Which bootable files for windows xp

Make sure that you get your copy on a CD — one that you can hold onto and store away in case you ever need it. Contact the company and complain loudly. More and more customers are getting the CD they deserve — even after they pay for their PCs — but only if they bellyache enough.

These maladies have several symptoms, but the most common occurs when you try to start your PC and you get a text message, such as one of the following: Missing operating system. Error loading operating system. Invalid partition table.

NTLDR is missing. A disk read error occurred. NTLDR is compressed. The big advantage to a boot file bypass disk: If it works, when you finally get your machine going again, everything should work just fine.

You have access to all your files on all your drives, all your hardware should be chugging away, and you can scramble around madly backing up your files in anticipation of the possibility you have to replace your hard drive. The steps here create a floppy disk that will boot your PC, bypassing the key files on your hard drive.

For instructions on performing a reinstallation, see www. To make a boot file bypass disk 7. NTLDR itself, while traditionally given all the praise and glory, does not do its job alone and is, at best, only a third of the solution. Especially in cases where more than one OS is installed on the same computer on different partitions , NTLDR takes heavy advantage of this feature. NTLDR reads boot configuration information from the boot. The ntdetect. It collects this type of hardware information:.

While the Windows kernel has other means of identifying and communicating with the underlying hardware on your PC via the HAL, or hardware abstraction layer , the information from NTDETECT is crucial in facilitating first access to the disks and other hardware. The reason you don't see any boot files is because they are written to the boot sector.

Windows explorer doesn't see boot sectors. Yes, with IsoBuster or even 7-Zip. Thanks again, Mr X. I downloaded isobuster and will try it.

A bootsector is written to the bootsector. It uses a bootsector that is bytes in size, sometimes called "Arnes Boot Record" or "Microsoft Corporation. You need to extract the bootsector from your original bootable CD and provide it to the burning app. Another small tool is here :. My recommendation is to get a second drive to be used as a backup for programs and storing disk images.

If using Windows Explorer or similar file management tools using shell Another solution, without modifying any of those "factory" defaults The [operating systems] section is comprised of one or more boot entries for each operating system or bootable program installed on the computer.

A boot entry is a set of options that defines a load configuration for an operating system or bootable program. The boot entry specifies an operating system or bootable program and the location of its files.

It can also include parameters that configure the operating system or program. The following sample shows the [operating systems] section of Boot. It has two boot entries, one for each operating system. The location of the operating system. For example:.