Boot Manager - To boot from multiple hard drives???

[itakey]

I want to keep 2 drives in my machine with separate operating system on them. What is the easiest boot manager out there that doesn't interfere too much?

Thanks

 

[postmortemIA]

huh? Every OS post windows 2000 has its own boot loader that can be used to load other operating systems... in your case it is whatever you install on 2nd disk, just don't install newer then older OS.

 

[itakey]

You are right, I guess i'll just go that route. I remember fancier programs that would allow you to specify which was going to boot without the hassle of moving around. No sweat, i'll use this one.

 

[Navid]

1) Use your motherboard's boot selection menu, by pressing a function key, at boot time to choose which drive to boot to.

Pros: You can wipe a drive and have no impact on the other.
You can have the active OS always on drive C.

Cons: You will need to use the boot menu at each boot if your default setup is not what you want. Mind you, you can change the default in the BIOS.
You cannot do this if you have a very old motherboard that does not offer accessing the boot menu by pressing a function key.



2) Install a newer OS after an old OS.

Pro: You will get a boot menu offered by your new OS.

Cons: You will lose the menu if something gets messed up with the new OS, or if you decide to remove the new OS.
Your new OS will be assigned drive letter D. When you install a program, by default, it will install on drive C. Things can get messy very fast if you do not pay attention when you install new programs/games.