Boot-up

[vegas]

I have partitioned and formatted my lap top with Windows 98 boot-up floppy.
What do I type at the C:/> prompt to boot from the CD(which is the Windows 98se Install CD?

[Sylvander]

SOME POINTS
1. If you have space on your HDD it's a good idea to make a number of partitions and copy the Windows installation files to one of those [a smallish one, big enough for this and backup image files, last in the sequence perhaps], then install from there and leave the files permanently in place. Then when Windows needs a file from those it will fetch it in an instant without asking you to supply the CD in a drive with the same letter as was used at installation. I can give you the DOS commands for copying the files to the HDD if you decide to do this.

2. You might go to www.knoppix.org/ and make a bootable KNOPPIX CD.
With this you can boot from the CD to run the LINUX based operating system.
This allows you to do lots of things including copying files from your CD to your HDD.

3. Your CD may be bootable [you can run setup after it boots]. If so, either:
a. Go into the BIOS Setup and make the CD-drive the 1st in the boot list.
or
b. Go to http://btmgr.sourceforge.net/download.html and make a "Smart Boot Manager" floppy. Boot to this floppy, then choose to boot to the CD-drive [using the boot list].

Let me know if the CD isn't bootable.

[vegas]

Hey,
thanks for the info. changed boot sequence in BIOS to boot from CD first.
All it did was go to C:/. Can I type something in at the C:/ to install from the CD, or is the CD not bootable at all.

Thanks for your time,

Vegas

[Erik]

If you wish to install directly from the CD without copying any files to the HD, then you will first need to switch to the CD drive. Normally it would be D:\ if you only have one HD, and have booted directly to DOS on that drive.

So it would look something like this:

C:\D: <enter>
D:\cd win98 (I believe that is the correct directory)
D:\win98\setup

Its been a while since I did a Windows 98 install though. Basically you are looking to run a file called setup.exe. The dir command shows you a list of what it is in the current directory. CD will allow you to switch between directories.

[Sylvander]

If you boot from a Win98 Startup floppy "With CD-ROM support" [you need drivers loaded to access the CD], you will see a RAMdrive being created and given a letter after all the HDD partitions and before the optical drives. This puts all your optical drive letters back by one.
Make sure you specify the correct drive letter for the drive holding the CD.
e.g If you have only a C: partition on your HDD, then the RAMdrive will be D: and your Master optical drive will be E:

Press "Enter" after each command line.
Hence:

1. a:\>e: [change focus to the e: drive]

2. e:>cd win98 [change directory to win98]

3. e:\win98>dir /p
[displays contents of Win98 folder/directory (one page at a time) to check for presence of setup.exe]

4. e:\win98>setup [run setup.exe]

In future when a Windows file is needed, Windows will expect the CD to be in a drive with the letter e:
This can cause a problem, especially if at that time you have an e: partition on your HDD! :(

[vegas]

Sylvander,
I tried to make the source boot manager floppy to no avail. I changed the boot sequnce to boot from floppy drive to do this. Iv'e got one drive(C) on the laptop's HD. I'm pretty sure the CD is Bootable as well. Tried your sequence to change to the (E) drive ect... to no avail.
Any other advice?,

Vegas

[Sylvander]

"Tried your sequence to change to the (E) drive ect."
I tried this myself to see if it would work, which it did, as follows:

1. Restart to startup floppy "With CD-ROM support".
a. CD-drive drivers loaded.
b. "Virtual Disk" was H:
It follows, therefore, that the Master optical drive will be given letter I: in my case.

2. A:\>i: [enter]

3. I:\>cd win95 [enter] [I used my Windows 95 CD]

4. I:\win95>dir /p [enter]
The folders & files were displayed one page at a time; the Setup___exe file was there.

5. I:\win95>setup [enter]
Setup.exe ran. Pressed "Esc" key to quit.

[Sylvander]

" I tried to make the source boot manager floppy to no avail"
Sorry about that, I forgot how tricky it is. :(

1. Make a bootable floppy and put it in the FDD and download [from the website] to the bootable floppy, the sbminst.exe & cwsdpmi.exe files.

2. Restart with the floppy in the FDD [with the BIOS set to boot 1st from the FDD].

3. At A:\> enter A:\>sbminst

4. read the info on screen for guidance and reassurance then:
Enter A:\>sbminst -t us -d 0
Be very careful to type spaces before -t, us, -d, 0 [0 =zero, - =dash].

5. Confirm that you want to install to drive 0 [the FDD].

6. Installation Successful!

You can now reboot to that floppy and it should run and display the drives available to boot.

I made a new copy of a bootable floppy including the "Smart Boot Manager" and tested it, writing down what I did as I did it, and typed them here, so I know it works.

[Paul Komski]

I wee thing I recently discovered (perhaps someone wrote about it here) is that if you use a Win98/ME Startup Diskette (and enable the CDROM support option with the installation CD in the CD drawer) you can then simply type setup at the A prompt and setup will run automatically from the CD, without looking for or specifying its drive letter.

[Sylvander]

Now that you mention it, I remember that. Can't remember who it was that pointed it out; one of the knowledgeable regulars.

Must try it and hammer it into my memory. :)

I wonder how that's done? :confused:

[Paul Komski]

I wonder how that's done?

On a WinME startup diskette's autoexec.bat file after setting up the ramdrive and CDROM letter there is a line:-

path=%RAMD%:\;a:\;%path%;%CDROM%:\

... which puts the CDROM letter (as the variable above) into the path so that setup.exe file is now found without the need for specifying its drive letter. If there had been another setup.exe file in the a: drive it would of course taken precedence.

[Sylvander]

Thanks for the explanation.
I take it that when I typed A:\>setup [enter] DOS searched for "Setup.exe" at all of those locations.
What if it found it at more than one location?
Is that impossible?

I tried it with my Win98 startup floppy and it worked just fine. :D

[Paul Komski]

If more than one it uses the first it finds; that's why I mentioned what would happen if there was a setup.exe file in the a: drive. It would take precedence.

Rename an innocuous executable such as ptedit.exe to setup.exe and put it on the floppy. Now setup.exe should startuup ptedit and not the CD's setup.

[Sylvander]

I do things too quickly! :(

Should have noticed you'd said that.

That now seems very clear, so I aught to remember it; only time will tell, the old memory is getting worse not better.