1. You are viewing our forum as a guest. For full access please Register. WindowsBBS.com is completely free, paid for by advertisers and donations.

Creating a bootable CD with Roxio

Discussion in 'Other PC Software' started by fieldtech, 2005/01/28.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. 2005/01/28
    fieldtech

    fieldtech Well-Known Member Thread Starter

    Joined:
    2002/02/20
    Messages:
    133
    Likes Received:
    0
    I recently purchased Spinrite, and have created a bootable floppy to run on my desktop. I would like to make a bootable CD so I can run Spinrite on my company laptop (no floppy drive, Win2KPro). The laptop has Roxio Easy CD Creator installed, but when I attempt to make a bootable CD, it asks for an image file. I don't have any burning software on my desktop other than whats imbedded in XP Pro, and if there's a way to make a CD bootable in XP, I haven't found it. Any thoughts would be appreciated.
     
  2. 2005/01/28
    TonyT

    TonyT SuperGeek Staff

    Joined:
    2002/01/18
    Messages:
    9,068
    Likes Received:
    396
    Install a burning app on the desktop pc and use it to make boot cds.
    Here's a great free one that I use. I gave up on nero and roxio because the newer versiions compatable w/ xp are bloated software, this one is similar to use and free:
    http://www.cdburnerxp.se/
    You can also create iso images with it!
     

  3. to hide this advert.

  4. 2005/01/28
    Paul

    Paul Inactive

    Joined:
    2002/01/29
    Messages:
    1,293
    Likes Received:
    1
    Paul,
    #3
  5. 2005/01/28
    fieldtech

    fieldtech Well-Known Member Thread Starter

    Joined:
    2002/02/20
    Messages:
    133
    Likes Received:
    0
    Tony, please explain what an iso image is. I need to come up to speed in this area. Thanks.
     
  6. 2005/01/28
    Newt

    Newt Inactive

    Joined:
    2002/01/07
    Messages:
    10,974
    Likes Received:
    2
  7. 2005/01/29
    fieldtech

    fieldtech Well-Known Member Thread Starter

    Joined:
    2002/02/20
    Messages:
    133
    Likes Received:
    0
    Once again, the users of this board have come through! Thanks.
     
  8. 2005/01/29
    TonyT

    TonyT SuperGeek Staff

    Joined:
    2002/01/18
    Messages:
    9,068
    Likes Received:
    396
    See the reference Newt pointed you to. And from that reference, click the link to the definition of "Disk Images ".

    In short,a boot floppy or a boot cd is more than just files, it also includes certain info/files that enable the disk to be bootable. A bootable disk contains some sort of operating system. These boot files cannot just be copied from the disk and then copied to another disk and used.

    When one makes an iso image (disk image), all of the data on the disk is copied as well as the necessary information that enables the disk to be bootable: the boot records, the disk file system info, etc.

    A disk has a file system. Just like your hard drive has a file system, either FAT32 or NTFS. A windows floppy disk has FAT16 file system FAT means 'file allocation table'. This table determines how data is written to and read from the disk. A disk that boots an operating system has a master boot record. An iso disk image includes all of the above, whereas just copying files from a disk excludes the mbr and other data. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_system
     
  9. 2005/01/29
    fieldtech

    fieldtech Well-Known Member Thread Starter

    Joined:
    2002/02/20
    Messages:
    133
    Likes Received:
    0
    I had assumed that an ISO image is analogous to a DOS boot disk. Since both my computers use NTFS, would a boot CD made under XP work on my laptop running 2K Pro? Seems to me that it would work. I remember in the old days of DOS, a computer could be booted with DOS V6.0, for example, even though its normal OS was V3.3 (or vice-versa for that matter). Thanks for the link to CDBurnerXP.
     
  10. 2005/01/29
    Zander

    Zander Geek Member Alumni

    Joined:
    2002/01/07
    Messages:
    4,084
    Likes Received:
    5
    Yes, a boot disk made on XP will work on 2K. Regardless of the type of windows operating system the disk is made on, they're all formatted with the fat file system. If you make this disk you should be able to use it on any computer regardless of the OS that's installed. Being the type of utility Spinrite is, it's not dependent on the OS. It'll work with any version of windows, or even linux. It's a low level utilty that's not dependent on the OS for anything other than to create the bootable disk.
     
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.

Share This Page

  1. This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
    By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.