Floppy drives are steadily leaving modern systems. The small capacity and low reliability of floppy disks should have long ago forced users and manufacturers to abandon floppy disks, but the widespread use (PC standard) for a long time made this method of transferring small amounts of information simple and convenient, and new standards (LS-100, CD, USB) did not have spread so globally. But today the USB standard has become widespread not only in almost all computers, but also in many electronic devices. Storage media connected to USB have large volumes, and their prices are rapidly falling. In addition, compared to CD/DVD, they are more convenient to record/change data, are protected from damage and are convenient for everyday transportation. The lack of FDD/CD/DVD drives in many laptop computers makes it necessary to create bootable USB devices to install the operating system. Installing a system with USB FlashDrive will be discussed in this article.
An instructive case from life
The reason for writing this article was the incident with the IBM ThinkPad X41 subnotebook. It was necessary to install the operating system on the computer in a minimum basic configuration (without a docking station and CD and FDD drives). The available ports included USB (fortunately, the BIOS supported booting from USB drives), IrDA, and a port replicator with COM and LPT ports. The only equipment available was a computer with USB ports and Windows 98SE, Windows XP and Imation USB Flash Drive installed.
Of course, the simplest and fastest option would be to connect a laptop hard drive to a desktop computer via an HDD3.5"->2.5" adapter, but problems arose here. The disk was large (which prevented it from being recognized by our motherboard's BIOS even with the latest firmware update). We managed to bypass this limitation by transferring disk recognition to Windows. To do this, it was logical to set “None” instead of “Auto” in the CMOS Setup settings, but the computer still froze when detecting drives on the IDE bus. Then auto-detection (“Auto”) was turned on, and at the moment of determination, (Skip) was pressed, after which Windows correctly recognized this disk, which allowed it to work with it. The disk was split and formatted, made bootable, but when installing it in the laptop, it turned out that the IBM ThinkPad has its own peculiarities of accessing the disk, which makes its partitioning on another system incorrect.
So the only option left was to make the USB Flash Drive bootable, mark up the partitions, and transfer distribution kits from the desktop computer.
How to make Flash Drive bootable
To ensure booting from disk, you must have a Primary (Active) partition with correctly placed system files (so that the BIOS can find them and transfer OS boot control to them). To successfully load MS-DOS, you must locate IO.SYS and MSDOS.SYS at the very beginning of the partition (which can be done using the SYS.COM or FORMAT.COM utility when formatting a partition with the “/S” key). DOS partitions allow you to create both FDISK.COM (DOS, Windows 95/98) and the Windows NT/2000/XP disk management console. But none of them can make the primary USB FlashDisk partition active (FDISK.COM states that only one partition can be active in the system). A number of disk utilities (for example, PowerQuest (Symantec) Partition Magic) and specialized utilities for managing USB Flash drives (often supplied with the devices themselves) allow you to do the “impossible.”
The widest possibilities for working with disks are in real DOS mode, in which we can directly access devices, and most system utilities (like Partition Magic, Symantec Ghost, etc.) work in this mode (under the shell in Windows, only configuring the program before launch). For USB devices, workable universal drivers for DOS have appeared relatively recently. Information about them is available on The Inquirer website (http://theinquirer.net/?article=10215). To work with USB FlashDrive, you need drivers included in two sets. The first is the ASPI HDD driver (DI1000DD.SYS) from the Motto Hairu USB1.1 mode ASPI Manager kit, which includes support for USB-FDD (RAMFD.SYS, designed to copy the floppy disk image into memory if necessary, free up the USB port to which disk drive is connected). This file is available at http://www.stefan2000.com/darkehorse/PC/DOS/Drivers/USB/mhairu.zip. The second USBASPI.SYS driver is from a set of Matsushita/Panasonic utilities and drivers for working with USB CD drives (http://panasonic.co.jp/pcc/products/drive/cdrrw/kxlrw40an/driver/kxlrw40an.exe).
To install the driver, you will need to register it in the configuration files of the boot DOS disk/floppy disk CONFIG.SYS:
DEVICEHIGH=USBASPI.SYS /V
DEVICEHIGH=DI1000DD.SYS
Some usbaspi.sys driver keys:
/w (Wait – wait) – a message is displayed when a device is changed or connected;
/v (Verbose – disable) – displays a status message (recommended);
/l[=n] – defines the maximum logical device number (LUN), default is “0”;
To speed up the detection of devices on USB controllers, you can enable only those present in the system:
/e – enable controllers of the EHCI specification (USB 2.0) only;
/o – enable controllers of the OHCI specification only (new version of USB 1.x);
/u – enable controllers of the UHCI specification only (old version of USB 1.x).
Without these keys, all controllers will be checked (recommended).
To support USB-CDD, you will also need the USBCD.SYS file from the same set of utilities, and you also need to add the following lines to CONFIG.SYS:
DEVICEHIGH=USBCD.SYS /D:USBCD001
IN AUTOEXEC.BAT:
LH MSCDEX /d:USBCD001
Perhaps the most unpleasant limitation in working under MS-DOS is not so much 16-bit access as problems with long file names (which are cut when copying). Therefore, it is preferable to use 32 (64)-bit OS to work with files.
At first glance, it is easier for Windows 2000/XP users - flash drives are usually detected automatically and do not require drivers. There are a lot of programs for formatting and managing disks: for example, HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool (ftp://ftp.compaq.com/pub/softpaq/sp27001-27500/SP27213.exe) and Microsoft USB Flash Drive Manager (http:/ /www.microsoft.com/windows/partnerpack/desc/ufd.htm). Despite its “versatility,” none of the listed programs could make our Imation FlashDrive bootable. All three necessary conditions (the main partition is formatted in FAT16, made active, system files are placed on it) were met, but the computer could not boot from this flash drive (“Operating System Not Found”), I had to look for other ways. Since the storage capacity is very limited, the file system is usually FAT, and the boot OS is usually DOS (although there are various compact LINUX-like systems, but those who work with them are unlikely to encounter such difficulties). Accordingly, problems arise with finding DOS files and creating a bootable DOS image. But these questions are quite well explained on the Internet, and there are various simple ways to acquire DOS files (for example, [ftp://ftp.roverbook.com/.bios/System_w98.zip] or [http://www.bootdisk. com/bootdisk.htm].In addition, the HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool can transfer system files not only from a system floppy disk (or its image), but also from any folder on the disk where there are the necessary DOS files (IO.SYS , MSDOS.SYS, COMMAND.COM) The remaining files can be created or copied manually.
