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  • boot manager recommendation?

    ok, I need to install some beta dev tools on one or more of my dev PCs and I want to make separte Win XP installations for them.

    I'd like the OS installations to be completely independant. I only want to have NTFS partitions.

    In the past I've used BootMagic from PowerQuest. I don't want to create a fat32 partition just for BootMagic so I've looked around and found that there are quite a few boot managers out there. Many haven't been updated in several years so I'm worried about compatibity with XP.

    I'm wondering what you guys use and/or can recommend.

    One's I'm considering are:

    -GAG (http://gag.sourceforge.net/)
    -OSL2000 (http://www.osloader.com/)
    -Paragon Partition Manager (http://www.partition-manager.com/hom...onal/index.htm)
    -boot-us (http://www.boot-us.com/index.htm)
    -master booter (http://www.masterbooter.com/main/news.php?lang=en)
    -MATTsoft Boot Manager (http://www.penguin.cz/~mhi/mbtmgr/)

    But I'm open to all your suggestions. I'm happy to pay for something good so please don't restrict your advice to freeware.

    Thanks.
    P.S. You've been Spanked!

  • #2
    Why not use grub? It doesn't have graphical configuration, but it is quite easy to use once you get the hang of it.
    Other than that, smart boot manager is nice too. It hasn't been updated in a long time, but it has always worked fine for me, and afaik there are no known bugs, except for some problems finding all drives with some old and buggy BIOSes. Not very beautiful, but functional. Here is a user guide.

    I have no experience with commercial boot loaders. The above two have always worked fine for me.
    -Slougi

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    • #3
      HyperOS 2004SE

      It is a revolution on a CD ROM. Here are its capabilities:

      The blue specs are the capabilities that no other software has, we believe...

      [1] Runs up to 11/22 copies of Windows 95 98 Me NT 2K XP 2003 systems on drives C to M/X, on one or more HDDs.

      [2] Runs any number of Linux Mandrake, SuSE and Red Hat systems in addition to 11/22 Windows Systems on one or more HDDs.

      [3] Swaps systems without multi-booting. The C: drive remains your one bootable partition, just like a single installation. HyperOs does not change your boot environment at all. HyperOs rewrites BOOT.INI and MSDOS.SYS and swaps 9x and ME DOS as necessary. It uses BOOT.INI to choose Linux boot sectors from Linux boot sector files it creates and stores on your C: drive. HyperOs effectively multi-boot sectors with Linux.

      [4] No partitions are hidden, all Windows and Linux systems can see all other Windows and Linux systems and all data and all data partitions. Each Windows or Linux system can operate on all the data on any HDD.

      [5] All 9x and ME systems share the same swap file and all NT 2K XP 2003 systems share the same Paging file. This works flawlessly and saves a lot of space.

      [6] Swaps systems with a double click fire and forget from within Windows or Linux using the My Other Computers Window.

      [7] Keeps your existing Windows installation on C and allows you to add as many other Windows or Linux systems as you like.

      [8] You can copy your existing Windows system on C to any other partition up to X, with a drag and a drop. This creates further Windows systems from your existing Windows system.

      [9] Because HyperOs does not hide any partitions, it can manage one Windows system from another. This results in incredibly fast back up, restore, zip, unzip, copy, and delete times.

      [10] HyperOs can back up a system in seconds as a sector by sector image file (FAT16 and FAT32 only) with a single click or a drag and drop. This needs to be seen to be believed. A fast HDD with backup XP in 60 seconds. It will backup NT in 6 seconds. This is over 5 times faster than Norton Ghost.

      [11] HyperOs can back up any system in seconds as a zip archive (All file systems) with a single click or a drag and drop. This also needs to be seen to be believed. A fast HDD with zip up XP in 120 seconds. It will zip up NT in 12 seconds.

      [12] HyperOs can back up and restore whole systems or data partitions to and from any local or network location using the My Other Computers Window.

      [13] HyperOs adds FAT32 capability to Windows NT4. It adds back DOS 8 underneath Windows ME. It adds NTFS reading capability to DOS. It fixes MaxPhysPage and Vcache in SYSTEM.INI to permit the use of 1GB of RAM with 95 98 Me systems.

      [14] HyperOs can back up whole Windows systems intelligently, we ignore the Recycled bin, the System Restore folder, the System Volume Information folder and the Hibernate file (Hiberfil.sys) and the paging file if required.

      [15] HyperOs provides an optional boot interrupt menu.

      [16] HyperOs can clone any Windows system from any drive letter between C and X to any other drive letter between C and X, in seconds, and then reconfigure that Windows system to run from its new drive letter automatically using WINMOVE and WINMOV9X.

