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It is very simple to create a bootable CD. You only have to know the
most important DOS-commands and you have to be able to create a start
diskette. Anything else is not a big problem. To creat a bootable CD
you need: Thats
all you need. ONCE
AGAIN: THE BOOTABLE CD CONTAINS A "START DISKETTE" AND THE "FILES
OF THE CD". THATS ALL. YOU WILL BELIEVE IT WHEN THE CD IS COMPLETE
AND YOU BOOT IT (FROM "A:" ON THE CD) AND THEN CHANGE TO THE
CD-PART (e.g. W:) AND GO BACK TO A: ALTHOUGH NO DISKETTE IS IN YOUR DISKETTE
DRIVE. First
of all you have to create a start diskette. For standard CDs you can use
the start diskette made by Windows 98. I recommend you make the following
change to this diskette: Edit autoexec.bat and change mscdex /d:blablabla
to mscdex /d:blablabla /L:W (For the FreeDos start
diskette substitute shsucdx /d:blablabla /L:W for
mscdex /d:blablabla /L:W). If
you have done all this, some very important tips: CHECK
YOUR START DISKETTE - CHECK IT AGAIN - CHECK ALL POSSIBLE OPTIONS! WHILE
TESTING AUTOEXEC.BAT REM OUT ALL "@ECHO OFF" COMMANDS SO YOU CAN SEE IF THERE
ARE ANY ERROR MESSAGES WHILE RUNNING. YOU CAN CORRECT FAILURES ON THE DISKETTE
BUT NOT ON THE CD! DON'T FORGET
MSCDEX /L: OR SHSUCDX /L: DRIVE LETTER! CHANGE THE
PATH IN AUTOEXEC.BAT TO THE DRIVE LETTER YOU HAVE CHOSEN! WHEN THE START DISKETTE
SEEMS TO WORK PUT A CD WITH FILES ON IT INTO THE CD-ROM-DRIVE AND LOOK TO SEE IF YOU
HAVE ACCESS TO THE FILES. IS A MOUSE DRIVER INSTALLED? DO YOU HAVE ACCESS
TO THE SECOND CD-ROM-DRIVE? REMEMBER, YOU CAN CORRECT FAILURES ON THE DISKETTE
BUT NOT ON THE CD! A Small Comment : When
the CD is burnt you will not see the start diskette under Windows as it
is hidden as an image file. If your diskette is working properly you can
create an image of it which will be accepted as a "start diskette"
by your burning software. On the Internet you can find special software
which creates images of 2.8 MB diskettes (which has the advantage that
you have more space for drivers or programs). Look for information at:
http://www.nu2.nu. |
2. Creating the directory structure on the harddrive: Create a directory
on your harddrive which will contain all the programs that should be on your
CD. (In my case this is: C:\_FULL_CD or C:\_LITE_CD). This is
the root directory of your produced CD. Copy the programs command.com, zcopy,
attrib, xmsdsk, choice into this main directory. Yes, they are on both the diskette
and in the root directory. Then add other important root programs such as menue.bat,
menue.txt, nohimem.bat, nohimem.txt, noemm386.bat and noemm386.txt
For standard DOS commands
I propose either the directory DOS or FREEDOS (e.g. C:\_FULL_CD\DOS or
C:\_FULL_CD\FREEDOS or C:\_LITE_CD\DOS or C:\_LITE_CD\FREEDOS). 1.)
You create a directory with an easy to understand directory name for each
of these programs (8 letters only!!!), As many DOS programs have problems with write protection I recommend you do the following:
Information about go.bat is above. You can start burning as soon as you have created all directories, copied the files into the directory, created a "go.bat" and tested this batch file. The disadvantage of this possibility is that you must be a DOS keyboard fan as you have to type the directory and the commands after each bootup. As an alternative you can move the go.bat files into the root directory, give it another name and modify the path in the new batch file (e.g. 9xsetup.bat: contents: %LW%:\SETUP\WIN9x\setup.exe) Back to the three possibilities Possibility 1 has the potential disadvantage that you will have to type "dir" after the CD was booted because you forgot the name of your directories. Then you have to type "cd DIRECTORY" and then you can start your program. If your program has problems with write protection you have to upload it to a virtual drive ... A lot of work, isnt it? Wouldn't it be easier to have a small menu? What about Willy-Billys menu for up to 22 programs. To create it do the following: For the LITE CD, create on your hard drive the following directories C:\_LITE_CD; C:\_LITE_CD\DOS (put all standard DOS-commands in there), C:\_LITE_CD\MENUE.