At first glance, Windows 98SE users are out of luck. But this is only at first glance! A universal driver for USB drives exists, and its name is NUSB - Maximus Decim Native USB Driver for Windows 98SE (http://lemnews.com/drivers/).
After installing the driver nusb22r.exe (here r is the “Russian version”; according to the developer, you cannot use the Russian version for the English version of Windows and vice versa), all our drives began to be detected and installed by the system without problems.
Create a boot partition
Now you need to create a boot partition on the flash drive. We were unable to access USB devices from DOS on our system, so we are looking for an opportunity to create a boot partition from Windows. By running FDISK, we can easily make the main partition on the disk, but according to FDISK, only one partition on the boot HDD can be active. Not true! There is a utility called Partition Magic from PowerQuest, included in Symantec (http://www.symantec.com/home_homeoffice/products/system_performance/pm80/index.html), which allows you not only to create, split, merge and hide different file systems , make any sections active, but also many other “perversions”. Will it cope with working with a USB drive under Windows? After all, when we reboot into real mode, we will lose the USB drive. We are trying to run PQMagic 8.0 for DOS under Windows... No, it’s too smart, it doesn’t allow it. What about the earlier one? Version 4.0 (http://www.mvps.org/dts/WinME_DOS/partition_magic.htm) “says” that it will work, but will not make changes from Windows. Let's try to deceive the program! In the properties of the pqmagic.exe file, we will prohibit detection by the Windows program (at our own peril and risk). We launch the utility - it works! Let's try to carry out the necessary operations: if you wish, you can delete the original partition and create a main FAT and an additional one instead. Be sure to make the main boot partition active. Now you can apply all the actions.
After completing the operations, PQMagic decided to reboot the computer, during which it was quite neatly terminated by the system. In order to see the changes and continue working with the test subject, you need to “stop” the drive (using the icon in the system tray), remove it from the USB connector and insert it back.
Filling and configuration
So, the section has been created. Now you need to make the disk bootable. To do this, copy the system files using the SYS F: command (where F: is the boot partition of the USB drive). You can use the standard Windows formatting utility on this partition by checking the “Quick format” and “Copy system files” checkboxes. After the operations have been completed, the system files necessary for loading will appear on the disk, but they are not enough to work with the system - you need to create or edit system configuration files (MSDOS.SYS, CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT) and copy the necessary drivers and utilities.
The main configuration parameters are given below:
Paths to Windows system files have been remarked, access to ScanDisk, DoubleSpace, DriveSpace, DBLBUFF.SYS, the system registry has been disabled, loading the Windows interface (BootGUI), displaying the logo has been prohibited, and waiting for commands at system startup has been reduced to zero.
DEVICE=BOOT\DRIVERS\HIMEM.SYS /TESTMEM:OFF
DEVICEHIGH=BOOT\DRIVERS\VIDE_CDD.SYS /D:CDDRIVER
COUNTRY=007,866,_BOOT\DRIVERS\COUNTRY.SYS
The SWITCHES keys slightly speed up system startup; the COUNTRY driver is required for working with files with Russian names. VIDE_CDD.SYS – CD-ROM driver. HIMEM.SYS, COUNTRY.SYS and CDROMDRV.SYS are located in the BOOT\DRIVERS folder.
LH BOOT\DRIVERS\SMARTDRV.EXE
LH BOOT\DRIVERS\KEYRUS.COM
LH BOOT\DRIVERS\MOUSE.COM
LH BOOT\DRIVERS\MSCDEX.EXE /D:CDDRIVER
SET SHELL=COMMAND.COM
Here, the display of “extra” information on the screen during the boot process is disabled, the disk write buffering drivers SMARTDRV.EXE (required when working with large volumes), Russification KEYRUS.COM, mouse MOUSE.COM, CD drive driver MSCDEX.EXE are loaded. At the end of the boot, the DOS Navigator 1.51 shell (DN.COM) is launched and, if DN is exited, the command interpreter COMMAND.COM is launched. Instead of DN, you can use Norton Commander, Volkov Commander, even MS-DOS Shell. Naturally, all these drivers and programs must be located in the specified paths.
In the TOOLS folder we placed Partition Magic, the SYS.COM file, programs for testing equipment, connections between computers via an LPT port, and others. Bootable Flash Drive is ready!
Making the HDD bootable
To install the system, we will need to partition the computer’s hard drive, make it active, copy the basic system files and the system distribution, then reboot from it. In CMOS Setup, set the boot order from the USB Flash Drive, boot the computer, launch PartitionMagic.
If you plan to install Windows 2000/XP, then it makes sense to partition the disk as follows: create a 1-5 GB Primary Unformatted partition, 2-8 GB Primary FAT16(32), and the rest in Extended FAT32 (after installing the system, you can convert to NTFS), then Primary Unformatted – delete, and Primary FAT make active. The empty space at the beginning of the disk will be formatted from Windows in NTFS format, assigning it the letter “Z” and placing the SWAPFILE.SYS cache file on it (Control Panel -> System -> Performance). If you leave the boot partition in FAT format, then after installing the system you will be able to boot in DOS mode.
Having made the hard drive system (SYS A: C) and copied files from a USB drive to it, we can begin transferring the distribution.
