Making a Bootable CD That Actually Boots?

csimon

I've tried for hours to get this right and it's just not bootable.

First of all ...I slipstreamed my copy of Windows XP to SP2 and added drivers and all that with nLite. That went well and I'm convinced that it is doable. At the end of the program it asks me to create an ISO which I did. I copied and then burned all of this to the cd successfully. Rebooted to the cdrom and I get the typical error yadayada.

So ...I find a different set of instructions on using Nero 6. I go to download and I end up only being able to get Nero 7 trial. I followed the instructions for 6 using 7 and when I try to reboot to the cd I get the same message.

I then downloaded IsoBuster ...used it and that didn't help either.

So to recap ...I burned slipstream and nlite Iso with windows and no go.
I burned slipstream and nlite Iso with nero7 no go.
I burned slipstream and Isobuster Iso with nero7 no go.

I've wasted so much of my free time and I'm pretty darn frustrated so any help would be greatly appreciated.

I only have a single burner on my system so that may be part of the problem Idunno.

Any ideas on what I'm doing wrong or what I can do to make it right?

edit:\ I despise nero to almost a norton degree.

Kwitko

Did you add the boot image?

QCH

Hey Chris.... I have iso setup for you. Unzip the "Slipstream.zip" then just put all the files in the "CD" directory.

That would be i386 directory, the $OEM$ directory (assuming you have this directory)... see picture below. All you do is run the "ISO Creator for WinXP.cmd" It creates the ISO for you and then burn the iso... no need to make it bootable, it already is bootable.


I know this works 100%.... on Professional at least!!!

drasnor

I haven't had any problems with the Nero6 guide using the Microsoft Corporation.img boot sector from an existing Windows XP CD. Just have to remember to set the boot sector size to the correct value in Nero.

-drasnor

Omega65

A Step by Step guide for making a bootable WinXP Guide

The Microsoft Corporation.img is critical

csimon

Omega ...I followed that guide as closely as I could ...Nero 7 is slightly different but I still have no clue what I've done wrong. I even extracted the img from my cd as they say and did everything ...still won't boot. I tried 3 different guides.

csimon

QCH2002 wrote:

All you do is run the "ISO Creator for WinXP.cmd" It creates the ISO for you and then burn the iso... no need to make it bootable, it already is bootable.

I'll try it.

tmh88

this might sound stupid, but did you make sure the cd-rom that your using is the first device in the boot order?

csimon

tmh88 wrote:

this might sound stupid, but did you make sure the cd-rom that your using is the first device in the boot order?

Yeah it was the only device in the boot order. Everything else was disabled.

tmh88

well then its definately (or like 99%) a problem with the cd....try using a different brand of cd's.

has your cd-rom read that brand before?

(i know these questions are obvious, but i forget this type of stuff when troubleshooting)

tmh88

oops double post

tmh88

o yea i also forgot to say if your making an iso try using alcohol 120%.
http://www.download.com/Alcohol-120-/3000-2646_4-10414799.html?tag=lst-0-1

this is somewhat similar, but my xbox will only read iso's burned by alcohol....you never know, computers can be picky

csimon

tmh88 wrote:

o yea i also forgot to say if your making an iso try using alcohol 120%.
http://www.download.com/Alcohol-120-/3000-2646_4-10414799.html?tag=lst-0-1

this is somewhat similar, but my xbox will only read iso's burned by alcohol....you never know, computers can be picky

I'm willing to try anything at this point. I've burned cd's before and these cd's are some I picked up at best buy during christmas. They burn and retrieve data fine they just don't boot for sh**!

csimon

This is the pits ...it's still not working. I'm convinced that it's the crappy cdrw's I bought.

Is there anyway to install from my other hard drive? Would it have to be bootable as well?

tmh88

what brand are the cd's. I've heard mixed reviews about dynex, which is a brand that bestbuy owns. My xbox wont read those at all, and neither will my stereo, so if you have those, then pick up some other ones.

csimon

memorex.

I just downloaded magiciso and it worked ...well it booted anyway but I didn't have the files I needed on the cd. Started over and then it said that the trial version doesn't support files over 300mb or some crap like that. So I'm trying to find freeware or shareware now that will do it for me.

No clue why nero 7 isn't working for me.

tmh88

csimon wrote:

memorex.

I just downloaded magiciso and it worked ...well it booted anyway but I didn't have the files I needed on the cd. Started over and then it said that the trial version doesn't support files over 300mb or some crap like that. So I'm trying to find freeware or shareware now that will do it for me.

No clue why nero 7 isn't working for me.

like i said earlier, computers can be picky.....good luck getting the rest of what you need done now that you know why it wasnt working.

Madball

did you read Mediaman's guide to slipstreaming? Here?

Follow his instructions on using Nero to make a bootable cd. There's no need to have nlite make an Iso.

csimon

Kwitko wrote:

Did you add the boot image?

add the bootimg?
I only added what nlite compiled for me ...I'll have to check tonight when I get back home.

csimon

I'm going to try a staples brand cd-r or two tonight ...we'll see what happens.

QCH

That's weird... We use some of the crappiest CD-R's known to man and I've never more than a few that were coasters. The ones that were not coasters have all been fine, if made bootable.

Did you try my stuff?

csimon

QCH2002 wrote:

That's weird... We use some of the crappiest CD-R's known to man and I've never more than a few that were coasters. The ones that were not coasters have all been fine, if made bootable.

Did you try my stuff?

Yeah i tried it ...it didn't work.

I've been using those crappy memorex 4x cdrw's ...they're not working.

profdlp

Since it's a cdrw disc, are you making sure to close the session?

V-P

You know Nero has a "make bootable CD" option?

csimon

profdlp wrote:

Since it's a cdrw disc, are you making sure to close the session?

Yes I finialized and/or closed the disc a few times and that didn't help either.

csimon

SCAR wrote:

You know Nero has a "make bootable CD" option?

Yeah I tried that over and over with no luck.

V-P

csimon wrote:

Yeah I tried that over and over with no luck.

O

ryko

go to nero burning rom (not nero express), cancel any new project window, and from the menu go to "recorder/burn image..." then point it to the .iso image (which is already bootable! no need to check anything extra in nero).

if that doesn't work then try another burner or burner firmware upgrade...

csimon

I finally got it. I found silent night micro burner 5.something and was finally successful.
Something crappy happened with my nLite burn and files were missing so I had to use my vanilla disk. Problem happened when I accidentally and unknowingly nudged the power connector off of my main raptor and formatted and installed right over my storage disk. I lost everything and backups are at work ...a backup I made almost a year ago. So I lost all kinds of stuff that I'll never retrieve.

At any rate I got it ...now to make my nlite burn work properly.

csimon

Well ...idunno but I got these 4 cdr's friday and last night I decided to give one a try. It worked flawlessly the first time and I'm typing from a fresh install as we speak. I only had 1 error finding a file but I rebooted and everything went fine after that.

I think I cut install and updates to at least half the time. nLite is soooo cool.