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Created boot CD invisible content (11 posts)

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Created boot CD invisible content (11 posts)

Janos . Posted 6 years, 6 months ago Joined: 12 years, 5 months ago

Hi All.

I recently made a bootable CD for Ghost 2003 following instructions from a web site.

It is still a work in progress but things are looking good as more tests are still required.

My question:

One of the files required, I had to copy from a Win98SE boot disk.

I clicked on A\: drive from 'My Computer" and all was revealed, the file was copied.

When the CD was completed the disk showed a total content of about 1.7 MB yet when I tried to view the contents the page was empty.

This I find strange as I have my PC set up to show 'all file extension' and 'show hidden protected system operating files'.

The CD works O.K. after changing the boot sequence in the BIOS.

So why can I not view the files on the CD?

Regards

Gordon Drennan Posted 6 years, 6 months ago Joined: 12 years, 5 months ago

Re: Created boot CD invisible content

You know about the FAT file system on floppies do you? And that in Windows XP you can use FAT32 or NTFS/HPFS for hard disks?

Well when Windows reads a CD or DVD it expects it to be formatted using the ISO9660 file system. But what a boot CD has at the start of it is 1.44 MB worth of files in their own partition formatted using the FAT file system pretending to be floppy disk. The BIOS on the PC looks at it finds what looks to it like a bootable floppy, calls it A:, and boots off it, then goes looking for other drives. Amongst the ones it finds is the rest of the CD, which it calls C: or D: or E: or whatever depending on how many hard drives it also finds. So if you boot off your bootable CD the boot files are on the A: drive and the rest of the CD is the C: or D: or E: drive.

If you are running Windows it sees the CD/DVD through its CD driver. That driver only sees ISO9660 partitions. It doesn't see the FAT partition with the boot files in it because it doesn't expect to find a FAT partition on a CD. It knows its there occupying the first 1.44+ MB files, but it ignores it. And it doesn't tell you what in it.

A boot CD is like a hard disk set up to dual boot both Windows and Linux. Each operating system has its own partition(s) and doesn't show you what's in the partition(s) that belong to the other operating system. The boot CD has its boot files in a separate boot 1.44 MB floppy-sized partition at the start that Windows knows is there, and can read, but ignores because it doesn't think its anything to do with it. Just like it would ignore a Linux ext3 partition.

Steve Boccalatte Posted 6 years, 6 months ago Joined: 12 years, 5 months ago

Re: Created boot CD invisible content

Not sure, but usually those Boot disk creaters Finalize the disk, so that when you copy another file to the Cd, it nullifys the original portion, making only the newest stuff visible.

Someone may know a way around this!

Good luck.

Janos . Posted 6 years, 6 months ago Joined: 12 years, 5 months ago

Re: Created boot CD invisible content

Thanks Gordon

I understand the difference between FAT32 and NTFS.

My XP OS is NFTS and my Slave is FAT32. It is a pity that between the 2 systems utilised, still, neither can be seen.

Regards

ALAN ROSCOE Posted 6 years, 5 months ago Joined: 12 years, 5 months ago

Re: Created boot CD invisible content

Thanks for that very useful information GORDON. I've been in this 'game' for donkey's years and didn't know that!

ALAN ROSCOE Posted 6 years, 5 months ago Joined: 12 years, 5 months ago

Re: Created boot CD invisible content

Janos - you know you can change the FAT32 file system to NTFS but only ONCE, and there's no going back.

Janos . Posted 6 years, 5 months ago Joined: 12 years, 5 months ago

Re: Created boot CD invisible content

Hi all.

Yes I am aware.

In fact I originally was going to go NFTS on both my C and the slave drive, but because I have multiple/removable HD/OS, (XP~Win2K Pro and WinME) I found that ME could not read NFTS, and strangely neither would Win2K Pro despite the fact that it was formatted to NFTS.

To save a lot of heart ache I wiped and reformatted the 200 Gig slave into FAT32 and that solved my problem.

I also use my Ghost program (bootable CD) or a Ghost floppy on my laptop that runs Win98SE (Fat 32).

So you see I am really committed to a FAT32 setup.

Regards

Gordon Drennan Posted 6 years, 5 months ago Joined: 12 years, 5 months ago

Re: Created boot CD invisible content

Microsoft changed NTFS/HPFS*** a couple of service packs into Windows 2K. I know Win XP can read both the new version it creates and the old version Win 2K creates. I've never tried using XP to try to read an older version NTFS/HPFS partition created by Win 2K. The fact that you can't read a Win2K partition when you're running WinXP could be because of that change in the NTFS/HPFS format.

Of course the other possible reason is security. Windows NT/2K/XP is a secure operating system. And it would rather defeat the purpose of requiring logins and passwords if someone just had to nick the hard disk out of someone's PC and stick it in theirs as a second drive to read it. I know you can do it if you have another PC running the same version of Windows and you have logged in with the same user and password. I've never had a reason to experiment to see what happens if its a different version of Windows.

G-D

It shows how many donkey years I've been around IT that when they change the name of something I have trouble remembering which is the old name and which is the current name for it.

Garry Bowles Posted 6 years, 5 months ago Joined: 12 years, 5 months ago

Re: Created boot CD invisible content

I have had the same situation arise in the process of making a Ghost Boot CD.

Having bought a laptop without a floppy I went thru the process as you have done.

Over a period I made 4 boot Cd's using different methods. I made 4 because each time I made one it would not execute the Ghost.exe. However every Cd worked perfectly in my PC.

I decided to buy a usb floppy. However my boot floppy did exactly the same as the CD. --Would not work as it should.

One of the 4 CD's had invisible files like yours-but the other 3 showed files differently. One had only 2 files on it.

I then found that it was ok to boot a Win98 floppy and execute Ghost.exe from a copy on the hard drive. I then made a Win98 boot CD ( No. 5) and was able to use Autexec.bat to execute Ghost.

Although I was able to use Ghost I did not have mouse support so had to use keyboard like had to do with some older versions of Ghost.

Subsequentlyt (6 weeks ago ) there was a Question Posted on using a Ghost boot Cd.

I folowed up on this and corresponded via email with this person and he sent me detailed instructions on how to proceed. The info may have come from the same Website you used.

The Cd I made from this info worked perfectly in the laptop with mouse support.

On reading your question I decided to look at the 'invisible ' CD to see if I could make files visible using Roxio burner. Unfortunately I must have thrown it away as I can only find 4 of the 6 CD's I made.

You have obviously made a workable CD first go.

Anonymous Posted 6 years, 5 months ago Joined: 12 years, 5 months ago

Re: Created boot CD invisible content

Gordon,

You answered a question I had from long time ago. Thanks!

However, now I have another one.

What about making part of a DVD content invisible? What happens is that I recently bought software. It comes in a DVD. There is more than 1GB of burned information, but only a few MB are visible. The visible files and folders are those related to the Autorun. Everything else is invisible. That includes the installers and any other files and folders.

The thing is that the Autorun application contains a link that should give access to the Tutorials folder (located in the invisible portion), but it's not working !!!

So I need to access the invisible portion to see those Tutorials, but have not found the way yet.

Nero says the DVD contains only one session, so I still have not figured out how to access that portion and have not found any help on the web yet.

Any help will be very appreciated.

Additonal to the need of accessing the tutorials, I am curious and interested on knowing how to generate such a DVD :)

Created boot CD invisible content (11 posts)

Created boot CD invisible content (11 posts)

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