Bootable CD works, and windows said there are no files on it. Why are they redirected as being on "A:" ?

[imported_Kiwi]

I thought that the completed CD would show the files on it that existed on the (Win98 startup) floppy that I used as a source. It worked to boot up the test PC, but there are no normal "files" to get a directory listing from. I didn't try running any of the DOS commands while I was at the command line prompt -- the failure to get a "Dir" listing caught me by surprise. Did I overlook something? Or is this behavior normal? (Second paragraph added in edit.)

Something I didn't mention, and probably should have. I have tried doing this before with Easy CD, and failed, with an unusable image file. This time around, Nero has worked to do what I want, but the test system does have a floppy drive. (There was nothing in there for the test.) Nevertheless, after a second test, I realized that I did have an A:\ prompt; the directory of files is showing up as if the source files were available in that drive. There is some sort of redirection occurring that I don't understand.

 

[corkyg]

Not quite sure of what you are trying to do or how. A bootable CD usually has its boot files in a folder. Try this - put the CD in your drive, then use Windows Explorer - click on the CD and see what is in it.

 

[imported_Kiwi]

The CD has the name "New" and unlike any data type cd I made, nothing at all shows as its contents. Something similar happened in Easy CD when I tried using it for the same purpose, on one occasion. I wanted to be able to start and work on a PC that has no floppy drive installed. And it seemed to have worked, when I ran a test, but when DOS said there were no files, I was surprised it had allowed me to reach the command line.

I used Nero 6, not the 5.5 described by the author at the Bootdisk.Com web site, so there were differences in the menus available and after awhile, it wasn't possible to directly follow his steps, but I used "burn" where he wrote "write", and Nero acted like it was done copying from the bootable floppy in the computer that does have a floppy.

PS: I added a second paragraph to the first message to clarify what happens when I look for a files listing (I see it on "A:" although there is no floppy, or a blank one, in the test PC's floppy drive.)


:disgust:

 

[corkyg]

As long as it works, the files are there - but it is possible they are hidden.

 

[imported_Kiwi]

Originally posted by: corkyg
As long as it works, the files are there - but it is possible they are hidden.

A second test worked again. I can access the DOS-7 utilities, as if they were on A:, not on the "R & S" drives that the "Banana" CD drivers set up for the DVD and CD opticals that are on that PC. This would've made some sense when I was shuffling "modular" drive parts in a Dell Latitude laptop I wanted to regress back away from W2K with, since out of four copies of Window98 SE that I have, none were produced after including boot-from-CD capabilities became the norm.

{In the case of the laptop, I copied the CD to the hard drive, and used a different one of the bootdisk images that allowed me to run the Setup Command from the command line (I had some problems at first with an error message about running setup from within Windows, as if I'd attempted to load a 32-Bit setup process).} I still think I must have omitted a step using Nero, or I would be able to view the CD's contents from a PC that was started normally.

 

[Netopia]

A bootable CD always becomes A:

Your floppy (whiled booted from the CD) is renamed to B:

You will NOT be able to see this boot drive area of the CD from within Windows, but will only see the rest of the CD.

If you have properly setup the DOS CD Drivers AND have some data on the rest of the CD, then you should have at least two drives, A: and whatever you named the first optical drive in your config.sys/autoexec.bat (i.e. D: or R: or something as such). You should see what drive letter is assigned while booting up.

Joe

 

[Netopia]

n/m

 

[imported_Kiwi]

Truth is, I've just not needed to boot from CD's often enough to have picked up on this odd (I think it's odd) characteristic. But I hadn't quite gotten around to taking the logical step of omitting floppy drives from new PC builds/orders until now. I have two PC projects that I am working on, one of which was intended to be a gift for a grandchild -- it might still be, if a bad situation that came up can be settled. I don't think it needs a floppy drive.

The other is a simple type of HTPC for my bedroom. I can't imagine a video file small enough for a floppy -- and I plan to extend the LAN to that room, so the only use for a floppy is installing/repairing the OS. And the HTPC likely will depart from my previous "usual" dual boot setup, and have nothing but W2K as an OS on it.