Can I multi-Boot Like this??

[net1994]

I want to Multi-Boot between a number of O/S and I have a qestion before I begin though. Here is how I want to set my new HD up:

C:\ MS-DOS in Fat 16
d:\ Win98 in FAT 32
e:\ Windows 2000 Advanced Server in NTFS
f:\ Windows 2000 Server in NTFS
g:\ Windows 2000 Pro in NTFS
H:\ Windows 2000 Pro in FAT 32
I:\ Windows NT Server 4.0 in NTFS

Well I have all of these O/S's except MS-DOS. Can I install Win98 on my D: drive and then all of the others in the above order, and THEN install MS-DOS on Drive C:\ when I get it later on? Or if I do this will the HD not boot into any O/s because there is no data on the Primary Partition??

 

[lucidguy]

Using standard bootloaders, including Windows' own bootloaders, or Lilo, or GRUB, etc, you can only boot 4 OS'es from one HD.

You can however use Smart Boot Manager to boot an unbounded number of OS'es from an unbounded number of HD's.

Smart Boot Manager is GNU Free Software.

 

[net1994]

So Where do I get this Utility???

 

[lucidguy]

Run a google search for it.

 

[seind]

lucidguy
Is it possible to boot from the floppy and cd-r using this utility?


Also, anyone knows what partitioning software is good for this task?


Thanks.

 

[DocDoo]

<< Also, anyone knows what partitioning software is good for this task? >>


Not only does Partition Magic allow you to partition your drive in many ways (non-destructive I might add), it also comes with a &quot;boot-manager&quot; called PQBoot.

A small investment now will pay off in the short and long run....

PS. Also, System Commander 2000 is the best &quot;boot-manager&quot; for those with advanced or bizzar boot options. It will let you do anything you want!

 

[seind]

Cheers DocDoo.

I might say that I tried Partition Magic 5. And still prefer a good old dos program....just very simple to use.
Maybe I should get a shot on version 6.
Never had the chance to play with the Smart Boot Manager or System Commander yet.

Thanx.

 

[lucidguy]

seind,

I am glad you asked. Smart Boot Manager will boot from floppy and CD even if your BIOS is ancient and does not support booting from CD. Smart Boot Manager has its own (OS and BIOS independent) bootstrapping code.

Also, it installs on track 0 of your hard disk, therefore not necessitating any partition of any type to be present. Track 0 is a special unaddressed location on the hard disk. You could totally format your hard disk, not make any partitions at all, install Smart Boot Manager on track 0, and it would work, and it would let you boot from floppy, or CD.

PQBoot requires a FAT16 or FAT32 partition to be present. Being a Windows application, it has to reside on a DOS compatible partition. If you hose your FAT16 or FAT32 partition, you cannot boot. PQ is risky that way. On the other hand, there is absolutely no way to hose Smart Boot Manager because it's not even present in addressable HD space. Applications cannot hose Smart Boot Manager even if they tried. Other boot managers simply do not compare.

 

[seind]

Hey lucidguy,

Nice info there! Well done!!

Nice post mate. As always

 

[SUOrangeman]

Move Win98 to the end and NT4 right after DOS. This should help with the 8GB booting issue, should they arise.

I want to think that you can do almost all of this mutli-booting with just the NT loader. I know I've had at least 5 OSes + floppy boot acces from NT loader (www.winimage.com/bootpart is your friend).

-SUO

 

[chrisbest01]

i don't think you can boot like that unless you have each OS on different hdd.

boot loader won't works. I don't think you can run two copy of win2k under the same mbr

 

[SUOrangeman]

chrisbest01, unless you are holding out on some very crucial piece of information, I believe you are incorrect.

I am currently muti-booting WinME, Win2K Pro, Linux, and BeOS off of NT Loader on my MBR on a single hard drive.

I also know for a fact that you can have more than one install of NT on the same hard drive. If Win2K is indeed NT5, then the same premise should apply, allowing multiple installs of Win2K and WinNT4 on the same drive ... with a common NT Loader-controlled MBR.

If there is anything that won't work, it's that DOS might be overwritten/overtaken by the Win98 install.

-SUO

 

[AKA]

You have have more than 4 OS's on the same hard drive. Ive got a test system currently with 7.. all Win9x, WinNT and Win2K variants.