Unlike MS-DOS (including win9x), NT, which includes Win2k and XP, cannot
be booted from a floppy alone due to the size of the core code. What you
have in the boot disks for Win2k is a boot loader and a whole lot of
device drivers needed to start the OS. It then must rely on a CDROM or
hard disk image to continue the boot. If you already have Win2k
installed on a hard disk, a single floppy can get you started with the
boot loader.

Recognize that DOS and Win9x relies on the BIOS in ROM for part of its
device drivers. NT does not use the BIOS and loads its own drivers for
all hardware. That is why it needs a larger disk storage to boot, and
also why it may not run on all hardware. The benefit here is a much more
reliable system (most of the time :) ).

Peter
------------------
The NoSpin Group
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-----Original Message-----
For the first time I have occasion to use a Win2K boot disk, so I've
just downloaded the file from the excellent collection here at
http://freepctech.com.

I have all the others but I'm not too familiar with Win2K - perhaps
someone can tell me why there are four floppy images in the file pack?

Ian Porter

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