I believe most of you would be aware that, in order to install Windows OS, one needs to boot the computer off of the CD. But, in case you have lost your Windows installation CD and you only have the files of a Windows CD as a backup copy, then what will you do? Unfortunately, these files are not simple files and cannot be simply burned into a new CD as it won’t boot. So, now what can be done? Don’t worry; there is no need to worry about such instances! Here is a perfect way using which you can easily create the Bootable Windows CD. Just follow the below explained steps you will create the CD manually within minutes, read on:
Things needed
- One blank recordable CD-ROM
- An i386 folder from off of a Windows CD
- BCD (Boot Configuration Data) package: It is a package that defines how the boot menu is configured and contains the BCD objects and elements that hold the information required to load Windows or run other boot applications.
Note: If you don’t have BCD package, just download it from the Microsoft official site and store it in a new folder named bcd C: drive (path should be c: \bcd).
Instructions for creating bootable CD
- Unzip the package contents to the bcd folder
- Now download the wnaspi32.dll and copy it to c:\bcd\bin
- Then download wxp10.zip, (it contains the bootstrap loader and some other files) and extract these files straight into c:\bcd
- After this, copy the i386 folder for the Windows install and the files like win51ic.SPx or win51ip.SPx files to either c:\bcd\cds\wxphome\files\ or to c:\bcd\cds\wxppro\files\ depending on whether it's Home or Pro. (Note: win51ic.SPx and win51ip.SPx for the Windows install are for the Service Pack)
- If needed then just copy even the other files such as autorun.inf, readme.htm and setup.exe are optional. Now you're ready to burn your disc.
- Just open the command prompt by going to Start -> Run, type cmd and hit OK
- In the command prompt type cd c:\bcd or the path of the bcd folder and hit enter in the command window
- Type bcd wxphome or bcd wxppro and hit enter, this will to run the BCD.
- Then the bcd will start creating an ISO file and prepares it to burn into your CD-ROM. In the process you will see some text running on the screen just wait for some time.
- Insert your CD-ROM into your burner when you are prompted for it and hit enter. When the process is completed bcd will eject your CD-ROM!
Now you have a bootable CD of Windows that is ready to install. However, be careful while accomplishing these steps. Keep the backup of your files before you begin the entire process. In case you encounter any disastrous situations, you will lose your entire data form your Windows systems. Under such circumstances you can make use of the Remo Recover Windows software and extract all your lost data in just few minutes.
