A Boot CD, or bootable startup CD, is a CD that makes it possible to boot / launch an application or environment contained on the CD independently of the installed operating system – even on a computer that does not contain any operating system. A classic example of a bootable CD is Windows operating system installation media.
What is a Boot CD used for?
A Boot CD is always intended for a specific purpose. There is no universal Boot CD. The most commonly used bootable CDs are those intended for installing operating systems. There are also various Boot CDs containing diagnostic tools, utilities, and disk tools. For example, Acronis True Image software makes it possible to create a bootable CD that can be used to create and restore a system backup. Acronis Disk Director software makes it possible to create a bootable CD that can be used to partition, merge, create, and delete disk partitions.
Bart-PE CDs and Live CDs are a separate category. A Bart-PE CD contains a standalone Windows installation that can be run independently of the installed operating system. The term Live CD usually refers to a CD that contains a standalone Linux distribution that can be run independently of the installed operating system.
What other types of removable media can be bootable?
The most common bootable media are boot CDs, boot DVDs, and bootable USB flash drives. To boot from bootable media, the system boot device must be set to the desired device in the BIOS.
What Acronis bootable media can do
Acronis Disk Director bootable media
After booting from this media, it is possible to create and delete disk partitions and resize disk partitions without data loss. This bootable media (CD, DVD, or USB) can be created after purchasing an Acronis Disk Director license.
Acronis True Image bootable media
After booting from this media, it is possible to create and restore backups of disks, disk partitions, and data, and to clone basic (MBR) disks using the disk-to-disk method. The bootable media makes it possible to restore a backup to hardware that differs from the original machine. This bootable media supports desktop operating systems only (Windows 7 – Windows 10 and Mac). This bootable media (CD, DVD, or USB) can be created after purchasing an Acronis True Image license.
Acronis Backup bootable media
After booting from this media, it is possible to create and restore backups of disks, disk partitions, and data. The bootable media makes it possible to restore a backup to hardware that differs from the original machine. This media supports both desktop and server operating systems. This bootable media (CD, DVD, or USB) can be created after purchasing the relevant Acronis Backup license.