Transferring a Windows distribution
The most convenient way is to pack the i386 folder of the distribution with WinRAR (but not into an SFX archive!), divided into volumes equal in size to the amount of free space on the flash drive, and transfer it in parts, throwing it onto the Extended partition of the hard drive, then copy it there RAR.EXE and unpack the archive (RAR E I386.RAR -A). This technique is also necessary when transferring a distribution from a CD to DOS. Due to the difference between the ISO 9660 Level1 (DOS) and ISO 9660 Joliet (Windows) standards for CDFS, long file names displayed under DOS in 8.3 format with a tilde in the name are displayed without a tilde when copied from a CD, which causes a discrepancy between the actual short and copied names (which will cause errors during system installation). But we did it differently: we connected the computers using a PLIP cable (LPT-LPT) and launched INTERLNK.EXE from Microsoft on a laptop (placing a link to it in CONFIG.SYS), and on a desktop computer we launched INTERSVR.EXE under Windows, which allowed pump data through the LPT port. You can also use Norton Commander, remembering to trim long file names (which can be solved by downloading files in the archive).
Now that the distribution has been transferred, you can start installing Windows 2000/XP from DOS. To do this, go to the i386 folder and execute the WINNT command. Further - according to the instructions.
In conclusion, we note that this method was useful to us when we had problems booting from a computer CD-ROM (Toshiba Satellite), and not only.
Features of FlashDrive partitioning
As mentioned above, to ensure booting from FlashDrive, you must have a primary active partition. But there can be several partitions on a disk. Our test subject was divided into two partitions (primary FAT16 and secondary FAT16), and was displayed in Windows 98 as “drive FG:”. But under Windows 2000/XP, only one main partition was visible on our drive. When trying to create a second primary partition using Partition Magic, one of the two partitions became Hidden and was not assigned a letter. It is possible to create a second partition in Windows 2000/XP, but it is not assigned a letter and cannot be mounted. To split flash drives into partitions, there are special utilities that come with these devices. Perhaps partitioning into logical drives in other ways will work with these devices. Disks can be divided into FAT16 partitions up to 2 GB in size - for larger sizes you will have to use FAT32 or other systems (NTFS, HPFS, ext2, ext3, etc., subject to compatibility with the OS). FAT16 support is implemented in almost all operating systems by default. For NTFS, you can use compression, which may be more convenient than archiving when transferring and storing large volumes of text and other easily compressible information.
Flash Drive Features
As for the capabilities of a bootable USB device with DOS, there are many useful and simply irreplaceable utilities that work only under DOS. This is a set of utilities from Symantec - DOS files Norton Utilities (SystemWorks) and Ghost. For example, UNERASE under DOS (unlike UE32 for Windows) is capable of recovering partially damaged files, but UNFORMAT under Windows does not exist at all. Symantec Ghost is a wonderful utility for creating and unpacking images of hard drives, as well as burning them to CD/DVD, available as a distribution kit on the website http://www.symantec.com/region/ru/product/ng_index.html, but for For full-fledged work, it only needs one small file GHOST.EXE, which can be easily found through http://www.filesearch.ru. Moreover, this miracle can be launched at any time from under DOS, allows you to create images of both FAT and NTFS partitions without additional drivers, split them into several CD/DVDs, burn disks (creating bootable ones if you have a system floppy disk), unpack images of partitions both from CD/DVD and from an image file on any partition (even NTFS!). There are small and simple programs for analyzing and testing the system (for example, SPEEDSYS.EXE - http://user.dol.ru/~dxover/), as well as MHDD (http://www.hddguru.com/ru/, section "Soft") is a powerful program for restoring and editing service information of hard drives, allowing you to replace the entire PC-3000 hardware and software complex. So DOS is rather alive, and with the widespread removal of floppy drives, it is finding a second life on new types of media.
Let's start with the main thing. That is, the main thing: is a floppy disk (disk drive), which in theory is “outdated” and indeed not always up-to-date, needed now?
Question:
Is it possible to install Windows on a raid without using a "physically existing" floppy drive?
Answer:
When installing an OS requires installing a special driver (SCSI or RAID), you need a physical disk drive and a floppy disk. Another thing is that you can modify the distribution driver database by downloading the required driver from the Internet... But as a rule, Windows is installed from a licensed disk (although for these purposes “modifying” does not mean violating the license).
That is, it’s easier to use a “physical” drive. Either it will be connected to the motherboard controller, or (in the absence of one on modern boards) you can use a USB drive. Both options will be considered. But first, a little history.
Floppy disks and drives
The first floppy drive used in IBM-PC computers was 5-inch. Only one side of a 5-inch floppy disk was used, on which no less than -180 Kilobytes could fit.
Later it became possible to use both sides (Double Side), then the recording density was doubled. DS/DD floppy disks (DD-double recording density) appeared. The capacity of which was greater (it turns out, not even 2, but 4 times): 720 kilobytes!
And this, in general, was enough. The DOS operating system, and later Windows 2.0, used much less disk space. In general, a computer could only have a disk drive (and without a hard drive). 5" 720 KB drives have been used in computers for a very long time. Moreover, the connection standard (connector and signals) was the same for all drives... In the USSR, 720-kilobyte drives were produced. Well, there were floppy disks: 360 Kilobytes (with single recording density), and 720.
Then, closer to 1990, it became clear that the capacity of floppy disks could be added. In the same “physical” format, they made a floppy drive and floppy disks containing not 720, but 1200 KB. In the “enhanced” density mode, they could be formatted with an even larger volume: 1.44 Megabytes. Later, 3.5-inch floppy disks appeared: first with 720, then with 1440 Kilobytes (in “enhanced” mode - 1.6 Megabytes).
Note: 1.44 MB 3.5 inch floppy disks have 2 read/write sides. Toshiba released 3.5-inch drives that addressed 2.88 MB (but they never became a “standard”).
Now, when we say “disk drive,” we mean a typical 3.5-inch 1.44 MB floppy disk drive:
Disk drives installed inside a computer are no different (well, except in quality). In the days of 5-inch disk drives (1.2 Megabytes), those from EPSON were considered good (well, “very cool” - Teak).
Before there were no CDs, the only way to install an OS on a hard drive was through a “disk drive.”
