Multiboot com FAT 32 e Unix

Agora ficou bem simples você instalar em um mesmo PC o OS/2 em HPFS, o Linux em Ext2 e o Win98 em FAT 32, juntamente com o Windows NT em NTFS. Saiba que todos esses OS podem conviver em um mesmo computador (sob o comando do OS/2, é claro!), bastando que você destine uma partição para cada um e que mantenha um gerenciador para o boot independente de cada um desses OSs. Até recentemente, isso somente era possivel com o uso do Boot Manager da IBM (que está sendo distribuído, inclusive, com o Partition Magic) ou com o LILO do Linux. Ante a chegada do Windows 98, que vem assustando muita gente com a FAT 32, a Tera Byte, uma softwarehouse filiada à ASP, laçou no mercado o Boot It, que é compatível com todos esses Sistemas Operacionais. Você pode pegar o Boot It no BBS do Pete Norloff (o nome do arquivo é BOOTIT.ZIP e ele tem 436,5k). O registro custa US$39,5. Acesse a Tera Byte clicando aqui e leia as instruções abaixo sobre o produto:
BootIt 2
Copyright c 1996, 1997 TeraByte Unlimited. All Rights
Reserved.
User documentation
Revision 2.13
Printed October 25, 1997
ASP Member
.
System Requirements:
100% IBM compatible personal computer with an i80386
compatible microprocessor and at least one diskette drive
and one hard drive. 4 MB free space to create the
installation diskette and 10 MB free space for installation.
Before you Begin
TeraByte Unlimited has taken every effort to make BootIt as
safe as possible; however, it is not possible to provide a
100 percent guarantee of safety.
It is extremely important that you do not use any
partitioning software (such as FDISK). If you ignore this
warning you are taking a serious risk of data corruption.
Before using BootIt on any system for the first time, BACK
UP ALL DATA on ALL HARD DRIVES. It's better to be safe than
sorry.
It's always a good idea to have a system disk, such as a DOS
boot diskette, that can be used to boot your system should
something ever go wrong. You should configure the diskette
to give you all the function you may need. This includes
adding any drivers or utilities as well as configuring the
configuration files.
To create a DOS boot diskette use the DOS FORMAT A:/S
command. You should also copy the following external
commands to the diskette: SYS, FDISK, FORMAT, ATTRIB, and
DEBUG. If you think you may need access to your CD ROM
drive or another device then be sure to copy the required
drivers to the diskette.
What BootIt Does:
This software is based on the Extended Master Boot Record
(EMBR) specification, which was based on the need to
standardize that area of the hard drive.
BootIt consists of all the components needed by the EMBR.
This includes the Extended Mater Boot Record Initiator
(EMBRI), Loader (EMBRL), and Manager (EMBRM).
This allows you to configure the boot process to fit your
needs. You can have up to 255 partitions, reference up to
255 boot files and load up to 255 low level drivers.
The standard MBR format is still used by operating systems.
It is limited to having a maximum of four primary
partitions. Some file/operating systems worked around this
by allowing one partition to be sub-divided into several
smaller logical partitions (volumes). To support the
current MBR, BootIt allows you to select which partitions
you want in the MBR. This is accomplished by allowing menu
items to be created that define the boot partition, boot
file (for OS loaders), parameters (for OS loaders), and MBR
partitions for all hard drives that contain an EMBR.
BootIt also includes a FAT and FAT32 loader. This loader
installs in a FAT/FAT32 partition and allows you to select a
boot file in the root directory of the partition. This
makes it possible to boot multiple operating systems from
the same FAT partition.
Limitations:
BootIt relies on the BIOS for processing disk functions. If
your computer BIOS limits access to the hard drive for any
reason and no driver is available to correct the limitation,
BootIt will also be limited. BootIt Supports the BIOS LBA
Mode for large drives. Int 13h extensions and BIOS large
mode are not currently supported.
Information for owners of BootIt 1.x
BootIt 2.0 will convert your version 1.x partition data when
the EMBR is created.
If you used BootIt to set the hard drive parameters it will
use that information during installation. You no longer
have the option to actually set the hard drive parameters;
when the EMBRM is created the current settings are stored.
When the system loads the EMBRL checks if the current
settings match the settings in the EMBR, if not, the EMBRL
attempts to set the drive parameters to match the EMBR
settings. This is done on hard drives 0 and 1 only.
Group information is not retained, nor is the original home
entry of the partitions. This means you may have to find
the home entry by trial and error when creating the menu
items. Most file/operating systems don't care which MBR
partition entry it resides in, but, some do.
All partitions should be created using BootIt. The other
allocation techniques have been removed.
As a registered user of BootIt 1.02 you are entitled to
purchase BootIt 2 for $22.00. Shipping is free if you
include your e-mail address otherwise add $9.95 for shipping
and handling. The BootIt API documentation is sold
separately and is not included with BootIt 2. The only
registration method available for the upgrade is to send a
check or money order along with your e-mail address,
registration name and number to TeraByte Unlimited, 258 N.
Saturmino Dr., Palm Springs, CA 92262.
Thank you for you continued support. Your honesty keeps the
shareware distribution method working!
Getting Started
1) Make sure you have read the "Before You Begin" section
of this document.
2) If you need to create a system diskette (such as a DOS
boot diskette or Windows 95/98/NT Startup Diskette), do so
now.
3) Backup all the data on all of your hard drives.
4) Create the installation diskette by following the steps
in the installation section of this document.
5) Install/upgrade BootIt on your hard drive by following
the steps in the installation section of this document.
6) Read the "BootIt 2 overview for first time users"
section of this document.
7) Read through the "EMBR Manager" section of this
document.
8) If you have existing partitions, use the "BootIt Boot
Menu Configuration" utility to configure a menu item that
uses your existing partitions.
9) If you are going to activate the FAT multi-boot option
on a partition, use the "FAT multi-boot activate/deactivate"
utility.
10) Refer to the Operating System section at the end of
this document for notes.
11) Refer to the "Sample Configurations" section at the end
of this document for some examples of how you could setup
your system.
Installation:
Installation of BootIt 2 is a two step process. First you
will create the installation diskette, then you will use
that diskette to install BootIt to your hard drive. Visit
www.TeraByteUnlimited.com to make sure you have the latest
version of this software as well as for any additional
information/help.
Before beginning the installation of BootIt make sure you
have read the "Before You begin" section of this document.
The following instructions will guide you through the first
step of the installation process. This step creates the
installation diskette. Windows users may use the File
Manager and Win95 users the Windows Explorer to execute the
steps listed.
You will need one formatted diskette that matches the floppy
drive A: of the computer that will have BootIt installed.
Do NOT use an existing BootIt installation diskette.
