Can't create bootable CD for Windows XP

[rickeb1]

I am having some issues creating a bootable CD to run on a Windows XP system. Here is what I have done so far, hopefully someone can point out where I have gone wrong.

I downloaded the 5.1.0 version of memtest86 onto a Windows 7 PC. Inserted a blank CD, double-clicked the iso file Memtest86-5.1.0.iso and followed the instructions to burn an iso image. When I use Windows Explorer to look at the resulting disc, it shows the following:

- 2 directories: EFI, ISOLINUX
- files: EFIBOO.IMG, GUIDE.PDF, LICENSE.RTF, SRC.TGZ
- A message saying, "Files Ready to Be Written to the Disc (1)" desktop.ini

When I place this disc into the WIndows XP PC that I want to test, the disc cannot be read. When I try to boot the XP machine from this disc, it hangs for awhile, then goes on to boot from the C: drive.

Thinking that maybe there is a problem with creating the disc on a Win 7 machine to be used on a Win XP machine, I created a new boot disc from the same 5.1.0 iso file on the XP machine (using Nero). But, I still got the same results: same files, the Win 7 PC can read the disc, the Windows XP PC cannot and will not boot from it.

Am I doing something wrong here? Is there a different version of memtest86 that I should be using for an older XP machine?

Thanks!

~ Rick

[David (PassMark)]

The MemTest86 V5.1 download also contains the older V4 software, which will work on machines from the XP era.

Are you sure it isn't just a problem with your media?
Did you use the same CD-RW for the tests? If so try again with a new blank disc.

Are you sure the XP machine is setup so that the optical drive is first in the boot order?

[rickeb1]

The MemTest86 V5.1 download also contains the older V4 software, which will work on machines from the XP era.

Are you sure it isn't just a problem with your media?
Did you use the same CD-RW for the tests? If so try again with a new blank disc.

Are you sure the XP machine is setup so that the optical drive is first in the boot order?

David, thanks for the reply! I've tried 2 discs so far, one burned on the Win 7 machine, and one burned on the XP machine. Both look to have the identical files on them, so it seems unlikely that both of the discs could be bad. I did setup the XP machine to boot from the optical drive first. When the machine starts up, I can see the light on the optical drive go on and off repeatedly as it tries to read the disc, but eventually it gives up and goes to the next drive, which is the C: drive.

~ Rick

[David (PassMark)]

Can you boot from another disc?
E.g. try the Windows installation disk, or a Linux Live CD disc.

[rickeb1]

I created a Linux bootable DVD from Linux Mint 17, and it booted from it (although it crashed shortly thereafter, not sure why). Maybe I should try the older version of MemTest?

[keith]

Although the MemTest86 v5.1.0 image is compatible most BIOS systems, there a few BIOS's we've seen that aren't able to boot the image properly. If that's the case, you can give the MemTest86 v4.3.7 image a try.