# How do i boot directly to command prompt?



## SectorNine50

I'm assuming you are talking about Windows 7/Vista?

If you press F8 right after your BIOS (or press F8 repeatedly during your BIOS screen), you can boot to safe mode with command prompt. That is the only way I'm aware of that you can with 7/Vista since they dropped the MSDOS underpinnings.

Do you have more details on what you are trying to do? There might be a solution that's more specific to what you are doing.

EDIT:
Oh, from a disk.

Boot a Windows 7 install disk, and at the first screen press Shift + F10. Then click command prompt.


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## Sean Webster

You can make a bootable DOS USB. Is that what you mean? What are you trying to do exactly?

*Make a bootable USB device for utilities:*

Download the the files here: www.overclock.net/attachments/109
Extract
Open the USB Disk Storage Format Utility
Select your flash drive
Select File system > FAT32
Label what you want it to be named
Tick the check box for "Quick format" and "Create a DOS Bootable Disk"
Under "using DOS system files located at: click browse
Select the entire "win98boot" folder
Click Start
When finished Close
Go into your app you want to boot from and drag all the files onto your flash drive
Then plug it in and boot from it!
As for a CD

http://www.hiren.info/pages/bootablecd

Edit: Like the guy above said, the Windows disk is good too.


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## finger00

Not sure if it can boot directly into the command prompt, but you can check out Hiren's Boot. That would be my first guess


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## Hazzeedayz

ok i guess i wasn't specific enough, my bad.

it's Windows XP
so here's the deal.
person at work has a boot sector virus which is causing BSOD Error: 0x7B

We attempted to put in the xp disks....bam, more BSODs same error: 0x7B

so essentially we cannot get in there to change anything until i create a bootable CD


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## SectorNine50

If you got the BSOD from XP disks, then it's probably hardware related. The computer won't even read the boot sector of the HDD when loading the CD.


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## Sean Webster

You can check this out too: http://www.overclock.net/t/1029025/malware-removal-guide


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## biltong

Boot from XP install disk and when it asks you what you want to do, enter recovery console mode. That's as close as you're gonna get to it.


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## Hazzeedayz

had a problem with a few things
BIOS had drives setup in IDE, changed it to ACHI to boot
Ran a bootable disk and flashed the old boot manager....i found boot manager after picking around in an XP disk
and then crammed it into a symantec recovery program....essentially just using symantec tool to get into recovery options.
worked wonders.
virus is still there but i contained it and passed the file along to an analyst to add to our sweep disks.
(i don't think i mentioned the virus or not, lol my bad)

thanks to all that helped, problem solved
rep+ all round


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## joshd

Hirens Boot CD 15...


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## Gorgaij

any 1 please explain me that it is not like burning a usb...?? and if it is then can i use my usb normal after by formating it into normat file type.......! @ sean webster.


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## Plan9

Use a Ubuntu live CD. It's a read only copy of Linux so wont get the Windows virus and you'll get a pretty GUI you can navigate around so you can manage your PC without pratting about in the command line. (and the DOS command line is truly awful in all practicality).


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## subassy

Sounds like the issue may have already be resolved but I'll insert this anyway









As I assume at least some of you are aware windows XP is not in anyway shape or form based on DOS. No DOS code. I know some people just use that as a descriptive shorthand but it still annoys me when I see it







(I think "CMD Shell" is more accurate, sorry if I'm being pedantic).

Microsoft actually makes something for booting directly to a CLI: it's called the "Windows automated installation kit (WAIK)" or my personal _descriptive shorthand_ for it, _VistaPE_ since it is a pre-installation environment.

It's incredibly easy to make the WAIK into either a boot CD or a bootable USB thumb drive. No third party tools required, just what comes with windows vista/7/8. Of course there's not necessarily any tools included with the the WAIK, it just boots to _CMD_ prompt.


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## Gorgaij

Thank to all... got rid off from logical confusion about this topic...!


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