How to Make a Win XP Bootable CD
Users of Windows XP should create a bootable XP CD for troubleshooting the operating system in case problems arise with the Windows installation. A bootable Windows XP CD will enable the user to boot up the computer if the boot sector has become corrupted or damaged and the machine will not boot up. Creating a bootable CD from an existing installation of Windows XP is not a terribly complicated process.
- Difficulty:
- Moderately Challenging
Instructions
-
-
1
Create a folder named "XPSetup" at the root directory of the C: drive.
-
2
Download and unzip the Boot Sector files from the download location provided (see Resources). Copy all files into the new XPSetup directory.
-
3
Right-click the "Start" button and select "Explorer" to open Windows Explorer. Locate the C:/i386 directory using Explorer. If the i386 directory can be found in the root, have a look in the Windows directory, which can be found in the root.
-
4
Highlight the /i386 directory and right-click on the folder.
-
5
Select "Copy" (not "Move") from the context menu and paste the folder into the C:/XPSetup directory. Do not drag and drop the folder. The folder structure should appear as C:/XPSetup/i386 once the folder has been pasted into the setup directory. Verify that the files have been copied and not moved by checking the i386 folder for its contents.
-
6
Open Notepad and create a new text file. In the new text file, type the word "Windows " with a capital "W" and the remaining letters lowercase. Include a trailing space, but do not include the quotes around the word "Windows." Press the "Enter" key to create a new line.
-
7
Save the file as "WIN51" with the quotes. Adding the quotes will prevent the .txt file extension from being added to the file name. You should now have a text file named WIN51 with Windows (including a trailing space) as its contents.
-
8
Copy and rename the WIN51 file, as specified for your operating system. For each XP service pack installed, a separate file will be created. Follow the guidelines below:
Windows XP Home, no service packs: Copy and rename the file WIN51IC.
Windows XP Home, Service Pack 1: In addition to the file named WIN51IC, copy and rename the WIN51 file "WIN51IC.SP1".
Windows XP Home, Service Pack 2: In addition to the files named WIN51IC and WIN51IC.SP1, copy and rename the WIN51 file "WIN51IC.SP2".Windows XP Professional, no service packs: Copy and rename the file WIN51IP.
Windows XP Professional, Service Pack 1: In addition to the file named WIN51IP, copy and rename the WIN51 file "WIN51IP.SP1".
Windows XP Professional, Service Pack 2: In addition to the files named WIN51IP and WIN51IP.SP1, copy and rename the WIN51 file "WIN51IP.SP2". -
9
Copy all WIN51 files into the C:/XPSetup directory.
-
10
Open the Easy CD Creator application and create a new CD project.
-
11
Select "Burn" > "Bootable CD" from the top navigation menu.
-
12
Change the Volume name for the new CD project according to the version of Windows XP:
Version - Label
Windows XP Home OEM - WXHOEM_EN
Windows XP Home SP 1 OEM - XRMHOEM_EN
Windows XP Home SP 1a and SP 2 OEM - X1AHOEM_EN
Windows XP Professional OEM - WXPOEM_EN
Windows XP Professional SP 1 OEM - XRMPOEM_EN
Windows XP Professional SP 1a and SP 2 OEM - X1APOEM_EN -
13
Copy all files below into the XPSetup directory to avoid reactivating Windows when the boot disk is used:
C:\windows\system32\oembios.bin
C:\windows\system32\oembios.dat
C:\windows\system32\oembios.sig
C:\windows\system32\CatRoot\{F750E6C3-38EE-11D1-85E5-00C04FC295EE}\oembios.cat -
14
Add the entire C:/XPSetup folder to the Easy CD Creator interface.
-
15
Insert a blank CD and click "Burn." A bootable CD for Windows XP is created.
-
16
Test the bootable CD. Shut down the computer with the CD in the CD burner. Start Windows XP and press the F12 key during start-up. A list of boot options is provided. Select the "Boot from CD" option. The computer should boot up from the CD if all steps were properly performed.
-
1
Tips & Warnings
If the OEM files in the System32 directory are not included, the Windows XP key will need to be available for reactivation.
Use the exact file names provided and make sure none of the WIN51 files includes a file extension like ".txt".
Related Searches
References
Resources
- Photo Credit cd-r image by Claudio Calcagno from Fotolia.com
Comments
-
how to download boot sector files.
-
Some problems in this help article: 1. Since I did not create the booter before my XP crashed, I need to know if I can create the booter on another XP and use it on mine. 2. Step 13 is a little confusing. Why is it not up by step 9, and why after the steps to set up Roxio Easy CD Creator? 2B. Also, the step 13 files were not in \system32\, they were in \I386\, which took a long while to find. 3. I tried a second XP to create a boot. The folder size was 880 MB, and would not fit on one CD, and the system seemed unable to create a multiple CD booter, and the CD/DVD drive would only read DVDs and not write them. 4. I tried moving the folder onto my Vista computer to create a DVD boot disk. There was no Roxio Easy CD Creator installed, so I downloaded rev 7.0. The option to create a boot disk was a bit hidden, but I found one. However, it did not seem to have place to put a project name, as instructed in this article. 5. I created the disk, but my XP would not boot from it. 5A. The f12 key brought up a Toshiba logo and icons that looked like they gave an option to boot from a CD, but that seemed to fail with very little indication of what was going on. 5B. Elsewhere there are articles saying to enter r at the first screen after the boot starts, there was no such screen with any text to suggest entering anything. 5C. If the xp key from the second computer is different, how could I enter it, or will the other one work. Questions: A. Can an XP boot from a DVD, rather than a CD. B. Can some of the 880KB of files be omitted to fit on a CD. C. Are there new instructions for how to use Easy Creator 7.0? D. Are there any problems in having the XP files somewhere on my Vista if the system searches for files to use? E. Where does one find the XP key on a computer that will not boot and has no software CD set? Note: XP boot failure message says missing or corrupt \windows\system32\config\system -- every boot fails there now. So, can we get an update and additional info? This article looked helpful at first, but the process failed. Cheers
-
how to create ubuntu run on cd.
-
I am trying to put quotes around the copied files for Windows XP Professional from the WIN51 created Notepad file and I am being told that I can't include that symbol. Please help!
-
Where do I download Easy CD?
