Bootable CD Utilities by reanimatolog - Bootable CD Wizard - Freeware Multiple-Image Bootable CD Manager

It creates multiboot CDs for computers that normally do not have the ability to start a bootmenu from the CD.
It creates a hierarchical bootmenu interface with customized apperarance.
It supports the extended formats of boot images (example).

What's in the zip?

bcdwboot.bin		The boot image file for the CD
BCDW\bcdw.bin		The bootmanager
*BCDW\bcdw.ini**		Sample configuration files for the bootmanager
BCDW\FONTS\		The folder with localized fonts
BCDW\CHARSETS\		Descriptions of localized Charsets
BCDW\logo.gif		Example of the graphic prompt
*Boot.Ini**		Examples of settings for the bootmenu
initest.com		The program to test a configuration before burning the CD
DOS4BCDW\		The folder with the files necessary to create the special boot image dos4bcdw.ima (how to do this?)

How to create a multiboot CD with BCDW?

Create a folder on your harddisk for the files of your multiboot CD (e.g. C:\MyBootCD\)
Unpack the ZIP-archive with BCDW to this folder
Add your files to this folder (boot images etc.)
Using Windows Notepad open the file C:\MyBootCD\BootCat.Ini
Edit the boot choices according to your files (add/remove the necessary entries)
Start your CD writing program
Choose the project for bootable and use the following settings:
Boot image: C:\MyBootCD\bcdwboot.bin
Emulation type: No emulation
Loading address: 07c0
Number of sectors to load: 4
(how to do it using Nero, CDRWin, Easy CD Creator, Instant CD+DVD, WinOnCD, CDImage or mkisofs)
Add the contents of the folder C:\MyBootCD\ to the project

Customize BCDW

BCDW can be customized through two files (create or edit existing):
- \BCDW\bcdw.ini contains the start parameters for BCDW
- \BootCat.Ini contains the boot options and the appearance settings
Both files are text files and can be created using Windows Notepad or any similar editor.
The configuration files can be text files DOS/Windows or *NIX/Linux.
The configuration files have a structure similar to the *.ini/*.inf-files of Windows:
- The files are divided into sections with the name of the section in square brackets at the beginning of each section
- The lines are of the type "keyword = value", that is the way different options can be set
- Empty lines and lines beginning with ';' (semicolon) will be ignored
Remarks:
1. The current version of BCDW only uses one section [Options], all other sections (if present) will be ignored. Unknown keywords in section [Options] will be ignored.
2. In the configuration file \BootCat.Ini the space between the beginnig of the file and the first section is used for the boot options (see description of \BootCat.Ini)

The configuration file \BCDW\bcdw.ini

The configuration file \BCDW\bcdw.ini can contain a section [Options] in which four keywords can be used to customize. This section [Options] is optional, i.e. the simple \BCDW\bcdw.ini would be empty.

Example of \BCDW\bcdw.ini.

[Options]

Password = secret

Logo = \BCDW\logo.gif

Font = \BCDW\FONTS\russian.fnt

CharSet = \BCDW\CHARSETS\cp1251r.cpf

RootMenu = \BootCat.Ini

Keywords in \BCDW\bcdw.ini

Password (or PasswordMD5Hash)

Sets the password (or MD5 Hash of password) to be entered on start of BCDW.

Logo

BCDW can display a graphic prompt on startup.
The keyword Logo tells BCDW the location of a *.gif file to load and display as graphic prompt.
This file can be an animated *.gif file.
The gif must not be larger than ~500Kb.
BCDW supports the following video modes for the prompt: 320x200x256, 640x480x256, 800x600x256, 1024x768x256, 1280x1024x256 è 1600x1200x256 (nearest will be used).
If the picture does not fit on the screen it will be aligned and truncated.
If the keyword Logo is left out, there will be no graphic prompt.

Font

At the start of a computer, a standard english font (cp437) 8x16 is loaded in the video adapter memory .
BCDW allows another font to be loaded in the video adapter on startup (e.g. a font with Russian characters) and a font with a different size (the number of lines depends on the heigth of the symbol).
The keyword Font tells BCDW name and location of a different font file to be used on startup.
The size of the font file can be anything from 1024 bytes (font 8x4 - 100 lines on the screen) to 8192 bytes (font 8x32 - 12 lines on the screen).
If the keyword Font is left out, BCDW will use the standard font of the video adapter.

