Ultimate Bootdisk

[Steve]

I'd like to make the ultimate boot disk for my computer.

I have: AST Century City
Pent.lll 550 MHz
63(?) MB Ram
Intel 810e chipset
D810emo mobo
Imation 120 SuperDisk Drive
Win. 98se

With the superdisk drive I'm not limited to the usual 1.44 MB of a floppy. I've got 120MB to play with, so space isn't an issue. What is an issue is that this computer is set up without an "A" or "B" drive. It has no floppy in the box. That's why I bought the SuperDisk Drive. I haven't been able to make a bootdisk for my computer because Win98se will only recognize "A" drive to make a bootdisc. My SDD also takes regular floppies but is installed as drive "E". Another "issue" is that I don't have a real Win98se disk. All I have is the "System Recovery CD" that came with the computer.

Another interesting feature of this machine is that it's all USB. It has no parallel or serial ports. It has 4 USB ports. I have a USB mouse, keyboard, printer, scanner and superdisk drive. I don't know if this will effect what's on the boot disk.

So I guess my question is...How do I make a real good bootdisk for this machine? What files would you folks suggest I put on it? Why? How do I actually do it and how do I actually use it? This machine looks for bootfiles on the "C" drive first, not the "A" drive because there is no "A" drive.

I've been reading this forum from the day it came on the 'net, but when all is said and done, I'm still a real beginner. Any advice?

[mjc]

The mcahine you describe is called "legacy free" by some manufacturers and the basic idea is the you wouldn't need a boot disk (yeah, right), if anything ever went wrong you'd just pop in the handy-dandy restore disk, put it back to factory specs (of course why would need to tweak and personally configure your OS) and resume where you left off (after spending many hours reinstalling software that wasn't originally on your machine). Hopefully you have a CD-R, to backup your data (hard drives never fail before the warranty expires) because without a floppy (but you added a SDD) in the system until you get the OS backup and running you won't have access to the SDD, almost all restore disks require the removal of the added hardware in order to restore (they are often just a drive image of a factory fresh install). So even with the boot disk you'd still be hurting becasue the disk would get you to the point where you could fdisk and format but then the restore disk wouldn't install because it's not the way the drive was setup when the disk was burned. If you have a CD-r you could use drive imaging software and make an image of your drive (of course configured the way you want and problem free). A standard Win98 boot disk would get you to the point (depending on the imaging software used) where you could restore the image you made. So without being able to use the SDD (until after you restore) anything over and above the standard Win98 boot disk is overkill. Also make sure that you know the initial boot order in BIOS, or how to return the BIOS to the default values because you could loose the ability to restore at all if you can't boot from a CD.

To make the standard boot disk you go to Control Panel -> Add/Remove Programs -> Startup Disk and follow the onscreen directions.

One other thing you have a question mark after your memory size. On an i810 chipset it uses a base of 1MB of sytem memory for the video, and can "share" upto 11MB for video memory. So you have, 64MB installed - 1MB video = 63MB.

Sorry for the above rant, but as you can see I am not a fan of these legacy free machines, if something relatively minor goes wrong you're basically ...........

Also I didn't mean to sound like I was knocking your choice of machines or anything personal, I just don't like the basic assumption that some manufacturers have that we (computer users) would want our machines to be exactly the same as everyone elses and not customize them to our own needs.
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mjc
Links list:Computer Links (http://www.fortunecity.com/skyscraper/highrise/11/index.htm)

Do Vulcans even have to debug?

[This message has been edited by mjc (edited 03-29-2001).]

[Paleo Pete]

mjc: Thanks for the info, I didn't know much about this type of machine, but it sounds like it's even worse than proprietary to me...

Sorry Steve, not trying to knock your choice of computers either, but I tend to look at things from a "what if it breaks" standpoint. Seems that in this case if it were to have problems it would be very difficult to repair. I think it definitely needs a floppy drive...If you want a high capacity floppy the LS-120 might be a consideration. It holds 120MB of data, and if you get the type that uses the floppy interface, it also is seen by the machine as a typical 3 1/2" floppy A: drive and is bootable.

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Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines!
Note: Please post your questions on the forums, not in my email.