Inside the C:\_LITE_CD\MENUE directory create: Copy menue.bat, nohimem.bat, noemm386.bat, menue.txt, nohimem.txt, noemm386.txt, command.com, xmsdsk, attrib, choice and zcopy to C:\_LITE_CD. Edit the file menue.txt in C:\_LITE_CD. You only have to add the name of your program behind the letters [A= ] thru [W= ]. Thats all. The DOS program which was added behind [A= ] in menue.txt must be copied to C:\_LITE_CD\MENUE\MENUE_A along with it's "go.bat" and the file "go.bat" has to be modified so that the program starts when you execute go.bat. The DOS program which was added behind [W=] in menue.txt must be copied to C:\_LITE_CD\MENUE\MENUE_W. For programs which need no HIMEM.SYS or no EMM386 we create a directory C:\_LITE_CD\NOHIMEM and C:\_LITE_CD\NOEMM386. In these directories we create directories NO_HIM_A until NO_HIM_W (no I !!!) and NO_EMM_A until NO_EMM_W (still no I !!!). Copy a file go.bat into each directory. Copy the program you want into the directory you want and edit go.bat to make the program work. Then edit nohimem.txt and noemm386.txt and add the program name behind [A= ] until [W= ]. All this is very simple with the prepared execution tool at Installation Disk - Frame Lite . To repeat it again: The letters you have to choose (e.g. C ) appear again at the directory name C:\_LITE_CD\MENUE\MENUE_C. ATTENTION! As Lite-version and Full-version offer to start a different number of programs (22 or 484) the menue.bat / menue.txt in these versions differ - of course the number of directories too. Nohimem.bat / nohimem.txt and noemm386.bat / noemm386.txt are the same. If you have done all these steps (do all go.bat files work?) you can burn your CD. Additional comment : If you have an empty harddrive you can leave out the directory \_Lite_CD and create all directories and files directly at C:\. This has a great advantage: You can test at once if the batches menue.bat, nohimem.bat and noemm386.bat start the program properly because they are made to run from C: as well as from W:, X:, Y: and Z:. If they work properly you will see a menu with your program names and if you click on one of them the program should start. back to the three possibilities Possibility 3):You create the menue for up to 484 programs as follows: Create on your harddrive the following directories: C:\_FULL_CD, C:\_FULL_CD\DOS
(put all standard DOS-commands in there) and C:\_FULL_CD\MENUE. Inside the
C:\_FULL_CD\MENUE directory create: back to the three possibilities
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3. Preparation for Burning:Before you start burning please check the following again: a) Are ALL filenames 8 letters or less? (we work in DOS!) b) Are ALL file extensions 3 letters or less? (we work in DOS!) c) Are the files command.com, xmsdsk, zcopy, choice, attrib and so on at the root directory of the CD (C:\_LITE_CD or C:\_FULL_CD) and in the directory DOS (C:\_LITE_CD\DOS or C:\_FULL_CD\DOS) and on the Diskette? d) Does the DOS directory contain the most important DOS-commands such as format, fdisk, edit ...? e) Does any program name use special signs such as -, ?, !, \; ä, ö, ü, ß, e.g. F-Prot? (this is BAD, fix it) f) If you have created text files in Windows: Did you replace ä, ö, ü, ß, by ae, oe, ue, ss? Check it with DOS Editor. g) Does the start diskette work properly? Did you fix the drive letter at autoexec.bat with mscdex /L:W or shsucdx /L:W? h) Did you add the submenu name in menue.bat behind [A= ] until [W= ]? back to the three possibilities
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4. Burning:
Run
your standard OS, start your burning program and choose the option "Bootable
CD". Put your start diskette into the diskette drive and ensure
that the diskette will be burnt too (in Nero you have to choose between
A: and C: - choose A: - in older versions of Win-On-CD you have to use
drag and drop to move the diskette onto the CD). Add the files you want
to burn onto the CD (in my case these are the files BELOW C:\_FULL_CD or
C:\_LITE_CD, this means the directories C:\_FULL_CD\MENUE and so on. Also
add the files in the directory C:\_FULL_CD\, e.g. attrib, choice, xmsdsk,
zcopy, a.bat - w.bat, menue.bat and so on. ATTENTION: There should not
be a directory W:\ or \_FULL_CD or \_LITE_CD on the files to be burned side!
This means that
\MENUE, \NOHIMEM and \NOEMM386, the batch files, command.com and other files
in the root directory, either C:\_LITE_CD or C:\_FULL_CD must
appear in the root directory of the CD!! back to the three possibilities
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