Information is added to the diskette during installation of
BootIt. If you overwrite that information you may not be
able to recover from certain potential problems. If you are
installing on multiple machines, each machine should have
its own diskette. You will also need a separate
registration number for each machine.
1) Extract the BOOTIT.ZIP file to its own directory.
2) Change to the directory used in step 1.
3) Type BOOTIT then press <enter> or Windows users can
double click on BOOTIT.EXE.
4) If you have accepted the terms, select the correct
diskette drive from the menu and press <enter>. You will be
prompted to insert the diskette and press enter when ready.
5) Insert the diskette in to the correct diskette drive
and press enter. After about a minute it will confirm
either that the installation diskette was created or that
the diskette is bad.
6) If the diskette was bad, get a new formatted diskette
and repeat the appropriate steps otherwise you're done with
step one.
Once you have successfully created the installation diskette
you can proceed with step two on the next page.
The following instructions will guide you through the second
step of the installation process. This step installs BootIt
to your hard drive.
If you are upgrading an existing version, skip to the
section below marked "Upgrading".
1) Make sure your system boot up sequence is A:/C: and not
C:/A:. This information is found in the CMOS setup which is
usually initiated by pressing a certain key when the
computer is first starting up. Also, disable the boot
sector virus protection option. If you leave the virus
protection option enabled, it will just get in the way.
2) Shut down and turn off your computer.
3) Insert the BootIt installation diskette in your A:
drive then turn on your computer.
4) If your system boots up as it normally does, see step
1, otherwise BootIt will be loaded from the diskette. It
will first run through some quick checks on your system. If
any potential problems are found you will be notified
otherwise the process will continue until you reach the
EMBRM main menu.
5) From the EMBRM menu select "Hard Drive 0".
6) You will get a message stating that the EMBR doesn't
exist and the option to create it. Answer with "Y" to
create the EMBR. When the EMBR is created the current MBR
and EMBR area are backed up to a file called BACKHD0.
7) Verify that your current partition information was
added to the MPT. If for some reason the partition
information did not get added to the MPT, press the escape
key then the enter key to abort the EMBR creation.
8) Create a partition for BootIt. Either tab to "Add New
Entry" and press enter or tab to the MPT and press the
insert key. If you choose "Add New Entry", it will ask for
the type of entry to add; choose P. Next it allows you to
choose the unallocated block from which to create the
partition. If you do not have enough unallocated space,
continue with the next step, otherwise, choose whichever
block you want if you have more than one and press enter.
Next it will ask you for the size of the partition. The
recommended partition size is at least 10MB although you can
use a smaller partition size such as 5MB. Once you enter
the partition size you want, the partition details dialog
will be displayed. Name the partition "BootIt EMBRM" and
assign it the file system id. 223 then press enter to accept
the information entered.
9) Save the EMBR. To save the EMBR tab to "Save" and
press enter.
10) You will automatically return to the main menu. If you
did not have enough free space to create the partition in
step 9 and have more than one hard drive, you can choose a
different hard drive and return to step 6. Otherwise,
continue to the next step.
11) Select Utilities and press enter.
12) If you created the EMBRM partition in step 9, continue
to step 13. If you did not have enough space to create the
partition in step 9, you will need to shrink one of your
existing partitions. Run the FAT Away utility and reduce
the size of one of your FAT partitions. Once you have
reduced the size of a partition, press escape until you
return to the main menu then select "Hard Drive 0" and
return to step 9.
13) Select "FAT Format" from the menu. Format the
partition your created in step 9 then return to the utility
menu.
14) Select "BootIt Install". Choose the hard
drive/partition that you created in step 9 then return to
the utility menu.
15) Select "Install EMBRI/EMBRL" and complete the
installation of the EMBRL.
16) Press Escape until the system tells you to press enter
to reboot. Remove the diskette and press enter to complete
the installation.
17) Congratulations, you have just completed the
installation of BootIt 2. The rest of this document is
devoted to explaining how to configure BootIt 2 for your
system.
18) Create a copy of this diskette and keep it in a safe
place. You will need the installation diskette to recover
from any problems or situations that may arise in the
future. Use the disk copy feature of one of your operating
systems to create a backup. If your installation diskette
is ever updated or new one used you should update your
backup diskette also.
19) If your BIOS has the ability to change the boot
sequence to C:/A: it is recommended that you do so. It will
help you remember to use the right shift key to boot from a
diskette (needed when BootIt is setting the hard drive
parameters) as well as reduce the chance of contracting
certain types of viruses.
Upgrading
1) Make sure you have all the utilities you may need.
Read through these steps first (esp. step 12). You may need
to get a utility from www.terabyteunlimited.com. If you
need a utility, download it and copy it to the installation
diskette before continuing.
2) Make sure your system boot up sequence is A:/C: as it
was when you originally installed BootIt 2.
3) Turn your system off.
4) Insert the installation diskette in drive A: and turn
on your computer.
5) When the menu is displayed, select utilities then
"BootIt Install".
6) Select the hard drive that you have BootIt installed
on.
7) Choose the partition you have BootIt installed in.
8) Once the copy process begins you will get a warning
message because files already exist. Choose `A' to tell it
to replace all the files without asking. By default the
installation diskette does not have a menu configuration
file or color file, therefore, your current settings won't
be altered.
9) You'll be returned to the utility menu. Select
"Install EMBRI/EMBRL". This will update the EMBRI and
EMBRL.
10) If Applicable, Select "FAT Multi-Boot
Activate/Deactivate" and reactivate to update the programs.
If you are upgrading from version 2.00 or 2.01, be sure to
read the upgrade notes in the FAT Multi-Boot
Activate/Deactivate section.
11) If upgrading from a version prior to 2.10 and have
formatted partitions with the FAT Format utility, run the
"Update OEM fields - run once" utility. If you run it
multiple times it won't hurt but won't really be doing
anything. You will need to visit the
www.terabyteunlimited.com to get the utility.
12) If upgrading from a version prior to 2.12 and have
multi-boot partitions configured then run the "Update Multi-
Boot Info -run once" utility. You should only run this
utility only once. If you are upgrading to a release
greater than 2.12 then you must obtain the utility from
www.terabyteunlimited.com.
Upgrade History:
Ver 2.00 Initial Release.
Ver 2.01 Added wait for drive ready option, added
active configuration notice, fixed BootIt 1.x
conversion, other misc. To utilize the active
configuration notice, set the parameter string
length of the BootIt EMBRL driver to 41. (You'll
need to press Alt-A in the name field to access
the information) Be sure you don't change any
other fields or your system will not boot
correctly.
Ver 2.02 Updated the entire system. Updated EMBR
specification to version 970101. Format and FAT
Away aggressively calculates the Cluster/FAT Size,
Format will create/format volumes in extended
partitions, change the way the FAT Multi-boot
works by coping files instead of renaming them,
created the Edit Group utility to be used with the
new FAT Multi-Boot, Added MBRCheck to check for
any changes to the MBR and apply it to the EMBR,
Added OS Check to automatically recognize new FAT
installations and changes, etc.
