How do I create a bootable floppy?

Windows XP lacks the start-up disk feature of earlier Windows versions.


How do I create a bootable floppy I can use if XP fails to boot?

Windows 9 x and Me let you create a floppy disk you can use to start your system in case anything goes wrong with your hard drive. The start-up disk boots your PC into MS-DOS and contains various diagnostic and repair tools.

Windows 2000 and XP take a different approach to booting in PC emergencies than 9 x and Me do. Some of their solutions don't even require a floppy. For instance, if Windows 2000 or XP hangs while loading, simply reboot and press F8 as your PC begins to reload the operating system to see a menu of boot options (you may have to press F8 twice to get the full menu). Your best option for restoring your PC is probably to select Last Known Good Configuration. If this choice doesn't work, try selecting Safe Mode. Keep in mind that your mouse won't work on this menu; you must use your keyboard's arrow keys.

Such nonfloppy restoration methods rely on Windows itself, however. If Windows won't even start to boot, you'll need a boot disk. Here's how to make one:

Start with a blank, formatted floppy disk. It may seem counterintuitive, but this disk shouldn't be bootable. If you need to format a floppy, simply insert the disk into its drive, double-click My Computer, right-click the floppy drive icon, select Format, and then click Start.

Next, open your C: drive in Windows Explorer. If Explorer displays a warning, click Show the contents of this folder. To display the particular files you need, select Tools, Folder Options, then click the View tab. Make sure Show hidden files and folders is selected, and uncheck Hide protected operating system files (Recommended). At the warning, click Yes, then OK.

Copy the files boot.ini, ntdetect.com, and ntldr to your floppy. Remove the disk, open the write-protect switch in its bottom-left corner, and label the floppy "Boot Disk." Return to the Folder Options dialog box and recheck Hide protected operating system files and folders (Recommended).

Place this floppy in the drive and reboot your system. Your PC will bypass the basic boot files on your hard drive, but it will otherwise load Windows normally.

http://www.bootdisk.com/

DOS/Windows9X/Me/NT/2K/XP Excellent Bootdisks

If you are unable to boot up your Windows XP PC (XP Home or XP Professional), it may be because the boot sector has become corrupted (yet the operating system and data may still be OK). If that is the problem, then the free boot disk downloads here will enable your PC to ignore the hard disk boot sector, and instead use the boot sector on this boot floppy in order to still boot successfully into Windows XP.


Resolving Boot Issues with a Boot Floppy Disk
You may be able to use a Windows XP bootable disk to start the operating system on a computer running Windows XP.


Use the procedures in this article to work around the following boot issues:


• Damaged boot sector.
• Damaged master boot record (MBR).
• Virus infections.
• Missing or damaged Ntldr or Ntdetect.com files.
• Incorrect Ntbootdd.sys driver.


How to use System files to create a boot disk to guard against being unable to start Windows XP


http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=314079

If your computer uses an Intel x86-based processor, and the startup record for the active partition or files that you must have to start Windows become corrupted, you may not be able to start your computer. This article describes how to create a startup disk. With a startup disk, you can start your computer if the startup record becomes corrupted.


Create a Windows startup disk when you first install Windows on the computer. This disk is different from an MS-DOS startup disk. Unlike MS-DOS, the whole Windows operating system cannot fit on one floppy disk. A Windows startup disk contains only the files that you must have to start the operating system with the remainder of the Windows system files installed on the hard disk drive.


To create the startup disk, follow these steps:


1. Insert a blank floppy disk in drive A, and then format the disk by using Windows XP.

2. From the root folder of the system partition of your hard disk drive (for example, C:\-), copy the following files to the floppy disk:
Boot.ini
NTLDR
Ntdetect.com

You may have to remove the hidden, system, and read-only attributes from the files.

3.Restore the hidden, system, and read-only attributes to the files on your hard disk if you removed these attributes.

4.If the Bootsect.dos file or the Ntbootdd.sys file resides in the system partition, repeat steps 2 through 4 to copy these files to the boot disk.

If you format a floppy disk in Windows XP, the startup record points to the NTLDR file. When NTLDR runs, it loads the available operating system selections from the Boot.ini file. If you select Windows, NTLDR runs Ntdetect.com, and then passes control to Osloader.exe. If you select MS-DOS or OS/2, NTLDR loads Bootsect.dos.