The following fonts are included with BCDW:

\BCDW\FONTS\russian.fnt		Russian font 8x16 (25 lines on the screen)
\BCDW\FONTS\russian.f32		Russian font 8x32 (12 lines on the screen)
\BCDW\FONTS\russian.f19		Russian font 8x19 (21 lines on the screen)
\BCDW\FONTS\russian.f14		Russian font 8x14 (28 lines on the screen)
\BCDW\FONTS\russian.f12		Russian font 8x12 (33 lines on the screen)
\BCDW\FONTS\russian.f11		Russian font 8x11 (36 lines on the screen)
\BCDW\FONTS\russian.f08		Russian font 8x8 (50 lines on the screen)
\BCDW\FONTS\russian.f06		Russian font 8x6 (66 lines on the screen)
\BCDW\FONTS\russian.f04		Russian font 8x4 (100 lines on the screen)
\BCDW\FONTS\cyrillic.fnt		Cyrillic font 8x16
\BCDW\FONTS\cyrillic.f14		Cyrillic font 8x14
\BCDW\FONTS\cyrillic.f08		Cyrillic font 8x8
\BCDW\FONTS\latin1.fnt		Latin1 font 8x16
\BCDW\FONTS\latin1.f14		Latin1 font 8x14
\BCDW\FONTS\latin1.f08		Latin1 font 8x8
\BCDW\FONTS\latin2.fnt		Latin2 font 8x16
\BCDW\FONTS\latin2.f14		Latin2 font 8x14
\BCDW\FONTS\latin2.f08		Latin2 font 8x8
\BCDW\FONTS\baltic.fnt		Baltic font 8x16
\BCDW\FONTS\baltic.f14		Baltic font 8x14
\BCDW\FONTS\baltic.f08		Baltic font 8x8
\BCDW\FONTS\turkish.fnt		Turkish font 8x16
\BCDW\FONTS\turkish.f14		Turkish font 8x14
\BCDW\FONTS\turkish.f08		Turkish font 8x8
\BCDW\FONTS\arabic.fnt		Arabic font 8x16
\BCDW\FONTS\arabic.f14		Arabic font 8x14
\BCDW\FONTS\arabic.f08		Arabic font 8x8
\BCDW\FONTS\hebrew.fnt		Hebrew font 8x16
\BCDW\FONTS\hebrew.f14		Hebrew font 8x14
\BCDW\FONTS\hebrew.f08		Hebrew font 8x8
\BCDW\FONTS\ibmpc.fnt		Standard (cp437) font IBM PC 8x16
\BCDW\FONTS\ibmpc.f14		Standard (cp437) font IBM PC 8x14
\BCDW\FONTS\ibmpc.f08		Standard (cp347) font IBM PC 8x8

CharSet

In the configuration file \BootCat.Ini you can use filenames and texts not only in English, but also some other languages (e.g. Russian).
For texts in other languages than English different codings are used by different operation systems
(e.g. the following codings are generally used for Russian: in DOS - cp866, in Windows - cp1251, in *NIX/Linux - KOI8-R).
To be able to correctly interpret filenames and texts (for screen resolution, file search on CD etc.) BCDW needs to know which coding you used for the configuration file \BootCat.Ini.
The keyword CharSet tells BCDW name and location of the used codefile.
If the keyword CharSet is left out, BCDW considers all texts and names in the file \BootCat.Ini to be only in English.

The following codefiles are included with BCDW:

