Make A Bootable WinXP CD!

[gbread49]

Here is a REALLY nice thing I found, that just might help. Lets say you have a Windows XP CD, that you "purchased" and you want to make a FULLY bootable CD from it as a backup in case the original gets damaged. Well, here is just what you need!

(NOTE: Just by coping the files from the source CD, and burning them to a backup CDR will not make the backup CD disk bootable. Several files are hidden on the original WinXP CD.) One other thing, you have to be able to set your "Bios" to boot from the CDROM to use the bootable CD, otherwise you will have to use the floppy disks method)

I give credit where credit is due, The below information/files were found at:
Boot CD The information is provided courtesy of "Bart Lagerweij". Copyright (c) 2000-2002 by Nu2 Productions. All rights reserved. As per the Disclaimer, the information/files contained on the website can be reproduced, downloaded, copied or translated, as long as the stipulations contained in this paragraph are met.

I added a few notes to kinda help along the way.

Bootable Windows XP CD-Rom

This will show you how to create a bootable Windows XP (final build 2600!) Home Edition or Professional CD-Rom.
Optionally you can add security hotfixes and other stuff to your CD. The boot catalog and NT bootstrap loader are hidden, just like the original bootable Windows XP CD-Rom.

The steps to create are:

(You need to download the two files listed in steps 1 and 2. I have linked them as direct downloads to make it easy.)

1.If you have not already setup cdrpack version 1.3 then download cdrpack 1.3 (624KB).
This file contains a workspace where you can build your bootable CD's from. Unpack the cdrpack13.zip file to an empty directory on your local harddisk. Make sure you expand the subdirectories!

2.Download WindowsXP Add-on (2KB). Unpack the wxp_addon.zip file into the same directory as cdrpack 1.3. Make sure you expand the subdirectories!

The add-on contains, the WindowsXP bootstrap loader (same as Windows 2000) and the "build.mak" file.

3.Copy from your WindowsXP CD the "i386" folder to cds\wxppro_us\disk1\. You will find the cds\wxppro_us\disk1\ folder in the same directory as where you have unpacked the cdrpack and Windows XP add-on.

4.Copy from Windows XP CD into cds\wxppro_us\disk1\ the following files:

Always copy: win51
If you are building a Windows XP Home edition CD copy: win51ic
If you are building a Windows XP Professional CD copy: win51ip

5.Optionally copy (from WinXP CD) into cds\wxppro_us\disk1\ the following files:

AUTORUN.INF
README.HTM
SETUP.EXE

(NOTE: Just to be safe, I copied ALL of the files and folders located on the WindowsXP CD into the cds\wxppro_us\disk1\ folder.)

6.Edit the file i386/txtsetup.sif section [SetupData], and change (or verify) SetupSourcePath = "\"

(NOTE: Use the "Open With" prompt and open the file in Wordpad. It is too big to open in Notepad. Use the "Find" prompt (or scroll) down until you find the [SetupData] section. If the "SetupSourcePath = "\" entry is not there, add it! Then save and exit. Windows will give the warning that all formatting will be lost, blah, blah, blah, just select save as a "Text Document". The ".sif" extension will not change)

7.Copy the latest security patches to cds\wxppro_us\disk1\.
(This is optional)

8.All other files and folders you want in the CD-Rom filesystem must also be added to cds\wxppro_us\disk1. Things you could add are: latest internet explorer, directx, ... (Optional)

9.Edit the file cds\wxppro_us\build.mak change the "volumeid" if you like and put your name into the "preparer" variable.

(NOTE: Use the "Open With" prompt and open the file in Notepad. No need really to change the "volumeid", but you can scroll to the "preparer" variable and change it, but its not necessary. Save and exit.)

10. Let's check some files to see if they are in the right place.
Make sure that the following files exist:

cds\wxppro_us\disk1\w2ksect.dat
cds\wxppro_us\disk1\i386\bootfix.bin
cds\wxppro_us\disk1\i386\setupldr.bin
cds\wxppro_us\disk1\win51
If you are building a Windows XP Home edition CD: cds\wxppro_us\disk1\win51ic
If you are building a Windows XP Professional CD:
cds\wxppro_us\disk1\win51ip

If one or more files are missing do not continue! Go back to correct it!

11.Start the batch file "run.bat".
(It is located in the "cdrpack13" directory that you created.)
(You can either run it from a MS DOS Prompt or use the Start/Run and Browse to the folder where the "run.bat" files is located. I used the Start/Run.....)
(NOTE: This is command line utility, however, it is VERY easy to use, no parameters or switches to put in, just small prompt screens that you select.)

