What Makes a CD Bootable?

Abhinav Kaiser | Mar 03, 2006 | 1 comment

In order for a CD to be bootable, it must contain two files: BOOTCAT. BIN and BOOTIMG.BIN. BOOTCAT.BIN is a catalog file, and BOOTIMG.BIN is an image file—an image of a bootable floppy disk. That’s why you need an existing bootable floppy in order to make a bootable CD.

When you browse the contents of a bootable CD in Windows or at a command prompt, you won’t see any of the files that you would find on a bootable floppy; that’s because they are all stored within BOOTIMG.BIN.

When you boot from the bootable CD, everything in BOOTIMG.BIN and BOOTCAT.BIN shows up as being on the A: drive, while everything else on the CD shows up on the regular CD drive letter. It tricks the PC into thinking that there is actually a floppy in the A: drive.

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Filed Under: Computer Hardware

About the Author

Abhinav Kaiser is a certified project manager (PMP) and an expert in IT service management. He has been writing on several blogs for over 6 years and has been a source of inspiration for many budding bloggers. He recently started a blog, Abhinav PMP and his latest baby in the works needs special mention - Success Mantras. Click here if you need to get in touch.

Comments (1)

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  1. meneame.net says:
    March 5, 2006 at 1:35 am

    Qué necesita un CD autoarrancable…

    Simple información que nos dice qué se necesita para crear un CD autoarrancable…

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