Solution to making bootable USB drive with ghost
First, using Partition Magic (or any other partitioning tool), create a Backup drive (Drive D) to store your images.
Second, download the Windows 98 boot files at this link:
Windows 98 System Files Download - EXTREME Overclocking
Download the zip file and extract it to a folder called "Boot Files" on the Desktop.
Second, install the HP format utility to create a boot drive by selecting the "Create MS-DOS boot disk" option and selecting the FAT32 file system. It wants you to point to where the"Boot Files" are. So you can browse to my Boot Files folder and select the folder. Then, proceed to format the flash drive. You will lose all info on the usb drive, so, back it up if you want that data.
Check this website for a handy guide on using the HP format tool:
Creating a bootable USB thumb drive | Low FPS
Ok, so now you have created a bootable usb drive with the ms-dos files copied (but hidden) to it.
Third, you will discover that when you boot the usb drive with just ghost.exe on the drive, you can access the ghost enviorment, but your mouse doesn't work. So, what you should do is, get back into windows, copy and paste the following files from my "Boot Files" folder (where you have extracted the MS-DOS files): mouse.com & mouse.bat to your bootable USB drive.
So now you have three files that you have copied and pasted to your bootable flash drive, ghost.exe & mouse.com & mouse.bat
From there, I am able to restart the computer, go into the bios (on the mini it is F2,) go to the boot order, move the hard drive option below the removable media and usb storage option Then save (F10) and exit. It will boot to a C: prompt.
From there, type DIR and you'll see a list of files on the usb drive, (should be the 3 you copied). To make sure your mouse works in the ghost enviorment, type MOUSE and press enter. It should state that you loaded the mouse drivers.
After that, type GHOST and press enter. You will see that you load right into your GHOST DOS enviorment. If you aren't familiar with the Ghost enviorment, see the tutorials that come with the Ghost 2003 cd.
First thing I did was check the integrity of the ghost image you created. That way you know if your PC gets corrupted (its Microsoft after all), you can navigate to the image and restore it.
Well, hopefully this quick guide wasn't too long, It is actually quite easy once you learned what step and in what order you have execute it in. If anyone has a quicker easier way of loading ghost to restore a computer, please let us know.
I'm sure there are a lot of cool programs you can now load on your bootable USB drive but that is for future learning.
