How to create a boot disk Quick links What is a boot disk?Creating a MS-DOS boot diskCreating a Windows 3.x boot diskCreating a Windows 95 boot diskCreating a Windows 98 or ME boot diskCreating a Windows NT boot diskCreating a Windows 2000 boot diskCreating a Windows XP boot diskCopying additional filesHow to use a boot diskTroubleshooting What is a boot disk? A boot disk will allow you to boot off of a diskette instead of your hard drive. This diskette can be used to fix issues that may arise during the lifetime of your computer and/or to help load older MS-DOS games. Tip: After you have created a boot diskette, it is highly recommended that you write-protect the diskette to prevent possible computer virus infection and to help the diskette from being erased. Creating a MS-DOS boot disk Note: These steps are for users who have MS-DOS installed on the computer. If you have any version of Windows follow the below steps for your version of Windows. To create a MS-DOS diskette, begin by getting to the DOS directory by typing: cd\dos Once at the C:\DOS directory, skip to copying files. Index Category:SoftwareCompanies:MicrosoftRelated Pages: Autoexec.bat / Config.sysFloppy DriveMS-DOSWindows 95Windows 98Windows NTWindows 2000 Resolved Were you able to locate the answer to your questions? Yes No Creating a Windows 3.X boot disk Note: These steps are for users who have Windows 3.x installed on the computer. To create a Windows 3.x diskette, from Windows Program manager, click File and then choose the option to Exit Windows, which will get you to a prompt; at the prompt, type: cd\dos Once at the C:\DOS directory, skip to copying files. Creating a Windows 95 boot disk Note: These steps are for users who have Windows 95 installed on the computer. In Windows 95, Microsoft has created a new method of creating a bootable recovery diskette. Unfortunately, however, this diskette does not support CD-ROM support and is missing a few recommended files. To do this, click Start / Settings / Control Panel / double-click the Add Remove programs icon / click the Startup Disk and create disk. Alternatively, to create a Windows 95 boot diskette manually from Windows, click Start / Shutdown and choose the option to restart the computer in a MS-DOS prompt. At the prompt, type: cd\windows\command Once at the C:\DOS directory, skip to copying files. Creating a Windows 98 / ME boot disk Note: These steps are for users who have Windows 98 or Windows ME installed on the computer. An excellent feature of Windows 98/ME is its boot diskette. Using Windows to create you a Windows 98 boot diskette will give you all the needed files as well as CD-ROM support. To create a Windows 98 boot diskette, click Start / Settings / Control Panel / double-click the Add Remove programs icon / click the Startup Disk and create disk. Alternatively, to create a Windows 98 boot diskette manually from Windows, click Start / Shutdown and choose the option to restart the computer in a MS-DOS prompt. At the prompt, type: cd\windows\command Once at the C:\DOS directory, skip to copying files. Copying additional files NOTE: When making a boot disk, if you are running "Stacker" or some kind of a DoubleSpace or drive swapper program, this could not work Once you are in DOS and at the correct directory as instructed in the above sections by operating system, you are ready to create your bootable diskette. Insert a diskette that does not contain any information (it will be erased). At the prompt, if you have MS-DOS 6.2 / Windows 3.x / Windows 95 / Windows 98, type: FORMAT A:/S If you have MS-DOS 5.0 type using double density 5.25" diskettes type: FORMAT A: /360 /S If you have MS- DOS 3.11 through 4.0 using double density 5.25" diskettes, type: FORMAT A: /4 /S Once the diskette has been formatted and the system has been transferred, you should be returned to your original directory. In this directory, type: copy format*.* a: [PRESS ENTER]copy fdisk*.* a: [PRESS ENTER]copy mscdex*.* a: [PRESS ENTER]copy sys*.* a: [PRESS ENTER]copy edit*.* a: [PRESS ENTER]copy qbasic*.* a: [PRESS ENTER] (Win 95/98 users skip this line)copy debug*.* a: [PRESS ENTER]copy himem*.* a: [PRESS ENTER]copy emm386*.* a: [PRESS ENTER] If you are planning to use this diskette as a diskette to load games or you feel that you need mouse support, you will need to copy the mouse driver onto the boot diskette. The MS-DOS mouse driver is generally mouse.com / mouse.sys. Locate this file and copy it to your bootable diskette. For CD-ROM support, visit our CD-ROM drivers page for information on loading your CD-ROM driver. Once you have copied the above files, create an autoexec.bat and a config.sys. Get to the floppy drive by typing A:, once at the floppy drive, type: copy con autoexec.bat [PRESS ENTER]@echo off [PRESS ENTER]LH A:\MSCDEX.EXE /D:CDROM [PRESS ENTER] (this line is used for your CD-ROM drive).LH A:\MOUSE.* [PRESS ENTER] (skip line if you did not copy mouse file, the * is either sys / com). Press and hold CTRL + Z - this should return ^Z. Once this is displayed, press enter to copy the file. copy con config.sys [PRESS ENTER]device=a:\himem.sysdos=high,umbdevice=a:\emm386.exe noemsfiles=30buffers=20devicehigh=a:\oakcdrom.sys /d:CDROM (this line is used for your CD-ROM drive). Press and hold CTRL + Z - this should return ^Z. Once this is displayed, press enter to copy the file. Congratulations, after completing the above steps you should now have a bootable floppy diskette. Creating a Windows NT boot disk To create a boot diskette you must have access to the i386 directory located on your Windows NT CD or possibly your Hard disk drive. Format the floppy diskette you wish to make a bootable Windows NT boot disk using the Windows NT machine. Copy boot.ini, ntdetect.com and ntldr to the floppy diskette just formatted. If you are using any SCSI devices that you need access to, you will also need to load these drivers onto the diskette. Creating a Windows 2000 boot disk To create a Windows 2000 Professional bootable diskette you will need four 1.44MB diskettes and the Windows 2000 Professional CD. Click Start / Run / browse to the CD-ROM drive.Open the "BOOTDISK" folder and double-click makeboot.exe and click ok to launch the program to create the diskette. Users can also easily create an Emergency Repair Disk by clicking Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools, and opening Backup. From the Backup window, click the button for Emergency Repair Disk and follow each of the steps. Creating a Windows XP boot disk Note: The Microsoft Windows XP CD is a bootable CD and in many cases you should not need a bootable floppy diskette. Booting from the Windows XP CD will allow you to not only install/re-install Windows XP but will also allow you to troubleshoot it. Create MS-DOS bootable diskette When formatting a floppy diskette, users have the option of creating a MS-DOS startup disk, follow the below steps to do this. 1. Place diskette in the computer. 2. Open My Computer, right-click the A: drive and click Format. 3. In the Format window, check Create an MS-DOS startup disk. 4. Click Start Create Windows XP Setup diskettes Microsoft is beginning to phase out bootable floppy diskettes in favor of bootable CD discs and has not included a method of easily creating a bootable floppy diskette in Windows XP or from the CD. However, Microsoft has downloads available for users who still need to create bootable diskettes to install (not upgrade) Windows XP. These downloads can be found through KB310994. Additional help and information about troubleshooting bootable CDs not booting is found on document CH000217. How to use a boot diskette Once the bootable diskette has been successfully created, following the below steps you will be able to boot from the diskette. Place the diskette into write-protect mode (in case a virus is on the computer, this will not allow the virus to transfer itself onto the diskette). Insert the diskette into the computer and reset or turn on the computer to begin the boot process. As the computer is booting, answer the questions prompted (if any). Once at the A:\> take the appropriate actions depending upon the situation of the computer. If you are unfamiliar with MS-DOS we recommend you see our MS-DOS page. TROUBLESHOOTING Reference Issue / Question AC Additional help and information on autoexec.bat / config.sys BATCH Additional help and information about batch files. FLOPPY Additional information and help with the floppy disk drive. FORUM If your question is not listed on this page, please try our online forum. CH000012 Receiving error "Missing command interpreter" CH000280 How to create a Windows ERD. CH000432 What files are needed to boot a PC computer? CH000433 How do I get a boot diskette? CH000434 Can a NTFS partition be accessed using a bootable diskette? CH000566 Unable to restore computer using restore disk. CH000669 How to make a bootable CD.

