Getting Started

• Make sure you have a Windows XP Professional Edition installation disc with the license number, a CD burning program such as Nero, a CD-ROM drive capable of burning and a FAT32 partition to install Windows XP.
  
  The first step in the process is to create a root folder on your hard drive, or C drive. Name this folder "XPSETUP". This will be the folder you will use throughout the process of creating your boot CD. Next, open Notepad. This program can be found in your "Start" menu under the path All Programs, Accessories, Notepad. Once you have opened Notepad, type the word "Windows " exactly as it appears here, spelled with the W capitalized and all of the rest of the letters in lower case, but without the quotation marks. Place a space at the end of the word and then hit "Enter." This will then be saved to operate as the ASCII text file and should be saved with the file name "WIN51IP" on computers running Windows XP Pro Edition. If your system came with Windows XP Service Pack 1 when purchased, create and save two of these exact same files. However, you will call one file "WIN51IP" and the other "WIN51IP.SP1". If your original system came with Service Pack 2, you save the file three times with the third saved using the name "WIN51IP.SP2". Save all of this in the C:\XPSETUP directory.
  
  

Coding Your Boot Disc

• Open Notepad and copy the following into the document:
  
  IBB
  [START_BACKUP_OPTIONS]
  BuildMode=1
  Destination=0
  TestMode=0
  Verify=1
  WriteSpeed=0
  Copies=0
  FileSystem=1
  PreserveFullPathnames=0
  RecurseSubdirectories=1
  IncludeHiddenFiles=1
  IncludeSystemFiles=1
  IncludeArchiveFilesOnly=0
  AddToWriteQueueWhenDone=0
  ClearArchiveAttribute=0
  VolumeLabel_ISO9660=VRMHOEM_EN
  VolumeLabel_Joliet=
  VolumeLabel_UDF=
  Identifier_System=
  Identifier_VolumeSet=
  Identifier_Publisher=
  Identifier_Preparer=
  Identifier_Application=
  Dates_FolderFileType=0
  Restrictions_ISO9660_InterchangeLevel=0
  Restrictions_ISO9660_AllowMoreThan8DirectoryLevels=1
  Restrictions_ISO9660_AllowMoreThan255CharactersInPath=1
  Restrictions_ISO9660_AllowFilesWithoutExtensions=1
  Restrictions_ISO9660_AllowFullASCIICharacterSet=1
  Restrictions_ISO9660_DontAddVersionNumberToFiles=1
  Restrictions_Joliet_InterchangeLevel=1
  Restrictions_Joliet_AllowFilesWithoutExtensions=1
  Restrictions_Joliet_AddVersionNumberToFiles=0
  BootableDisc_MakeImageBootable=1
  BootableDisc_MediaEmulationType=0
  BootableDisc_BootImageFile=C:\w2ksect.bin
  BootableDisc_DeveloperIdentifier=
  BootableDisc_LoadSegment=07C0
  BootableDisc_LoadSectorCount=4
  [END_BACKUP_OPTIONS]
  [START_BACKUP_LIST]
  C:\XPSETUP
  [END_BACKUP_LIST]
  
  Save this Notepad file with the name "XPSETUP.ibb" and make sure to include the quotes. Without the quotes, Notepad will give this file a .txt extension and it will not work properly. Save the file on your desktop or anywhere you can easily find it again. Next, run your burning software and open the "XPSETUP.ibb" file in the software. Select "data CD" (your burning program may call this something else, but you want to select the project that allows you to burn data and not music or video to CD) The menus in the software program should have a labels tab you need to use to change the ISO settings. What you change the ISO to depends on the version of Windows XP that came with your computer when you purchased it. For a computer with Windows XP Pro, change the ISO label to "WXPOEM_EN" (without the quotation marks). For a system with Windows XP Pro with Service Pack 1, ISO should be renamed to "XRMPOEM_EN". Finally, for a system running Windows XP Pro with Service Packs 1 and 2, ISO should be labeled "X1APOEM_EN". Your final step is to write everything to disk. Insert a blank CD into your CD-ROM burner and click the "Write" or "Burn" option. If any messages pop up, click "OK" or "yes" to proceed. Once the burning is completed, you should have successfully created a Windows XP Pro Boot CD.
  
  

Disadvantages

• Although a boot CD can sometimes save you money and anxiety in the event of a computer failure, sometimes it may not offer you any comfort at all. For instance, if a computer has a massive failure and is unable to read the hard drive or the CD-ROM drive, the boot CD is useless.