Creating a bootable cd

[malraff]

hi

can anyone advise me on how to create a bootable cd!
i know i have to add an iso image, but what i need is a tutorial etc on this as i reallly aint a notion on what an iso image is and im wasting alot of blank cd's trying things out lol

[Whyzman]

Here: http://www.bootdisk.com/

[Sylvander]

1. How to make a free “Smart Boot Manager” floppy
http://www.pcguide.com/vb/showthread.php?t=41498
This makes it easier to boot a chosen drive [particularly the one holding the EBCD].

2. How to make a free EBCD bootable CD
http://www.pcguide.com/vb/showthread.php?t=41485
This has a number of useful utilities included including "Image" [for DOS, by Terabyte] & "File Manager".

There's a link in the EBCD thread to another thread that shows how to customise the EBCD by adding other programs to it [they are then added to one of its two menus], but it is rather tricky to do.
I managed to add a few programs to it, but would shy away from further attempts.

The good thing about the EBCD is that it makes a file system in a folder you choose somewhere in a partition on your HDD.
And you run a program included with the EBCD files and that makes an iso from that file system.
So to customise the iso, you customise the folder/file system and make yet another iso corresponding to that.
you can store [as I have done] a copy of each of those different iso's, each with its added features.
See a partly expanded EBCD folder system below...

[Sylvander]

And saved iso's, each having yet another added program...

The important step in burning an iso to a disk [I normally use a CD-RW], is to use a suitable burning program and use the correct method, usually something like "File->Burn image to disk".