\BCDW\CHARSETS\cp1251r.cpf		Russian coding Windows
\BCDW\CHARSETS\cp866.cpf		Russian coding DOS
\BCDW\CHARSETS\koi8r.cpf		Russian coding *NIX/Linux
\BCDW\CHARSETS\cp1251c.cpf		Cyrillic coding Windows
\BCDW\CHARSETS\cp855.cpf		Cyrillic coding DOS
\BCDW\CHARSETS\iso88595.cpf		Cyrillic coding as in ISO8859-5
\BCDW\CHARSETS\cp1252.cpf		Latin1 coding Windows
\BCDW\CHARSETS\cp850.cpf		Latin1 coding DOS
\BCDW\CHARSETS\iso88591.cpf		Latin1 coding ïî ISO8859-1
\BCDW\CHARSETS\cp1250.cpf		Latin2 coding Windows
\BCDW\CHARSETS\cp852.cpf		Latin2 coding DOS
\BCDW\CHARSETS\iso88592.cpf		Latin2 coding as in ISO8859-2
\BCDW\CHARSETS\cp1257.cpf		Baltic coding Windows
\BCDW\CHARSETS\cp775.cpf		Baltic coding DOS
\BCDW\CHARSETS\iso885913.cpf		Baltic coding as in ISO8859-13
\BCDW\CHARSETS\cp1254.cpf		Turkish êîäèðîâêà Windows
\BCDW\CHARSETS\cp857.cpf		Turkish coding DOS
\BCDW\CHARSETS\iso88599.cpf		Turkish coding as in ISO8859-9
\BCDW\CHARSETS\cp1256.cpf		Arabic coding Windows
\BCDW\CHARSETS\cp864.cpf		Arabic coding DOS
\BCDW\CHARSETS\iso88596.cpf		Arabic coding as in ISO8859-6
\BCDW\CHARSETS\cp1255.cpf		Hebrew coding Windows
\BCDW\CHARSETS\cp862.cpf		Hebrew coding DOS
\BCDW\CHARSETS\iso88598.cpf		Hebrew coding as in ISO8859-8
\BCDW\CHARSETS\cp437.cpf		Standard (cp437) coding IBM PC

RootMenu

By default, BCDW is looking for the settings of the bootloader in a file \BootCat.Ini.
You can change the name and location of this file (e.g. to \BCDW\BootCat.Ini).
The keyword RootMenu tells BCDW name and location of this file.

The configuration file \BootCat.Ini

The file \BootCat.Ini (and any other bootloader description files) has two parts:

The list of the boot options - at the beginning of the file before the section [Options] (or at the end if there are no sections present)
Optional section [Options] with the appearance settings of the user interface

Example of \BootCat.Ini

; *** The list of bootoptions

C:\ ; Boot drive C: ; Boot harddisk.^

A:\ ; Boot drive A: ; Boot floppy drive.^

\BootCat2.Ini ; Submenu ; Another BootCat.Ini^

\floppy.ima ; Boot with *.IMA from a floppy image (WinImage)

\logical.ima ; Boot with *.IMA from an image of a logical drive (WinImage)

\hdd.img ; Boot an image of a harddisk (DskRead)

\acronis.wbt ; Boot an image with *.WBT (WinISO)

\nt5boot.bin ; Boot the bootsector of Windows XP/2000/NT

\i386\setupldr.bin ; Start a setup routine of Windows XP/2000/NT

\dos4bcdw.ima ; Volkov Commander ; note1 ; \vc\vc.com

\dos4bcdw.ima ; Setup Windows 9x ; note1 ; \win9x\setup.exe

/isolinux.bin ; Load Linux kernel ; note2 ; /linux/kernel

/isolinux.bin ; Start memdisk ; note2 ; /memdisk /test.img

/cdsh/loader.bin ; CD Shell script ; note2 ; script /test.scr

/bscript/loader.bin ; BootScriptor script ; note2 ; script /test.ini

/diskem1x.bin ; diskem1x.bin script ; note2 ; batch test.cmd

:return ; Return from a submenu ; note3

:reboot ; Reboot PC ; note3

:restart ; Switch to English ; note4 ; \BCDW\bcdw_eng.ini

; *** Appearance settings

[Options]

; *** Background settings

BGColors = 00, 80, 80, 80

BGSymbol = 32

TopText =

BottomText =

; *** Settings of the window "Boot options"

MenuPosition = 02, 05, 76, 13

MenuColors = f9, 9f, 1f, f0, 0f, fd, f9

MenuBorderStyle = 5

MenuShadowStyle = 2

MenuTitle = Boot options

MenuDefault = 0

MenuTimerLabel = Remaining time:

MenuTimer = 30

; *** Settings of the window "About a boot option"

HelpPosition = 02, 19, 76, 05

HelpColors = e0, 9f, 1f, e0, 0f, e0

HelpBorderStyle = 5

HelpShadowStyle = 2

HelpTabSkip = 0

HelpTitle = About this boot option

; *** Settings of the window "About this CD"

