Now the Windows Security Update CD window is back up, and a progress bar moves across it. Windows are popping up, and off the screen individual patches are apparently being installed.

A copy of Service Pack 3 (SP3) for XP (32-bit), downloaded from Microsoft's servers A working Windows system, with at least 1 GB free hard drive space Blank CD or DVD WinUpdatesList (recommended) ...

Even if you succeed, Windows doesn't boot well from read-only media like CDs.<BR><BR>For a bootable Windows CD, you want to look into WinPE, also available in customized forms such as BartPE.

But having a bootable live Windows CD in your admin arsenal can help mitigate the damage and spur your recovery efforts. Written by Scott Lowe, Contributor July 4, 2005, 7:48 p.m. PT ...

Basically, I'm trying to format my hard drive so I can install Windows 98 on it. I do not have a floppy drive, so I need to create a CD I can boot off of to do this.

Sonic CD costs $4.99, the same price as the iOS and XBLA versions. Get it here on the Windows Phone Store.

If you don't have (or just don't want to dig up) your Windows installation CD to fix it, ArsGeek has a handy tutorial on un-wonking the MBR with an Ubuntu live CD.