Re: Can I use boot floppy to launch iso on CD in non-bootable CD drive?




"PaulFXH" <paulfxhackett@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:e2723e39-69a8-40e5-8889-05d728252e8c@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
On Sep 10, 10:18 pm, "JS" <@> wrote:
"PaulFXH" <paulfxhack...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message

news:3ee8b4ca-219b-4c3e-aa98-e3729f34841d@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

> We have a home-made desktop (20 GB HDD, 512 MB RAM, Pentium IV) with
> Windows XP installed.
> Our intention is to partition the HDD using a Gparted ISO on CD.
> Problem is that the CD drive is unbootable.
> However, the box has a bootable floppy drive so we're looking to boot
> from the floppy and use this to launch the ISO from the CD drive
> (with, of course, no intervention from the HDD).
> Is this at all possible and, if so, how?

You need to convert/burn a new CD with the .ISO file as
the source to create a bootable CD.

See GParted Live:http://gparted.sourceforge.net/livecd.php

ImgBurn - In addition to supporting the creation of CD's from .ISO files,
it supports a wide range of other image file formats, and it's free.
(BIN, CUE, DI, DVD, GI, IMG, MDS, NRG, PDI and ISO)http://www.imgburn.com/

--
JShttp://www.pagestart.com

Thanks for your reply. However, I'm aware I need the Gparted iso
burned to a CD (already have this). The problem is that the CD drive
in UNBOOTABLE. The only bootable device on this computer, other than
the internal HDD, is a floppy drive.
So, I want to use the floppy drive to boot the Gparted iso CD.
Is this possible and, if so, how?

How are the files stored on the CD? If they are one file with the extension of .iso then you can never use that file to do anything anyhow even with a boot floppy (I'll talk about creating one later.)

If the file is an .iso you need to expand the data on the CD into it's component files and have at least one .exe, .bat, or .com file on the CD to start the program that is stored there. Google on expanding/extracting the files from the .iso file.

If there are individual files then no extraction is needed and build your boot floppy.

Now, about the floppy disk. The easiest way to create a bootable floppy drive that includes all the files needed to boot the computer and be able to read a CD disk is with an older Windows 98 or Windows ME operating system computer. It's format program could create a system bootable disk and copy the files necessary to run the CD.

The download on this page http://www.onecomputerguy.com/software_download.htm for the Windows 98 boot Floppy looks like it will automatically build the disk I recommended above. I checked it as best I could for malware but won't guarantee it is free of malware. Run the .exe file in a Windows computer with a freshly formatted, blank 1.44 MB floppy in the drive and see what it does. If it boots the computer and gives you the C:\> prompt you are almost there. Type D: and press Enter. Type in the name of the executable file to start your program and press Enter.

The NT systems (Win 2K, XP and Vista) can't create an exact copy needed but can only create the system boot disk. It won't include the necessary files to access the CD.

If you read http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/310994/ it will tell you how to create the 6 disk XP boot disk (for installation of Win XP) but IIRC you can cancel out of the installation and use it to read other CDs.

Hope this information helps. Let us know.

.

Relevant Pages

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  • Re: Can I use boot floppy to launch iso on CD in non-bootable CD drive?
    ... Our intention is to partition the HDD using a Gparted ISO on CD. ... the box has a bootable floppy drive so we're looking to boot ... I want to use the floppy drive to boot the Gparted iso CD. ...
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