Creating a startup disk is fairly simple. If you are going to be making major modifications to your startup files: (ie: config.sys autoexec.bat), it is a good idea to have a boot disk for emergencies. If you are going to be loading new software or hardware, you should also have one. Here’s how to do it:
- Get a blank disk, formatted or unformatted, doesn’t matter.
- Pop it in your floppy drive.
- From the DOS prompt type: (don’t type the “C:\>”, type what’s after it, ie: “format a: /s” ... that’s a forward slash folks)
C:\>format a: /s
This says: format the floppy in A drive (you can substitute with B drive if that is correct), and the /s says format as a System diskette. You will be informed to insert a new disk and press insert when ready. Then you will hear some growling noises coming from your floppy drive and be shown the percent completed as it formats. All this really does is formats the disk and puts command.com on the disk. It is a minimal system disk and doesn’t allow you to do full-blown operations. None of your peripherals will work, etc. But it will let you in your system to recover your startup files from backup. You DID make backups didn’t you? For Windows 95 users... How do I get to DOS? Go to your Start menu, usually in the bottom right of the screen, then the Programs menu item, then the MSDOS Prompt selection. You will be dropped off at:
C:\>windows To get back to the main root directory, type “cd” followed by a back slash as so:
cd\ |
