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Document ID: DETR-3UFPFF

Aptiva-PS/1 - Creating a boot disk for PC-DOS 7.0

Applicable to: United States

It is a good idea to have a separate bootable diskette for a PC-DOS 7.0 system that can be used if a problem occurs with the hard drive that prevents it from being booted properly. Such problems can be the result of hardware failures, sudden power surges or power drops, software that does not function correctly, or computer viruses.

While the likelihood of encountering any of the above problems is small, they can nonetheless require a great deal of time to get the system back to a normal state, including the frustration that can occur during various attempts to recover the system in one form or another.

If you have created the Recovery diskettes for the PS/1 or Aptiva system that you are using, you can use the bootable Recovery disk to start up the system. Then you can use one or more of the methods described in the article, "Correcting bootup problems", elsewhere in the Answer Bank, to get the system back to normal operation.

You can also create a separate bootable diskette that does not have any of the Recovery programs on it. This diskette can be used for booting up the system to run games or other DOS programs where a specific memory or software configuration is required. To create a bootable diskette for PC-DOS 7.0, do the following:

1. Obtain a new or otherwise blank diskette and place it in the A: drive.

2. At a DOS prompt, enter the command:

FORMAT A: /S /U

This command will format the diskette and copy the appropriate system files to it, allowing the diskette to be used to bootup the system. When the formatting is complete, the program will ask for a volume label. You can either press Enter for no volume label, or you can enter a name up to 11 characters, such as "BOOT DISK" or "GAME BOOT".

3. An alternate method of formatting a diskette is provided in Windows File Manager. Select the Disk option from the top menu bar and then select Format Disk... from the drop-down menu. Select the appropriate drive and diskette capacity if different than the defaults shown, and then select the Make System Disk option. You can enter a name in the Label field as well. Do not select the Quick Format box, since this will not check the disk for bad sectors.

Once a diskette has been formatted as a system disk, it can be used to boot up the system when necessary. Adding a CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT file to this diskette will allow you to tailor the boot disk to do certain functions. You can also copy the CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files from the hard drive so that the system will boot normally to Windows.

Having several boot diskettes is a good idea. Be sure you mark the paper label that the disk is bootable, as well as a brief description of its purpose or special instructions, if needed.

If you have not run the AntiVirus scan utility on your system recently, you might also wish to take the time now to scan both the system's hard drives and any newly created boot disks for viruses. On at least one of the diskettes that you create and have scanned for viruses, flip the tab on the diskette back to expose the hole. This will write-protect the diskette, preventing any future viruses from writing to it. If your system's AntiVirus program ever indicates that you should use a clean system diskette, you will thus have one that is virus-free and ready to use. Be sure to mark the diskette label so that you can find it easily and not use the diskette for other purposes.

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	Hint Category	DOS/Windows 3.x
	Date Created	23-04-96
	Last Updated	22-01-99
	Revision Date	13-05-99
	Brand	IBM Aptiva
	Product Family	Aptiva, Laptop L40, Notebook N33, Notebook N45, Notebook N51, PC 300, PC 700, PS/1, PS/2, PS/Note, ThinkPad 300, ThinkPad 340, ThinkPad 500, ThinkPad 700, ThinkPad 701, ValuePoint
	Machine Type	2168, 2144
	Model	5R5; M91; 2R5; 2R7; 2R8; M30; M35; M50; 2R6; 4R7; 4R8; M40; M54; M58; 3R0; 3R8; M60; M70; 1R2; 66P; 67P; 86P; OR8; 1R1; 1R3; 1R5; 22P; 24P; 25P; 27P; 29P; 63P; 82P; 83P; OR6; OR7; OR9; 1R0; 26P; 62P; 2R0; P30; 2R3; S15
	TypeModel	21685R5; 2168M91; 21442R5; 21442R7; 21442R8; 2144M30; 2144M35; 2144M50; 21682R6; 21684R7; 21684R8; 2168M40; 2168M54; 2168M58; 21683R0; 21683R8; 2168M60; 2168M70; 21681R2; 216866P; 216867P; 216886P; 2168OR8; 21441R1; 21441R3; 21441R5; 214422P; 214424P; 214425P; 214427P; 214429P; 214463P; 214467P; 214482P; 214483P; 2144OR6; 2144OR7; 2144OR9; 21681R0; 21681R1; 216826P; 216862P; 21442R0; 2144P30; 21442R3; 2144S15
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