ARCHIVED: In MS-DOS or PC-DOS, how do I make a bootable diskette?

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Note: While this method will work with Windows 95, you should use Add/Remove Programs in the Control Panel. For more information, see the Knowledge Base document ARCHIVED: In Windows 95, 98, or Me, how do I make a startup (system recovery) disk?

If you run Windows 3.1, exit Windows. If you run Windows 95, go to an MS-DOS prompt.

To create a bootable diskette, insert a disk in the floppy drive, and, at the C:\> prompt, enter:

  format a: /s

Replace a: with b: if your floppy drive is the B: drive.

To use a floppy disk that is already formatted and contains data, at the C:\> prompt, enter:

  sys a:

Replace a: with b: if your floppy drive is the B: drive.

This will not erase any data on the floppy disk. The sys command creates a bootable floppy disk by copying the msdos.sys, io.sys, and command.com files to the floppy disk.

To create a diskette you can use to boot the computer in case of an emergency, copy the following files onto the floppy from c:\dos (or c:\windows\command in the case of Windows 95):

  format.exe
  sys.com
  fdisk.exe
  himem.sys
  emm386.exe
  edit.com (MS-DOS 6.x) or
  edit.exe (Windows 95)
  bootdisk.com

If you have a version of DOS earlier than 6.0, you should also obtain a small text editor and put it on the diskette. Several such editors are available from:

  http://www.winsite.com/

On this emergency diskette, create files called autoexec.bat and config.sys with the following contents:

  • autoexec.bat:
      echo off
      prompt $p$g
  • config.sys:
      device=himem.sys
      device=emm386.exe /noems
      dos=high

You should make the emergency disk on the same computer it may be used on. This will avoid any problems caused by booting the computer with a version of DOS different from the version on the hard drive. In addition, you should scan for viruses before creating the diskette.

This is document adav in the Knowledge Base.
Last modified on 2018-01-18 10:40:36.