Ver 2.03 Fixes a "lock up" (loop) problem and FAT Type
error message in the FAT Away utility. Fixes the
Boot Menu which was stating that it could not find
a partition that it really did find.
Ver 2.04 Changed the FAT Away utility to be a FAT
sizing utility. Added FAT32 (type 11) formatting
to the Format utility. Added F1 help in the Menu
Configuration utility. Changed Utilities to
utilize i386 instruction set. Other misc.
Ver 2.05 Fixed Format utility to not complain about
type 223 partitions. Also added OS menu option to
the Edit Group utility when running in auto mode.
(No other changes)
Ver 2.06 Fixed problem with the installation utility.
Reworded Prompt in MBR Check. Updated PreInsck
to check if EMBR area free.
Ver 2.07 Added FAT32 to FATAway utility. Changed
wording in EMBRL and MBRCHECK. Changed FAT32 4K to
8K cluster size conversion from 4GB to about 8GB.
Ver 2.08 Corrected error in FATAway utility which
damaged the FAT when converting to FAT32 and
cluster size decreasing. Also corrected password
prompt to not pop up (on reentry to EMBRM) when no
password is defined.
Ver 2.09 Corrected the value entered into the hidden
sector field of volumes formatted with the FAT
Format utility. Changed the name in the BPB from
BOOTIT20 to BOOTIT to prevent OS/2 from getting
confused. Added the ability to boot a volume in
an extended partition.
Ver 2.10 Add code to FATAway to make sure Root Dir.
does not become too large, also fix a problem
which caused it to increase the root dir. where it
could have reduced it. Changed the FAT Format OEM
ID Field to use BOOTITXX, Having it set to BOOTIT
caused all version of DOS to incorrectly mount the
partition if the root dir. was not at 512. The
incorrect mounting made it look as all data was
corrupted. Any attempt to use the partition for
writes, did corrupt the partition. Fixed a
potential problem with the CHS 2 LBA conversion.
Also Add new feature to have custom menus for
different people. Other misc. too, including
utility to change the OEM ID fields.
Ver 2.11 Updated EMBR specs to indicate partitions
which must be booted as hard drive zero. Added
code to support the new spec by swapping hard
drives.
Ver 2.12 Added Directory Support. The Edit Group
utility/Multi-boot feature now stores all files in
a directory group beneath a directory \BOOTIT.
Also added sounds to startup menu and ability to
set a "default" menu configuration.
Ver 2.13 Added FAT32 to the API which now allows
BootIt to multi-boot within a FAT32 partition if
the OS lets you choose directories for its files.
Changed MB to be calculated as 2048 sectors
instead of 2000. FAT Format tells you the cluster
size it creates. Other miscellaneous changes.
BootIt 2 overview for first time users
To understand BootIt lets first see how your system boot
process normally works then what BootIt and the EMBR
changes.
The first sector of your hard drive is called the Master
Boot Record or MBR. The MBR contains two things, a table
that defines the partitions on your hard drive (called the
partition table) and the code to transfer control to the
first sector (called the boot sector) of one of the
partitions. The partition table can contain up to four
entries. Each entry contains information on where the
partition begins and ends as well as a flag to mark the
active (or bootable) partition and the type of file system
being used in the partition.
When control is given to the code in the MBR, it will look
at each of the four partitions for the one that is marked
active. It will load the boot sector of that partition and
transfer control to the boot sector code.
Boot sectors are operating and file system specific. The
area for the code in the boot sector has just enough space
to look for a certain file, read it in and transfer control.
The name of the file is hard coded in the boot sector code.
For instance, the boot sector for MS DOS will look for a
file called IO.SYS.
There is a special type of partition called an extended
partition. This type of partition contains logical
partitions called volumes. Each volume is preceded by a
partition table in the same format as found in the MBR.
This table contains one entry for a "normal" primary
partition and another extended partition entry that "chains"
to the next logical volume. The last volume only contains
the primary partition information.
What the Extended Master Boot Record (EMBR) specification
does is extend the function of the current MBR type of
processing.
The EMBR contains a block of code called the EMBR Loader and
three tables; one for partition information, one for boot
file information, and one for information on drivers that
may need to be loaded on your system. Each of these tables
can contain up to 255 entries.
The table in the EMBR that contains partition information is
called the Master Partition Table or MPT. It is used in
lieu of the partition table. For backward compatibility
with existing operating systems and disk utilities, BootIt
allows you to choose partitions from the MPT and place them
into the partition table. Operating systems and utilities
only see what is placed into the partition table (At some
point when an operating system is loading, it will look at
the MBR partition table and assign access to any of the
partitions/volumes it recognizes). Therefore, you can not
use any utilities that will expand or move a partition if it
only recognizes the MBR partition table. The only time you
can use such a utility is if you only have four partitions
(total) in the MPT and have them all loaded in the MBR
partition table at the time the utility is run.
The table in the EMBR that contains boot file information is
called the Master Boot File Table (MBFT). This information
can be used by boot sector code to dynamically load a file.
As was stated earlier, traditionally boot sector code has
the boot file name hard coded.
The last table in the EMBR that contains information on
drivers is called the Master Driver Table (MDT). The EMBRL
is itself considered a driver. Other drivers might include
replacement BIOS routines to give your system abilities that
were not originally included.
Your system still starts the same way. Control is given to
the code in the MBR. Under the EMBR specifications this
code is called the EMBR Initiator. Instead of looking at
the partition table in the MBR the EMBRI finds the EMBRL in
the EMBR and transfers control to it.
The EMBRL then uses its parameter string, MDT, and MPT to
figure out what it should do. Eventually, it loads the boot
sector of one of the partitions and transfers control just
like the MBR originally did.
If the code in the boot sector is compatible with the EMBR
(such as the FAT multi-boot feature included with BootIt),
it will be able to dynamically load a boot file by using the
information in the MBFT. Otherwise, the boot sector code
processes itself as normal.
EMBRL Options
The EMBRL included with BootIt will process the options as
defined in the EMBR specification. It will also allow you
to boot from a floppy diskette drive.
When the EMBRL begins, it will display a message for two
seconds to let you know you can hold down the right shift
key to boot from the floppy drive. You would want to do
this if the hard drive parameters are set by BootIt or your
system requires a driver to extend its function. The BootIt
EMBRL will allow booting from either diskette drive. If it
does not find any diskette in the current A: drive it will
swap the drives.
During the two second message that notifies you on how to
boot from the floppy diskette you can also use the following
keys. Hold down the left shift key to not load any drivers.
