OK- one for the old timers .

Bit more than booting from any old boot CD.I keep a copy/back up of essential data on an old retired HDD , one that's either a bit too small for everyday use or has shown some sign of failing on constant use ,but is dependable if left to sit on the sidelines out of use .When sorting out my systems I restore my drives from dos formats from known clean floppies,which can get a bit of errors on them . So I use an old HDD with DOS 6 and an old version of Norton to recover data .

At present ,my system is totally NTFS ,my OS's are Win2000/XP/Win7 , but my dos boot CD won't boot ,neither will my OEM Win XP Pro CD .Thought it might be lack of dos boot on HDD MBR ,so on an old HDD set up DOS 6 with my Norton ( all other HHD disconnected) -it boots perfectly and sorts out floppies that otherwise would end up in bin with some ye olde progs .But -stick WIN98 boot CD in ,reboot ,select right cd drive - no ways will it boot to that cd .Any one got any ideas ????????????????????

Basicly what I'd like to do is to set up self boot CD on DOS 6 with Norton as separate directory , so that I can check/repair floppies,without going down the replacement HDD route .

With a dormant HDD and clean floppies ,I know that at reinstall my system is clean . NMight take a bit of time formating a BIG DRIVE -BUT HEY - few viruses survive a format .

So it won't boot from any CD?

The "Boot from CD" option is often disabled in the BIOS - if it's worked before I don't see why it should be, but worth a look in the startup/ BIOS settings to check?

You could test the booting by burning a Linux Live CD from somewhere and see if that boots?

So it won't boot from any CD?

The "Boot from CD" option is often disabled in the BIOS - if it's worked before I don't see why it should be, but worth a look in the startup/ BIOS settings to check?

You could test the booting by burning a Linux Live CD from somewhere and see if that boots?

Might be worth trying another DVD/CD Drive just in case!

I use 'Hirens 10.5 Boot cd' which pretty much covers everything you need to get DOS (and much more)up and running etc

Thanks guys -sometimes you get so fond of looking down one road you forget the obvious .Thge drive that don't want to work is my DVD one . Tried a 98 boot cd in my CD drive -works ok .Then remembered that last try ,my DVD was slave ( not that it should matter) but changed them back -no difference .Swapped IDE leads -no change . So it looks like my DVD drive don't want to boot , but i can live with that ( got CD drive as a back up) - I install 2000 from DOS ,can do that with XP ( or use 2000) and can use XP for Win 7 .Important thing is that i can now DOS boot a CD

For those interested -the DOS will be DOS 6, to run an old version of Norton - something like Norton 4.5 ( approx at least 20 year old) ,a very powerful disc tool - only one I know of that will rescue floppies and data on them ( and since i still have a copy ,it's free) .As said -my floppies sit in a case ,write protected ,so I know they're clean and virus free, so if I pick up a virus -I've got a clean start up .Could do it on CDs ,but I ,being olde skool prefer technology I trust .

As said -my floppies sit in a case ,write protected ,so I know they're clean and virus free.

I always wondered about the write-protection on floppies - is there something in the drive hardware that stops them being written, or is it only software (and hence a clever virus could over-ride it and write something bad on the floppy)?

Not that it's likely to be top of the agenda for today's virus writers, I guess...

Not that it's likely to be top of the agenda for today's virus writers, I guess...

Write protection is physical - but today's virus blokes aren't bothered about floppies - that's the good point .-Good thing about forgotten technology

Edited 20 June, 201016 yr by VWD