12. From the "Main menu" select "Build & Burn" and "wxppro_us".
It will find your CDRW, just make sure you select it!

From there just follow the prompts and let it do its thing..... The whole burning process from start to end took about 10 minutes. (Your "regular" CD burning software is not used) It will also make an ISO file of the CD that you can save.

Thats it, short, quick and to the point! And, just to be sure, I tested it and it DOES WORK!

Enjoy..........

[Blurry]

Thanks a lot for this post, gbread. I now have a complete XP Professional on CD (I had downloaded it previously). This is my horror story I can now laugh about:

A while back, I put the files on CD with Nero. When I tried installing from that CD, there were a ton of files with CRC errors. The CD had trouble extracting many files and couldn't finish installing Windows properly. The same thing happened if i tried to copy and paste files from the CD.

Eventually, after a week of cutting, pasting, and ejecting the CD over and over, most of the files did go into my computer. Then I took some files from my purchased XP Home CD that I was missing. After all that, it was able to install from the hard drive.

Now, I just did a test install to see if the CD I made with CDRPack would work, and it installs flawlessly! I no longer need to keep my XP installation files (+ extras) on my hard drive (about 620mb's).

I'm just curious as to why using Nero may have caused so many problems. This was the only time I had CRC errors before with Nero.

[gbread49]

Glad it helped you blury.....
I thought it was a pretty neat way of doing it too. Maybe the fact that it is a command line utility is the reason for not getting the CRC errors during the burn process.

In case the links to the 2 files that are needed die for some reason, I have the files tucked away in a safe place, if anyone needs them.

isn't the xp install disc itself bootable? mine is, and copies of it are too...

[gbread49]

Yes, the WinXP install disk is "Bootable". I'm not an expert by no means on making bootable CD's, but my understanding is that just by copying a "bootable CD" will not make the copy itself bootable. To make a bootable CD it must contain a boot sector image and a bootstrap loader. This information is hidden on the WinXP CD, therefore it is not copied. Thus, the reason for the Windows XP Add-on used with the cdrpack.

Bootable CD's are usually made using a bootable floppy disk image. This is not the case with WinXP.

Maybe someone else can elaborate more on this subject......

i use clone cd and it does everything up just fine--made a bootable "backup" of my xp pro without a hitch, along with anything else i toss at it

making a cd from an iso lets it stay bootable too

[gbread49]

Aaaahh thats why........

CloneCD works a little different than most burning software programs. CloneCD can copy discs that normally cannot be copied because of copy protection, etc..... It does this by copying a CD in RAW Mode. This mode allows a program to transfer data bits directly from or to an input/output device, without any processing by the OS. So you get an exact copy! Problem is, the CDRW device has to support RAW/DAO mode copying. Many do and many do not.

[LPDad]

If you want NERO to create bootable discs properly there is a registry edit that you should perform.
Naturally, I am currently at work and do not have access to the exact reg tweak, but when I get home I will attach a nifty little .reg proggy that will make the necessary change for you.

(If I forget, someone just give me a shout and remind me)

Great bit of info there gbread! :thumbs up
As I have found with Clone Cd its a great program to have to make those backup cd's and have also ran into no problems with it....except with the time it takes to make it....found it usually takes a hour or more! One question...what setting do you'all use when your making your cd's? I use the default setting so that maybe where my problems with time lie.
Be sure there LPDad we will all be VERY intrested in getting our hands on that little tweak of your for NERO:thumbs up

[LPDad]

Use clonyXXL with clonecd. Evaluates the needed settings and transfers them over to cloneCD for a perfect copy.

Get it here: http://www.unitethecows.com/forums/s...&threadid=1681

or for a more visually pleasing link -- get it Here

Hehe

Which one do I choose..........not so pleasing or pleasing????

hummm tough choice.....
Kinda like to spam or not to spam.....*L*

Just joking......IT"S MINE!!!:thumbs up

[LPDad]

figured "because there is a Lady involved" I had better make it look good. The "other" way was for all us (male) slobs (who would never notice anyway).

[fireydeviant]

what about isos of the winxp disc that i "own"

[LPDad]

is the Registry tweak that sets up nero to burn bootables in XP

basically it creates the following reg key:

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\ahead\Nero - Burning ROM\General]
"AddISOFileVersion"=dword:0


I have attached the tweak for you. Just unzip it and click on it and it will automatically make the registry key for you.

[fireydeviant]

so this lets me burn the iso and it boots
from cd to install.....cool