Your November 2003 tower [ “ What to Do When XP or 2000 Wo n’t Boot “ ] told how to make parking brake iron heel floppies . What if your PC has no floppy effort ?

Karl Whisennand , via the Internet

An emergency boot compact disc will , like the floppy I identify , get window running if your hard ride ’s boot sector or Windows ’ kicking files are corrupted . This solvent involve Gilles Vollant’sWinImage , a $ 30 program that has a 30 - day barren trial period .

Once you have WinImage set up , open Windows Explorer and selectTools , Folder Options , View , Show secret files and leaflet . UncheckHide protected operating organization files ( Recommended),clickYes , and then clickApply . go forth the Folder Options dialog boxful open , start WinImage , selectFile , New , 1.44 megabit , and clickOK . ChooseImage , Boot sphere holding , blue-ribbon theWinNT/2K / XPbutton , and clickOK .

Now chooseImage , Injectand navigate to your C : private road . Hold down the < Ctrl > key as you select the filesboot.ini , NTDETECT.COM , andntldr(the extension may not be visible ; seeFIGURE 1Figure 1 : Place the picture of a kick floppy on an emergency flush CD by using the WinImage utility . ) . ClickOpenand thenYes . SelectFile , Saveand name the fileboot file . In the ‘ Save as type ’ drib - down menu , selectImage file ( * .IMA ) . ClickSave .

Close WinImage and return to the Folder Options dialogue box . RecheckHide protected operating system files ( Recommended ) ; you may also selectDo not show concealed files and folders . ClickOK .

Now make a bootable CD that employs an figure of speech file instead of an genuine floppy . charge your CD authoring programme to the effigy fileboot files.imathat you just created , and then burn the CD .

Grab Drivers Off Your PC

Is it possible for me to back up all of the equipment drivers on my computer to a CD ?

Alex Garcia , Miami

I ’ve prepared a peck file that copies most ( if not all ) of your equipment driver files . Click hereto download driverback.bat . Once it ’s on your arrangement , double - click the Indian file to create your backup .

The batch file copies the number one wood ( and a lot of extra file ) to a booklet called ‘ driverback ’ inside My Documents . apply your CD authoring software to copy the content of this brochure to a CD .

To reinstall drivers , use either gadget Manager or Control Panel ’s Add Hardware applet to reach the Hardware Update Wizard . If the wizard does n’t mechanically expect for drivers on the CD , distributor point to the compact disk drive when call for for a localisation .

Protect Files and Folders

What ’s the most efficacious way to password - protect my significant file and folders ?

Jomon Varghese , South Kalamassery , Kerala , India

The encrypted File System in Windows 2000 and XP Pro makes files accessible only when you log on to the computer with the same user ID you used when code the folder . alas , EFS is so tightly integrated into the file arrangement – and so transparent to use – that a simple error can render your data approachable to others or unprocurable to you .

I prefer to use encrypted “ condom ” that open up and penny-pinching at my command . When closed , a safe is just a large data file fill with gobbledygook . But when you run your decryption plan and enter your watchword , Windows hear it as another drive – dead readable and writable .

Cypherix ’s freeCryptainer LEcreates practical private road up to 25 MiB . The $ 45Cryptainer PEversion supports drives up to 25 GB and use stronger AES encryption in place of LE ’s Blowfish .

Don’t Take a Windows Slow-Up Sitting Down

When you fall into place an icon to launch a course of study , you may have to hold back as Windows talks to the toilsome parkway , swaps other programs out of RAM , and lastly begins to unfold the new window . Then you wait some more as the program itself loads . Rather than baby-sit there swot up your finger’s breadth on the keyboard – or screaming at an inanimate object – use those treasured few seconds to your reward . Get up . debase . Look far aside . Do a few jumping shit ( just keep an eye on out for cap fan ) . Sitting at a estimator all day is not sizeable . When Windows forces you to take a inadequate break , make the most of it .