AboutPosition = 02, 01, 76, 03

AboutColors = e0, 9f, 1f, e0, 0f, e0

AboutBorderStyle = 5

AboutShadowStyle = 2

AboutTabSkip = 0

AboutTitle = About this CD

AboutText = ~

Emergency rescue bootdisk

; *** Settings of the window "Running line"

ScrollPosition = 00, 00, 80, 01

ScrollColors = 87, 87, 87, 87, 0f, 87

ScrollBorderStyle = 0

ScrollShadowStyle = 0

ScrollTabSkip = 1

ScrollMode = 0

ScrollTitle =

ScrollText = ~

Text of a running line

; *** Comments to the list of boot options

note1 = ~

BCDW permits to start a DOS program from CD

(special boot image dos4bcdw.ima is required)

note2 = ~

BCDW can start ISOLinux, CD Shell, BootScriptor,

diskem1x.bin and transfer command options to them for performance

note3 = ~

BCDW uses some internal commands to operate

note4 = ~

The command :restart makes it possible to restart BCDW with different settings

(e.g. to switch interface language)

The list of bootoptions in \BootCat.Ini

The list of boot options consists of a set of lines, each of one representing one boot option. Each line has several parts (in current version of BCDW four parts) separated by ';' (semicolon):

part 1 ; part 2 ; part 3 ; part 4

Name of a submenu configuration file or name of a boot image file or internal operating command BCDW
Title of the bootoption
Comment of the bootoption ( ^ - line divider) or a keyword from [Options] with the comment text
Parameter for the boot image or internal command BCDW

All descriptions, except for the bootoption title, are optional.

Format of entries that lead to a submenu

Files with a submenu configuration can have any name on *.ini. Their format is identical to the one of \BootCat.Ini.

Format of entries for bootoptions

Bootimages can have any name but must not end on *.ini.
BCDW supports the following formats of boot images:

Images of floppies or logical disk of any size (up to 8Gb) with the file system FAT(12/16/32), e.g. *.ima files created by WinImage. (example)
Floppy images with capacity of 160Kb, 180Kb, 320Kb, 360Kb, 720Kb, 820Kb, 1.2Mb, 1.44Mb, 1.68Mb, 1.72Mb, 2.88Mb with a file system different of FAT
Images of harddisks with any number of sectors (example)
Programs with the loading address 07c0:0000 (e.g. bootsector of the Microsoft Windows XP/2000/NT floppies nt5boot.bin, nt4boot.bin, w2ksect.bin, xpboot.bin etc.)
Programs with the loading address 07c0:0000 and the "Boot Info Table" (e.g. isolinux.bin)
Bootsector files of Microsoft Windows XP/2000/NT (files \i386\setupldr.bin)

Internal operating commands BCDW

Instead of a boot image file you can pass internal operating commands to BCDW. The current version of BCDW accepts the following commands:

A:\		Start from physical floppy drive. Command does not require options.
C:\		Start from physical harddisk. Command does not require options.
:Reboot		Reboot the computer. Command does not require options.
:Restart		Restart BCDW with different setting. Command requires option -a name of a configuration file (name of another \BCDW\bcdw.ini).
:Return		Return from submenu. Command does not require options.
:Nop		Do nothing. Command does not require options.
:		Similar to :nop, but makes this line inaccessible (item cannot be chosen). Command does not require options.

Parameters for bootimages

Bootimages usually do not support receiving parameters, but BCDW enables you to pass options to some bootimage files, namely:

The special boot image dos4bcdw.ima (how to create this image?) - the DOS-program to start from the CD
ISOLinux - performance parameter (details)
CD Shell - performance parameter (details)
BootScriptor - performance parameter (details)
diskem1x.bin - performance parameter (details)

Appearance settings of the interface windows in \BootCat.Ini

The BCDW interface consitis of four windows, the "Boot options" window in which the different boot options can be chosen, the "About this boot option" window that displays information about the selected boot option, "About this CD" window that gives information about the Bootdisk and the "Running line" in which any text can be displayed. All windows except the "Boot options" window are optional. The settings for the windows is adjusted with the help of keywords in the section [Options]:

		*** Background colour below the windows

BGColors		Colour of the background below the windows = C1, C2, C3, C4 C1 - Screen border colour C2 - Background colour C3 - Top line colour C4 - Bottom line colour
BGSymbol		Decimal code of a symbol filled background. The most common symbols: 32, 176, 177, 178 Transparent background: 0
TopText		Text of the top line
BottomText		Text of the bottom line
		*** Window "Boot options"

