We need a bootable CD image file in order to create a
bootable CD from our newly modified Windows XP files. Fortunately, the Windows
XP CD (or the Windows 2000 CD, 2003, etc.) already has a perfectly usable boot
file; we just need to get at it. For the purposes of this article, we'll use the
freeware program 'Isobuster' available here.
First, download and install IsoBuster. Now Insert your
original WinXP CD into the drive and open up Isobuster. Navigate to the
'bootable CD' directory. In the right hand pane, highlight 'microsoft
corporation.img'. Right click it and select 'extract Microsoft corporation.img'.
Extract the file to your 'bootcd' directory.
Now its time to assemble all our files together and create a bootable XP CD
with the aid of the boot image we just extracted. We'll use Nero 6 to do
this.
Start up Nero and select 'CD-Rom (boot)' as the type of disk you wish to
make.
From the 'boot' tab, change the image file to the 'Microsoft corporation.img'
file that you extracted from the XP CD in the last step. Note that you
will have to change the 'files of type' box from .IMA files to 'all files' in
order to locate your file in its directory.
Check 'enable expert settings.' In this section, you will need to
change the 'kind of emulation' dropdown box to 'no emulation' and the 'number of
loaded sectors' value to 4.
Now change to the 'ISO' tab. Change the 'file name
length' dropdown box to 'max. of 31 chars (ISO level 2)' all boxes on the screen
should be checked. It's essential that the version of Nero you are using
supports the 'do not add the ";1" ISO file version extension'
option, or the CD you
create will not boot properly. If you have an older version of Nero, you
will need to upgrade to at least version 5.5 or newer.
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