System 7: Can‘t Run from Single 800K Floppy Disk



Article Change History
----------------------
08/18/92 - CORRECTED
* To clarify that a high density (1.4MB) startup floppy is
possible.


Is there a way to create a bootable floppy of System 7?

If not, what is Apple's recommendation for doing diagnostics in the event
of a system hang on startup or a hard disk crash?

It is not possible to create an 800K system startup floppy disk, though a
high density (1.4MB) floppy will hold a minimal System 7. For those
Macintoshes that have an Apple (FDHD) SuperDrive, making a bootable floppy
is simply a matter of running the System 7 Installer program, choosing
customize, and selecting "Min System" for your Macintosh model.

The initial recommendation for troubleshooting System 7 is to hold down the
Shift key on startup to temporarily disable any system extensions (INITs).
Some other suggestions for system software troubleshooting:

1. Attach an external hard drive that has System 7 on it and set
startup. Make sure this hard drive has appropriate and latest virus
checkers installed.

2. Run standard hardware diagnostics to check the hardware.

3. Completely replace the System 7 software if removing the system
extensions doesn't help. This is where it might be useful to have a
1.4MB startup floppy, so that you can at least get to the hard disk to
remove the damaged system files and set aside other files you want to
save.


Published Date: Feb 18, 2012