Floppy disk (both 5 and 3.5-inch) - has “write protection”, similar to “cassettes”:
Internal drives
So, your system (motherboard) supports work with an internal FDD (floppy disk) drive. This means it has a connector for connecting:
The floppy disk drive itself (FDD drive) is connected to the board using a cable (cable):
It is this connector that goes next to the “overlap” (that is, from the edge of the cable, not the middle one) that you connect to the drive. The opposite connector is for the system board.
The red cable mark is the “first” cord in the cable. On the board there is a number “1” (well, on the drive it’s near the power supply):
The power supply for the drive itself, of course, is also turned on from the power supply (4-pin connector, smaller than Molex). Having made these connections, we will have a 1.44 MB drive labeled “A”.
Note: each cable allows the inclusion of two FDD drives. One will be labeled “A”, the other “B” (this is the connector in the middle of the cable). Only the “A” drive can be “bootable”.
You may need to additionally enable the floppy drive in the BIOS (disabled by default). Load the OS, look (Control Panel, System, and Hardware, Device Manager) to see what is enabled:
Look at the top of the list. Most often, both the FDD drive and the controller are disabled. If so, go to the BIOS.
Inside the BIOS
Typically, the section is called Integrated Peripherals. We go into it and look at the Onboard FDD Controller line: we need to make it “Enabled”.
But that’s not all. The controller is turned on, but the drive itself is not found. We go to Standard CMOS Features (the first BIOS item), there is Drive A: – None (which means, instead of “None”, select 3.5 1.44 MB). Now, the disk drive will appear in the system.
In “new” BIOSes, go to the second (from the left) tab:
- There is an item called “Devices Configuration” (others have “I/O Devices Configuration”). Going into it, we find a line with the inclusion of the FDD controller (FDC).
- Well, the disk drive itself is turned on in the first tab (make sure that it is 3.5 1.44 MB and in the first line, that is, “A”).
After loading, the floppy drive will appear in “My Computer” among other drives (by default, it should be with the letter “A”).
Enabling an “external” FDD drive
Firstly, in the BIOS there is a parameter that allows you to enable or disable the FDD disk function (connected via USB interface). More precisely:
Setting the BIOS parameter “USB-FDD Legacy support”, that is, turning it on (Enabled), will allow you to use a USB floppy drive , even if the operating system only sees the “standard” drive.
This item may be called a little differently. The main thing is that the words “Legacy” and “USB” are there:
Some may have Auto/Enabled/Disabled. We recommend turning on “Enabled”. Finally, it could be: Keyb-Mise-FDD/Disabled. You can guess what you need to choose in this case (right?).
In general, the “system” is like this. On motherboards in laptops, netbooks, as well as new PCs, of course, there is no “controller” for the internal disk drive. But if so, an external floppy drive must be supported (that is, we can say that there are no motherboards to which FDD is not connected using at least one of the above methods).
Actually, this is where “setting up” the computer ends. Connect a USB drive. Only, of course, all USB controllers must be “Enabled”, and the USB mode must be set to “2.0” (or “HiSpeed”, which is the same thing). When exiting the BIOS, save your settings.
Note: why do you need to switch USB to at least “2.0” mode? Simply, an external drive not only transfers data, but also takes power via USB. The load capacity in the “modern” “2.0” mode will be higher (although on many boards this is not important).
Looking at the companies that produce external USB devices capable of working with a 3.5-inch floppy disk, one can say that they do whatever they can... Even Gembird (with a price of about $10) is present here. There is also Samsung. Only now, for “our purposes,” they don’t recommend NEC... At one time, any such disk drive “could not” cost less than $20, and only 1-2 companies produced them.
These devices are no different (they are connected to one of the USB ports, there is no external power supply). In general, the user will make the choice himself.
Having completed all of the above, when installing the OS at the request “Press F6 to select a special driver” - feel free to press “F6” and install the 3.5 floppy disk (included with the board).
Emulation using USB flash
Of course, this function is not used by everyone. But if in the computer (that is, in the BIOS), there is the following:
That is, there is an “Emulation Type” item (inside the “USB Mass storage...” menu) - you’re in luck, and you can select Forced FDD for full emulation of a 1.44 MB drive.
An external USB floppy drive is no longer needed (it is replaced by a flash drive). But it’s useless to immediately upload files to a flash drive (for example, with a raid driver), formatting it even in FAT 16.
The fact is that the USB flash drive itself will have to be properly “prepared”... from Windows, of course. All data from the flash drive will be lost (that is, it is formatted in a special way, and only information from the “image” of the floppy disk is written to it).
Download the flash boot 2.x program (http://www.panvasoft.com/rus/21626/). Install it (in Windows, in administrator mode, with antivirus disabled), run:
The demo version has a number of limitations (it creates no more than 4 devices from the image). Click “Next”.
Here we click Floppy – USB.
Select the floppy disk image (you have already downloaded it from the official website of the board manufacturer, right?). Click Next. The following window will appear. You need to select “wrap” there (click “Next
Select which flash drive to “write” the floppy disk image to. And in the next window - be sure to FAT-12!
That is, by clicking “Next” and then “Format Now”, we will get a “copy” of the floppy disk on USB.
If you install such a flash drive before loading into the USB port, in theory, during installation Windows will think that the system has a real floppy drive... Provided the BIOS is configured correctly, this should “roll” (most likely).
Note: if you need several floppy disks, you will have to use the same number of USB media.
It is better to take diskette images with the driver from the official website. Each such file has the extension .img, and “contains” one 1.44 MB floppy disk.
The Floppyimage program will help you “make” a floppy disk image (that is, an IMG file) from “regular” floppy disks. That is, you will need a real disk drive (perhaps on your friends’ computer), and you will write the IMG file to some kind of media.
The program is very small (1 MB), but it also requires installation (you can save “images” in several formats, IMG is one of them). Thus, you can make an “image” of a floppy disk yourself.
