Creating a Boot Disk

Sometimes the hard drive you purchase doesn't come with an install disk so you will need to create a boot disk in order to install the hard drive for the appropriate operating system you wish to install. This can be a simple task if you make it one.

Obviously you will need a working computer already running a Windows OS to set one up. The computer you are using to read our tutorials is probably adequate for that.

Select the operating system below that you intend to install and follow our instructions.

Once you are done either click back on your browser window or click here to return to our booting up lesson.

Creating a Windows 98 / ME Boot Disk
Creating a Windows 2000 Boot Disk
Creating a Windows XP Boot Disk

Windows 98 / Windows ME Boot Disk

To create a Windows 98 Boot Disk you will need a blank floppy and your Windows 98 CD. Follow the steps below by left clicking on each of these items in the following order:

1. Click -- Start
2. --Settings
3. --Control Panel
4. --Add/Remove Programs
5. --Startup Disk tab
6. --Create Disk
7. Insert a blank floppy and your Windows 98 CD

You may have to wait a minute or two but then you will have a working boot disk.

Windows 2000

To create a Windows 2000 Boot Disk, you will need four 1.44MB diskettes and the Windows 2000 CD. Follow the steps below by left clicking on each of these items in the following order:

1. Click -- Start
2. --Run
3. --D:\ (or whatever drive your cd is so you can browse it)
4. Open the Boot Disk Folder
5. Double Click "Makeboot.exe" to run it
6. You will need 4 blank floppy disks and your Windows 2000 CD

Click Start / Run / browse to the CD-ROM drive.
Open the Boot disk folder and double-click makeboot.exe and click ok to launch the program to create the diskette.

Windows XP

Creating a Windows XP Boot Disk is a little different than the other Windows operating systems.

The best advice I can give you is go to Microsoft's home page (www.microsoft.com) and download the appropriate files. Follow the directions I have below:

• If you have the Windows XP Home Edition, go to the Microsoft home page and search for the file named: WinXP_EN_HOM_BF.EXE
• If you have the Windows XP Professional Edition, go to the Microsoft home page and search for the file named: WinXP_EN_PRO_BF.EXE

Download the appropriate file and double click it to run and follow the onscreen instructions.