Booting from burned Windows CD

Now before you guys start thinking this is a pirated copy of Windows, trust me, it's not. My company has a bunch of enterprise versions of software on their apps server that I downloaded it from. The license is legit. I downloaded and want to install Windows 2003 Server.

However, when I download it, it's in a folder. I opened the folder and copied the other folders and files and burned a disk with it. When I pop the disk in a machine, it brings up the windows splash screen with the options to upgrade the current version of windows and check for compatibility etc, etc. But if I throw the disk in a machine to boot from it to do a fresh install, it won't boot from the CD. What do I need to include on the disk to make it boot from it?

Thanks.

 

Well first thing is the boot disk you are making with it has to be bootable and if it is not then no way is it going to boot. There should be a file on the server that you downloaded this from that will tell you how to make a bootable disk. If there is not then what ever burner program you are using should have a help file that will tell you the steps to do this. Or you can search Google for this and follow the instructions, I would try to explain it to you but the diffeence in programs means different steps.

 

A real image of Windows should be bootable with no extra steps required.

 

Companies usually use their own image with an Enterprise license. I'm curious as to why this one wants to burn boot disks. It's also odd that you're asking how to install Windows with an Enterprise license on an Internet forum. Why aren't you talking with your account manager from Microsoft?

 

Good point...

 

Hmm, I thought I'd typed this already, but might not have hit the Post button....

Your license is likely only valid *within the company*. Unless you're installing this onto an in-house, company-owned system, you're probably violating the license terms.

The corporate IT guys probably use a network boot disk, or even a PXE boot server (boots from the network adapter's BIOS in the install machine), to initiate installations from the file server, hence there's just the install files, not a full CD image.

 

This would make sense. The machine is a company-owned system, used only at our local office. As far as I can tell, unless the company itself obtained this version illegally, I am not violating any license terms. I am asking this question on these forums because I've gotten good advice in the past here, and none of the admins in NJ are returning my phone calls.

Thanks anyways.

 

Might find this page usefull: http://www.tacktech.com/display.cfm?ttid=297

 

Use the same directions for creating a bootable CD as you would to burn a bootable slipstreamed XP CD. The downloadable boot image is linked in the directions. Or you can extract the boot image from a botable XP or other Windows CD with ISO Buster, UltraISO, or Bart's Boot Image Extractor (You can safely ignore the file types of these images; img, bin, doesn't matter).

Use the directions in Step 5.

http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/windowsxp_sp2_slipstream.asp

 

You're probably legal then. Seems to me, the last place I worked that we had a volume license for Windows and Office, employees were also permitted under the license to install that copy of Office at home... with the proviso, of course, that if they ever left the company, it be uninstalled.

Again, it's something you'd have to look up in the terms of your company's SPECIFIC license. With W2K3 Server, there may be even stricter limitations on how many licenses may be installed and in use at any one time, even with a corporate volume license.

Disclaimer: I'm not a Microsoft vendor or MSCE or in any way privy to the many variations there may be to Windows licenses. To be SURE of what the license covers, ask your own IT guys (which doesn't appear to be working), or try contacting Microsoft.

 

I'm sure server licenses are stricter than stuff like Office.

 

Easy enough to tell what is working if you can get you hands on an ISO editing program such as WinISO. That will tell you if the image is bootable or not. The problem probably lies is the fact that you just copied the files to a disk instead of creating an ISO image of those files.

 

It wouldn't make any difference to the end result if an iso was used. The CD would still contain only the files unless the boot image was added or included in the iso.

 

The point I was trying to make is that you just can not copy a bootbale disc and expect the copy to be bootable.

 

A copy of a bootable disk would always be bootable, too.