sgbotsford

We're talking about different prep software. I have been using USB_MultiBoot_10.cmd distributed as USB_MultiBoot_10.zip The document I've been using as a source for instructions is the bottom most sticky on the list. Possibly merit in having a sticky that says "Read me First" and then outlines the current state of the art, a brief description of the various tools.

USB-Multiboot Don't know how the B transmogrified into a B. First day witht he new fingers.

Which instructions? Here are several, in this subforum, there are thousands, on internet... Which means? Provide details, "WinXP NTFS formatted" does not reveal any usable details, apart from the clues that you formatted under XP and used NTFS. There are external tools for formatting USB sticks, they have names and options. There is built-in partitioning/formatting tools in XP, they do not work for making bootable UFD, unless it's seen as a fixed disk and you did set an active partition. Sorry. New area for me so I'm not sure what information is relevant. Instructions: Followed the first sticky set in this forum. First attempt: Formatting: In Device manager on XP I set the USB thumb drive to be optimized for speed, instead of safe removal. In My computer Thumb Drive, Right click, Format, I selected Format NTFS. I didn't select either quick format or enable compression. In MB I skipped formating, and did a very plain using an nlite source directory. Attempt 2 This time I used the HP formatting tool built into MD. This time on boot, it said, 'booting from USB' Read error Cntl-Alt-Del to restart. Attempt 3 toggled USB-stick to USB-harddrive. Same result as #2 Does MD scribble a log file somewhere?

I think I followed the instructions. This box has the ability to boot off a USB, at least in the bios, and on selecting F9 during start up. But at this point it seems to ignore my memory stick. I used an WinXP NTFS formatted 1 G memory stick. Since there is no sign of it attempting to boot, my suspicion is that I don't have proper boot code on it. OR this elderly HP doesn't really support booting off a memory stick. Is there a troubleshooting guide.

Is it reasonable to separate the OS from the user data? In the hopes that when you have to reinstall everything (seems to happen with windows about once every two years) that most of your user data isn't mixed in with the OS? If so, how do you format two partitions at the start?