As you can see, there is a lot of hassle with all this “emulation”. Therefore, those who do not want to get extra complications usually buy a USB drive. There are no problems with this option (well, you just don’t need to take the Nec company).
On the other hand, an external drive will sit idle for a long time. That is, wait for your user... until the next installation of Windows.
Note: in Windows 2008 Server (and higher), as well as in “home” versions (except XP), you can use either a floppy drive or a regular USB drive (raid drivers are “visible” even on a flash drive during installation OS). Draw conclusions.
The choice (what is best for him) is made by the user.
A program with similar functionality:
It's called RawWrite and doesn't require installation. First, select the “Read” tab (we “read” the floppy disk)... Fdd images are saved - only as files with the IMG extension. You can download it here: http://www.chrysocome.net/rawwrite
Drive emulation for Windows programs
Some application programs, for some reason, “cannot live” if there is no CD drive with a distribution kit, others - if there is no floppy disk drive. They can save various data (keys, etc.) to a floppy disk, that is, they need the ability not only to “announce” the presence of a floppy drive, but also to somehow emulate it (in Windows itself).
The principle of such emulation will be no different from the way Alcohol 120% programs, etc. work. (emulating CD-rom).
Let's go here: http://www.ltr-data.se/opencode.html/#ImDisk, download the ImDisk program.
Why her? I liked that only one exe file is used for installation. Also, different OS versions are supported (including the most “complicated” - 64 bit!).
The program does not create icons (therefore, go to the “Control Panel”).
Where we are - we simply launch the main program window (by clicking the name). You will need some kind of 1.44 MB disk image (downloaded to the Internet).
After clicking “OK”, disk “A” appears in “My Computer”, with which you can continue to work (format, etc.). In the program itself, you can:
- Save the “image” on any of the media (Save Image);
- Perform formatting;
- Remove the drive (Unmount).
Only, all the buttons will “open” if you click on the image of a floppy disk in this program. Remember that the window “starts” from the “Control Panel”.
You can download the floppy disk image here (hdd-911.com/index.php?option=com_docman&task=docclick&Itemid=31&bid=55&limitstart=0&limit=15).
Before use, always format the floppy disk first (FAT system), even though it is virtual. Perhaps this is all that can be said about the ImDisk program. We hope your programs will work perfectly now using the virtual disk.
Note: When saving the “image” (Save Image), select the “option” as in the figure.
The “image” of the floppy disk is saved in this program with the IMG extension.
In conclusion, let’s say that there are a large number of similar programs for emulating Fdd. Some allow you to “keep” the image not in computer memory (RAM), but in a network folder (working via FTP), and so on. We hope the information will be useful.
Important Note: all materials are presented for informational purposes and for the sake of educating blondes.
Inset. Live CD(also LiveCD and CD Live Distro - English live compact disc, pronounced "live see-di") - an operating system that boots from removable media (CD, DVD, USB drive, etc.), which does not require functioning of the installation on the hard disk. The same concept also refers to media with such OS (sometimes a distinction is made between LiveCD, LiveDVD and LiveUSB depending on the media).
St. Petersburg ordeals, or why USB-CDROM
As I expected, the option of simply throwing operating system installation files onto the card did not work. A more subtle approach is needed here. The study revealed significant differences (and at the same time difficulties) in recording a bootable flash drive compared to a CD. Here they are:
1) The need to spend a little more time in the BIOS
Many people are generally intimidated by the bluish color of this program and the many English words, and in our case they have to navigate through it. Moreover, USB turned out to be so “inferior” that its support is often disabled by default, and in particularly outdated versions it is completely absent (this can be cured by updating the BIOS). The BIOSes themselves can be very different from each other, and you will have to navigate each of them again.
2) Simulation of booting from a USB drive
Even if we were lucky enough to see the ability to boot via USB in the BIOS, there will be several options for such booting (although not always). Moreover, each of them is an imitation of loading from other devices (for example, USB-FDD And USB-ZIP- imitation of loading from a floppy disk, USB-HDD- from the hard drive, USB-CDROM- from an optical CD). This introduces some confusion into solving the problem.
3) Correct formatting of the flash drive and linking to the manufacturer
Before writing information to a flash card, you must format it. And this is done in a special way in order to correspond to one of the selected download options, marked in the paragraph above. What adds piquancy is the fact that for each flash drive there is a specific set of utilities from the manufacturer, with the help of which formatting and direct recording of boot data is carried out.
Looking ahead a little
I started getting acquainted with software tools for creating a bootable flash drive with FlashBoot - Excellent multifunctional software. Its trouble is that it supported the progressive USB-HDD format, which was not represented in my BIOS. I do not provide links, since this does not affect the subject of the article.
The second massive attempt involved a powerful contraption WinSetupFromUSB. It features support for simulating floppy disks (USB-FDD and USB-ZIP). After persistent battles with minimal knowledge and mastering the program, I finally managed to set up a flash drive for loading using the USB-ZIP method (which, due to the intensity of passions, is worthy of being reflected in a separate article). When the system started, it even wrote, they say, Start booting and all that. After which the black screen with this text froze for an indefinite time. I didn’t wait a couple of hours and rejected toys with a virtual floppy.
So, I have the method at my disposal USB-CDROM. Google provided much less information about him. To implement it, we need to format the flash drive so that the system begins to see our device both as a CD drive and as an additional hard drive, for example. The first partition contains the operating system (in our case LiveCD), the second partition is used as a drive where you can add additional programs (for example, a fresh working antivirus). Beauty! This is the only method that really worked on my machine, and it will be discussed further.
Actually I didn't search well. The USB-HDD option is often found in the Hard Disc boot submenu
Preparatory stages
First, let's take care of what to write on the flash drive. That is, we need a bootable distribution (image) of the operating system (file with the extension .iso). You can find a ready-made image on the Internet or make it yourself by gutting the original Windows disk (we don’t take Linux into account), but this is worth a separate topic
Dancing with the BIOS
Working in the BIOS is perhaps the most intimidating and unknown part of the whole business. It requires at least basic knowledge of the English language, the ability to identify words such as USB, Boot, etc. among other foreign words. Unfortunately, there are so many BIOSes that it is impossible to reflect all the modifications and their menus in the article. I will describe the stages of work using my computer as an example.
