4 floppy disks (3.5 inch) are needed to create a Windows 2000 boot disk. To begin the diskette creation process open the "Backup" utility Window (found under Start >> Programs >> Accessories >> System Tools). And click on the Emergency Repair Disk button & follow onscreen instructions.
Another method of creating the boot disk is by using the installation CD. Open the BOOTDISK folder and launch the makeboot.exe program and follow the instructions.
Though in the case of Windows XP the boot diskette is hardly used, sometimes it may be handy. For creating a boot diskette for Windows XP system, use a formatted floppy and copy the NTLDR & NTdetect.com files from the i386 folder on the installation CD. Create a boot.ini file & copy it to the diskette. The boot.ini should have the location to the system partition which will look similar to,
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\Windows="Windows XP"
Note: The boot.ini can be copied from a different Windows XP system and can be edited later. To open boot.ini file, open the System Properties Window (Windows key + Pause Key) then click on Advanced (Tab), Click on the Settings button under the Startup and Recovery section & on the next Window click Edit button to open the Boot.ini file in a notepad.
