Making a flash drive bootable?

[drunkenmaster]

I'm sure i've done this before, just forgotten how.

Think there is a little app somewhere that can basically do what windows can do for a floppy and format a usb stick and bung on files for booting into dos so i can flash this damn 3870x2 with higher powerplay speeds.

ANyway, i remember the first time i did it with a 2gb usb stick it simply wouldn't work. The app I found would do it for smaller sticks. I just can't remember what that damn program was called.

You'd think in the push to get rid of floppy drives MS would have added the functionality into windows it had for floppys to make them bootable.

I think i might have even done it by finding a floppy image and putting files on the USB stick but again I seem to remember issues there with finding something i could open and extract the files from.

 

[d.chatten]

Google for HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool, i think thats what it's called.

 

[drunkenmaster]

ta, that sounds mighty familiar. First link on google also had a link within it for the sys files you need to do a format + make it bootable. I think thats the thing that made it so difficult before because the files aren't about to do it.

Thing thats just so insanely weird is how little support usb sticks have gotten over the years seeing as how wide spread and ludicrously cheap they've become.

AS say a system builder or tech support being able to go to peoples houses or companys and flash bios's and do various things with a usb stick would be invaluable.

Even the people that make the sticks could offer some software to do stuff like this, let alone MS providing something embedded to do so.

 

[phartars]

http://www.bootdisk.com/pendrive.htm Might be of some use ?

I've got a Sandisk Cruzer Titanium which has U3 and encryption on it. It isn't bootable. I haven't tried a non encrypted USB jobbie.