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How to create a MS-DOS bootable USB flash drive and why you should do it



I'm trying to create a bootable USB for MS-DOS 6.22. I can't risk using FreeDOS or any other version of DOS because I'm working with a very niche utility that has the potential to break expensive things if things are wrong.


Around the time when Windows 98 was mainstream, bootable MS-DOS CDs and USB drives used a 1.44MB floppy disk image as the actual boot target. The CD/USB drive stores the floppy image either visibly on the file system or invisibly outside of a partition, and the computer would boot to a virtual A:\ drive. If access to the CD/USB drive is desired after boot, the appropriate driver must be present on the floppy image and loaded.




How to Create a MS-DOS bootable USB flash drive



Now, your expectation is that Rufus can create an MS-DOS bootable USB if you provide your own version (as an ISO, or something else). This is not the case. Rufus cannot be used to create an MS-DOS bootable USB drive except a Windows Millennium one, if you are running Windows 8.1 or earlier, and, because the demand for such a feature is exceedingly small (at this stage, I have to point out that the amount of people who have been able to claim that they have found a genuine flaw in FreeDOS that forces them to use MS-DOS currently stands at exactly zero, as most of the "issues" that people have with FreeDOS only have to do with a slightly different way to handle AUTOEXEC.BAT/CONFIG.SYS or menus, which is easily addressed and does not constitute a DOS incompatibility), I have no plans whatsoever to ever add that functionality as I have 100% confidence that FreeDOS can always be used in lieu of MS-DOS.


You have probably created this boot drive because you have a DOS-based program to run, such as a BIOS update utility or another low-level system program. To actually run these files from DOS, you will need to copy them over to your newly-formatted USB drive. For example, you may have a BIOS.BIN and FLASHBIOS.BAT file you need to run in DOS. Copy these files into the root directory of the USB drive after formatting it.


These utilities still use DOS to ensure they have low-level access to the hardware without any other programs interfering or Windows getting in the way. This helps ensure BIOS updates and other low-level operations work properly. You also could use a bootable USB drive to run old DOS applications, but that tends not to work so well. You would be much better off using DOSBOX to run old DOS games and other applications.


This page provides details about creating a boot diskette, or floppy disk, for Windows and not how to create a bootable CD. If you're looking for steps for newer versions of Windows (e.g., Windows 7, 8, or 10), see: How to create a recovery disk in Windows.


Thankfully, there are tools around that can help you accomplish this with the minimum of effort, and not lead you through a huge multiple step process full of manual commands. Here are 5 such tools that will put either FreeDOS or MS-DOS onto a bootable USB flash drive allowing you to update the BIOS firmware from DOS but without a floppy drive.


7. When this process completes, the USB drive will be able to boot the machine into a DOS environment. This becomes a useful tool for running diagnostic software (Seatools, memtest, etc) or for flashing the latest BIOS. Depending on the model, the setting in the BIOS to choose in order to boot from a USB key is USB-ZIP or the manufacturer of the USB drive itself.


if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined')ez_ad_units.push([[728,90],'sysprobs_com-box-3','ezslot_3',117,'0','0']);__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-sysprobs_com-box-3-0');Sometimes having an MS DOS bootable USB disk/drive is handy to run legacy applications, Operating Systems and system updates which need the computer to boot from DOS USB or floppy disk. Unfortunately, Windows 10 and 11 do not allow creating a bootable USB drive while formatting. They support only floppy disks in this method. Here is a simple guide on creating a bootable DOS USB disk in Windows 10/11 using a third-party application.


Also, select the FAT32 file system from the drop-down. Most DOS systems require a FAT32 file system, not the NTFS.3) If you like to create an MS DOS bootable USB disk, select the MS-DOS version, but you need to have an ISO file of it.if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined')ez_ad_units.push([[300,250],'sysprobs_com-box-4','ezslot_8',107,'0','0']);__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-sysprobs_com-box-4-0');


Because now we could simply boot to Win PE from USB flash drives, we do not need to make MS-DOS on USB drives. We can only put Win PE on the flash drive. When boot, choose to boot from USB device and you will boot in WinPE.