      [17] HyperOs can restore an image made of any Windows system to any drive letter between C and X and automatically reconfigure it to run from the target drive using WINMOVE and WINMOV9X.

      [18] HyperOs can uninstall applications from a drive letter other than the drive the applications were installed on except in the cases of applications that we originally installed on C.

      [19] HyperOs Instant System wiper deletes a whole Windows system with one key stroke.

      [20] HyperOs reassigns drive letters in 2K and XP and 2003 back to the Mcft default order, if they get jumbled up.

      [21] My Other Computers provides a choice of a simplified BOOT.INI protocol or the full length ARC paths. It can swap to partitions that the OS itself cannot see. MOC can swap from 9x and Me to NTFS or Linux partitions. It provides a small system identifier at the top right of your screen to tell you which system you are in if required. MOC is so detailed that it replaces My Computer in single Windows system operation and surpasses it completely in multiple Windows system operation.

      [22] HyperOs provides commands which operate in Windows or DOS to swap systems (SYSTEM), copy systems (SYSCOPY), back up and restore systems (SYSIMAGE), zip and unzip systems (SYSZIP), wipe systems (SYSWIPE), and list systems in DOS (SYSTEMS). HyperOs can list NTFS Windows systems in DOS and swap to them from DOS.

      [23] HyperOs has wizards which accept 95 98 ME Windows installation CDs and do everything for you during the Windows 95 98 ME install.

      [24] HyperOs runs Windows 95 98 ME from the HyperDriveI (a RAMDISK made out of System RAM) as well as from your HDD. And it can run all Windows Systems including NT 2K XP 2003 from the HyperDriveIII (a Hard Disk made out of DRAM).

      [25] Comprehensive instruction Manual taking you step by step from a blank hard disk to running 95 98 ME NT 2K XP and 2003 if required. Plenty of notes and fixes for Windows ‘features’.Useful advice on what to do and what not to do. Please visit our forum for user experiences…http://www.hyperosforum.co.uk

      Just so that you know how perspicacious and how unusual and how exceptionally innovative HyperOs is, we have listed its 25 main technical capabilities above, and in doing so have discovered that 9 of them are not available in any other software.

      HyperOs is a must for any serious PC user because you can …

      1. Solve every software problem with OneClick (swap to the next system)

      2. Give the Internet its own Windows System (fight the war only in this system)

      3. Give everyone in the Family PC his or her own system.

      4. Give your big application(s) their very own Windows system (best performance and stability for your big apps, such as graphics, music or games)

      5. Create a sacrificial Windows system for testing out new software

      6. Create a secure mission critical Business Windows system (ring fence it, then install all new drivers and applications in a second Windows system).

      7. Create a parallel backup system or systems of your most important Windows systems just in case.

      8. Back up or restore any system locally or to a network location in seconds with a drag and drop, or a double click.

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      • #4
        Acronis Disk Director Suite has a Boot Management Utility included. I haven't used the boot manager but the partitioning tool is very good.
        Alcohol and Drugs make life tolerable.

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        • #5
          Originally posted by DirtFarmer
          Acronis Disk Director Suite has a Boot Management Utility included. I haven't used the boot manager but the partitioning tool is very good.
          I concur!

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          • #6
            Originally posted by ayoub_ibrahim
            I concur!
            have you used the boot manager?
            P.S. You've been Spanked!

            Comment


            • #7
              thanks for the input guys, but I'm going a different route.

              I've been trading email with a microsoft mvp today and he suggested I try MS Virtual PC instead of partitioning. He said he wouldn't even consider the partitioning strategy himself anymore.

              I'm go to do that instead of partition. In truth, I'm relieved because partitioning these days is just not as worry free as it was in the pre Windows 2000 days. Once MS started changing the ntfs format, all sorts of problems started happening.
              P.S. You've been Spanked!

              Comment


              • #8
                btw, does any of you know the name of boot manager that has shoe as its logo? (funny thing with it is that boot sounds like shoe in pl/cz (I think it was from Czech Republic...), hence the logo)
                It was quite nice...but I can't find it...

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                • #9
                  Yeah, virtual is totally the way to go. I use VMWare myself, because it's snapshots are more versatile. VPC is still pretty decent though, and lots cheaper.
                  Lady, people aren't chocolates. Do you know what they are mostly? Bastards. Bastard coated bastards with bastard filling. But I don't find them half as annoying as I find naive, bubble-headed optimists who walk around vomiting sunshine. -- Dr. Perry Cox

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