CODEWITHSUNDEEP
batch-filedosbootisobootable
Adam Saunders
Adam Saunders

Reputation: 380

How can I create a bootable dvd with custom DOS boot script?

We have a bootable USB stick that works perfectly. It will boot, ask the user for some options, then write files to the hard drive accordingly. We did this by using rufus-2.1, throwing freedos into the USB stick, and basically hijacking autoexec.bat. Autoexec.bat now executes some separate .bat scripts based on user input.

The problem is, we now want to have an option to allow users to burn an iso to a cd or dvd. We've been trying to create an image of the USB stick and burn it to a DVD.

We found plenty of information on this subject, but nothing has worked. We started by extracting the bootimage from various bootable iso files using imgburn. None of these worked. We tried extracting the bootimage from our USB stick, and that also didn't work.

Next we tried WinImage. We extracted the boot information from boot98.exe, hijacked autoexec.exe, created a new image and injected the files. We saved the files as a bootimage and tried the above method again, which also didn't work.

Is there perhaps a more straightforward way to execute DOS .bat scripts through cd/dvd boot? We'd be open to something other than DOS as well, as long as it can write files to a hard drive based on user input through a simple boot interface.

Note: The computer itself does not contain an operating system.

Thanks.

Upvotes: 0

Views: 1750

Answers (1)

Adam Saunders
Adam Saunders

Reputation: 380

We found a very slick setup that does what we need. Unfortunately, the CD-ROM drivers do not work properly on modern DVD drives. Using this method, it should be possible to put all the scripts directly in autoexec.bat and run commands directly on the "simulated" floppy drive. For whatever reason, we can boot from the "floppy" section of the CD-ROM, but it cannot copy files from A: to C:. I believe we are very close, but no cigar.

http://www.hiren.info/pages/bootablecd

First method that actually produced a bootable CD and allowed scripts to be run by a choice entered by the user.

Upvotes: 0

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