[ros-dev] installation methods?

[Bernd Blaauw]

Which are current installation methods for ReactOS?

so far only an ISO it seems, which for non-emulators requires to 
write/burn a disk,
turn it into a drive that can read burned media (not all cdrom drives 
can do this),
and also requires El-Torito support from the system BIOS.

That last part might be worked around, if not supported by the system, 
by using Smart Boot Manager,
which provides its own Eltorito stack.

Questions:
-why do an installed ROS, a ROS LiveCD and a ROS installCD all have a 
directory (root_of_drive)\REACTOS ?
 This makes it complex to have all 3 on 1 drive.
 WindowsXP/BartPE can use C:\WINDOWS (installed), C:\I386 (setup) , 
C:\MINIPE (LiveCD) for example

-Is it possible to copy the contents of the install CD to a 2nd fat 
partition, and setup FreeLDR (on diskette for example)
 to boot that directory?
 some line like:
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)\partition(2)\ReactOS="Install ReactOS from 
D:\REACTOS to C:\REACTOS"

if the ReactOS install CD used any other directory name than a hardcoded 
'\REACTOS', then 1 partition would have been enough.
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)\partition(1)\ROSsetup="Install ReactOS from 
C:\ROSSETUP to C:\REACTOS"

-How do I obtain FreeLDR, other than "installing ReactOS in an emulator 
first and selecting to install bootloader to A:" ?
 Can't find the old DOS INSTALL.COM/EXE file along with both FREELDR.SYS/INI

-Does installing ReactOS from harddisk actually work?
 At least it prevents users having to provide controller/cdrom drivers 
(be it DOS or Win32 drivers).

-Anyone tried ROS LiveCD + QEMU (without configuring a harddisk!) ? 
doesn't bootup, might be a QEMU issue.
 Vmware + LiveCD works, though C was assigned which isn't nice in case 
you decide to partition in a GUI Diskmanagement
 subsystem.

In best case, FreeLDR or a minisetup would be able to handle a (zipped) 
ISO by extracting the files inside it
to a temporary location, and start setup from there.
Is there any premade FreeLDR diskette image available somewhere?

Bernd