Practicing the Black Art (02/03)
Give Yourself The Boot From CD-ROM
by Vinny La Bash, vlabash@home.com
Member of the Sarasota Personal Computer Users Group, Inc.
Microsoft has made great, even heroic efforts to dispose of the command line. It's doubtful they will ever succeed completely as there are still times, albeit fewer and fewer, when you need to get to a good old fashioned C:\ prompt. One of those times is when you're unfortunate enough to have a motherboard that doesn't support booting from the CD-ROM. For those folks, it's easy enough to create a rudimentary floppy boot disk in XP.
1.
Open My Computer.
2. The floppy drive.
3. Right click on the floppy drive A: icon
4. Select Properties.
5. Put a checkmark in the box that says Create an MS-DOS startup disk.
6. Click Start and that's all there is to it.
This will start your machine and give you a command line. Other than that it is wholly inadequate. The small size of the floppy precludes adding many useful diagnostic aids. There is no capability in XP to create a bootable floppy that has generic CD-ROM drivers; a very puzzling and startling omission from Microsoft as Windows 98 and Me both share this ability.
To overcome this inexplicable deficiency, we need to visit one of Microsoft's many download sites, specifically - http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=FBE5E4FC-695F-43E5-AF05-719F45C382A4
From this site, Microsoft will let you download a utility called <winxpsp1_en_hom_bf.exe>.
This program will help you create a Windows XP startup disk that will automatically load the correct drivers to gain access to your CD-ROM. From this point, you can troubleshoot your system or if conditions have deteriorated to a point where Windows is no longer useable, you can reinstall XP.
The file is slightly over 4 MB so even with a dial-up connection you will need no more than 30 to 45 minutes for downloading.
- Have 6 formatted floppy disks available. Be sure the slider on your floppies is in the closed position. This will prevent Windows from whining about copy protection being invoked.
- Click on the <winxpsp1_en_hom_bf.exe> file and you will see an End User License Agreement (EULA) dialog box. It's optional, but read the agreement anyway.
Solution for laptops (and even folks with floppy disk drives), is to have access to your CD-ROM. Here's how to go about it, with laptop or desktop.
Every machine you can buy today will provide a way for you to boot from your CD-ROM, but only if your BIOS (Basic Input/Output Services) is configured correctly. Here's how.
- If you have lost or misplaced your manual, continue with the next step. Otherwise, look in your user manual for instructions on how to access your BIOS. Then skip to step
- If your computer is off, turn it on. If it's already on, restart it.
BIOS Boot Device
3. This step is the hard part as the procedure will vary depending on who manufactured your machine. Early in the boot process a screen will come up that indicates your BIOS is loading. Most manufacturers display the correct key to press at this point along with an instruction. For example, "Press F1 to enter the BIOS". There are manufacturers who require you to depress the Delete key. Others want you to depress the F2 key, and others ask for the Escape key. Some machines require a two key stroke combination. Watch the screen carefully. If you miss it, simply wait until the machine completes the startup process and reboot until you get it right. Obviously, there is no industry standard way of getting to the BIOS.
4. Once you arrive at the BIOS screen check to see if your BIOS is from Award or AMI. The title at the top of the screen will tell you. (If you're using an IBM Thinkpad, the BIOS is most likely manufactured by IBM. The company makes a great BIOS, but does not implement it consistently across its product line. You better have the manual at hand.) Continue with the next step.
5. If your BIOS screen has a Boot tab, use the arrow keys to enter it. If the Boot tab is not there, skip to step 8. Otherwise, continue with the next step.
6. You will see a list of boot devices. If the CD-ROM is not the first device on the list, use the + (plus) and - (minus) keys to position the CD-ROM at the top of the list. Arrange the other boot devices in any order you like.
7. Press the Escape key until you are back at the BIOS entry screen. Examine the screen and select the option that says "Save Changes and Exit Setup". It could be worded differently. Skip to step 12.
8. Enter the AMI BIOS Advanced features tab, and using the down arrow key, move to the First Boot Device option.
9. Unless you've already changed it, the Floppy option will be the first boot device. Press Enter.
10. Select CD-ROM from the list and press Enter again.
11. Press the Escape key as many times as necessary until you are back at the BIOS entry screen. Select the option that says "Save Changes and Exit Setup". It could be worded slightly differently.
12. You're done.
After all this, you should be able to boot directly from your CD-ROM drive.
Note: The easiest way to determine your BIOS' manufacturer in XP is to use the System Information utility.
- Press the Start button on the taskbar.
- Bring the mouse pointer to the All Programs green arrow.
- From the All Programs menu, slide the mouse pointer to the Accessories menu.
- Bring the mouse pointer to System Tools.
- From the System Tools menu, select System Information.
- In the right side of the dialog box, you will find the information relating to your BIOS.:
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Copyright 2003. This article is from the February 2003 issue of the Sarasota PC Monitor, the official monthly publication of the Sarasota Personal Computer Users Group, Inc., P.O. Box 15889, Sarasota, FL 34277-1889. Permission to reprint is granted only to other non-profit computer user groups, provided proper credit is given to the author and our publication. We would appreciate receiving a copy of the publication the reprint appears in, please send to above address, Attn: Editor. For further information about our group, email: admin@spcug.org/ Web: http://www.spcug.org/
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