Bootable CD Utilities by reanimatolog - F.A.Q. - How to create a bootable Microsoft Windows XP/2000/NT CD?

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F.A.Q. - How to create a bootable Microsoft Windows XP/2000/NT CD?

This is what you need:

Bootsector:
- If you just want to start the setup routine use:
  NT5BOOT.BIN for Microsoft Windows XP/2000
  NT4BOOT.BIN for Microsoft Windows NT
  or the modified versions: NT5BOOTM.BIN and NT4BOOTM.BIN
  (about the modified versions see here)
- If you want to start other programs from the CD also (e.g. setup routine of Microsoft Windows 9x), use:
  Bootable CD Wizard with it's own bootsector (BCDWBOOT.BIN)
From the Windows distribution set:
folder \I386 of the original Windows XP/2000/NT CD
Localized fonts:
file BOOTFONT.BIN from the folder \I386
(for localized versions of Windows XP/2000/NT only, e.g. Russian)

Microsoft Windows version	Needed files
2003 Enterprise	WIN51 and WIN51IA
2003 Standard	WIN51 and WIN51IS
2003 Web	WIN51 and WIN51IB
XP Home	WIN51 and WIN51IC
XP Professional	WIN51 and WIN51IP
2000 Professional	CDROM_NT.5 and CDROM_IP.5
2000 Server	CDROM_NT.5 and CDROM_IS.5
2000 Advanced Server	CDROM_NT.5 and CDROM_IA.5
2000 Datacenter Server	CDROM_NT.5 and CDROM_ID.5
NT Workstation	CDROM_W.40
NT Server	CDROM_S.40
NT Terminal Server	CDROM_TS.40

How do I write the disk?
- Add a bootsector to Nero, CDRWin, Easy CD Creator, Instant CD+DVD, WinOnCD, CDImage or mkisofs;
- Add the folder \I386 and the files listed in 1. to the root of the CD project;
  e.g. for a russian version of Microsoft Windows XP Professional SP1 it looks like this:
  - If you're not using Bootable CD Wizard:
  - If you're using Bootable CD Wizard:
- Add your own files;
- Burn the disk.
- If while booting from the CD you get: 'CDBOOT: Couldn't find NTLDR',
  see here...

Service Packs:

If your Windows distribution already contains an integrated (slipstreamed)Service Pack, you will need one of the following files from the root of your Windows CD (additionally to the files mentioned in 1.):

Service Pack	Needed file
XP Home Service Pack 1	WIN51IC.SP1
XP Professional Service Pack 1	WIN51IP.SP1
2000 Service Pack 1	CDROM_SP.TST
2000 Service Pack 2	CDROMSP2.TST
2000 Service Pack 3	CDROMSP3.TST
2000 Service Pack 4	CDROMSP4.TST

In order to find out if your Windows distribution already contains an integrated Service Pack have a look at \I386\TXTSETUP.SIF and see if the corresponding one of the above mentioned files is listed in there.
If your distribution does not contain an integrated Service Pack, it can be very useful to integrate (i.e. slipstream) it yourself:
- Create a temporary folder on your harddisk with all the files of your future bootCD (folder \I386 and the files mentioned in 1.), e.g. C:\MyBootCD
- Start the Service Pack with the switch -X, e.g.:
- Specify another temporary folder as a target for the unpacking process, e.g.:
- Integrate the Service Pack in your existing folder with the following command:

BOOTFIX.BIN
- If you are creating a bootdisk for Microsoft Windows NT and you want the following message to appear while booting
  
  "Press any key to boot from CD..."
  
  like it does with Windows XP/2000, you need to add to your Windows NT distribution the file \I386\BOOTFIX.BIN from a Windows XP or Windows 2000 distribution, and you have to use the bootsector NT5BOOT.BIN (NT5BOOTM.BIN) instead of NT4BOOT.BIN (NT4BOOTM.BIN)
Different folders \I386 on one disk:
- How to combine different Microsoft Windows XP/2000/NT distributions see here
- How to combine different programs with I386 folders see here