Create a one-of-a-kind CD

[WishMaster]

Hi. Need advice. I just finished my A+ classes and i'm going to take the test. I saw on ebay a cd that has alot of good stuff on it, for example; different bootable os systems, antivirus program, registry cleaner; optimize your HDR; lots more. I need advice on how to manually make one. Which programs to use. I can make all diiferent bootable cd for different systems ie win98,ME,XP. I have norton antivirus, how do I make a bootable cd from them? which registry cd cleaner do i buy and use? I want to create a one of a kind PC repair cd so that i can use when i start reparing pc's. Or is there one that I can buy already. Thanks guys I figure I can get the best advice since I have always had great advice on this forum. Thanks and have a NICE DAY!.

 

[thewraith]

What you are asking is going to take a lot of time in scripting and/or batch file writing to make an "all in one" CD. Not that it can't be done, but you would have to do a ton of custom script writing to get the job the way you wanted it.

Many CD writing programs can make a bootable CD. Programs I have used with success are CDRWin (www.goldenhawk.com), Easy CD Creator v5.1 Platinum (www.roxio.com), Nero (www.nero.com). Just use the help in each one of these programs to get you pointed in the right direction. As the name implies, Easy CD Creator is the easiest to use, even though I like CDRWin much better as an all around CD creation program. (My 2 cents. )

As far as how to get different bootable permutations to put on the CD, I would heartily suggest www.bootdisk.com as a quality place to start. There are many various boot disks to try out and they are all fully modifiable (this is where the scripting comes in. There are some wonderfully talented people that put thier work up there for public consumption.) They have links to everything from DOS 3.3 up to XP boot disks with everything in between all pre-made, if you don't want any customization. In addition they have a great resource section for creating bootable CD's.

One site I would suggest in particular is linked off of the "Network Disks" section of bootdisk.com. It is the link labeled "Bart's" (http://www.nu2.nu/bootdisk/network/). He has created a wonderfully flexible boot disk that has modular drop-ins that let you customize a boot disk with everything from different network drivers to SCSI device support. Good stuff.

As far as Norton goes, just go to the index under help and search for "creating a rescue disk". It goes step-by-step. One thing to concider before burning this to CD is that virus definitions get outdated fast and CD's don't update that well.

Registry cleaners can be had for free from Microsoft. Regclean is a decent utility for use inside of all different flavors of Windows. Windows 98 and ME have a really good tool for DOS buried in them called "scanreg.exe" (do a search). It scans, repairs, and backs up the registry from a command prompt. Good stuff for 9x.

Don't know where you can buy a CD like that. Best to customize one yourself. A great labor of love, for sure, but you'll get exactly what you want that way.

Good luck!