Hold down the left control key to only load drivers that are
"proven". Hold down the left alternate key to only load
drivers that are "required". You can mix the key
combinations.
The driver parameter string for the EMBRL consists of the
following information. The parameter string contains ASCII
values.
Byte zero contains the number of seconds to wait before
automatically repeating the last boot. For example entering
`3' will wait three seconds.
Byte one contains the boot drive. This is updated
automatically by the EMBR Manager explained later.
Byte two contains the last drive number that must be ready
before continuing the EMBRL code. For example if you have
two hard drives and place a `1' in this byte, the EMBRL will
check if your second drive is ready. If it is not, then the
EMBRL will wait 5 seconds and then automatically reset your
computer.
Byte three contains boot options. Value `1' means that the
floppy diskette drives should be swapped so that the A: is
B: and B: is A:. Value `2' will automatically boot a
diskette if it is in the A: drive. This would be used if
you set your CMOS boot sequence to be C:/A:. You may want
to use this if BootIt sets the hard drive parameters or your
system requires that a driver be loaded at every boot.
Value `4' causes the EMBRM to be loaded on every boot. You
can combine the values by adding. For example if you want
to force the EMBRM to load and swap the floppy diskette
drives, you would enter a value of `5'.
EMBR Manager
To enter the EMBR Manger, press F10 at the Boot Menu. The
EMBRM is used to configure the EMBR.
Once you are at the EMBRM main menu you will be able to
choose which hard drive you want to work with. You can also
choose the utility menu or change the system colors or
update the message in the box (if you have registered).
Working with the EMBR
After you choose the hard drive you want to work with on the
main menu, you will either be presented with the current
EMBR information or asked if you want to create the EMBR.
If you are creating a new EMBR then you will be presented
with either a blank EMBR or an EMBR with your existing
partition information.
On this screen you have a list box group for each of the
three tables and a selection group below the tables that
contains "Add New Entry", "Save", and "Cancel". To move
between the groups use the tab key. You cannot enter a list
box that is blank.
To edit an existing entry, tab to the appropriate list box
and use the arrow keys to select it. Press the enter key to
edit the entry or the delete key to remove it.
To add an entry to any one of the tables, either tab to that
table and press the insert key or choose the "Add New Entry"
from the selection group. If you use the selection group it
will ask what type of entry you are adding. Enter a P for a
partition, B for boot file, or D for driver.
If you would like to change the order of any of the entries,
highlight the entry you would like to move then hold down
the control key while using the up/down arrow key to move
it.
Note that when working with the EMBR, nothing is updated on
the hard drive until you choose save from the selection
group.
When adding a partition entry, you will be given a choice of
which unallocated block you want to use for the new entry.
After that, you enter the size (in megabytes) of the new
partition (or enter zero to use the entire unallocated
block). Finally you will be prompted to enter the name of
the partition, assign a file system id, indicate if hard
drives must be swapped for booting, and mark if the
partition is capable of being booted.
The name you enter for the partition should be unique and is
whatever you want it to be. The file system ID must match
that of the one you want to create (see the table below).
Use the space bar to check/uncheck the swap and bootable
option. The swap option should only be check if the
partition is not on the first hard drive and hard drives
must be swapped for proper boot (like booting DOS from the
second hard drive). The bootable option is only used keep
the partition from showing up when you configure the menu
options (explained later). Normally you would mark all
primary partitions bootable except for extended partitions.
ID File System ID File System
01 DOS Primary 12-Bit FAT 12 FAT32 - LBA
(1-15MB)
02 XENIX 14 FAT16 - LBA
03 XENIX 15 Extended FAT - LBA
04 DOS Primary 16-Bit FAT 131 Linux
(16-32MB)
05 DOS Extended FAT 219 Concurrent DOS
06 DOS Primary Large FAT 223 BootIt EMBRM
(>32 MB)
07 NTFS/HPFS
09 Coherent
10 OS/2 Boot Manager
11 FAT32
When adding a boot file (definition) you will be prompted to
enter the boot file name, number of sectors to load, load
segment, code segment, code offset, parameter string length,
and parameter string.
The boot file name is the name of a file. It should include
any necessary spaces. For example, if you are defining a
boot file for a FAT partition it should be 11 characters
long. EMBR compatible boot sector code uses the boot file
definition to load it.
The other information (sector count, load segment, etc.)
depends on what type of boot file it is. If the boot file
was created by capturing boot sector code then the
definition would be as follows. Load Count=1, Load
Segment=7C0, Code Segment/Offset=0 7C00.
The parameter string is used by EMBR compatible boot sector
code, therefore, you must consult the documentation include
with the code. For parameter string instructions on the
BootIt Multi-Boot option see that section of this document.
If you move or add an entry to the MBFT then you should
select an entry from the Boot Menu (explained later) and not
use the escape key (to boot). If you hit escape it won't
update the partition to point to the correct MBFT entry if
that entries position had changed.
When adding an entry to the MDT it will ask you if you have
an installation diskette. If your EMBR driver came on a
diskette answer yes and follow the instructions it will
automatically update the MDT entry. If you are manually
creating an entry you must consult the information that came
with the driver.
Working with Utilities
When you choose utilities from the EMBRM main menu you will
be presented a list of available utility programs. Each
available utility is an independent program much like DOS
COM files.
Each utility includes a short description. Highlight the
utility you are interested in and press the F1 key for more
detailed information, Delete key to remove the utility, or
enter to run the utility.
To add a new utility press the insert key. It will prompt
you to insert the utility installation diskette. If you
want to re-install one of the utilities included with
BootIt, you can insert your BootIt installation diskette.
BootIt includes several different utilities which are
discussed below. All of the utilities allow you to use the
escape key to back up one level.
Backup/Restore
This utility will backup all the EMBR information on all
hard drives by creating a file in the EMBRM partition. It
will then ask if you want to backup the EMBRM partition to a
floppy diskette. It will also restore the information from
a backup diskette to the partition on the hard drive as well
as let you select the EMBR backup file to restore on a hard
drive.
You should use this utility whenever you make changes to
your partition information.
During the restore of the EMBRM files it will prompt if
existing files should be overwritten. The choices are Y to
replace this file only, N to not replace this file only, A
to replace all files, or + to only add files that don't
already exist.
BootIt Boot Menu Configuration
This utility is used to configure the BootIt Boot Menu that
is displayed (by default, once a menu entry has been
created) on each boot of the computer.
The first time you enter the utility it will automatically
begin to insert a new entry, otherwise, it will list the
current entries that exist.
To insert a new menu entry; make sure you are in the Boot
Menu Description list box and press the insert key. It will
prompt you for the description of the entry to be displayed
on the Boot Menu. Once you have entered the description it
will add the entry to the list. All items will be blank
except (for your convenience) the parameter string which
will retain the value that was there when you pressed
insert.
