document updated 16 years ago, on Nov 14, 2008

succinct instructions on ramdisk booting
- you must use the Win2003 SP1 boot files
- to modify the boot directory from "/i386/" or "/minint/", you have to hex-edit the setupldr.bin. However, the Win2003 SP1 one has a checksum failure if you do this. But you can disable the checksum:
  - Win2003 SP1
  - Win2003 SP2
distros that support USB booting
note that only Windows 2003 or Vista can be booted from USB media. XP and older OS's can't boot from RAM, and thus have problems when, during bootup, they reset the USB bus. However, you can boot older OSs if you use 2003's setupldr.bin with your older OS.
tools
- pe2usb
- PE Builder to USB Flash Drive
- USB_MultiBoot_10.zip
- PeToUSB (used within USB MultiBoot, but has clear problems with larger hard drives). Alternatives:
  - ubcd4winToUSB
making PE USB bootable