Hack #53. Restore DOS Bootability
Make your drive bootable to get a DOS or Windows 9x-Me drive back up and running quickly.
Just as the FDISK /MBR command [Hack
#47] can rebuild the lost boot information from the beginning
of a hard drive, a little command-prompt program named SYS.COM can help
you take that bootability to where it needs to beâcontaining the
operating system files to get the system started. If you've got a
nonbootable drive for DOS or Windows 9x-Me that is missing either the
IO.SYS, MSDOS.SYS, or COMMAND.COM DOS files, start your fix with
FDISK /MBR
. Boot from a startup
diskette for the operating system you need to repair and then
execute:
SYS C:
SYS copies the basic operating system filesâIO.SYS, MSDOS.SYS, and COMMAND.COMâfrom the diskette to the drive letter designated: in this case, drive C:. Remove the diskette from the drive and restart the system from the hard drive.
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