1. Get into the BIOS
You can jump there when you turn on the computer (when the letters are running on a black background) by repeatedly pressing (to be sure) the Delete key (less often F2 or Escape).
As a result, we get to the main BIOS menu. For me it looks like this:
2. Enable USB support.
It often happens that USB is disabled by default (Disabled value), and the BIOS “does not see” the inserted flash drive. It is clear that in this case any attempts to boot from it are doomed to failure. The main problem is to find the menu item in which the setting we need is located. In our example, it sits on the fourth line from the left - Integrated Peripherals(see picture above). If we go there, we will see the following picture:
As can be seen from the figure, the USB Controller and USB Device Legacy Support parameters raise suspicions. In the figure they are already enabled (Disabled - disabled, Enabled - enabled). However, USB settings can have completely different names, and you may not see exactly the same picture on another computer. That is, all this will be called something else. The keyword to search for, as you understand, is USB. To help the inquisitive mind of the user, I recommend that you familiarize yourself with the list of possible settings and a brief description of each of them. Let the seeker find.
3. Set the download order
Having turned on USB, you need to force the BIOS to boot from it first. The order of priority in our example is determined by the group of settings Advanced BIOS Features
Also, quite often the boot order is hidden in the menu item Boot or in combinations with this word. In the figure above, CDROM is indicated as the First Boot Device. Following the logic of the intended actions, we change the field value to USB-CDROM. The second device (Second Boot Device) can be the Hard Disk. The work is completed, exhale, save the settings and exit (usually F10 - Save & Exit). "Hot keys" and their purposes are indicated at the bottom of the screen.
It also happens: no matter how much we look for where to turn on USB, we cannot find it. And there are no options in the boot order from USB. Most likely, this is the most unpleasant case - the BIOS is outdated and does not support USB. In this case, soap up the rope and stand on a stool, go to the BIOS manufacturer’s website and update the version.
And finally. For those who want to get to know this funny little beast called BIOS a little closer, there is a small bonus in store.
Showdown with a flash drive
Inset. Controller(English controller - regulator, control device) - control device in electronics and computer technology
If you have an exotic controller that is not included in the list, you will have to go to the controller manufacturer’s website and scour in search of the necessary programs. A reasonable question arises: how can we understand which controller our flash drive is on? This is done simply. Download the useful utility ChipGenius, insert the USB flash drive into the port and run the program. This is what she gave for my Kingston:
So, we have decided on the controller (skymedi), let's turn to the software from this manufacturer. They turn out to be (according to the corresponding instructions) a set of utilities SK6211BA-20090227.
After unpacking the downloaded archive on the desktop, run the file SK6211_20090227_BA.exe
My flash drive was detected on one of the 8 ports, as symbolized by the inscription Ready. Press the button Advance ( Advanced settings). We get to a new window:
This is a blank window (with inactive fields). To the only active field Password(Password) enter 123456 and click Check. After this, the program will automatically select the settings, as in the screenshot below. However, you need to manually register PreCopyPath(after pressing the Browse button, select the PreCopy directory, which is located in the folder with the downloaded program).
The setup is not finished yet. Press the button Multi-Partition and we find ourselves in the third window, intended for additional settings. The most important things here are the checkboxes Enable CDROM, Enable CDROM booting and field ISO Image, where we specify the path to the pre-downloaded LiveCD image. Otherwise, filling is done automatically, as in the screenshot:
By clicking OK, we roll back to the previous window, where in the Config File field we enter the name of our new configuration (for example, Kingston_4G). Next, we finally save the settings (Save) and return to the main program window. Select a button Auto-LLF and we wait...
Formatting and recording have begun.
Upon completion, we safely remove the device, and when reconnected, the system already sees two devices instead of one flash drive.
We send the computer to reboot and boot safely from the flash drive. It must be said that the newly-minted LiveUSB installed without problems, and besides, the operating speed was many times faster than its CD counterpart due to high-speed data exchange. If I understand correctly, the program for the skymedi controller from the example considered can knock out only 1 partition from a flash drive for a CD drive. This means that, unfortunately, it will not be possible to burn a LiveCD and a full-fledged image onto the card at the same time. However, as a test, nothing prevents you from throwing an assembly with an integrated LiveCD onto a flash drive and getting a bootable contraption “for all occasions.” In addition, it is quite possible that this limitation can be bypassed on other controllers. Need to check.
I needed to install a system on an old computer.
The computer did not have a CD-ROM, and it was not interesting to install my own, and I had long been interested in how to divide my 8 Gb flash drive into several partitions. It was not possible to do this using conventional means, because... After creating the partitions, Windows refused to see the second partition. I found a description about various methods for installing additional drivers for the second partition, but this did not suit me, because... This needs to be installed on each PC you connect to for the first time.
Therefore, I decided to devote Saturday to the interesting task of studying how flash drives work.
I learned a lot about what kind of chipsets there are, what to do with a flash drive if it is not detected by the system, where to look for software recovery utilities, and how to put a flash drive into test mode by shorting the pins on the chip. But we won’t go into all of this.
1) You need to find out the chipset manufacturer and values VID And PID.
This can be done by downloading and running the ChipGenius v3.0 utility
(be sure to write down or save the data that it shows, because in case of bad firmware, this will help you find the program you need)
2) Then go to the iFlash database page and enter VID or PID to the search bar.
Find out which programs are designed to work with your flash drive. (my flash drive had an SK6211 chip, and the program SK6211_20090227_BA was suitable for it)
3) If you have a different chip, not from Skymedi, then you don’t have to read further.
So:
A). We connect the flash drive to the USB connector of the PC.
b). Let's launch SK6211_20090227_BA.exe
V). In the utility, click --> Advanced-->in the window Password enter numbers 123456
and click on the Check button.
The windows will become active.
