Recently, I've been trying to create a multipurpose Bootable DOS CD to aid in diagnosing and repairing simple PC problems. So far I've managed to add USB support, long file name support, and a host of DOS utilities. (I have a boot menu to enable or disable these features.) And I can get it to boot successfully in most modern PCs. HOWEVER, I want this boot CD to be UNIVERSAL and for some reason I can not get it to boot at all in old PCs such as my ATX unit with an ASUS P5A mainboard - even though boot from CD is enabled in the BIOS. It just skips the CD and boots straight to the C: drive.
BTW: This is a "Pentium Super7" (Socket 7) mainboard dated from about 1999 and installed with an AMD K6-2 500. I know it supports boot CDs because I am able to get this old unit to successfully boot other CDs, including "Boot CD+" and other DOS-based utility disks. The "Boot CD+" disk includes the following two boot image files:
BOOTCAT.BIN
BOOTIMG.BIN
And these two binary files appears just like the two files found on CDs I create with Roxio Easy CD Creator 5.
The method I've been using to create a bootable CD is via the "Bootable CD" project option in Roxio Easy CD Creator 5. Specifically, I've been doing it through the "Floppy Disk Emulation (1.44 MB)." I have not yet tried either the "Hard Disk Emulation" or "No Emulation" because it would require a lot of work to edit my complex batch files and change all the drive letters.
Do you think either "Hard Disk Emulation" or "No Emulation" would have a better chance of success? And Roxio Easy CD Creator 5 gives these two options for bootable CD creation:
"Generate Image from Floppy"
"Using Existing Image File"
I've tried both methods and neither seems to work in my ASUS P5A. Perhaps I should try a different program to create my bootable image file? Please, can somebody recommend another method to create bootable CDs? (Preferably something done with either freeware, shareware, or a demo...)
Even though I could not get this CD to boot on my old ASUS P5A system I could get it to read the CD from either DOS or Windows 98SE. And I burned this onto a CD-R, not a CD-RW. That said, the CD-R I burned it on is really old media. (Maximum 4x burning speed and about 8 or 9 years old!) I burned several copies on this old stuff, but while they work on modern machines it won't BOOT on my old system. I may try to burn it on more modern media to see if that will work.
BTW: This is a "Pentium Super7" (Socket 7) mainboard dated from about 1999 and installed with an AMD K6-2 500. I know it supports boot CDs because I am able to get this old unit to successfully boot other CDs, including "Boot CD+" and other DOS-based utility disks. The "Boot CD+" disk includes the following two boot image files:
BOOTCAT.BIN
BOOTIMG.BIN
And these two binary files appears just like the two files found on CDs I create with Roxio Easy CD Creator 5.
The method I've been using to create a bootable CD is via the "Bootable CD" project option in Roxio Easy CD Creator 5. Specifically, I've been doing it through the "Floppy Disk Emulation (1.44 MB)." I have not yet tried either the "Hard Disk Emulation" or "No Emulation" because it would require a lot of work to edit my complex batch files and change all the drive letters.
Do you think either "Hard Disk Emulation" or "No Emulation" would have a better chance of success? And Roxio Easy CD Creator 5 gives these two options for bootable CD creation:
"Generate Image from Floppy"
"Using Existing Image File"
I've tried both methods and neither seems to work in my ASUS P5A. Perhaps I should try a different program to create my bootable image file? Please, can somebody recommend another method to create bootable CDs? (Preferably something done with either freeware, shareware, or a demo...)
Even though I could not get this CD to boot on my old ASUS P5A system I could get it to read the CD from either DOS or Windows 98SE. And I burned this onto a CD-R, not a CD-RW. That said, the CD-R I burned it on is really old media. (Maximum 4x burning speed and about 8 or 9 years old!) I burned several copies on this old stuff, but while they work on modern machines it won't BOOT on my old system. I may try to burn it on more modern media to see if that will work.
