will put on the menu an item to make a
recovery CD. I just did it for a Vista user and it took 3 DVD's. Its
normally (for HP) a one time shot, you make them and then you can't do
it again. I take it since its several DVD's its not a true XP reload
but it would be more a restore back to factory install with all your
packaged apps that the manufacturer gave you. It will not include your
data or your purchased apps.

But if you are talking about getting the computer running again after
some catastrophic disk crash, then a program like Acronis True Image
would make both a backup "image" on an extermal drive and a boot CD for
you to recover. Now this will restore your PC with all your personal
data and apps. Its a much better idea than the above.
 
I use Windows XP Home Edition
Just in case of emergency, I would like to create Windows XP bootable
disk on CD. Can someone guide me to a simple utility to create this?
Click to expand...

bootdisk.com

But ... Big Al had the best response for you.

HTH
 
snomazushi said:
I use Windows XP Home Edition

Just in case of emergency, I would like to create Windows XP bootable
disk on CD. Can someone guide me to a simple utility to create this?
Click to expand...


All legitimate WinXP installation CDs are already bootable. If you
want an extra copy, simply use the CD burning application of your choice
to copy that original CD.


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Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:


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~ Denis Diderot
 
There is nothing on BootDisk.com that is of any use to you.
It is one of those scam type sites that entice you to visit, never
really giving you what you need.
 
Xandros said:
How is a linux bootable CD a Windows XP bootable CD?
Click to expand...

I suspect the missing piece there was to just use any bootable OS so you
can get at the windows OS without worrying about its protections, etc.
CDLinux is OK if you're semi-used to it but otherwise a poor choice IMO.
If you know Linux though it's a viable option. I think it's
bootdisk.com has lost of bootabe CD files available if that's what you
need.

Cheers,

Twayne
 
If you want to create a bootable CD with the XP Recovery Console on it which
can access your hard-drive with a DOS-like environment with several commands
for repairing and formatting installations. This is what you do. First
download the file rc.iso by right-clicking on this link:

http://www.thecomputerparamedic.com/files/rc.iso

and selecting "Save Target As...", then simply burn a disk from it. This
will then be a bootable CD with a copy of the XP Recovery Console on it.

For a full list of Recovery Console commands and their uses, you will find
them by typing Recovery Console into the Windows XP Help Centre.

Cheers, Tim Meddick, Peckham
 
Tim Meddick said:
If you want to create a bootable CD with the XP Recovery Console on it
which can access your hard-drive with a DOS-like environment with several
commands for repairing and formatting installations. This is what you do.
First download the file rc.iso by right-clicking on this link:

http://www.thecomputerparamedic.com/files/rc.iso

and selecting "Save Target As...", then simply burn a disk from it. This
will then be a bootable CD with a copy of the XP Recovery Console on it.

For a full list of Recovery Console commands and their uses, you will find
them by typing Recovery Console into the Windows XP Help Centre.

Cheers, Tim Meddick, Peckham
Click to expand...
What revision is Recovery Console on this CD? In order for it to be
effective, it needs to be the SP as what's on the machine you're booting.

A better way (IMHO) is to slipstream the service pack to a XP installation
disk. Then you can install RC on your machine, or get to it from the CD if
you can't access it in the boot menu. Also, if worse comes to worst, you can
do a new installation of XP and be at the SP level you were before. Google
"slipstreaming xp".

SC Tom
 
It's a simple bootable disk with WinXP Recovery Console on it, works with
any SP. It has no i386 folder on it, just the cmdcons folder and starts the
DOS-like environment with stuff like the fixboot, format and chkdsk
commands. Not complicated at all. The ISO file is all of 8 megabytes so it
was simplicity and ease of use I was going for here. I wasn't trying to
make a statement here either - it seems I posted a reply wrongly as someone
asked for a "simple utility to create windows xp bootable disk on CD" and
despite your advice for a novice to start creating a slipstream XP disk,
although it does everything, I still stick to my advice. The Recovery
Console in itself without the XP installation folder is quite powerful. You
can edit the BOOT.INI start-up options file, enable or disable services, fix
the MBR or boot partition, format hard drives, read and copy most of the
files on the NTFS partitions to removable drives and run chkdsk. Sometimes
running chkdsk can be enough to fix a computer that wont boot-up properly...

Yours, Tim Meddick, Peckham
 
Tim Meddick said:
It's a simple bootable disk with WinXP Recovery Console on it, works with
any SP. It has no i386 folder on it, just the cmdcons folder and starts
the DOS-like environment with stuff like the fixboot, format and chkdsk
commands. Not complicated at all. The ISO file is all of 8 megabytes so
it was simplicity and ease of use I was going for here. I wasn't trying
to make a statement here either - it seems I posted a reply wrongly as
someone asked for a "simple utility to create windows xp bootable disk on
CD" and despite your advice for a novice to start creating a slipstream XP
disk, although it does everything, I still stick to my advice. The
Recovery Console in itself without the XP installation folder is quite
powerful. You can edit the BOOT.INI start-up options file, enable or
disable services, fix the MBR or boot partition, format hard drives, read
and copy most of the files on the NTFS partitions to removable drives and
run chkdsk. Sometimes running chkdsk can be enough to fix a computer that
wont boot-up properly...

Yours, Tim Meddick, Peckham
Click to expand...
I've had problems with recovery console if it wasn't at the same SP as the
XP system you're wanting to work on. In order to make it work on mine with
SP3, I had to slipstream a CD, then install RC. When I tried to start in RC
before doing this, be it from my HDD installation or from the Windows
install CD, I would get the error that RC was not the same version as
Windows and it wouldn't start. I'll have to try your method just to see if
it works for me.
Thanks,
SC Tom
 
Tim Meddick said:
It's a simple bootable disk with WinXP Recovery Console on it, works with
any SP. It has no i386 folder on it, just the cmdcons folder and starts
the DOS-like environment with stuff like the fixboot, format and chkdsk
commands. Not complicated at all. The ISO file is all of 8 megabytes so
it was simplicity and ease of use I was going for here. I wasn't trying
to make a statement here either - it seems I posted a reply wrongly as
someone asked for a "simple utility to create windows xp bootable disk on
CD" and despite your advice for a novice to start creating a slipstream XP
disk, although it does everything, I still stick to my advice. The
Recovery Console in itself without the XP installation folder is quite
powerful. You can edit the BOOT.INI start-up options file, enable or
disable services, fix the MBR or boot partition, format hard drives, read
and copy most of the files on the NTFS partitions to removable drives and
run chkdsk. Sometimes running chkdsk can be enough to fix a computer that
wont boot-up properly...

Yours, Tim Meddick, Peckham
Click to expand...

I created the disk from the ISO from the link you listed, and it did not
work for me. The CD booted fine, started Windows setup, then I picked R for
recovery console, and it went to C: prompt. That was it- I was able to list
the commands available by typing HELP, but none of the commands worked at
all. I got an error entering DIR, and got a 'Folder does not exist' when
trying to CD to another directory. And actually, the folder on the CD is an
i386 folder, but severely stunted, not a full install, but I didn't expect
it to be.
After that, I rebooted and put in my slipstreamed CD and did the same thing-
booted to setup and selected R, and everything worked just fine. I'll stick
with the RC installed on my HDD, or, if that doesn't work for some reason,
I'll use my slipstreamed CD.

Thanks,
SC Tom
 
My bootdisk that I created a long time ago (from the ISO file found at:
http://www.thecomputerparamedic.com/files/rc.iso ) when I had XP Pro SP2
installed still works fine after updating to SP3!! So I can't imagine why
it won't work with yours. Perhaps you have XP Home, that will not allow the
use of the SET command that enables you to browse all folders. By default,
you are only allowed to "dir" the root, SystemRoot (C:\WINDOWS) and their
subdirs. By changing the variable "AllowAllPaths" to "True" with the SET
command, you are able to access any folder. Other than that, I can only
think that it's an issue with versions of XP other than Professional, which,
I have to say, this bootdisk works fine with ANY service pack!

Cheers, Tim Meddick, Peckham
 
Since it wasn't mentioned, I wrongfully assumed it would work with any
version of XP. I do have XP Home, and it does not work with it. Also, with
Home, I can DIR from anywhere the command prompt is, be it the root C: or
any subdirectory, so I would imagine the AllowAllPaths is somewhere inherent
to the OS without the SET command. I ran SET, and that doesn't show as one
of the values, but that may be because I was doing it from a command prompt
within Windows.
I'll stick with my disk; it works for me, and I guess that's all that counts
for now :-)

Thanks,
SC Tom
 
Incidentally, I was talking about the [limited] "variables" within the
Recovery Console itself. They are:-

AllowWildCards
AllowAllPaths
AllowRemovableMedia
NoCopyPrompt

They are self-explanatory and the values that can be assigned to each are
simply TRUE or FALSE! They all have their default values set to FALSE, and
these can be altered with the Recovery Console SET command. Although you
can type SET in Recovery Console with XP Home and see the values listed, you
cannot use it to redefine the variables as it needs to be "activated" using
a Group Policy that is not available in XP Home.

There are many other tools available to the other versions of XP. An
extensive guide to all the commands in Recovery Console is always available
in the XP (all vers) Help Centre by typing "Recovery Console commands" in
the search box.

Cheers Tim Meddick, Peckham.
 
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