To update the values in one of the entries, highlight it and
press the tab key to move from group to group.
The first group you will come to after the description is
the boot drive. Enter the hard drive number that contains
the partition that you want this menu entry to boot when it
is chosen from the Boot Menu.
Next you can choose the partition that should be booted.
Press Enter to select the partition from a list. Only
partitions that are marked bootable will show up in this
list. If you leave the partition name blank then this
entry will boot from the floppy diskette drive. It will
first look at A: then B:.
Third, if the partition you choose is a FAT multi-boot
partition you will need to select the name of the boot file
that the boot sector code of the partition should load. You
can press the enter key to select the boot file from a list.
Now you can enter any necessary parameter string information
that should accompany the boot file. The information is
used by the boot sector code, so that documentation will
tell you how to configure the parameter string. Notice that
the maximum length of the parameter string is retrieved from
the Boot File you chose. If the existing parameter string
was longer than what the Boot File was configured for, it
will be truncated.
Finally, you can enter which partitions should be placed in
the MBR for each of the drives you have. You will need to
make sure that the partition you choose to boot resides in
the MBR. Each of the groups represent the MBR partition
table of each hard drive. You have the flexibility to
choose which partition goes in each entry of the partition
table. Use the up/down arrows to highlight a position and
press the enter key to select a partition from a list. You
should make sure that you do not add the same entry twice!
If you leave an entire MBR partition table blank then that
partition table will not be altered when this menu entry is
selected from the Boot Menu.
To delete an entry, highlight it then press the delete key.
If you want to change the order of any of the menu entries,
simply highlight the entry you want to move, hold down the
control key on your keyboard and use the up/down arrow keys
to move it.
To change the maintenance password you can press the F6 key
from the description list box. This is the password
(registered version only) that is required to exit the Boot
Menu and configure the system.
Once you have completed your changes you can press F10 to
save and exit or press escape then enter to abort all
changes you made.
If you want to keep people from booting certain menu
configurations you can create additional menus. If any
"user" menus are created then only user menus will be used
otherwise the AutoMenu will be used.
Each time you enter the menu configuration utility the
AutoMenu is selected. To create or load a new menu, press
the Alt-L key. A list of already defined user menus are
displayed. If there are no menus, you are prompted for the
name of a new one to create. Creation of a new menu always
copies over the currently loaded menu as the starting point
of the new menu.
To create a new menu when there is a list of existing user
menus, press the Insert key. To delete a menu from the
list, highlight it and press the delete key. To return to
the AutoMenu, press the home key. To load a menu, highlight
it and press the enter key.
When a user menu is being defined, you can assign a password
to that menu by pressing the F6 key. If the AutoMenu is
the loaded menu, then using F6 to define a password defines
the maintenance password which is the password that is
needed when F10 is pressed from the Boot Menu. Remember
that the maintenance password is only activated when BootIt
is registered.
A new feature of BootIt is the ability to select a "default"
menu configuration. Normally when you boot your system to
the Boot Menu, BootIt will highlight the last menu
configuration selected and start a count down to "quick
boot" that partition. Now if you create a menu description
that begins with an asterisk (*), BootIt will highlight that
configuration every time and start the count down. It will
"quick boot" if the last configuration booted was the
default configuration; otherwise, it will do a full boot.
Selecting a default configuration will allow the time out to
work with user defined menus. Because BootIt will quick
boot if the name of the last menu configuration has the same
name as the default configuration, for security reasons, you
will want to make sure that no two user menus have the same
menu description which boot different configurations.
BootIt Install
This is the utility that updates certain information and
copies the files from the diskette to the hard drive. It
also updates the floppy diskette with certain information.
FAT Away
Use the FAT Away utility to reduce the size of a type 1, 4,
6, or 11 type FAT partition. The current version does not
recognize extended partition volumes. It also doesn't allow
you to move partitions to make room for expansion.
To use this utility, you first select the hard drive that
contains the partition you want to resize. Then a list of
recognized partitions will be displayed. Select the
partition you want to resize.
A dialog box will appear with the name of the partition, the
current size, the data size, and an input box for you to
input the new size. Note: The data size is the size the
partition must be to contain the last cluster of data.
Key in the size you would like the new partition to be (in
MB).
The process to change the size of your partition may result
in fragmented files. You should run you favorite FAT
defrager program after the partition is resized. Also, If
you have a Windows permanent file, it will probably complain
and want you to delete and recreate it. You can go ahead
and do that or change to use a temporary file prior to
running the FAT Away utility.
If you are converting a partition from or to FAT32 you will
need to reinstall the boot sector code. To do this, make
sure you have bootable diskette that supports the FAT type
you are converting to and that the command to recreate the
boot sector is on the diskette. For Microsoft operating
systems you will need to use the SYS command. Also, The
only Microsoft operating system that supports FAT32 is the
OSR2 version of Windows 95and Windows 98. You can create a
startup diskette in Windows 95/98 by running add/remove
programs from the control panel then choose the Startup Disk
tab and finally click the Create Disk button.
FAT Format
This utility will format type 1, 4, 5, 6 and 11 FAT
partitions.
First you select the hard drive that contains the FAT
partition you want to format. Next, you choose the partition
from the list. If its a type 1, 4, 6, or 11 partition, it
will display a dialog with the partition name and a warning
that all data on the partition will be deleted if you
continue.
If it is a type 5 (extended) partition, you will be
presented with a list of volumes in the partition. If no
volumes exists, it will ask if you want to create one.
Volumes with a [F] next to them appear to be formatted and
[U] means unformatted.
To format a volume, highlight it, and press the enter key.
A dialog will be displayed with the volume number and a
warning that all data on the partition will be deleted if
you continue.
If you want to create a new volume, press the insert key.
The process of creating the volume is the same as adding an
entry to the MPT. A volume is normally added to the end of
the list, but if you deleted volume 0 (at any time (current
or in the past)) and create a new volume in the first block
of unallocated space, the new volume will be Volume 0.
If you want to reorder the volumes (change the drive
letters), you can for all volumes except for the "true"
volume 0. The true volume 0 will always be volume 0.
Otherwise, to move a volume, highlight the volume you want
to move then press and hold the control key on your keyboard
and use the up/down arrow keys to move it. The next time
you enter or update the partition, the volumes will be
renumbered, but the moved volume stays where it was. For
example, if you have volumes 0 through 2 and move 2 before
1. The list will show volume 0, 2, 1; but once the extended
partition is reloaded, the volume order will be back to 0,
1, 2. The volume that used to be 2 is now 1 and vice versa.
To delete an existing volume, highlight it and press the
delete key.
FAT Multi-Boot Activate/Deactivate
This utility will mark a partition to be used for multi-
boot. It will also copy the BOOTIT.FAT support file to the
partition. It does not install the BootIt EMBR compatible
boot sector code; that is done when the EMBRM is requested
or forced.