G). On the menu Code Bank ver. select the latest database. For some, the flash drive was detected in the program (lit up green, Ready) only after this.
d). Next - click Multi-Partition.
In this window: Upper left corner - check the box Enable CD-ROM, if you need to split the remainder of the CD-ROM, and split the part into 2 more partitions (i.e. make CD+flash+Flash), then move the engine - set the partition sizes.
Upper right corner - check the box Enable CD-Rom Booting(make the CD-ROM bootable) and write the path to the ISO image. The size of the CD part is set automatically depending on the size of the image. I tried a 2.5 GB image, everything is fine.
e). Be sure to specify the parameter autorun counter- it is responsible for all the glitches associated with the disappearance of a flash CD after several downloads:
turns out autorun counter This is the number of times the flash CD will appear in the system.
If we write 10 (as stated in the instructions), then the flash CD will appear and work exactly 10 times the flash drive is connected.
In order for the image to work endlessly, you need to enter 255 (==unlimited) in this field
source: http://www.mydigit.net/read.php?tid=58732&uid=35139
and). Lun0 and Lun1 are partitions that will actually be seen as a flash drive. If the engine (see above) was not touched, there will be a CD + 1 flash partition, otherwise there will be a CD and 2 flash drives (the volume of each depends on the position of the engine in the upper left corner).
Here we install:
format - ( Fat or Fat32)
section name - ( Format Labe l).
The first Flash partition can be done - ( Fixed) (i.e. it will be defined not as flash, but as HDD),
and also block the partition from being overwritten - ( write protect), immediately writing the necessary files onto it, specifying the path to the folder with them (but I did not do this, because overwrite protection was not part of my needs).
Click OK and agree to the changes.
h). Next (in the previous window that appears after this, you can set VID And PID(if you want to change the name of the controller manufacturer and its type displayed in CHIP GENIUS - to determine the flash drive by the flashing utility in case of subsequent flashing it won't affect), Serial No. flash drives (any one is possible) and LED parameters ( LED) - blinking frequency and light intensity, parameter Curr leave equal 100 mA(it’s better not to put more, as far as we know, this is the maximum current current consumed by a USB flash drive).
It is better not to change all other parameters - I don’t know what they are responsible for.
And). Write down your profile name and click " Save"(save the profile), agree to the changes and close this window.
To). Firmware is only possible if the flash drive is in the database (see above).
In this case, it lights up green and it will say " READY".
Select the profile we saved and click AUTO-LLF(AUTO-LowLevel Format).
The flash drive lights up yellow" BUSY" - the rewriting process is in progress.
Its successful completion is indicated by green color and " PASS". Congratulations!
Important tips!!!
- If the color before starting the firmware (after selecting the latest database of supported flash drives) is blue (NO Match) - then you are out of luck (the flash drive is not in the database), wait for the firmware update or look for it yourself, I found the right one the third time.
- If you need to overwrite a new image, be sure to first use the Recovery Disk utility (or the main utility to rewrite the controller firmware without creating a CD partition - uncheck Enable CD-ROM and Enable CD-Rom Booting, leave only the LUN0 (removeble) partition, and only then change it again as you need, otherwise an error may occur during flashing)
Thanks for all the instructions and tips:
Domrachev.Ivan,
AVP-720,
website flashboot.ru,
Chinese programmers who wrote programs for flashing.
In this article we will show you how to make sure that USBflash drive or SDthe card was detected in the Windows system like a regular local hard drive. You might ask, why is this necessary? The fact is that Windows by default defines USB flash drives and memory cards as removable drives, which cannot be divided into several partitions using Windows standards. And even if you split the flash drive into two or more partitions using third-party utilities (in the same Linux), then only the first of them will be available in the Windows OS (by the way, built-in appeared in Windows 10 1703). Those. Windows supports normal operation with multi-partitions only for HDD drives, which are defined in the system as local (i.e. non-removable).
RMB bit and USB media
Windows operating systems recognize USB flash drives as removable/removable devices due to the presence of a special bit descriptor on each device R.M.B.(removablemediabit) . If, when polling a connected device through the StorageDeviceProperty function, the system determines that RMB=1, it concludes that the connected device is a removable drive. Thus, in order to convert a USB flash drive into a hard drive from the system's point of view, it is enough to modify this descriptor. This can be done directly (which is quite risky due to differences in hardware implementations of specific devices, and is not always possible), or indirectly, by replacing the response of a USB device using a special driver that allows you to filter information in the device response.
Advice. Some manufacturers produce special utilities for flashing the controller of their flash drives. First of all, try to find such a utility and/or firmware on the manufacturer’s website. This is the most correct way. If you don’t find such a utility, follow the recommendations from this article.
Connect a USB flash drive to any free port on your computer, then open Disk Management Manager ( diskmgmt.msc) and make sure that its type is defined in the system as Removable(Removable device) .
You can also see the device type on the Volumes tab in the disk properties (as we see here Type: Removable). 
Or using the diskpart command:
List volume
In this article we will look at two ways to change the RMB bit on a USB flash drive - by using the Hitachi filter driver (changes are made only at the driver level on a specific computer) and changing the bit in the controller firmware using the BootIt utility from Lexar (a more universal method, but there is a number of restrictions and is not applicable to all models of flash drives and SD cards). Although both of these methods are quite old and I originally tested them on Windows 7, they continue to be relevant and work equally well in modern Windows 10.
Lexar BootIt utility
Recently I came across a rather interesting utility - LexarBootIt. This is a free, portable program that can change the RMB of a removable drive to make a removable USB device fixed (or vice versa). Even though the Lexar BootIt utility is designed for Lexar devices (Micron, Crucial), it can also work with flash drives from other manufacturers. The BootIt utility supports all versions of Windows, from Windows XP to Windows 10.
Important. The utility is guaranteed to work for Lexar drives. Judging by the reviews, the “Flip removable bit” function does not work on fast USB 3.0 flash drives. In addition, when flashing the controller, you will lose the warranty on the flash drive and can make it inoperable.
