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How to create bootable Emachines restoration disk?
I hope I am posting this message to the right board. I am new here.
I have a problem with Emachines computer. I bought it two years ago; it came with no disks whatsoever, but there was a restore partition on the hard disk, and the seller gave me a vague advice that I should be able to burn this partition on a bootable DVD.
Up to now I have still not been able to figure out how to create a bootable restore DVD!!!
My computer came with OEM Nero--I think I saw somewhere that it is the version 6. At least one application, Nero Express, is version 6.
I have came to believe that my task cannot be accomplished with this program and this version. I have heard it from a couple of people and I am sure I have read it on the Internet--I don't remember where.
I am baffled by the Nero message "Add data to your disk. Then click on "Next" to add the boot image from a bootable floppy disk."
I don't have any boot image on a floppy and the only *.img file on my hard disk is boot.img, size 42576 Kbytes. It is certainly too big to fit on any diskette!
I have also acquired too other programs, Isobuster 1.9.1 (build 1.9.1.1) and PowerISO v.3.4.
It seems that PowerISO version 3.4. lets me burn a boot image on a CD/DVD, it has a clear option for that. Still I don't know how to use it.
The following is copied from PowerISO Help file:
MAKE BOOTABLE IMAGE FILE
Edit an existing image file or create a new image file.
Choose menu item {"Action" --> "Boot" --> "Add Boot information"} .
The "Add Boot Information" dialog will pop up.
The boot information source can be:
File: A floppy disc image file or a boot information file extracted from bootable image file.
Floppy Drive: Select the floppy drive containing bootable disk.
Click (picture) to save the file.
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BURN IMAGE FILE
Click (pic), the "Burn Image File" dialog will pop up.
Choose the image file and burning drive, then click "Burn" to begin.
If the image file is not a standard ISO file, PowerISO will create a temporary ISO file before burning. PowerISO use microsoft cdburn/dvdburn to burn the ISO files. In Track At Once (TAO) mode, the recording laser is turned off after each track is finished, and on again when a new track must be written. When recording the new track, the laser is recalibrated and a new recording is initialized. The CD's table of contents is not written until the last track has been written. All current CD recorders support Track At Once. In Session At Once (SAO) mode, a first session is recorded in a single pass and then the laser is turned off. Not all drives support writing in this mode. In both modes, CDBurn always finalizes the disc. This means that you cannot add any data to the disc after writing.
DVD Disc: Check "DVD Disc", if you want to burn a DVD disc (DVD-R/RW, DVD+R/RW, or DVD-RAM).
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Now my question: how can I make a bootable restore disk with this utility? It cannot be the latter method, because it says: "In Session At Once (SAO) mode, a first session is recorded in a single pass and then the laser is turned off. Not all drives support writing in this mode. In both modes, CDBurn always finalizes the disc. This means that you cannot add any data to the disc after writing."
But I should be able to add data there! The mere boot image on the DVD is not enough: I also need to burn the restore partition of my computer to that DVD.
Now I have heard that some Emachines user has been able to create a bootable restoration CD with PowerISO. He first complained that when he tried to use Nero, he just managed to create a disk that started in Caldera DR-DOS. This is what happens to me, too. This disk cannot be used for system restoration. DR-DOS does not see any other files on the DVD except for its own files: it is totally blind to any Windows files.
Then the same user said: "Nope. My images are good. I found the problem. You were right, I was burning them wrong. I burned them to a CD-R with PowerISO and it works just like the real Windows XP Pro SP2 disc. /cheers XD"
Sorry, I cannot find any more the site where he said this, even if I used Google. But I had copied his message and saved it on my HD, so this is anyway what he said.
So: I cannot figure out how to use PowerISO to create this restoration CD or DVD.
I am also baffled by this message: "File: A floppy disc image file or a boot information file extracted from bootable image"
Bootable image? Is it boot.img? I tried to use IsoBuster, but it just created an ISO file, and when I tried to process this *.iso file, the program asked: the boot.img already exists. Do you want to replace it?
It is time I find the solution!! Please don't say I should contact Emachines. The warrant has expired and when I tried to contact them after I had bought my computer, they simply did not know anything and could not give any advice.
Please help me. Sorry that my message is this long.
musserong
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