To use this utility, select the hard drive that contains the
partition you want to activate/deactivate as multi-boot
capable. Next select the partition from the list. If the
partition is already multi-boot capable it will ask you if
you want to deactivate it. If so, answer yes, otherwise
answer no to continue to update the BOOTIT.FAT file.
Once you have activated a partition as Multi-Boot; if BootIt
finds the partition in the MBR, it will check the partition
for any changes. If it finds that the BootIt boot sector
code is not installed, it assumes a new OS installation and
runs the Group Editor and possibly the BootIt Boot Menu
Configuration utility; otherwise, it will check (by the
file size/time/date) if any files from the last group have
been updated. If so, it will ask if you want to update the
group files (explained with the Group Editor utility) to
match the active files.
If you are upgrading from version 2.01 or older then you
will need to setup a group for each of your existing
configurations. The configuration that was active when
BootIt was installed will automatically have its files
copied to the group rather than renamed. All you need to do
is setup a group that uses the current information you have
already setup. Lets say you had DOS and Win95 using a
parameter string of DOS1IO SYS and W951IO SYS.
You would create a group for DOS and W95. (Note if you used
W40 and the active group was DOS you will need to rename the
W40 group to something else. Use the DOS rename command to
do something like ren *.w40 *.new (For hidden files you
first need to un-hide them with the attrib -h command.))
When it asks to overwrite any files you would say no. Then
change your parameter strings to only contain the group.
(You can shorten the Boot File parameter string length to 3
of you like).
Group Editor
The Group Editor edits/creates a data file named
BOOTITMB.DAT in a FAT partition. The information in the
data file is used by the BootIt Boot Menu when it is booting
a FAT partition that has been activated as multi-boot.
A group is the directory name used to store the files on the
partition under a directory named "BOOTIT". This utility is
used by the FAT multi-boot support built into BootIt. When
a FAT multi-boot partition is selected from the Boot Menu,
the Boot Menu program will copy the files in the group to
the original directory. This way, if you install another
operating system and it overwrites one of the "active" files
no harm is done.
To use this utility, select the hard drive that contains the
partition you want to work with. Next, select the
partition. If the data file does not exists, it will ask if
you would like to create it.
To add a new group, press the insert key from the list of
groups. It will ask you for the group code which can be
from 1 to 11 characters. The group code is the directory
that should be used to "group" all the files together. For
example if the group code is "123" and the files you have
associated with this group are FILE1.SYS, FILE2.COM,
FILE3.BAT then those files would be copied to the group
directory. Notice that within the same group you cannot
have the same file name, in other words, you could not group
\FILE1.SYS and \X\FILE1.SYS.
To edit an existing group, highlight it and press enter.
To delete an existing group, highlight it and press delete.
When editing or adding a group you will be presented with a
dialog box with a list box and an input box. Enter a
description for this group in the Input box (below the list
box), this description is for your use only, but cannot be
blank. Press tab to switch to the list box, if no entries
exist it will automatically prompt you to enter a position
code, path, and file name.
To associate another file to this group, press the insert
key from the list box. You enter the position code, path,
file name, and file extension. For example you could enter
something like 1 \ IO SYS. This associates the file
\IO.SYS with the group and tells the Boot Menu that it must
be the first entry in the directory. Actually a `\' is not
used if the file is in the root directory.
The position codes are 0-9. A value of zero indicates that
it doesn't matter what entry in the directory this file
resides. Values 1-9 indicate that the file must be in that
entry in the directory. This is only applicable for files
in the root directory and not FAT32.
Refer to the "Operating Systems" section of this document
for details on what the position code and file names should
be.
To remove a file from the list, highlight it and press
delete.
When you have completed the changes to the group, press F10
to save the position codes, paths, and file names. It will
also attempt to copy the active files (the files in the
list) to the group directory. If a group file and its
associated active file exists, it will ask (for each file)
if you want to replace the group file with the current
active file. Obviously, if the current active files are
from another operating system you would NOT want to replace
the existing group file.
Once the active files have been copied to the group files,
it will check for any files in the group which is not in the
list of files associated with the group and ask if you want
to delete it. It is important that you don't delete a file
if you don't know what it is. The only time you would
answer yes is if you removed that file from the group and
you really don't need it anymore.
Install EMBRI/EMBRL
Run this utility to install or update the EMBRI (the code in
the MBR) and EMBRL (the driver in the EMBR).
If your system no longer boots into BootIt and you no longer
get the EMBRI version x.xx and EMBRL version x.xx as you
normally do when the system is booted, you can run this
utility to reinstall the EMBRI which probably got
overwritten by an OS installation or utility.
Sound: Install/Remove Startup Sound
This utility will install a sound file. A sound file is an
ASCII file with an extension of SND. The format of the
sound file is discussed later.
When you run this utility it will first check if a sound is
already active. If so, it will ask if you want to remove
the sound (turn off sounds). If yes, it will delete the
sound file on the partition and exit the utility. Otherwise
it continues on.
It will ask you to place a diskette in the A: or B: drive
with the sound file(s). When you do that (then press enter)
it will list all the sound files found. To install one of
the files, highlight it and press enter. It will play the
sound and ask you if you want to install this sound. Answer
yes or no. You can then press escape a couple of times to
exit the utility.
The format of the sound file is as follows; note:
capitalization/spacing is not important and the x in the
examples represents a number.
cycles=x (optional-must be first) - number of times to cycle
the entire routine.
Fx - Frequency to play (in hertz)
FRx|xSxLx - Frequency range to play. First x is starting
frequency, x after `|' is ending frequency. S is optional
and is the step frequency rate (default=1). L is also
optional, it is the latency delay in milliseconds between
frequency step. (default=0)
Dx - Delay in milliseconds. (1000 milliseconds = 1 second)
N - No sound. Turns sound off.
Here's a sample routine that will play 2000hz for .5
seconds, pause with no sound for 1 second, then play 500hz
to 2000hz stepping 10hz with a delay of .005 seconds between
steps, then do the same thing only from 2000hz to 500hz:
F 2000 D 500 N D 1000
FR 500 | 2000 S 10 L 5
FR 2000 | 500 S 10 L 5
Transfer to EMBRM on Hard Drive
When the "BootIt Install" utility was run, it created a file
that contained information on where the EMBRM was installed.
If the EMBRI, EMBRL, or EMBR get overwritten you can still
get to the EMBRM on the hard drive by running this utility.
Undo EMBR/Restore FAT Boot Sector
This utility has three options. Undo Last EMBR creation,
Undo Last EMBRI/EMBRL Install, or Restore saved FAT File.