The answer is that you can not create a USB bootable disk from windows 7 or 8 using the format dialog box. You need to use diskpart and the bootsect program which should be on your windows based system already.


You should now have a proper bootable USB drive. From here you can copy any files you want to the USB drive and they will be available at boot (useful for BIOS updates, maybe copy the contents of your windows 7 recovery drive to the USB key and use the USB key instead of an optical disc, etc).


You can create a bootable USB flash drive to use to deploy Windows Server Essentials. The first step is to prepare the USB flash drive by using DiskPart, which is a command-line utility. For information about DiskPart, see DiskPart Command-Line Options.


In the new command line window that opens, to determine the USB flash drive number or drive letter, at the command prompt, type list disk, and then click ENTER. The list disk command displays all the disks on the computer. Note the drive number or drive letter of the USB flash drive.


If your server platform supports Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI), you should format the USB flash drive as FAT32 rather than as NTFS. To format the partition as FAT32, type format fs=fat32 quick, and then click ENTER.


Now if you followed this step, make sure that you rearrange the boot order to have the USB after your hard disk drives when you are done. Because some systems, will not start if you have a "non-bootable" USB device connected (like a USB Mouse, or an empty USB flash drive, etc...) and will show you a black screen. It isn't dangerous or anything, but it can keep you confused for hours worrying that your system is bricked, and forgetting about this USB problem.


Install Plop Boot Manager on usb1 flash stick and make bootable usb2 flash stick. Boot from usb1 (with plop) add the second usb2 stick, wait 10seconds and from the PLOP menu choose USB. After that you will boot from the second usb2 flash stick with no problem.


  • A. You can format a 3.5" disk to contain MS-DOS bootable files in XP by performing the following steps:Start My Computer (go to Start and click My Computer).

  • Right-click the 3.5" drive icon and select Format from the context menu.

  • Select "Create an MS-DOS startup disk," and click Start.Click here to view image

  • Click OK when XP asks you to confirm.

  • Click Close after XP is finished creating the disk.

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In Disk Utility, you can format an external disk that you can use with both a Microsoft Windows-based computer and a Mac. For example, you might want to do this if you use a flash drive to store data files you need to use on your Mac at home and when using a Windows-based computer at school or the public library.


Creating a bootable flash drive equipped with a Windows installer or Linux distro is a simple affair today, but what about creating one with DOS? Yes, DOS. The need for such a thing can hit you when you least expect it, especially as a hardware enthusiast, but luckily, creating one is very, very easy.


This can be useful in a number of situations. For example, a computer technician who is assigned to erase the data on PCs with hard drives containing Windows operating systems or operating systems other than DOS or Windows, can use a single DOS-bootable USB / floppy to erase all data.


This chapter describes the steps to create a DOS-bootable USB, floppy(a startup disk) and run the utility. If you have a bootable USB / floppy, skip to the Copy Active@ KillDisk to a USB / floppy section, below.


  • Nowadays the PC or laptop mostly comes without CD/DVD drive. In this case, an USB flash drive or USB hard drive is the best way to boot Clonezilla live. You can follow the following to make a bootable Clonezilla live USB flash drive or hard drive using either:MS Windows

  • GNU/Linux

  • MacOS

  • Requirements:Microsoft Windows 7/8/10, GNU/Linux or MacOS.

  • Internet access for downloading a distribution to install, or a pre-downloaded ISO file.

  • A USB flash drive or USB hard drive has the MBR (msdos) partition table and a free partition. If you want to create a bootable USB flash drive/hard drive only for uEFI boot mode, it can be either GPT (recommended) or MBR (msdos) format.

.clonezilla_footer width: 320px; height: 100px; @media(min-width: 500px) .clonezilla_footer width: 468px; height: 60px; @media(min-width: 800px) .clonezilla_footer width: 728px; height: 90px; (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle []).push();USB setup with MS Windows Depends on the boot mode for the machine you want to boot with the USB flash drive, choose one of the following methods to setup Clonezilla Live on your USB flash drive using MS Windows: 2ff7e9595c


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