China DOS Union

It’s over, it’s over, it’s all over. After coming back from a trip, Xiaoyu discovered that his computer was already completely paralyzed. Xiaoyu secretly “cursed” to himself, but the problem still had to be solved, so he could only “call for help” from an old hand. “Do you have a boot disk? Just boot with a boot disk, then..., and if that still doesn’t work, just reinstall the system!” the old hand instructed over the phone. But “boot disk” was a new term Xiaoyu had never even heard before. Looks like Xiaoyu still needs to learn more!
　　What Win98 calls a boot disk is actually a floppy disk with special functions. This floppy disk needs to be created by the Win98 system, and is mainly used to start the computer when the Win98 system is completely paralyzed, so that you can find the cause of the error or reinstall the system. The boot disk contains more than twenty files and requires a total of 1.2M of space. It includes common DOS commands, allowing operations such as disk partitioning, disk formatting, and file copying to be completed in the DOS environment. At the same time, it also includes a CD-ROM driver, allowing you to use the CD-ROM drive directly in DOS when Win98 cannot start. It is very necessary to make a boot disk in case of emergencies!
　　1. Creating a boot disk
　　A Win98 boot disk can be created in two ways. One way is during the Win98 installation process, when the system will automatically ask whether you want to create a boot disk at that time. You just choose to create it, insert a floppy disk, and follow the prompts on the screen.
　　In addition, we can also create a boot disk at any time while using Win98.
　　Click “Control Panel,” double-click “Add/Remove Programs,” then select the “Startup Disk” tab in the window that appears (as shown in Figure 1). Insert the disk, then click “Create Disk” and that’s all. The system will also display the creation progress. Of course, both of the above methods will overwrite all files originally on the floppy disk, so you must use a blank disk or make sure beforehand that the files on the disk do not need to be kept.
　　After the boot disk is made, it is best to set the floppy disk to write-protected status. This can not only prevent accidental deletion of files on the boot disk, but also prevent the boot disk from being infected by viruses.
　　2. What exactly is on the boot disk?
　　 “Looks like making a boot disk is pretty easy!” After reading the method above, Xiaoyu could not help secretly feeling pleased. In no time at all, Xiaoyu finished it easily, but holding this disk, he was puzzled again. “What can this disk do? What exactly is on it?” Xiaoyu hurriedly opened system help, but who would have thought there were only a few brief words there, really not enough to solve the problem. Xiaoyu had no choice but to keep reading!
　　First of all, the Win98 boot disk contains the three core system files Command.com, Io.sys, and Msdos.sys to ensure that the computer can run in DOS mode and can call the most commonly used DOS internal commands such as DIR, DEL, and COPY.
　　The disk partitioning command FDISK.EXE and the disk formatting command FORMAT.COM allow you, when necessary, to repartition and format the hard disk in preparation for reinstalling the operating system. The commonly used command formats are: FDISK, then after pressing Enter, operate according to the menu; FORMAT C： and FORMAT C:／S, the former only formats drive C, while the latter will automatically load DOS after formatting is complete, so the hard disk will be able to boot on its own without a boot disk. Note that formatting the hard disk will cause all stored data to be lost, so please do not format the hard disk lightly.
　　The disk scanning command SCANDISK.EXE and the disk checking command CHKDSK.EXE can help you check and repair errors on the hard disk, for example: SCANDISK ／ALL scans all hard disks; CHKDSK C: checks all tracks and sectors on drive C. This command can sometimes complete disk checks that SCANDISK cannot complete.
　　The SYS.COM command is specifically used to “transfer” the system from the source disk to the target disk. It copies the system files on the source disk to the corresponding locations on the target disk, enabling the target disk to boot independently. When after startup the system prompts you with error messages such as invalid system disk, MS－DOS version mismatch, or damage to the Command.com command, you can “transfer” the correct operating system from the boot disk to your hard disk. For example, if your computer originally booted from drive C, then after booting with the boot disk you only need to type “SYS C：”. After the operation is completed, the system will prompt: “System transferred”. After restarting, it will generally run normally, sparing you the trouble of reinstalling the system.
　　In addition, the boot disk also contains commands such as EDIT and DEBUG for convenience of use. The Win98 boot disk also contains a series of files used for CD-ROM startup. This is because if you originally wanted to use the CD-ROM drive under DOS, besides having a CD-ROM driver, you also had to write the corresponding command line in CONFIG.SYS, which added quite a bit of difficulty if you needed to copy files directly from a CD. The Win98 boot disk, however, can automatically detect the CD-ROM drive according to the user's needs, which is undoubtedly much more convenient.
　　3. Usage instructions for the boot disk
　　 After carefully reading the above introduction, while marveling that a single boot disk had so many “tricks,” Xiaoyu unconsciously began thinking, “With a boot disk, I’ll never have to fear system paralysis again.” After reading the introduction below, Xiaoyu felt even more confident that he had the ability to solve the problem!
　　To use the Win98 boot disk well, you must have some DOS knowledge and know the usage formats of common DOS commands. Since DOS commands are used less and less now, there is actually no need to specially look for related books to read. You only need to remember that the DOS command format is: DOS command . That is enough. The contents in brackets can be omitted according to the situation, and spaces must be left between the command and path, and between paths. In actual use, you just apply the above format according to the real situation.
　　(1) Generally, we only use the system disk as a last resort when the system is completely paralyzed and we cannot even see the blue sky and white clouds. If the system can enter Safe Mode, then of course it is much more convenient to solve the problem under Windows!
　　(2) If you want to use a boot disk to start the machine, you should set the BIOS to boot from the floppy disk first. After booting from the boot disk, a menu will appear for you to choose from, as shown in Figure 2. The options are: load the CD-ROM driver and start, start directly without the CD-ROM drive, and read the help file. You can choose according to the specific situation. If automatic detection of the CD-ROM drive is needed, the system startup time may be relatively long, and it will prompt whether loading was successful.
　　(3) If conditions permit, you can copy the Win98 installation files to a partition on the hard disk. Then when you really need to reinstall the operating system, the boot disk startup does not need to detect the CD-ROM drive, speeding up startup, and at the same time installing the operating system directly from the hard disk is much faster than installing from CD!
　　(4) Besides temporarily starting the computer when the system is paralyzed, the boot disk can also be used for operations such as disk partitioning. If you have some DOS knowledge, you can even turn it into a DOS6.22 boot disk with a CD-ROM driver and common DOS6.22 commands.
　　 Since Win98 system stability is not very good, it is very necessary to always keep a boot disk on hand and store it properly. As the saying goes, “Preparedness averts trouble”!