The Undo Last EMBR creation does just that, It restores the
section of disk used by the EMBR to the state it was in
prior to the EMBR being installed. You select the file from
the list that corresponds to the hard drive you want to
undo. If you are removing BootIt you should first restore
the boot sector of any multi-boot FAT partitions then always
restore the hard drive that contains the EMBR Manager last.
Undo Last EMBRI/EMBRL Install does just that. When the
Install EMBRI/EMBRL utility is run it creates a backup of
the EMBR prior to installing anything. If something should
happen during installation of the EMBRI or EMBRL you can
restore back to what the EMBR was.
If you need to restore a Boot File to a partition because
you are removing the multi-fat utility then first deactivate
the FAT multi-boot by running the "FAT Multi-Boot
Activate/Deactivate".
To restore the boot sector of a partition, choose the hard
drive and partition. Next enter the boot file name to use
for restoring the boot sector. To get a list of all files
in the root directory, type in all question marks. Then you
can choose the boot file from the list.
Update Reference to EMBRM
Use this utility to update the installation diskette in case
the EMBRM partition has been moved. This makes sure that
the "Transfer to EMBRM on Hard Drive" utility can find the
EMBRM.
The Boot Menu
The Boot Menu is the first thing that will be displayed when
the EMBRM is requested from the hard drive; provided there
has been at least on entry configured for the Boot Menu.
See the "BootIt Menu Configuration Program" for more
information. If you have defined user menus then you will
be prompted for a user/menu name and then a password. That
menu is then active until the next reboot.
It will list all the menu entry items you configured.
Provided everything has been configured properly, you simply
select the item from the menu and press enter to boot that
configuration. To boot without changing the current MBR or
partition information, press escape and whatever
configuration is active will be booted.
If the configuration that you choose boots from a FAT multi-
boot partition, it will look at the parameter string
configured for the boot file and copy the group files to be
the active files. (See Group Editor for information on what
active and group files are)
If the EMBRM is being forced and the time out value in the
EMBRL parameter string is not zero, the Boot Menu will count
down the number of seconds that have been configured. If a
key has not been hit or either the enter key or escape key
has been hit, it will boot the current configuration with
out any extra processing such as updating the active files
in multi-boot partitions. In the case of have a default
configuration, it may need to update the files, etc.
If you need to update the active files in a partition
because they may have been overwritten or deleted and the
Boot Menu does a count down, you will need to hit a key such
as the space bar to cancel the countdown then press enter to
select the same entry.
To enter the EMBR Manager to perform maintenance or run one
of the utilities, press the F10 key. If you have registered
the product and have configured a password, you will need to
enter it before you will be granted access to the EMBRM.
Operating Systems
DOS
Files and file positions required for boot (not including
any compression drivers):
MS DOS PC DOS
Positio File Name Positi File Name
n on
1 IO.SYS 1 IBMBIO.COM
2 MSDOS.SYS 2 IBMDOS.COM
0 COMMAND.COM 0 COMMAND.COM
0 AUTOEXEC.BAT 0 AUTOEXEC.BAT
0 CONFIG.SYS 0 CONFIG.SYS
Notes:
If you already have Windows 95 installed as well as your
prior version of DOS then there is already a group of files
with the DOS extension. After you setup the group for
Windows 95 you would use the Group Editor utility to create
a Group for DOS. It will copy over the files for windows 95
to the DOS group directory. To fix this, Boot Win95 and
delete the files in the DOS group directory under BootIt.
Next unhide any DOS files in the root directory (attrib -h -
s -r *.DOS) copy the *.DOS files to the DOS group directory
under BOOTIT. Now rename the files to the correct names
(ren config.dos config.sys, etc.). Finally, hide the system
files (attrib +h +s +r io.sys, attrib +h +s +r msdos.sys).
If you have compressed volumes you have to make sure any OS
you add supports the same format. You would probably also
want to add the DBLSPACE.BIN or DRVSPACE.BIN file in the
group (maybe even DBLSPACE.INI). You may also just want to
use part of your partition for disk compression and only
when that particular OS was booted. You'll have to think
about what you want to do, the options are too numerous.
To transfer over the DOS OS to a partition that already has
another OS you would use the SYS command. If the partition
was blank but formatted you could use either the SYS or
FORMAT /S command to transfer the OS, or if the partition
was not formatted you would used the FORMAT /S command.
The swapping feature from version 1.x has been added to this
version. This allows the partition to be booted from a hard
drive other than 0. Please note that you will not be able
to run Windows with 32bit disk access enabled. If you try,
Windows will complain and automatically turn it off (for
that session).
Windows 95/98
Files and file positions required for boot (not including
any compression drivers):
Positio File Name
n
0 IO.SYS
0 MSDOS.SYS
0 COMMAND.COM
0 AUTOEXEC.BAT
0 CONFIG.SYS
Notes:
Release 2 of Windows 95 and Windows 98 may use FAT32.
Long file names are compatible with NT versions 3.5 or
greater. NT version 3.11 will destroy your Win95 long file
names.
If you have the Win95 upgrade it will ask if it should keep
your existing version of DOS system files. If you say yes
it will copy the files over to a file extension group of
DOS.
Windows/95/98 will overwrite the EMBRI code; therefore, once
you have completed installation of Windows 95/98 you will
need to boot with the BootIt installation diskette and
either run the Transfer utility then the Install EMBRI/EMBRL
utility or just run the Install EMBRI/EMBRL from the
diskette drive. The difference is where the backup or undo
file will be located.
You can multi-boot OSR2/Win98 in a single FAT or FAT32
partition if you can install the different windows versions
in different directories. Currently the Win98 Beta 2
doesn't give you a choice, it wipes out your existing
Windows 95 files. Another problem is that "Program Files"
is used by both versions as well as the programs you have
installed have probably updated the registry. Another use
for the multi-boot feature is to allow you to setup/use
different files before booting the partition.
Of course you can use BootIt to keep each version in its own
partition and boot it from that partition by only selecting
one of the partitions in the MBR boot configuration. You
could then keep all your programs on a "common app"
partition used for applications, you may need to install the
application twice (one for each Windows Version) to the same
location (on the "common app" partition) to make sure the
registry is correct in each version.
You should not use the multi-boot feature of Windows 95, in
fact you may want to edit the MSDOS.SYS file and change the
BootMulti=1 to BootMulti=0. If you use windows 95 to load
the prior version of DOS it will rename the window 95 system
files to a group of W40 then rename the group DOS to the
active file names. On the next reboot, BootIt will detect
that the system files have been updated/changed and will
prompt if you want to overwrite the group files you have for
Windows 95. Obviously you'll say no to each file otherwise
you'll be updating the Win95 system files with DOS system
files.
