How to make a Windows boot CD

On Fri, 10 Aug 2007 00:31:15 -0000, Never
wrote:

> Hello:
>
> I need to make a boot CD for Windows XP Media Center Edition.
> I do not have the Windows operating system CD.
> I looked for instructions on Microsoft.com and the instructions were
> so long and convoluted I gave up.
> Does anyone know of a simple way to make a boot CD?


There probably is no way, simple or otherwise.

Either you already have a boot CD, or your computer came with the
installation files installed on a recovery partition, and you can make
a boot CD from that.

If neither of those is the case, you can *not* make a boot CD.

--
Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP Windows - Shell/User
Please Reply to the Newsgroup

www.nu2.nu/pebuilder for Bart's PE (but the web site appears to be down)

http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/ for Ultimate Boot CD

--
Doug Knox, MS-MVP Windows Media Center\Windows Powered Smart
Display\Security
Win 95/98/Me/XP Tweaks and Fixes
http://www.dougknox.com
--------------------------------
Per user Group Policy Restrictions for XP Home and XP Pro
http://www.dougknox.com/xp/utils/xp_securityconsole.htm
--------------------------------
Please reply only to the newsgroup so all may benefit.
Unsolicited e-mail is not answered.

"Never" wrote in message

> Hello:
>
> I need to make a boot CD for Windows XP Media Center Edition.
> I do not have the Windows operating system CD.
> I looked for instructions on Microsoft.com and the instructions were
> so long and convoluted I gave up.
> Does anyone know of a simple way to make a boot CD?
> Thanks in advance.
>

Try doing a google on Bart boot cd. It's been awhile since I made mine but
if I recall i needed to cd players to create it.


"philo" wrote in message

>
> "Never" wrote in message
>
>> Hello:
>>
>> I need to make a boot CD for Windows XP Media Center Edition.
>> I do not have the Windows operating system CD.
>> I looked for instructions on Microsoft.com and the instructions were
>> so long and convoluted I gave up.
>> Does anyone know of a simple way to make a boot CD?
>> Thanks in advance.
>>
>
>
> You really need to get a windows CD.
>
>
> If you want a boot floppy ...in the case of a corrupted boot sector or
> incorrectly edited boot.ini
>
>
> that's easy
>
>
> just format a floppy
>
> then copy ntldr ntdetect.com and boot.ini to it
>
>

"philo" wrote in message

>
> "Never" wrote in message
>
>> Hello:
>>
>> I need to make a boot CD for Windows XP Media Center Edition.
>> I do not have the Windows operating system CD.
>> I looked for instructions on Microsoft.com and the instructions were
>> so long and convoluted I gave up.
>> Does anyone know of a simple way to make a boot CD?
>> Thanks in advance.
>>
>
>
> You really need to get a windows CD.
>
>
> If you want a boot floppy ...in the case of a corrupted boot sector or
> incorrectly edited boot.ini
>
>
> that's easy
>
>
> just format a floppy
>
> then copy ntldr ntdetect.com and boot.ini to it

Not sure that approach will either produce a bootable floppy or allow access
to NTFS volumes.

HTH
-pk

You might find something of use here:-
http://www.bootdisk.com/
e.g. http://www.bootdisk.com/popfiles.htm tho' here, you would have to pay
$4

A while time ago I made some FAT32 boot-cd's, (which is of course no good
for doing anything with NTFS partitions), using NERO to create bootable
cd-r's - Nero "reads in" a bootable floppy such as W98's bootable floppy.
....and I also put a 3rd part NTSF emulator, on a bootable W98se cd-r to
gain access to a NTSF partition, ...all fun but, prone to problems.

Bart's PE builder bootable cd, always looked wonderful but, I never got very
far with it ! ...it was very good at destroying things if you don't know
what you're doing, (and I didn't!),

....mmm ...seeing as I now have my old gorgeous faithful oldXP2600 is
relegated to just sitting there, off to one side, looking beautiful, I could
practice with all that stuff again !

regards, Richard


"Never" wrote in message

> Hello:
>
> I need to make a boot CD for Windows XP Media Center Edition.
> I do not have the Windows operating system CD.
> I looked for instructions on Microsoft.com and the instructions were
> so long and convoluted I gave up.
> Does anyone know of a simple way to make a boot CD?
> Thanks in advance.
>

On Aug 9, 8:35 pm, "philo" wrote:
> "Never" wrote in message
>
>
>
> > Hello:
>
> > I need to make a boot CD for Windows XP Media Center Edition.
> > I do not have the Windows operating system CD.
> > I looked for instructions on Microsoft.com and the instructions were
> > so long and convoluted I gave up.
> > Does anyone know of a simple way to make a boot CD?
> > Thanks in advance.
>
> You really need to get a windows CD.

The computer was a display model at a discount. I asked for the
Windows CD and they said they couldn't find it. The store is now out
of business. The computer does not have a floppy drive.

> If you want a boot floppy ...in the case of a corrupted boot sector or
> incorrectly edited boot.ini
> that's easy
> just format a floppy
> then copy ntldr ntdetect.com and boot.ini to it

"Never" wrote in message

> Hello:
>
> I need to make a boot CD for Windows XP Media Center Edition.
> I do not have the Windows operating system CD.
> I looked for instructions on Microsoft.com and the instructions were
> so long and convoluted I gave up.
> Does anyone know of a simple way to make a boot CD?
> Thanks in advance.

Assuming that the computer had a legal license for Windows XP Media Center
Edition, and that the sticker associated with that license is attached to
the computer, you should be able to order a replacement CD from the
computer's manufacturer. One other thing you could try is find someone with
a similar Windows XP Media Center Edition, and copy it for use with your
key.

-Paul Randall

Never wrote on Fri, 10 Aug 2007:

>The computer was a display model at a discount. I asked for the
>Windows CD and they said they couldn't find it. The store is now out
>of business. The computer does not have a floppy drive.

Hi Never

I've a friend who got a bargain ex-display system pre-loaded with Media
Center. She had a recovery partition with the installation files, as Ken
Blake mentioned, and a "wizard" to make a boot/recovery DVD or CD set
from that. It might be worth having a poke around to see if you have an
entry for that in Start Menu | Programs or a desktop shortcut.

Otherwise you could try Ken's suggestion of Ultimate Boot CD. The
original version has a command line interface and can be downloaded as
an .iso . Or a bootable Linux distro such as Knoppix.

For Bart's PE and Ultimate Boot CD for Windows you do need an XP CD to
"build" from. However if you're interested in UBCD4Win, email me and
we'll work something out

--
Nightowl

On Fri, 10 Aug 2007 10:20:13 -0000, Never
wrote:

>The computer was a display model at a discount. I asked for the
>Windows CD and they said they couldn't find it. The store is now out
>of business. The computer does not have a floppy drive.

Got what you paid for, eh? I'd suggest just buying a CD on Ebay, but
since you're cheap, download a Linux ap.
--
Top 10 Conservative Idiots:
http://journals.democraticunderground.com/top10