Customizable DOS boot CD

[Seizure1990]

I have a computer that needs a BIOS flash, and no resident OS. I also can't get any of my WinPE boot CDs to run (this, among some other issues is part of the reason I want to do a BIOS flash). I've tried following quite a few different guides on making your own bootable DOS CD, and after having wasted quite a few CDs, I'm getting quite frustrated.

Can anybody link me a guide they have used themselves, or just tell me if you know how offhand?

[Kami-]

Use a Linux-Live CD? :p

[Seizure1990]

Use a Linux-Live CD? :p

I need to run an EXE, which is why it needs to be a DOS boot CD.

[AdverseDeviant]

have you tried hiren's bootCD? its a live win xp disc

[+Eternal Tempest MVC]

Have you tried converting one of these (dos5,6,622) to cd from here: http://bootdisk.com/bootdisk.htm

[Seizure1990]

have you tried hiren's bootCD? its a live win xp disc

I sure have, doesn't boot on this computer, though basic memory and HDD tests were fine.

Have you tried converting one of these (dos5,6,622) to cd from here: http://bootdisk.com/bootdisk.htm

How do I convert said images to a CD?

[The King of GnG]

Very simple trick to make a barebone boot CD: get a DOS (floppy) bootdisk image, be sure that the startup config (autoexec.bat+config.sys) in the image will load the CD drives (I hope you have a IDE device for that...), use Nero to burn a bootable CD (you will need to choose the .ima image of the aforementioned bootdisk). Oh, and don't forget to copy the BIOS updater on the CD before burning!

It works: 99% guaranteed :D

[Seizure1990]

Very simple trick to make a barebone boot CD: get a DOS (floppy) bootdisk image, be sure that the startup config (autoexec.bat+config.sys) in the image will load the CD drives (I hope you have a IDE device for that...), use Nero to burn a bootable CD (you will need to choose the .ima image of the aforementioned bootdisk). Oh, and don't forget to copy the BIOS updater on the CD before burning!

It works: 99% guaranteed :D

I tried burning floppy images straight to CD before and it wouldn't let me... I tried with ImgBurn and MagicISO. Nero lets you do it? Interesting.

[Seizure1990]

Erm, it seems they got rid of their Nero QuickBurn product and compiled it into some big, ugly digital arts and crafts suite...

[The King of GnG]

Yep, Nero 9 lets you create bootable CDs in a snap. UltraISO too...

[Karl L.]

MS-DOS is very old and difficult to boot from CD, in my experience. Its probably not what you actually want to be using. The easiest thing to do is to download the pre-built FreeDOS Live CD, burn it with ImgBurn, place the executable you want to execute on a FAT16 or FAT32 formatted flash drive, boot from the FreeDOS Live CD, and execute the file from your flash drive. Unlike MS-DOS, which is difficult to use with CD-ROM drives, USB devices, and FAT32 partitions, FreeDOS is much more modern and had built-in support for much newer components. (Note: Make sure that you download the FreeDOS Live CD from here; not all of the pre-built discs include the live portion.)

[goretsky Supervisor]

Hello,

Can you boot the computer from a USB flash drive? If so, that might be one way to boot into DOS or a WinPE environment.

Regards,

Aryeh Goretsky

[spikey_richie]

I followed this to flash my AWARD bios to AMI (UEFI) http://forum.giga-byte.co.uk/index.php?PHPSESSID=ji16ptj5preah0rh144udjec54&/topic,9550.0.html

[John.D]

Whats the brand/model of the mobo?? Most now (well ASUS ones) you can either flash it from within the BIOS (EZ-Flash). All you need, is a USB flash drive, with an extracted BIOS update.. Or from within windows

[Seizure1990]

MS-DOS is very old and difficult to boot from CD, in my experience. Its probably not what you actually want to be using. The easiest thing to do is to download the pre-built FreeDOS Live CD, burn it with ImgBurn, place the executable you want to execute on a FAT16 or FAT32 formatted flash drive, boot from the FreeDOS Live CD, and execute the file from your flash drive. Unlike MS-DOS, which is difficult to use with CD-ROM drives, USB devices, and FAT32 partitions, FreeDOS is much more modern and had built-in support for much newer components. (Note: Make sure that you download the FreeDOS Live CD from here; not all of the pre-built discs include the live portion.)

Thank you, I will try this.

Hello,

Can you boot the computer from a USB flash drive? If so, that might be one way to boot into DOS or a WinPE environment.

Regards,

Aryeh Goretsky

This computer is extremely old. I don't remember there being any option to boot from a USB flash drive, and given it's age, I don't expect there to be.