It seems I cannot make a USB stick bootable so I can use that as a basis for making a bootable CD I require such a setup to flash the BIOS on some older machines that do not support Windows based updates The goal is to make a DOS disk image so I can make a CD bootable with the flash tool and the BIOS image file Windows refuses to do that for anything other than a floppy disk, but I do not have any working floppies anymore and worse, my machine does not even have a floppy controller. I am looking for a simple solution to make a bootable CD with the flash tools My MVP is for the Windows Desktop Experience, i.e. Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7 IT Remote Assistance is available for a fee. I am best with C++ and I am learning C# using Visual Studio 2010 Developer | Windows IT | Chess | Economics | Hardcore Games | Vegan Advocate | PC Reviews

You can download HP's USB Disk Format Tool. It is no longer available on HP's site, but several download sites still have it. It is free, and even though it was intended for HP's own USB sticks it works on all other USB sticks I've tried it on. http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/Hard-Disk-Utils/HP-USB-Disk-Storage-Format-Tool.shtml

That tool wants a boot floppy too. No better than Roxio 2011 My MVP is for the Windows Desktop Experience, i.e. Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7 IT Remote Assistance is available for a fee. I am best with C++ and I am learning C# using Visual Studio 2010 Developer | Windows IT | Chess | Economics | Hardcore Games | Vegan Advocate | PC Reviews

That is because the files needed are copyrighted by Microsoft and can not be distributed by the creators of the software.

In order to make a USB drive bootable you will have to format it and create it using Diskpart and make the partition you create on the USB the "Active" partition. However there is no way to use this procedure to design a bootable CD. A program like CDBurnerXP can make bootable CD's however I have never worked with them myself, I have used bootable USB now for a while. SeanMCTS: Windows 7

I used diskpart and it was another useless effort. Sure seems to be a nuisance that while Windows will allow systeme floppy, the USB stick as replaced that. My MVP is for the Windows Desktop Experience, i.e. Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7 IT Remote Assistance is available for a fee. I am best with C++ and I am learning C# using Visual Studio 2010 Developer | Windows IT | Chess | Economics | Hardcore Games | Vegan Advocate | PC Reviews

Hi, Thanks for posting in Microsoft TechNet Forum. It sound like your computer does not support to boot from USB stick other than Windows. As we know, certain model PCs, in particular older model PCs, do not support booting from USB devices. Check with your hardware vendor to see if the PC supports booting from a USB device and/or if they offer a BIOS update the will allow the PC to boot from a USB device. Alex Zhao TechNet Subscriber Support in forum. If you have any feedback on our support, please contact tngfb@microsoft.comPlease remember to click Mark as Answer on the post that helps you, and to click Unmark as Answer if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.

Bart's PE was good and here's a link : http://4sysops.com/archives/build-a-bootable-windows-pe-3-0-usb-drive-with-rescue-tools-part-1/ Third party disclaimer for non-Microsoft sites and software applies here.

I have looked at that tool as well. My MVP is for the Windows Desktop Experience, i.e. Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7 IT Remote Assistance is available for a fee. I am best with C++ and I am learning C# using Visual Studio 2010 Developer | Windows IT | Chess | Economics | Hardcore Games | Vegan Advocate | PC Reviews

Maybe I need to find a virtual floppy program. My MVP is for the Windows Desktop Experience, i.e. Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7 IT Remote Assistance is available for a fee. I am best with C++ and I am learning C# using Visual Studio 2010 Developer | Windows IT | Chess | Economics | Hardcore Games | Vegan Advocate | PC Reviews

Hi, We’d love to hear your feedback about the virtual floppy program solution. By sharing your experience you can help other community members facing similar problems. Thanks. Alex Zhao TechNet Subscriber Support in forum. If you have any feedback on our support, please contact tngfb@microsoft.comPlease remember to click Mark as Answer on the post that helps you, and to click Unmark as Answer if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.

Everything seems to be virtualized, so what not the floppy. My MVP is for the Windows Desktop Experience, i.e. Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7 IT Remote Assistance is available for a fee. I am best with C++ and I am learning C# using Visual Studio 2010 Developer | Windows IT | Chess | Economics | Hardcore Games | Vegan Advocate | PC Reviews

You might try The Ultimate Boot CD. http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/ It contains multiple floppy images of freeware utilities and has a menu at boot that allows you to choose a floppy image to boot to. It also allows you to add custom tools. It's basically just a bootable FreeDOS CD. It uses syslinux.exe to make FreeDOS-bootable USB sticks and isolinux.exe to make a FreeDOS-bootable ISO, and you don't have to provide a floppy image to make it bootable. There is also a bootable FreeDOS ISO here, but it may be an install CD, I don't know. http://www.freedos.org/freedos/files/

Have you seen either of these tutorials? http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/46707-ms-dos-bootable-flash-drive-create.html http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/2432-usb-windows-7-installation-key-drive-create.html

I now have a USB floppy drive. That and a USB DVD drive. eBay seems to be increasingly a solution. Curious as memtest has a USB setup to make the it boot. That uses Linux not that it matters, its bootable so it can work on a machine without harming the HD. There is even a Linux out there for USB sticks. I think Microsoft needs to rethink the DOS license as USB sticks have replaced the floppy/zip/etc The CD/DVD/etc have emerged the popular way to distribute operating systems but making a custom boot disk is a nuisance. With my USB floppy I was able to boot DOS 5 fine. My MVP is for the Windows Desktop Experience, i.e. Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7 IT Remote Assistance is available for a fee. I am best with C++ and I am learning C# using Visual Studio 2010 Developer | Windows IT | Chess | Economics | Hardcore Games | Vegan Advocate | PC Reviews