MenuPosition		Location and size of the window = X, Y, W, H X - From the left border Y - From the top border W - Width H - Heigth
MenuColors		Colour of window elements = C1, C2, C3, C4, C5, C6, C7 C1 - Frame colour C2 - Window active colour C3 - Window inactive colour C4 - Colour of menu items C5 - Colour of currently selected item when window active C6 - Colour of currently selected item when window inactive C7 - Colour of inaccessible items
MenuBorderStyle		Style of window frame: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 (0 - no frame)
MenuShadowStyle		Style of window shadow: 0, 1, 2 (0 - no shadow)
MenuTitle		Text of window title
MenuDefault		Default menuitem index: 0-255
MenuTimerLabel		Text of timer entry
MenuTimer		Delay in seconds before automatic load
		*** Window "About this boot option"

HelpPosition		Location and size of the window = X, Y, W, H X - From the left border Y - From the top border W - Width H - Height
HelpColors		Colours of the window elements = C1, C2, C3, C4, C5, C6 C1 - Frame colour C2 - Window active colour C3 - Window inactive colour C4 - Lines colour C5 - Colour of current line when window active C6 - Colour of current line when window inactive
HelpBorderStyle		Style of window frame: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 (0 - no frame)
HelpShadowStyle		Style of window shadow: 0, 1, 2 (0 - no shadow)
HelpTabSkip		Skip help window when switching with Tab: 0 - off., 1 - on.
HelpTitle		Text of window title
		*** Window "About this CD"

AboutPosition		Location and size of the window = X, Y, W, H X - From the left border Y - From the top border W - Width H - Height
AboutColors		Colours of the window elements = C1, C2, C3, C4, C5, C6 C1 - Frame colour C2 - Window active colour C3 - Window inactive colour C4 - Lines colour C5 - Colour of current line when window active C6 - Colour of current line when window inactive
AboutBorderStyle		Style of window frame: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 (0 - no frame)
AboutShadowStyle		Style of window shadow: 0, 1, 2 (0 - no shadow)
AboutTabSkip		Skip about window when switching with Tab: 0 - off., 1 - on.
AboutTitle		Text of window tilte
AboutText		Contents of this window
		*** Window "Running line"

ScrollPosition		Location and size of the window = X, Y, W, H X - From the left border Y - From the top border W - Width H - Height
ScrollColors		Colours of the window elements = C1, C2, C3, C4, C5, C6 C1 - Frame colour C2 - Window active colour C3 - Window inactive colour C4 - Lines colour C5 - Colour of current line when window active C6 - Colour of current line when window inactive
ScrollBorderStyle		Style of window frame: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 (0 - no frame)
ScrollShadowStyle		Style of window shadow: 0, 1, 2 (0 - no shadow)
ScrollTabSkip		Skip running line window when switching with Tab: 0 - off., 1 - on.
ScrollMode		Window mode: 0 - Running line, 1 - window with the text
ScrollTitle		Text of window title
ScrollText		Contents of the window
		*** Colours

C1, C2, C3, C4, C5, C6, C7		The colours are set by a combination of two placeholders. First placeholder - background colour, second placeholder - foreground colour. The values of the placeholders as follows: 0 - Black 1 - Blue 2 - Green 3 - Cyan 4 - Red 5 - Magenta 6 - Brown 7 - LGrey 8 - DGrey 9 - LBlue A - LGreen B - LCyan C - LRed D - LMagenta E - Yellow F - White

How to add a program from a bootable CD to a CD with BCDW?

Some programs are able to create a bootable CD (e.g. the Acronis programs).
To add such programs to a CD with BCDW do the following:

Copy all the files and folders of the bootable CD to your CD with BCDW (the Acronis BootCDs put everything in the bootsector, so no need to copy anything)
Using WinISO create an *.iso image of the bootbale CD (select "Make ISO from CDROM" from the menu "Actions")
Open the just created *.iso image (select "Open" from the menu "File")
Save the boot information to a *.wbt file (select "Save boot information to file..." from the menu "Bootable CD")
Put the *.wbt file on your CD with BCDW
Add an entry in \BootCat.ini for this boot option similar to the following:

\acronis.wbt ; Program Acronis

Detailed description with screenshots see here

How to add a program from a bootable floopy to a CD with BCDW?

