How to Make a XP Boot CD
When something goes wrong with your computer it's nice to be able to access your files. In the '90s this typically meant using a boot disc, a floppy disc with a bootable version of DOS. A modern version of this is the boot CD. Building your own Windows XP boot CD takes awhile, and requires you to purchase an additional copy of Windows XP, but it's fairly easy to do.
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Things You'll Need
- Retail copy of Windows XP, other than the one installed on your computer
- Internet connection
- Blank CD
- CD burner
- Hard drive with at least 1 gigabyte free
Instructions
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Install Bart's PE Builder (free download, see Resources). This free tool take the data on a Windows install CD and create a bootable XP CD.
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Insert you retail copy of Windows XP.
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Start PE Builder and agree with the license. The program will then look for your install files, which it will find on your CD.
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Tell the program to "Burn to CD/DVD," then click the "Build" button to start the process.
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Agree with the Windows terms of service, when prompted, and PE Builder will go through the process of building your boot CD. This can take awhile, but when you're done you'll have a working Windows operating system you can boot from a CD.
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Tips & Warnings
Looking for a bootable CD you don't have to build? Try Ubuntu (free download; see Resources). This version of Linux is perfect for recovering files, and can be downloaded as an ISO file you can easily burn.
For legal reasons, you cannot install a copy of Windows used on a computer onto a boot CD; you need a separate copy altogether.
