self booting mame cd

[andy007]

Gidday all.  I'm new to this mame stuff so I'll keep it brief.  I have had mame and roms on my pc several years ago.  I have been trying to make a stand alone cd so I can run mame on any pc directly off disk.  I have had a go at Knoppix and advanceCD, but have had no joy whatsoever.  If anybody's got some ideas, it would be appreciated.  I'm even at the point that I will buy a cd if anybody wants to make me one.  Any help would be good.  Andrew

[drventure]

I've seen tutorials around the net for creating a bootable Windows USB stick.

I'd think going USB would be much handier than CD because

1) There's A LOT more space available.
2) they're rewritable.

That said, some older pc's can't boot to USB, but most new ones can.

I've done DOS bootable sticks before for running troubleshooting and diagnostic tools, but I've never tried an entire windows install to one.

[Howard_Casto]

Well even with that.....

Xp sorta supports autorun.ini (which is what you are looking for btw) but vista and beyond really just block the thing.  Instead you get that "what do you want to do?" dialog box anytime removeable media is inserted.  Now one of the choices is whatever the autorun.ini specifies but you'll have to select it each time, so it isn't exactly auto booting anymore.  Even then, if the owner of the computer has selected an "always do this" option for his removable media it'll be skipped ect...

Also what dr venture said is correct.  It doesn't make any sense to do it on a disc because mame has all of those settings that need to be configurable. 

[andy007]

Thanks for the reply guys.  Apparently, the Knoppix mame runs drivers and configures on boot up. I was just trying to keep it simple for my young bloke.  I could put it on a usb(I will be making one anyway), but my young bloke is yet to leave a cd in his pocket and put it in the washing machine.  He has run 3 usb's through the wash and it didn't do them much good.  If you have any other ideas, programs etc, I'm always happy to listen.  Thanks again, Andrew

[Gray_Area]

  If you have any other ideas...

Yeah. Don't give 'im no more.