Boot to nowhere with Windows 3.x


Tip
Everyone knows it's a good idea to keep a bootable floppy disk (also called a boot disk or a system disk) handy in case your computer fails to boot from its hard disk. To make a floppy disk bootable, you simply format it with the System option.
To do this in File Manager, just choose Disk--Format Disk, check Make System Disk, insert a disk into the appropriate drive, and click OK. Or, if you already have a blank, formatted disk, insert it into your floppy drive, choose Disk--Make System Disk, and click Yes to confirm the transfer of system files.
Unfortunately, if you have compressed your hard disk with DoubleSpace or DriveSpace, you're in for a disappointment when you try to boot from this disk: your computer won't be able to see the compressed files because File Manager's Make System Disk option doesn't transfer the files that it needs in order to see them. What used to be your C: drive may now appear only as a huge, unreadable dblspace.000 file (if you can see it at all, since it's a hidden file). You'll be able to access only the uncompressed files on your system, which is not very useful.
To solve this problem for an existing system disk you have lying around, use File Manager to navigate to your DOS directory, locate either dblspace.bin or drvspace.bin, and drag the file to the floppy icon on the drive bar to copy the file to your system disk. (Choose Options--Drivebar if you don't see the drive icons.) If you're making a whole new system disk, double-click MS-DOS Prompt in Program Manager. At the DOS prompt, type format a: /s, insert a new floppy disk, and press <Enter>. (The /s switch tells DOS you want a system disk.) Unlike File Manager, DOS will format the disk with the necessary DoubleSpace or DriveSpace file as well as the system files you need to boot from your floppy.
Now copy any backup files, disk repair, and antivirus software you think you'll need -- for example, config.sys, autoexec.bat, system.ini, and win.ini, plus device drivers loaded in config.sys and autoexec.bat. Then put the disk in a safe place -- and hope you never have to use it.
- Scott Dunn

Category: Windows 3.x
Issue: Aug 1997
Pages: 168-170

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