Creating a Bootable CD-ROM has its own tricks, Even from Microsoft they have its own advice how perform this task.
How to from Microsoft
What is El Torito (CD-ROM)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
The El Torito Bootable CD Specification is:
An extension to the ISO 9660 CD-ROM specification. It is designed to allow a computer to boot from a CD-ROM. It was first issued in January 1995 as a joint proposal by IBM and BIOS manufacturer Phoenix Technologies.
A PC BIOS will not search for a boot sector on an ISO 9660 CD. The El Torito specification sets a CD to emulate a hard disk or floppy disk, the CD would contain one or more disk images - exact replicas - and emulate the INT 13 functions of such disks.
The standard is apparently named after El Torito (Spanish: the little bull) restaurants. The designers of the format were eating at an El Torito when they came up with the format and wrote the first draft on a napkin.
You can also read The "El Torito" Bootable CD-ROM Format Specification, Version 1.0
Creating A Bootable CD
In order to create a botable CD you might have a bootable OS image that can work on any Floppy. The most Important thing is that the bootloader (could be ISOLINUX MS DOS or Free DOS ) is contained on the image.
Most of the bootables CDs are intended for Live Distributions of Operating Sistems (The most popular are Linux based) others are for Games or presentations or stand alone software applications like servers and so on.
Once you have selected your prefered Bootloader, you can use burning software like NERO, prepare your software image to load with CD support. If you are using a MS-DOS type you might need to edit your autoexec.bat and config sys.
FREE DOS and windows 95 provide utilities to make floppy bootables with CD support ready .
If LINUX type you might need to configure some scripts to load os the Bootloader to a virtual RAMDISK to be capable to mount the CD after the booloader loaded the OS kernel.
How to Backup Your DVD's
I have a small daughter I have bought her many DVD's and as soon as I bought her the first one I realized that DVD's designers evertought about Kids not just for a second.
So After the first brand new Lion King spoiled and 20 € to the bin I decided that for every DVD I buy for her I should make a copy and give her the copy and not the original DVD.
Is better to spend 1.75 € than other 20 € So here are the easy steps to save you of headackes when your kid starts cring cause its favorite DVD got a scratch.
First I downloaded from The net some software called DVDShrink from here and some times Also I used DVD Decrypter Which apparently is not available Read the article (http://www.digg.com/movies/DVD_Decrypter_is_no_more)
The most Important is that you remember that you are entitled legally to backup your purchased software regardless whatever any company could argue, because they dont replace either by a small fee or cheaper the broken damaged scratched DVD's neither they ever will accept that you have that right but yes alt least in the European Union still It does and Copyright International law forbids that.
So making backups of your purchased DVD's is totally legal. The aim of informing this is that I neither accept the piracy and I think that you must pay to whom its work done.
So lets start:
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Open DVDShrink
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Put your Dvd in
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Tell DVDShrink where to read your DVD drive ( If DVD shrink tells that the source is encrypted and DVDShrink cant read the disk then try to use if you get somewhere DVD Decrypter software.)
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Tell The software to start to backup the software will ask the to put your empy DVD in the DVD Writer
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Thats All you are done give your kid the copy and store in safe place your 20 €worth original in a safe place!!
How to Create a Bootable USB/MMC Memory
During many years many tools for linux and windows had came out, many of us used to use command line tools.
Not anymore, one of this gems I found when trying to fix my old linux Laptop is named Universal USB Installer
The tool allows to download the most popular linux distros or recovery OS images direclty from the distribution sources. Unpacks the ISO image and makes the MMC or USB bootable on the fly.
Once ready Just reboot or plug it on the desired machine you want to boot from USB and off you go!