The Joel on Software Discussion Group (CLOSED)

I followed some tutorials on the web on how to do this, but the key I used failed. Typically, they use WinImage and use a Win98 floppy image to get started, but it just won't boot.

Is there a sure-fire way to build a bootable USB just to run basic utilities like PowerQuest's DriveImage and PartitionMagic, with any USB key, and that will run on any PC that supports booting off a USB key?

BTW, what's the difference between USB-ZIP and USB-FDD that I see in some BIOS's?

Thanks.

The easiest way I have found to get a key to boot windows (ie for BartPBE) is http://gocoding.com/page.php?al=petousb

puppylinux.org uses a freedos bootable key to bootstrap loading linux. YOu can use just the dos part.

I would _assume_ USB-ZIP vs USB-FDD is Iomega's Zip drive (which came built-in for some computers a few years back) vs a standard Floppy Disk Drive (FDD).

The first thing to notice is that the BIOS needs to be able to boot from USB. Most BIOSes since 2003 do that.

I agree with PE to USB. You then decide what OS you want to boot into.

Thanks for the pointer to PE to USB. Problem is, it creates a whole install to be able to boot Windows off the USB drive, while what I need is just a basic DOS install to run command-line utitilies to repartition and/or copy partitions.

If anybody knows of a reliable tutorial that would let me do this, I'm interested.

I have used RIP-Linux (recovery is possible) from a USB key. The USB installation uses freedos then a dos batch file to actually start linux so you can also start other dos programs, or delete the linux files completely.
http://www.tux.org/pub/people/kent-robotti/looplinux/rip/

The pe route might be necessary to use windows drivers to access some hardware on your machine.

There is a difference in the start sector between bootable USB-FDD and USB-HDD, you might have to experiment to see whch combination works for your BIOS / Key size.

Unclick copy file when you use PE to USB. That should mean it will simply format the disk. Then you add the Dos bootfiles you need.

If it insists you copy the PE files, do so and then delete them all.

Found this:

http://www.bootdisk.com/pendrive.htm

When I needed to do this I believe i used the HP utility as discussed in the link.

The problem with the HP utility is that you can't guarantee it will be bootable afterwards. The PE to USB way of formatting appears to succeed. Best to try both, but do remember results will vary from machine to machine.

I was able to make an USB flash drive bootable because I had held on to my bootable DOS 7.1 (= Win98) floppies through all these years.

If you don't have such relics you need a DOS setup disk, and you must be running 32-bit Windows because DOS setup is always 16-bit code which won't run on Vista 64.

There really don't seem to be any native Windows utilities that can create a bootable DOS installation.  At least I haven't found any.

It doesn't help that Microsoft and IBM no longer distribute their DOS versions that support FAT32.  MS has DOS 6.22 on MSDN Subscriber Downloads, but do you really want to format your multi-gig USB stick with FAT16?

So you're left with more or less shady and half-assed freeware and piracy options.  One Russian company still makes a commercial DOS that supports FAT32 but that, too, lacks a native Windows installer: http://www.phystechsoft.com/

It's all a big annoying mess, for something that should be very simple.

It is possible to do it legally with freedos.
The main problem is that your system disk is likely to be formatted with NTFS - which dos can't read.

There are ntfs drivers for DOS (sysinternals used to sell one before they were bought by MS).  Similairly linux has NTFS drivers.
The BartPE route is the most reliable since it uses your genuine windows drives.

I forgot that the BartBE utility can just create the drive without copying the ISO - thanks. But I seem to remember that the instructions are in German so Viel Glück!

The instructions for PEtoUSB are in English

The question is why you want the bootdisk. If you want Ghost or Partition Magic then make your USB disk bootable and copy over the files. Both can read NTFS files.

If you want to access the NTFS files then put NTLdr and NTdetect on the bootdisk, and anything else you need.

You can also do a Linux boot disk to access an XP system, and take ownership of files if you've locked yourself out.

There is nothing easier than getting hold of all the files for bootdisks on the web.

DriveImage and PartitionMagic are not "basic" utilities.  They're about as advanced disk imaging and partition hacking utilities as you'll find.

Just be aware of the level of operability you're asking for.

They're great apps. I meant that I just needed a DOS bootable USB key, not a whole OS with GUI, etc.

Thanks guys for the infos.

The problem is making the USB bootable. I found that it would boot on some machines and not others, which is a mess if you don't know what machine you'll be working on.

For Partition Magic and Ghost, if you can get access to a machine with a floppy it's easy to make the disk, and then just copy the files over.