[syslinux] XP boot to ram

[Dietmar Stölting]

Hi all,
I prepared a brandnew harddisk with syslinux.exe (3.09) as described in
syslinux and memdisk doc.
I chose therefore a Fat partition with 2049MB and testet that it
boots.(Message on screen: Could not find a Linux partition...)

I copied this partition to another harddisk.
I deleted the syslinux partition on the brandnew  harddisk. I installed a
FAT 996MB set aktiv partitition on that brandnew harddisk as first
partition. I copied the partition with syslinux back on that brandnew
harddisk as SECOND partition and set it not as hide, but as VISIBLE. On
the 996MB Fat partition I install winlogon macrocomponent.
FBA runs. After testing that it boots correct (MSDOS is winking hihi), I
make a COMPLETE image of that minlogon partition (996MB) with WINHEX
(including 63 sectors with bootsector before partition 1).This image was
put on the partition with syslinux as min.img, and set this second
syslinux partition as aktive partition. I type memdisk raw initrd=min.img
at bootscreen and the 996MB windows put to ram boots first but then
crashes with 07B BSOD...grrr. But I have seen this crash so many times,
that it doesnt impress me any more. Now I set the second syslinux
partition as aktiv, but let the first partition with minlogon not as hide
but as VISIBLE! And voila, XP embedded boots complete to RAM (996MB!!!)
Now there is no limitation of an ram image of XPE or even XP as far as
your ram longs!!!
I never heard, that anybody succeed to boot XPE to RAM in that way. Now I
am testing winlogon macrocomponent in the same way and so on.

Nice to hear from You
Dietmar