Some programs can create a bootable floppy (e.g. Ontrack EasyRecovery, Norton Ghost etc.).
To add such programs to a CD with BCDW do the following:

Create an *.ima image of the boot floppy (how to do this?)
Put this *.ima image on your CD with BCDW
Add an entry in \BootCat.ini for this boot option similar to the following:

\er.ima ; Easy Recovery
\ghost.ima ; Norton Ghost

How to add a program from two bootable floppies to a CD with BCDW?

Some programs create two bootable floppies 1.44mb (e.g. PowerQuest Partition Magic).
To add such programs to a CD with BCDW do the following:

Insert the first floppy in your floppy drive
Using WinImage read the floppy (select "Read disk" from the menu "Disk")
Change the format of the disk image to 2.88Mb (select "Change format..." from the menu "Image")
Insert the second floppy in the floppy drive
Drag and drop all the files of the second floppy to the window of WinImage
Save the image of the floppies to a *.ima file (select "Save as..." from menu "File")
Put the *.ima image to your CD with BCDW
Add an entry in \BootCat.ini for this boot option similar to the following:

\pmagic.ima ; PowerQuest Partition Magic

How to add a setup routine of Microsoft Windows XP/2000/NT to a CD with BCDW?

Copy all the files and folders of your original Microsoft Windows XP/2000/NT CD to your CD with BCDW.
Add an entry in \BootCat.ini for this boot option similar to the following:

\I386\setupldr.bin ; Setup Microsoft Windows XP/2000/NT

You do not have to copy all files and folders of your Microsoft Windows XP/2000/NT CD.

For the needed files, see here

How to add more than one setup routines of Microsoft Windows XP/2000/NT see here

How to add Microsoft Windows PE to a CD with BCDW?

Copy all files and folders of your Microsoft Windows PE CD to your CD with BCDW
Rename the folder \I386 to \WNPE
Using a HEX-editor (e.g. WinHex) open \WNPE\setupldr.bin and replace all occurrences of I386 to WNPE;
Add an entry in \BootCat.ini for this boot option similar to the following:

\WNPE\setupldr.bin ; Microsoft Windows PE

How to add ERD Commamder to a CD with BCDW?

Copy all files and folders of your ERD Commander CD to your CD with BCDW
Rename the folder \I386 to \ERDC
Using a HEX-editor (e.g. WinHex) open \ERDC\setupldr.bin and replace all occurrences of I386 to ERDC;
Add an entry in \BootCat.ini for this boot option similar to the following:

\ERDC\setupldr.bin ; ERD Commander

How to add O&O BlueCon to a CD with BCDW?

Copy all files and folders of your O&O BlueCon CD to your CD with BCDW
Rename the folder \I386 to \OOBC
Using a HEX-editor (e.g. WinHex) open \OOBC\setupldr.bin and replace all occurrences of I386 to OOBC;
Add an entry in \BootCat.ini for this boot option similar to the following:

\OOBC\setupldr.bin ; O&O BlueCon

How to add the Acronis programs to a CD with BCDW?

Create a bootable CD of your Acronis program
Copy the program from this bootable CD to your CD with BCDW (how to do this?)

How to add a DOS-program to a CD with BCDW?

See the two following items...

How to add the setup routine of Microsoft Windows 9x/Me to a CD with BCDW?

Copy the files and folders from your Microsoft Windows 9x/Me CD to a folder \Win9x to your CD with BCDW
Place the special boot image dos4bcdw.ima in the root of the CD (how to create this image?)
Add an entry in \BootCat.ini for this boot option similar to the following:

\dos4bcdw.ima ; Setup Microsoft Windows 9x/Me ; ; \Win9x\setup.exe

How to add Volkov Commander to a CD with BCDW?

Copy the files of Volkov Commander to a folder \VC on your BCDW CD
Place the special boot image dos4bcdw.ima in the root of the CD (how to create this image?)
Add an entry in \BootCat.ini for this boot option similar to the following:

\dos4bcdw.ima ; Volkov Commander ; ; \VC\vc.com

How to create the special boot image dos4bcdw.ima?