ntldr file

The NTLDR and Ntdetect.com files are important system files that are used by your computer to start the Windows XP operating system. These files can become damaged, corrupted or deleted for a number of reasons and are usually brought to your attention by the "NTLDR is Missing" error message. Follow these easy steps to restore the damaged/corrupted or missing NTLDR and Ntdetect.com files from the Windows XP CD using the Recovery Console. Difficulty: EasyTime Required: Restoring the NTLDR and Ntdetect.com files from the Windows XP CD usually takes less than 15 minutes Here's How:Enter Windows XP Recovery Console. When you reach the command prompt (detailed in Step 6 in the link above), type the following two commands, pressing Enter after each one: copy d:\i386\ntldr c:\

copy d:\i386\ntdetect.com c:\

(In the command listed above, d represents the drive letter assigned to the optical drive that your Windows XP CD is currently in. While this is most often d, your system could assign a different letter. Also, c:\ represents the root folder of the partition that Windows XP is currently installed on. Again, this is most often the case but your system could be different. If you're prompted to overwrite either of the two files, press Y. ) Take out the Windows XP CD, type exit and then press Enter to restart your PC. Assuming that missing or corrupt versions of the NTLDR and/or Ntdetect.com files were your only issues, Windows XP should now start normally.

windows commands

/shutdown ShutDown Windows Windows (all) /restart Restart Windows Windows (all) /poweroff Power Off Windows 2000/XP/2003 /logoff Log Off curent user Windows (all) /lockws Lock WorkStation Windows (all) /hibernate Hibernate Mode 2000/XP/2003 /standby Standby Mode Windows (all) /fshutdown Force ShutDown Windows Windows (all) /frestart Force Restart Windows Windows (all) /fpoweroff Force Power Off Windows 2000/XP/2003 /flogoff Force Log Off curent user Windows (all) /fhibernate Force Hibernate Mode 2000/XP/2003 /fstandby Force Standby Mode Windows (all) /hide Run ShutDown+ in Silent Mode Windows (all) /show Show the tray icon when running in Silent Mode Windows (all) /? or /help Help screen