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Minimal files needed to boot to a partition 1
- Thread starter cjcoyle
- Start date
Without an OS there is nothing to boot to. You must have some kind of OS to boot. DOS is an OS. even the very basic DOS that comes in the Windows98 boot floppies is an OS.
In other words you would need at the very least autoexec.bat, sys.ini config.sys maybe a couple more not sure.
The point is you need and OS to boot.
----------------------------------
Ignorance is not necessarily Bliss, case in point:
Unknown has caused an Unknown Error on Unknown and must be shutdown to prevent damage to Unknown.
In other words you would need at the very least autoexec.bat, sys.ini config.sys maybe a couple more not sure.
The point is you need and OS to boot.
----------------------------------
Ignorance is not necessarily Bliss, case in point:
Unknown has caused an Unknown Error on Unknown and must be shutdown to prevent damage to Unknown.
- Thread starter
- #3
I'm on the same page as far as what files I need, But I haven't been able to get this to work on a FAT32 partition whether the partition is at the beginning or end of the drive. I'm feeling a little burnt as all my efforts have gone for naught, so I'm not going to go into all the things I've tried as I plan to start from scratch again. Any handholding would be appreciated .... <sigh> .....
Thanks,
-Chris
Thanks,
-Chris
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1
- #4
If you're formatting the drive fresh with win98 disks, then format C:/s should be enough to make it bootable. It will have the msdos.sys and io.sys files (these are the minimum files required) but no operating system per se. Autoexec.bat is not really required as basically, it only sets language support, keyboard support, memory use etc. It should also run without the Config.sys as well. It would be a bitch to use though. If the drive is already formatted then 'sys c:' should achieve the same result.
However, if you are trying to make a multi-os disk, then unless the 'blank' drive was the first partition, I doubt it would work.
However, if you are trying to make a multi-os disk, then unless the 'blank' drive was the first partition, I doubt it would work.
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Needs the partition active, a bootloader to point to the os, msdos.sys , io.sys, and command.com.
If you are using fat32 then an operating system capable of accessing that file system.
Win85 and later use msdos.sys as a pointer, not as code.
Creating a bootable partition with sys will also add drvspace.bin but it should run without it.
Ed Fair
Give the wrong symptoms, get the wrong solutions.
If you are using fat32 then an operating system capable of accessing that file system.
Win85 and later use msdos.sys as a pointer, not as code.
Creating a bootable partition with sys will also add drvspace.bin but it should run without it.
Ed Fair
Give the wrong symptoms, get the wrong solutions.
- Thread starter
- #7
I don't know ..... maybe I should go bang nails for a living <sigh> ....
I'm just stuck, I don't know how to make a partition bootable without installing an OS. Format /s doesn't work, io.sys, msdos.sys and whatever else there doesn't exist on the 98 boot disk and if I get it elsewhere it says incorrect dos version.
Ed, whatever it is your trying to say, I'm not following ...
Thank you all for taking the time to try to help a technically challenged geek wannabe - can ya tell I'm a little fed up?
I'm just stuck, I don't know how to make a partition bootable without installing an OS. Format /s doesn't work, io.sys, msdos.sys and whatever else there doesn't exist on the 98 boot disk and if I get it elsewhere it says incorrect dos version.
Ed, whatever it is your trying to say, I'm not following ...
Thank you all for taking the time to try to help a technically challenged geek wannabe - can ya tell I'm a little fed up?
If the drive has previously been formatted for XP, then you will get that message.
Set the bios (if not already) to check for a bootable floppy first and then Boot to the floppy disk
The boot disk should have fdisk on it.
Run that, delete all partitions, then recreate them. Then run format c:/s. That should work
Set the bios (if not already) to check for a bootable floppy first and then Boot to the floppy disk
The boot disk should have fdisk on it.
Run that, delete all partitions, then recreate them. Then run format c:/s. That should work
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