ISO on CD but doesn't boot

[tearinghairout]

When you look at the contents of the CD in Windows Explorer, does it show you whole bunch of files and folders with names like usr bin etc, or does it just show one file called knoppix.iso (or whatever you called)?

[fisheromen1031]

just one big file: knop.iso

BTW would it matter that I'm trying to get it to work on a Compaq?

[eco2geek]

just one big file: knop.iso

There's your answer -- you burned the ISO to the CD as a data file rather than as a CD image, and that's why it won't boot.

There's a free CD burning program available at NoNags called CDBurnerXP Pro that I haven't personally tried, but it says it can burn ISO's, if you want to try it.

[fisheromen1031]

umm?? I looked at the NoNag site and all it talks about is Audio files; I don't see ISO anywhere. what is the difference in the ISO file and an image?

[j.drake]

The iso file is used to create the image. If you have Nero or EZ CD Creator installed, you simply double-click the ISO file, and the program will load and create a bootable floppy. If you look at the floppy in winexplorer or konqueror, you will see a number of folders and files - not just the iso file.

This is a terrible analogy, but suppose someone ripped a CD and e-mailed a zip folder to you with your tunes inside. You wouldn't just copy the zip file to a blank cd and expect the CD player in your car to play, right? You have to extract the component files to the CD. Think of the ISO file as being kind of like that zip file, and you need a program that knows what it is and how to put all the components in the right place. For as bad as that analogy is, think of the iso as bing like the zip file, and Nero as being like WinZip.

jd

[shah]

Get your burner from here:
http://www.snapfiles.com/freeware/gmm/fwcdburn.html

[Jansi]

Hello, I have the ISO image on CD and checked the md5 sums and everything good there. When I try to boot from CD nothing happens; just loads Windows like nothing is there. it doesn't seem to matter what computer I put my CD in. I even checked the BIOS and they are set to check CD for boot before hard drive. What am I doing wrong? I thought this was supposed to be simple. Thanks

Howdy, Fisherman. Sounds like you plopped the ISO file on to a CD rather than burning the image file that the ISO represents to the CD... maybe I'm right, maybe wrong... but what I do feel pretty confident about: if you need to burn it under Windows, this free program should solve your problems:

http://www.burnatonce.com/

[firebyrd10]

But more or less an ISO files tells the burning software what files to put where. Like a set of instructions.
I suppose another analogy is need to clarify my point.

If you have ever gotten legos or a model building kit, think of it like that.

The model comes with all the parts (files) and instructions on how to put them together. You need someone who can read the instructions and follow them to correctly build the model. (the burning software) Just burning the iso file itself is like displaying the box the model came in. Something is there, but not what is suppose to be there.


There are alot of free software that can burn an iso files the way it needs to burned. I like deepburner.