You can download BootIt on the Lexar website (lexar_usb_tool) or from our website ().
- Run BootIt.exe with administrator rights
- Select your flash drive from the list of devices
- Click on the button Flip Removable Bit
- Save your changes by clicking OK.
Reconnect the device and use Device Manager to make sure that its type has changed from Removable to Basic.
If the BootIt utility did not help change the RMB bit on a removable drive, try using the following method, based on the Hitachi Microdrive filter driver
Filter driver for Hitachi Microdrive flash drives
In order for a USB flash drive or SD card to be recognized in the system as a hard drive, we need a special filter driver that allows us to modify the data transmitted through the system stack of the current device driver. We will use a filter driver for USB flash drives from Hitachi ( Hitachi Microdrive driver), which at the OS driver level allows you to change the type of flash drive device from removable to fixed (USB-ZIP -> USB-HDD). Thanks to the use of this driver, you can hide from the system that the connected device is removable. As a result, the system will consider that it is working with a regular hard drive, which can be divided into partitions that will be simultaneously accessible in the system.
Archives with Hitachi Microdrive driver:
- 32 bit systems - (3.0 KB)
- Hitachi Microdrive version for 64 bit systems - (3.8 KB)
You need to download the driver version for your system according to its bit capacity. Both archives have the same structure and consist of two files:
- cfadisk.inf– installation file with driver settings
- cfadisk.sys- Hitachi driver file
The next stage is identifying the device code of our flash drive. To do this, in the disk properties on the tab Details in the parameter Device Instance Path select and copy ( Ctrl+C) device instance code. 
In our example it would be:
USBSTOR\Disk&Ven_Linux&Prod_File-CD_Gadget&Rev_0000\0123456789ABCDEF&0
Let's say we plan to install the driver on 64 bit system. Using any test editor, open the file for editing cfadisk.inf. We are interested in the cfadisk_device and cfadisk_device.NTamd64 sections.
%Microdrive_devdesc% = cfadisk_install,IDE\DiskTS64GCF400______________________________20101008 %Microdrive_devdesc% = cfadisk_install,IDE\DiskTS64GCF400______________________________20101008
We change the value DiskTS64GCF400______________________________20101008 to the code of our device.
Important! In the device instance code, it is necessary to discard the part after the second “\” (in our example we discard 0123456789ABCDEF&0).
We get:
%Microdrive_devdesc% = cfadisk_install,IDE\USBSTOR\Disk&Ven_Linux&Prod_File-CD_Gadget&Rev_0000 %Microdrive_devdesc% = cfadisk_install,IDE\USBSTOR\Disk&Ven_Linux&Prod_File-CD_Gadget&Rev_0000
Save the file.
If the driver is installed on a 32 bit system, you need to download the recommended archive, unpack it and open the cfadisk.inf file for editing. Let's find a section :
%Microdrive_devdesc% = cfadisk_install,USBSTOR\Disk&Ven_LEXAR&Prod_JD_LIGHTNING_II&Rev_1100 %Microdrive_devdesc% = cfadisk_install,USBSTOR\Disk&Ven_JetFlash&Prod_TS1GJF110&Rev_0.00 %Microdrive_devdesc% = cfadisk_install,USBSTOR\DI SK&VEN_&PROD_USB_DISK_2.0&REV_P
Then we change the data in the last line, indicating the code of the instance of our flash drive, i.e. in our example we get:
%Microdrive_devdesc% = cfadisk_install,USBSTOR\Disk&Ven_LEXAR&Prod_JD_LIGHTNING_II&Rev_1100 %Microdrive_devdesc% = cfadisk_install,USBSTOR\Disk&Ven_JetFlash&Prod_TS1GJF110&Rev_0.00 %Microdrive_devdesc% = cfadisk_install,USBSTOR\Di sk&Ven_Linux&Prod_File-CD_Gadget&Rev_0000
Advice. If you want the USB flash drive to appear with a specific name in the device manager, you need to edit the value of the Microdrive_devdesc variable, for example like this:
Microdrive_devdesc = "Transcend 64GB DIY SSD"
Installing the Hitachi Microdrive driver instead of the native USB drive driver
All that remains is to replace the driver used by the USB flash drive.
Important! If the Hitachi Microdrive USB driver is installed on a 64-bit system, then... There is no digital signature for this driver, you will have to either.
Open the Drivers tab and click the button Update Drivers. 
Let's indicate the folder to the directory into which the downloaded archive with the Hitachi driver is unpacked: 
Let's select a new driver. 
We ignore the warning about the missing driver digital signature. 
Advice. In Windows 10 and Windows 8, when installing the driver, the following error appears:
Windows found drivers for this device, but an error occurred when trying to install the drivers.
Hitachi Microdrive
Third party inf does not contain signature information
To disable driver digital signature verification, run the following commands:
bcdedit.exe /set nointegritychecks ON
bcdedit.exe /set TESTSIGNING ON
Restart your computer and try to install the driver again.
All that remains is to restart the computer and, by opening the disk manager, make sure that your flash drive is now recognized as a regular hard drive ( Type: Basic), and the Hitachi driver is used as the driver.
By opening Explorer, you can also make sure that the icon of the flash drive has changed; it is now displayed as a hard drive, a regular drive. 
Now you can work with this flash drive like a regular HDD: create partitions, specify the active partition, create dynamic disks, install software that does not work from flash drives, etc.
Important. On other Windows computers without this driver, the second partition of the device will not be available.
To remove the Hitachi Microdrive driver, open the disk properties and on the Driver tab, click the Update Driver button - the system will install the native driver itself.
Advice. If after installing the Hitachi driver the system stops booting with BSOD, you need to boot the computer from the Windows installation disk / Live CD and manually delete the following files:
- cfadisk.sys in the %windir%\System32\drivers directory
- Directory "cfadisk.inf_amd64_..." from %windir%\System32\DriverStore\FileRepositoty
Restart your computer
You need to understand that this solution will only work on the system on which the appropriate driver is installed.
