On Thu, 24 Jun 2004 03:34:19 -0500, Steve Kleiser <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Burning the CD as an image using Roxio Easy CD Creator 5 on my WindowsXP > machine results in a CD with a directory structure that looks like it > should, from Explorer (it's comparable to my purchased CD, which does boot). > Presumably, the image also provided any required system files.
You cannot determine by examining the file structure whether or not a CD is bootable. > But can I confirm that from within WindowsXP? The way bootable CDs work is to have a floppy image at the front of the CD which is loaded by the BIOS into memory and assumed by the rest of the computer to be a floppy disk from there on in. The scheme is called (I think) el torito and is described in technical detail here: http://www.phoenix.com/resources/specs-cdrom.pdf I'm a bit stumped as to how you could confirm it from within windows XP. If you a UNIX environment such as cygwin or mingw or a livecd like knoppix you could inspect the cd outside of the filesystem by operating on the cd-rom block device and using tools like dd. > Also, is it OK to use a CD-RW, or is > there some subtle difference? Does the CD need to formatted first, or would > that just impress "non-Linux-ness" onto it? I'd doubt it would make much difference, and I don't think formatting would be necessary - but the boot block would need to be written as above. > Are there any freeware utilities to burn an ISO image to CD (e.g., > iso2CD.exe or something) that run under Windows? The CD burning applications > appear to contain numerous features I don't need for this particular > purpose, and which only serve as potential sources of error. Nero (www.ahead.de) is not free but available for a time-limited trial; and I know from experience that it is relatively straight forward to both write an existing el torito ISO and to create new ones. -- Jon Dowland -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
