Running Windows from a Disk?

[baboontester]

I seen this done today. So I was wondering how it was achieved as it looks to be a very handy tool if it's even legal. I'm not entirely sure.

Anyway, I seen this done recently and was wondering how to get Windows to RUN (limited features I assume) off of a CD. I believe it was XP, but he was saying it allocated part of the RAM as "HD space" and he got the person's information off of the HD that needed saving just in case the hard-drive was bad (pictures, etc) b/c it wasn't booting or recognizing windows at all on start-up.  Something was ultimately wrong with the master boot record and it got fixed in the end.

But how was this achieved? I would like to know as this could be a handy tool to have.

[Geek-9pm]

Part of Windows is called PE. This is the environment just before the full system is installed. Microsoft lets a legal used build it for aid in installation.

For further reading. look over articles about Bert's PE CD.
He was one of the first, if not the first, to show how to build a useable windows system without a full install. Of course, you must have a legal XP CD to build it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BartPE

http://barts-pe-builder.en.softonic.com/

Also, a similar CD can  be made fro Linux, but it is not the same thing.

More questions?

[Salmon Trout]

I have done some research into this; PE disks such as BartPE and others can be of doubtful legality. The process involves extracting copyright Microsoft files from an install disk which would seem to be against the Microsoft EULA. Downloading complete ready made BartPE or similar disks is definitely in breach not only of Microsoft copyright but also relating to the other files they contain. Some people say that if you have a licensed copy of Windows in the form of an install disk you can use it as a source of the files needed to build a PE environment to use on the licensed machine(s); others disagree. I believe this forum may need to be careful what is shown about this.

[patio]

It is a grey area so i'm locking this...

P.S. It's painfully slow running it that way anyways.