New Windows boot manager available

[40hz]

This in via gHacks.net - link to article http://www.ghacks.ne...indows-boot-manager/

Windows Boot Manager
Posted by Martin in Windows, software  Tags: boot manager, boot-loader, bootdisk, bootmanager, master boot record, windows boot manager

20 Sep


Many users shy away from installing multiple operating systems on their computer because of problems that can arise in the boot sector. Some operating systems like to replace the existing boot information with their own which would mean that the user would have to find a way to replace or add those boot information again so that all operating systems would show up when booting the computer.

Windows boot manager Boot-US is a universal boot manager that can boot many operating systems properly including all versions of Microsoft Windows from Windows 95 to Windows Server 2008, MS-Dos, Linux, Free BSD, VMWare and several exotic operating systems like Oberon, Novel-DOS or QNX Realtime Plattform.

The boot manager itself can be installed in the MBR (Master Boot Record), the primary partition or on disk. The latter being an excellent way of testing the boot manager before installing it on the hard drive.

This is a native Windows installable utility that looks very promising for those times when you'd rather not install grub to your MBR. Especially interesting is the option to install the boot manager to a diskette for testing purposes prior to permanent installation on your hard drive.

That's something no other boot manager (TBMK anyway ) does.

Comes with decent doumentation. I've just finished testing it and (knock wood) it works exactly as advertised. Diskette and permanent installations have not caused any problems on my test machine so far.

I'll still need to see if various defrag and other disk tune-up utilities I have will break it. 



The Boot-US website can be found here: http://www.boot-us.com/index.htm

[Paul Keith]

Keep us updated 40hz

[cranioscopical]

Yes, thanks for the information, 40hz. I, too, would be interested in how things go from here.

[Darwin]

Coincidentally, I'm playing around with multi-OS installations myself and have been struggling to get Grub working. Thanks for posting about this, I'm downloading it now 

[kreatorr]

alternatively, have you guys tried grub4dos? It basically leverages your existing boot manager in 2k/XP or Vista to allow you to boot other non-windows OSes.  It's still grub, but you don't have to replace the MBR or partition boot record if you don't want to.

update: edit spelling for grub4dos

[40hz]

alternatively, have you guys tried grubdos? It basically leverages your existing boot manager in 2k/XP or Vista to allow you to boot other non-windows OSes.  It's still grub, but you don't have to replace the MBR or partition boot record if you don't want to.

-kreatorr (September 20, 2008, 11:48 PM)

Great find kreatorr!

***

If you do use grub, you'll also want to be aware of the Super Grub Disk Project. This is an excellent tool for fixing grub problem as well as learning about how bootloaders operate.

Mainsite: http://www.supergrubdisk.org

Also check out AutoSuperGrubDisk. Fix grub from within Windows with the minimum amount of fuss.

Link to website here: http://www.supergrub...ki/AutoSuperGrubDisk

There is a nice introductory article (with screenshots) on Super Grub over at the BeginLinux.com website. Full article link:

http://www.beginlinu...opics/1069-supergrub

[Armando]

If you do use grub, you'll also want to be aware of the Super Grub Disk Project. This is an excellent tool for fixing grub problem as well as learning about how bootloaders operate.

Mainsite: http://www.supergrubdisk.org

Also check out AutoSuperGrubDisk. Fix grub from within Windows with the minimum amount of fuss.

Link to website here: http://www.supergrub...ki/AutoSuperGrubDisk

There is a nice introductory article (with screenshots) on Super Grub over at the BeginLinux.com website. Full article link:

http://www.beginlinu...opics/1069-supergrub

-40hz (September 21, 2008, 12:40 PM)

I agree. I used SuperGrub a lot -- less lately because I don't have a Linux distro handy anymore (will soon, though -- just to test a few windows software under wine in the next Ubuntu release).

[40hz]

I've just finished testing it and (knock wood) it works exactly as advertised. Diskette and permanent installations have not caused any problems on my test machine so far.

I'll still need to see if various defrag and other disk tune-up utilities I have will break it. 
 

-40hz (September 20, 2008, 05:22 PM)

(Boy does it feel weird quoting myself! )

Update:

Looks like a winner. I have experienced NO problems running a WinXP/Linux setup with Boot-us.

As expected, all the Windows utilities I've tried ignore the non-NTFS partitions, so there is no risk of inadvertently hosing your NIX installation.

BTW: Boot-us may cause your antivirus utility to warn you about changes being made to your boot sector or MBR. This is normal and can be ignored.

Boot-us can also be easily removed with Windows' own fixmbr command if you experience problems or decide you don't like it.

Overall, I'm happy with it. It works, and for Windows users, it's appearance presents a lot less "culture shock" compared to grub.

IMHO - It's a keeper.

[Armando]

 Downloaded it... might play with it next weekend.... Thanks for the analysis 40hz. 

[40hz]

Downloaded it... might play with it next weekend.... Thanks for the analysis 40hz. 

-Armando (September 22, 2008, 09:34 PM)

You're welcome.

BTW: if anyone is using this with Vista, please post about your experience here?

Thx

[4wd]

Don't forget GAG if you'd like a nice Win95 feel to your boot manager

Its main features are:

    * Allows boot of up to 9 different operating systems.
    * It can boot operating systems installed in primary and extended partitions on any available hard disk.
    * Can be installed from nearly all operating systems.
    * GAG doesn't need its own partition. It installs itself in the first track of the hard disk, wich is reserved for these kinds of programs. It can also be instaled on a floppy disk, without using the hard disk.
    * It has a timer to boot a default operating system (selectable by the user).
    * The configuration menu can be protected with a password.
    * The program works in graphic mode (needs a VGA or better graphic card), and has a lot of icons.
    * Hides the primary partitions which allows the user to have instaled more than one DOS and/or Windows in the same hard disk.
    * Allows a password to be put on each operating system, denying access to non-authorized people.
    * Allows the boot manager text to be translated to all languages.
    * Can exchange disk drives, allowing to boot from the second, third... hard disk operating systems such as MS-DOS.
    * Has the SafeBoot system, that allows to boot your hard disk even if GAG is accidentally overwrited.
    * Supports a great variety of keyboards (QWERTY, AZERTY, QWERTZ and DVORAK keyboards).
    * Fully support for hard disks up to 4 terabytes (4096 gigabytes).
    * Full version and free software (distributed under GPL licence, with source code)