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If your hard drive dies because of a configuration
error, invalid setup, or boot disk failure, Windows
95 and 98 will lock up and dump you
unceremoniously at the DOS prompt. In this situation, the only
thing you can do is restart your computer from the A:
drive rather than from the hard drive (C:). If you
don't have a boot disk handy, you have a big problem.
If you have thought ahead and created a boot disk,
on the other hand, you can check for and remove a
virus or reverse any problematic changes to the system
files (AUTOEXEC.BAT or CONFIG.SYS) if you've accidentally deleted or made changes to them. In
any case, creating an emergency boot disk is easy and
a good idea. Every time you add new software or
hardware to your computer system, you should make
another set of emergency boot disks.
Making a Windows boot disk
Making an emergency boot disk for Windows 95
and Windows 98 is simple. Both operating systems
offer to create a startup disk for you as part of the
setup process when you install them. You can use
any blank 3.5-inch 1.44 MB floppy disk.
Although you can use any blank disk, note that
a boot disk is not formatted the same way as a
normal disk you use to store data. If your disk is not
formatted correctly, it will not work as a boot disk. To
format the disk, follow these steps:
- Put a blank floppy disk into drive A:.
Double-click My Computer
- Right-click Floppy Drive and choose
Format. Under Other Options, check Copy System
Files. The system files are three files and are what
distinguish a system disk from a regular disk. Two
of the files are hidden (IO.SYS and MSDOS.SYS) and the third, COMMAND.COM, provides
basic DOS commands such as DIR and COPY.
- Now, choose Start|Settings|Control Panel
and double-click Add/Remove Programs. Click the Startup Disk tab, then click the Create Disk
button. You may be asked to insert your Windows 95 or 98 CD. (Note that if your CD-ROM
drive letter has changed because you added another IDE device since you installed Windows,
you may have to switch the drive letter to read
the CD).
The Windows 98 boot disk includes generic SCSI and IDE drivers that let you access most
CD-ROM drives. If the generic drivers don't work with
your CD-ROM or you need to add CD-ROM support for Windows 95's boot disk, the process is much
more difficult. The best option is to load the driver
in DOS, so you can access the CD-ROM drive when you boot to a DOS prompt. In this case, you
must load at least two files. You need one or more
real-mode device drivers that allow DOS to
recognize your hardware and the Microsoft CD-ROM
extension called MSCDEX.EXE, which is located in
the \Windows\Command folder. This file allows the
operating system to access the CD-ROM file system.
If you have a SCSI drive, you'll need to load ASPI
drivers for the SCSI adapter as well.
Most drivers only work with a specific model of CD-ROM drive. If you have a DOS driver disk,
find and use the driver for your drive. Your next-best
option is to ask the PC manufacturer for real-mode CD-ROM drivers. Dell and Gateway, for
example, offer a full selection of drivers on their web sites.
If you have no luck with either of these
options, you'll have to track down drivers the hard way.
Visit the web pages for Mitsumi, NEC, Panasonic/ Matsushita, Philips, Pioneer, Sony, and Toshiba.
Download the correct driver file, and then copy
it and MSCDEX.EXE to the boot floppy. Next, modify the CONFIG.SYS and
AUTOEXEC.BAT files on the boot disk:
- Add the following line to CONFIG.SYS:
DEVICE=a:\driver_name.sys /D:MSCD001
- Add the following line to AUTOEXEC.BAT:
A:\MSCDEX.EXE /D:MSCD001 /L:<driveletter>
Be sure to substitute the name of the driver
you downloaded. Note that in the examples the /D
switch is required; the label that follows the switch must
be identical in both startup files. The /L switch is
optional; use it to control the letter assigned to the
CD-ROM drive at startup.
Making a DOS 6.22 boot disk
If you use DOS instead of Windows, the easiest
way to make a simple DOS boot disk from a disk that
is already formatted is to type SYS A: at the
command prompt (C:\>). This command tells DOS to
transfer the system files onto an already formatted disk. If
the disk is not formatted, at the DOS prompt, type
FORMAT A: /S. The /S switch makes the disk
bootable and places the three system files on the floppy.
A DOS 6.22 boot disk must contain the
utilities: FORMAT, FDISK, SYS, EDIT, QBASIC (not needed if you are only running Windows),
COPY, XCOPY, LABEL, CHKDSK, DEBUG, SCANDISK, and DEFRAG.
Copy these files from either the command prompt (C:\>) or the Windows\Command folder to the
boot disk.
Check the boot disk
To find out if the boot disk works, shut down
Windows, stick the boot disk in your A: drive, and
press the reset button on your PC. In Windows 98,
choose the Start Computer with CD-ROM Support
option. When the A:> prompt appears, try checking each
of your drives by typing the drive letter followed by
a colon (such as C:) then press Enter. At the
prompt, type DIR and press Enter again. Make sure a CD
is in your CD-ROM drive and verify that you can run
a directory listing of the files on that CD.
After verifying that the boot disk works, write
protect it (push the plastic tab on the back of the
disk up) and put it in a safe place. Then, do the same
procedure to make another book disk. And take
that disk to Grandma's house . . . just for safekeeping.
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