Emergency Boot Disk
by Fred Kagel

Window 95’s emergency startup disk is recommended during the installation process, but few of us are aware that the disk will not startup Windows 95 itself. The disk essentially boots into DOS and provides some diagnostic tools, especially the indispensable Scandisk. But try typing Win and you will get VFAT and registry errors. To create a true emergency Win95 boot disk, Sys a: the emergency floppy or a second disk when your system is healthy. The system transfers two essential files, Winboot.Sys and Msdos.Sys, both of which are hidden and not found in the original startup disk. Io.Sys and Command.Com are also transferred. You can now copy your Autoexec.Bat and Config.Sys along with support files such as Himem.Sys and Emm386.Exe. Edit the Autoexec.Bat and Config.Sys so that they properly reference the location of the support files. Now, you have an emergency boot disk.

Fred Kagel, Director
Freehold Computer Training Ctr.
15 S. Main St.
Marlboro, NJ 07746
(732) 577-0606