This is a revised version that corrects an error in the one originally sent. See the 'Note' in Step 4. Kim Komando's Komputer Klinic Tip of the Day - Windows Saturday, October 24, 1998 A REAL Boot Disk For Windows 95 [Q] "Dear Digital Goddess, When I originally installed Windows 95 on my machine I was asked to create a boot disk, but I ignored this step. Can I still create this disk?" Bob in Seattle, WA [A] You may not believe this, Bob, but I run into this question more often than even I care to admit. It seems that in our haste to try out something new, we quite often overlook the mundane yet necessary computer filing tasks like making backups or creating boot disks that don't effect you until you really need them and they aren't there. First, let's answer your question, and then go about showing you how to create this potential rescue disk. Get ready to breathe a big sigh of relief, Bob - as long as your machine still has access to Windows, you can create this disk. And being the benevolent and kind "Digital Goddess" that I am, I'm going to show you how to create a REAL Windows 95 Boot Floppy, not just the simple rescue disk that Microsoft has you create upon initial installation of Windows 95. This floppy disk will allow you to boot your computer without having to access the hard drive, and contains all the necessary operating system files your computer needs to get started. Boot disks can be a lifesaver when hard drives crash or become infected with viruses, and really, no computer user should be without one. So let's get started. The step-by-step instructions are going to be somewhat detailed, so I recommend printing this tip out in full so you can refer to the sheet while creating this disk. Let's begin by explaining what I meant above by a REAL Windows 95 Boot Floppy... The disk that Microsoft originally asked you to create when you installed Windows 95 for the first time includes all the critical files necessary to start your computer and access your hard disk. This disk also includes important disk utilities such as Scandisk.exe, Fdisk.exe and Format.exe, but that same disk will not be able to recognize your CD-ROM drive - meaning you won’t be able re-install Windows 95 from a CD. And if your original copy of Windows 95 came on a CD-ROM (which most since 1996 have), you'll be up the proverbial creek without a paddle, whether you have this boot disk or not. What I am going to show you goes a step beyond the simple MS Rescue Disk version and includes the drivers and utilities needed for CD-ROM recognition from the boot disk, allowing you re-install Windows 95 from its original CD with no hassles. For Windows 98 users this isn't a problem - Microsoft included a copy of the most generic CD-ROM driver, IDE/ATAPI, right in the Windows 98 Rescue Disk, so there are no drive recognition problems for these users. Okay, let's make a REAL Windows 95 Boot Disk - 1. First, open Add/Remove Programs in Control Panel and click on the Startup Disk tab. Then click on Create Disk. You’ll be asked to insert the original Windows 95 CD into your CD-ROM drive and to put a floppy disk into the A:\ drive. After the disk copies, you’ll have a floppy that includes all the critical files necessary to start your computer and access your hard disk, but you won't have those all-important CD-ROM files. 2. Now locate the real-mode driver for your CD-ROM. Please be aware that is different from the 32-bit Windows 95 driver that your CD-ROM normally uses in day-to-day operations. These 32-bit drivers have the file extension .vxd and are called virtual device drivers. Real-mode CD-ROM drivers end with a .sys at the end of their file name and can usually be found on a separate floppy that came with the computer. If you can't locate this file or lost the original floppy, don't despair, you can download it from the web at any of several sites. Two that I highly recommend are The Driver Zone (http://www.driverzone.com) and WinDrivers.Com http://windrivers.com. 3. After locating or downloading your CD-ROM Driver's .sys file, copy it to the Boot Disk and then locate the system level CD-ROM driver in Windows called MSCDEX.EXE. It's usually located in your Windows/Commmand folder on your C:\ drive. If you don't find it there check your original Windows 95 CD-ROM. Copy this file over to the boot disk as well. 4. Now you need to add a line to the config.sys file on the floppy. To do this, open an MS-DOS window and switch to the A:\ drive by typing in A: at the prompt and hitting Enter. Once you get the A:\> prompt, type in "edit" (no quotes, please) and hit Enter. This opens up the DOS EDIT tool on the floppy. Find the config.sys file, which should have only one line that refers to HIMEM.SYS. (NOTE: If this file has more than this one line, check to make sure that you haven't opened the C:\ drive's config.sys - if you edit this file you'll be in BIG TROUBLE later!!). If you're in A:\config.sys, toggle your cursor past the HIMEM command and type: Device=A:\(name of your CD-ROM .sys file) /D:MSCD001 NOTE: After several readers wrote in to notify us, we now know that the "D" DOES NOT represent the letter of your CD-ROM drive (in some cases E:, F: or G:). It actually should be typed as is it is above, whether your CD-ROM drive letter is "D" or not! The machine will recognize the appropriate letter for the CD-ROM drive on boot. (Thanks, loyal Komandos!!) Save the new config.sys file and close it. 5. Next, create a simple autoexec.bat file for the boot disk by opening a new file from the File Menu command in the DOS editor. At the cursor type the following: MSCDEX.EXE /D:MSCD001 Then go to File Menu, Save As, and name this file autoexec.bat (again, make sure it is on the A:\drive). Exit the DOS Editor and close the MS-DOS prompt window. Okay, that's it. Let's test this puppy, just for safety's sake. Insert the boot floppy and restart your machine. You'll see some messages about MSCDEX and a few other things right after your normal BIOS messages, and then you should be at the A:\> prompt. To check for your CD drive, type in D:\ (or the letter that your CD-ROM drive is attached to) and hit Enter (make sure you have a CD in the drive drawer - it doesn't matter which one). To check the CD-ROM drive's reading capabilities, type in "dir" (no quotes) after the D:\> prompt and you should get a list of all the files and directories on the CD you placed in the drawer. Got it all? COOL!! Now you have a real, "true blue" Boot Disk that will recognize your CD-ROM drive and will allow you to re-install Windows 95 no matter what troubles come your way! Copyright 1997, 1998, The Komando Corporation. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Internet Home Page: http://www.komando.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |