What is the difference between a boot disk and an OS disk?

Question

My son's computer is running Windows 2000 Professional. It runs very slow and has viruses on it. I want to reformat his computer so I can get rid of viruses but want to downgrade his to Windows 98SE. I found a site where I can get boot disks but am unsure whether that is what I need, or if I need an actual OS disk.

Answer 1

A boot disk is just a disk, usually a floppy disk, that contains the necessary files to get you to a command prompt(a: or c:). Beginning with Windows 98 Microsoft put those files on the CD itself so there is no need for floppy boot disks. You just put the CD in the drive and, assuming you have the CD-ROM set to be the boot drive before the hard drive in the bios, it will boot to the CD and you can begin the installation process, which is to delete and create a partition, format the drive and begin the actual windows installation. If the computer is fast enough to run Windows 2000 I would just continue to use it if I were you. Windows 2000 is more stable than Windows 98. The hard part of installing Windows is installing the drivers for the various components in your computer. A driver is a piece of software that identifies hardware to Windows. Without a driver installed that particular hardware will not work properly. It may be the sound card, modem, network card, video card, etc.

Answer 2

If the site you are speaking about is AllBootDiscs.Com, then please don't bother, because those are not OS, but merely the boot discs relevant to the OS.

First of all, you'll need an iso image of the OS to be able to burn it on a disc.

The average cost of an iso converter is around $30 +. Trial versions have limitation like converting just 100 MB or less, which is no use to you at all.

Anyway, that's immaterial, because you can't get the OS in a download. Windows OS Software do not come free. You need to buy them. Considering that 98SE is an outdated OS, you should be able to get very cheap.

If you'd like a free OS, that's actually better than Windows, I'd recommend Mandriva Linux. You can download the free iso image OS Software from http://www.mandriva.com/download

This version of Linux is comparable with XP and is robust and bug free. Besides, it's absolutely free of cost!

Being an iso image, all you need to do is to open your Nero, click on CD, then choose "Data Disc" and finally "Make a bootable CD" and get yourself a cup of coffee while Nero makes it for you.

Insert the CD in the CD drive and reboot. When it prompts you for Boot from CD, hit any key, as it instructs you to do. From there on, it's easy, because the Graphic User Interface walks you through the whole thing.

All the best.

Cheers.

PS,

An OS disc, is usually bootable.

PPS,

OMG, Some of those Answers are Hilarious!?

LMAO!

And the guy said he's a Computer Technician with 7 years experience!?

Please do check out if there's adequate RAM in the system you're giving your son, if not, add in a bit of RAM. It's better to have 512 MB + and, ideally, 1 GB even on an old 32 bit technology system.

Since castonjim had already explained what a boot disc was, I didn't repeat that info and we all know that an OS disc is the one that loads the OS like 98 SE, 2000 or XP.

Answer 3

Creating a startup or "boot" disk for your computer
Even though the term "boot your computer" does not mean for you to kick your computer, the real meaning does involve a little history on boots themselves. Long ago, boots had a strap attached to the top that you could pull to help get the boot on, as in the expression, "pull oneself up by the bootstraps". So "booting" your computer actually means turning it on.

A startup or boot disk is necessary not only to start your computer when it can't, but it also allows you to run diagnostic programs to see what is causing the problem, and apply a fix. To create a boot disk, you will need a blank, 1.2mg disk (any files on a disk you use will be erased by this procedure).

Here's how to create a startup disk:

Click Start

Point to Settings and click Control Panel

Click Add/Remove Programs


Click the Startup Disk tab

Click the Create Disk button

When finished, click OK to exit the Add/Remove Programs Properties dialog box

The term OS is what type of a system you are running in your bios........

Answer 4

If your computer is full of viruses then run the online scan below. It may take a while so run it overnight.

Also delete internet History.
Internet Explorer, Tools, Internet Options..., Delete Cookies & Delete Files.

Also check out what programs are running on the computer and how much cpu they are using. Download Process Explorer for this.
Remove any programs that are not needed from startup.

This is just a start. There is more you can do to speed up your machine.

Answer 5

hi u can downgrade to win98se. but for this u need to have a boot disk. let me tell u what a boot disk is a boot disk is a disk which contains the os files and when it is inserted in your cd drive and when ur bios is configured to boot from the cd it works now u can format ur hard disk and install the os which is on the cd. but let me warn u u need to have the mother board cd which might have come along with the computer as windows 98se os might not support few drivers. so u need to install them manually. i suggest u to try windows xp professional ofcourse it depends on ur comptuers ram, hdd capacity the site which u saw is just a boot disk site u can just boot ur computer with the disk they provide but u can't install win98se with it. for this u need a win98se loaded bootable cd. or bootable floppy + windows98se cd. ok

Answer 6

Well if your sons computer is running on a windows 2000, and it came with it, then windows wont let you downgrade it you have to get a new computer, but i suggest you upgrade your sons computer to an XP proffesional, or Xp home edition, and it wont cost you money because you already found a website that has downloadable reboot disks, and once you reboot your computer all files and changes made will be deleted, and the computer will return to how you first bought it unless you upgrade to a higher platform.

Answer 7

Forget the disks. Neither one will do what you want. If the computer is a good one, and you will be keeping for a year or more, pull the hard drive. Install a new one and put on the new drive what YOU want to have, not what THEY want you to have. I have XP with SP1. When I put in SP2 it sucked wind. I pulled my primary drive, made it secondary after re-formatting it, and put in a new drive. I loaded my stuff, and away I went. Back to XP SP1 that I liked. Everything I used already came with the computer except the new hard drive. And drives are cheap now! I got my first hard drive in the late 90's, 7 whole Gigs, for $249.00. Holy Cow! As Mr. Berra used to say.