Computer Information Links (http://www.geocities.com/paleopete/)

[Steve]

"Worse than proprietary"! http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/eek.gif Jeeze Pete, ya gonna kick my dog too? http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/frown.gif

All seriousness aside... this hasn't been a bad machine. I admit, I knew even less about computers when I bought it than I do now but, in over a year it's never broken down. Plll is a pretty good chip. I think I have been alittle unclear in my post. The Imation 120 SuperDisk Drive I mentioned IS the LS-120 you mention, Pete. I can use floppies and superdisks.

I think my biggest problem is the software. I have a proprietary OS. Windows AST or whatever. Can't I buy a 98se disk, do a reinstall of windows and configure it the way I like? Would my present hardware keep me from doing any of this? I was thinking of adding an external harddrive with NT on it so that I could learn about that OS also.

Am I out in left field here?

[mjc]

Well, then with a clean install of a "real" version of Win98se thenyou are able to just about anything, because the you don't have uninstall hardware to restore. Then you still have the problem of how to get USB support without an OS.......hmmmmm

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mjc
Links list:Computer Links (http://www.fortunecity.com/skyscraper/highrise/11/index.htm)

Do Vulcans even have to debug?

[Steve]

Thanks mjc, I get your point about this kind of computer but come on now, will I have to get a new HD or somethin'. How come?

[mjc]

If it has the floppy port on the board you'll be alright, any way a floppy is cheap these days. I wasn't trying to rub it about the computer,just say that even with a new OS you'll still be stuck unless you've got some kind of non-OS USB support built into the board (I noticed that my BIOS has a line for "legacy USB" support) in which case the LS120 should be able to be seen by BIOS and be set to be bootable. If that is the case, then back to your original question, I'd put a virus scanner (something likeF-prot (http://www.f-prot.com/), a small DOS based antivirus prog), maybe a couple of diagnostic programs, of course the standard Win98 start up.

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mjc
Links list:Computer Links (http://www.fortunecity.com/skyscraper/highrise/11/index.htm)

Do Vulcans even have to debug?

[Steve]

I don't think there's a floppy port on the motherboard. I'm useing the LS-120/SDD as my floppy, both 1.44MB and 120MB. Sorry I'm so slow on the uptake. I didn't realize USB was OS controlled. I figured it was in the BIOS. This puts it in a whole different light. I don't think my CDROM drive is USB. Is the win98se disk self booting? If not can I set the computer to boot from the "D" drive (cdrom) instead of the "C" drive (HD)?

[mjc]

The reason I mentioned the legacy support in BIOS is I have an i810 also, so you may have some BIOS control for the USB but most of the USB device need specific drivers to function, hence the need for the OS first. There are some DOS USB drivers for some devices. If you can get into BIOS with your USB keyboard then you've got some form of USB support at the BIOS level. Oh, well I just finished doing a litle research and it seems that there is no such critter as a bootable USB device, according to USB specs.

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mjc
Links list:Computer Links (http://www.fortunecity.com/skyscraper/highrise/11/index.htm)

Do Vulcans even have to debug?

[Rick]

This is Scary.

Talk about Plug and PRAY

I think the First thing I would Do with these new systems is.
Find someone with a CD-R and have them make a BOOT floppy.
Using the O/S you have.
Then have that Boot disk Burned onto a CD and Keep it for Future use.
Doing so should give you all the drivers you need to get up and running
with both cd-rom and Usb support.
As I under stand it even ME can boot from a Cd-rom drive.

After all we know how stable Windoz is .

[Rick]

One More thing.
If you only have 2 or 4 USB ports on your system.

Do yourself a favor.
Grab a USB HUB.
Most have 4 ports allowing you to pug the hub into one of your existing ports.
Giving you at least 3 more ports to use.
The cable from the system to the hub makes it easy to place the hub wherever you like

I'd also like to suggest that you get one with it's own power source.
And not have it leach power off the systems power supply.

I have one of these Hub's and for all practical purposes it worked well.
I just don't use Usb so it's now confined to the Bottom shelf of the extra parts bin.

[Steve]

Thanks mjc and Rick. This IS alittle scary. Everything I read refers to the great importance of having good boot discs and here I have a machine that can't use them!? Go figure. I think I'll take your advice and look around for someone who can burn a couple of cd's for me.
I guess maybe this summer would be a good time to start building a new system. Work is startin' to pick up. Overtime ($) is on the way...