Create the emergeny rescue floppy Microsoft Windows 98SE (My Computer - Contol Panel - Add/remove programs - Startdisk)
Copy the files bcdw_cl.com, autoexec.bat and config.sys from the BCDW archive to this floppy
Create an image of this floppy with the name dos4bcdw.ima (how to do this?)

If you want to use a different DOS version (PC-DOS, DR-DOS, FreeDOS è ò.ä.), copy only the file bcdw_cl.com to your floppy and add the following lines to the autoexec.bat on your DOS floppy:

echo Looking for bootable CD...
BCDW_CL.COM
if errorlevel 1 goto NO_BCDW_CL
echo Loading DOS-program...
%BCDW_CDROM%:
call %BCDW_CL%
:NO_BCDW_CL

How to create an image of a floppy or a logical disk?

Start WinImage
Choose floppy or logical disk from the menu "Disk"
Read a floppy or logical disk selecting "Read Disk" from the menu "Disk"
Save a *.ima image of the disk selecting "Save as..." from the menu "File"

For a detailed description with screenshots see here.

How to create an image of custom size (e.g. more than 2.88Mb)?

Create a logical volume of the desired size on your harddisk with filesystem FAT16 (e.g. with the help of Acronis PartitionExpert or PowerQuest Partition Magic)
Transfer the system files to this logical volume
Copy any other files to this volume
Create a *.ima image of this volume (how to do this?)

Example of bootable images of various sizes ~700mb, ~650mb, ~300mb, ~100mb, ~50mb, 11.52mb (8x1.44mb), 5.76mb (4x1.44mb) see here

Is it possible to use ISOLinux with BCDW?

It is. Do the following:

Place all the ISOLinux files in a folder on your CD (e.g. /isolinux)
Make sure that none of the following files are on your CD (if they are, remove them):

/boot/isolinux/isolinux.cfg
/boot/isolinux/linux
/isolinux/isolinux.cfg
/isolinux/linux
/isolinux.cfg
Add entries similar to the following to /BootCat.Ini:

/isolinux/isolinux.bin ; Command line ISOLinux
/isolinux/isolinux.bin ; Linux ;; /kernel initrd=/rescue.gz
/isolinux/isolinux.bin ; Memdisk ;; /isolinux/memdisk initrd=/fd.img

Is it possible to use CD Shell with BCDW?

It is. Do the following:

Put the CD Shell files to your CD in the folder /cdsh (must have this name)
Make sure that none of the following files are on your CD (if they are, remove them):

/cdsh/cdshell.ini
/cdsh/cdsh.csi
/cdsh/cdsh.bmp
Add entries similar to the following to /BootCat.Ini:

/cdsh/loader.bin ; Command line CD Shell
/cdsh/loader.bin ; Keyinput sample ;; script /cdsh/samples/keyinput.scr
/cdsh/loader.bin ; Variable sample ;; script /cdsh/samples/variable.scr

Is it possible to use BootScriptor with BCDW?

It is. Do the following:

Put the BootScriptor files to your CD in the folder /bscript (must have this name)
Make sure that none of the following files are on your CD (if they are, remove them):

/bscript/bscript.ini
/bscript/bscript.bsi
/bscript/bscript.bmp
Add entries similar to the following to /BootCat.Ini:

/bscript/loader.bin ; Command line BootScriptor
/bscript/loader.bin ; 911 Rescue CD ;; script /bscript/911cd.ini
/bscript/loader.bin ; Win2K Pro PockeR ;; script /bscript/pocker.ini
/bscript/loader.bin ; J.Spitzner's CD ;; script /bscript/cdmenue.ini

Is it possible to use diskem1x.bin with BCDW?

It is. Do the following:

Put the file diskem1x.bin in any folder on your CD (e.g. /)
Make sure that none of the following files are on your CD (if they are, remove them):

/diskemu.cmd
Add entries similar to the following to /BootCat.Ini:

/diskem1x.bin ; Command line diskem1x.bin
/diskem1x.bin ; Sample script ;; batch diskem1x.cmd

"Press any key to boot from CD..."

If you want the message "Press any key to boot from CD..." to appear before BCDW is starting copy the file bootfix.bin from Microsoft Windows XP/2000 to the BCDW folder on your CD.

How to skip BCDW on startup

BCDW listens at startup for the left ALT key. If it is pressed, the PC starts from harddisk without any messages or prompts.