Windows NT
Files and file positions required for boot:
Positio File Name
n
0 NTLDR
0 BOOT.INI
0 NTDETECT.COM
0 NTBOOTDD.SYS
Notes:
NTBOOTDD.SYS is usually only used with SCSI hard drives. It
is a copy of the driver renamed to NTBOOTDD.SYS.
Windows NT is very picky on the order of partitions in the
MBR. The file BOOT.INI has an entry that points to where NT
should be and if its not there, NTLDR will issue some type
of error (usually telling you that ntoskrnl.exe is missing).
To fix it you can either update the BOOT.INI file or change
the order of the partitions in the menu configuration so
that the NT partition matches the BOOT.INI file. The item
in the BOOT.INI file that you want to check is the x in
partition(x). Partitions are counted in the MBR partition
table from top to bottom skipping any extend partitions.
Then continue counting the volumes in an extend partition.
If Windows NT is installed in an extended partition volume
(or another hard drive) it will still install its system
startup files on hard drive 0 in the current active primary
partition. Therefore, make sure that the configuration you
created boots from a partition on HD0. Then install NT.
If you want NT in its own partition on hard drive zero then
first create a menu configuration with a new empty type 6
partition as the boot partition (you can format it first if
you want) then boot once with that configuration which
obviously won't boot because there is no OS on it. (you
could just leave the boot partition blank to automatically
boot from the floppy). Just make sure you added the
partition to the MBR. Then boot from the floppy diskette
drive with your NT installation diskette.
If you want NT on its own partition on a second hard drive
then you need to do the same thing as the last paragraph but
configure both hard drives MBR partitions. Then once NT has
completed setup you'll need to copy over the NT system files
to the partition on the second hard drive. The files are
NTLDR, NTDETECT.COM, BOOT.INI and NTBOOTDD (for SCSI
drives). Update BOOT.INI for any changes needed. Then you
can remove the temporary partition you created on hard drive
0 (which is where the NT system boot files went).
NT4 may require installing the installation files to a hard
drive before beginning. When creating the NT installation
diskettes it may begin coping all the files to a temporary
directory for installation. For this type of installation
just create the menu configuration with the partition for NT
(format it if it's a new partition). Boot with the
configuration, if it's a new partition without an OS you
will get the message stating that. Insert a system diskette
that contains CDROM drivers to access your CD and press
enter. Once the system is booted with your diskette, run
the procedure to create the diskettes, it will then create
the diskettes and copy the files to the partition (takes
awhile). Once that is done, boot that menu configuration
again then/or insert the NT installation diskette and begin
the installation. After your done you may need to reinstall
the EMBRI/EMBRL code, see the note in the Win95/98 section.
OS/2
Files and file positions required for boot:
Positio File Name
n
0 AUTOEXEC.BAT
0 CONFIG.SYS
Notes:
Actually the system files for OS/2 are OS2KRNL, OS2LDR,
OS2LDR.MSG, OS2RAS, OS2VER, OS2BOOT, and WP ROOT.SF. If you
were going to install more than one version of OS/2 in the
same partition then you would need to add these files to the
group.
When installing OS/2 use the advanced installation method so
that you can be sure where your files are going. Be sure
that you don't create any new partitions while you are in
the fdisk utility (selecting the install partition).
You can install OS/2 in a primary partition on hard drive 0
without any problem. If you want OS/2 installed on to a
logical volume or 2nd hard drive then boot manager has to be
installed. Because the OS/2 Fdisk wants to create a "new"
boot manager partition and won't let you select a partition
for it to be installed on, you'll only be able to install
boot manager if you only have 3 partitions and all the
partitions are in the active boot configuration. If you
create the boot manager partition and partitions exist that
are not in the MBR, then one of those partitions will (more
than likely) be corrupted by boot manager. Once OS/2 is
installed you can either directly boot the OS/2 partition or
volume via BootIt or have BootIt boot the boot manager
partition.
Don't use the OS/2 dual boot in an activated multi-boot
partition. If your using a different setup where OS/2 is in
its own partition with DOS only then it's okay.
Linux
Files and file positions required for boot: (More
information at later date)
Positio File Name
n
0
0
Notes:
For multi-boot installations use something like the umsdos
installation. Also, always install the loader in the root
and not in the MBR.
Sample Configuration
Here is one example on how to setup a multi-boot partition.
Another example on setting up an OS in its own partition is
also given. Steps 2 and 3 of the multi-boot sample are
optional. Be sure you have read the Getting Started section
of this document so that you have some understanding on what
is going on.
Multi-Boot Partition: Current OS is DOS/Windows
1) Install BootIt
2) Work with hard drive 0 (selected from the EMBRM Menu)
3) Rename the existing partition to whatever you wish.
For the example I'll assumed it's named "My C Drive".
Select save to save your changes.
4) Choose utilities then BootIt FAT Multi-Boot
Activate/Deactivate. Activate multi-boot for the "My C
Drive" partition then return to the utility menu.
5) Press Ctrl-Alt-Del to reset your computer.
6) BootIt will detect a new OS. Choose yes to create a
boot file.
7) Enter a name for the boot file. I'll assume you
entered BOOTDOS622.
8) The Group Editor utility will be automatically started.
When it begins it will display a prompt telling you it has
been started. Press enter or escape to get past the prompt.
9) It will tell you no groups exists. Select `Y' to
create a group. If any groups currently existed it would
display them and you would press the insert key to add a new
one.
10) Enter the group code. I'll assume you entered 622 and
pressed enter.
11) Type in a description for this group. Something like
"DOS/Windows".
12) Press Tab. A box will pop up with three input fields.
Refer to the "Operating Systems" section of this documents
on what to put in. Type in the position code then tab to
the name field then tab to the extension field. Press enter
to add the entry to the list.
13) Use the Insert key to add the rest of the files that
were listed under the "Operating Systems" section. If you
choose to automatically create the entries they will have
already been entered for you.
14) Once all the names are in the list press the F10 key.
15) Now it will ask you if you want to run the menu
configuration utility. Select yes.
16) Press insert to add a new menu entry. Type in the
description of your choice, such as DOS/Windows, then press
enter.
17) Press tab. Press tab again. Press Enter. Select the
"My C Drive" partition and press enter. Press Tab then
press enter. Select the boot file you created in step 7.
If you named it BOOTDOS622 then select it from the list and
press enter.
18) Press tab (your now in the parameter string field).
Enter the group code you created, If you used a group code
of 622 then type in 622.
19) Press TAB. Press Enter and select the "My C Drive"
partition for the MBR on HD0. (If you wanted any other
partitions (such as an existing extended partition) added to
the MBR, you would add them at this time by using the
up/down arrow keys to highlight a blank entry, then pressing
enter)
20) Press F10 to save your work. That's it for setting up
the DOS/Windows configuration. Once your familiar with the
process it will take you less than 30 seconds to setup.
21) Now install the next operating system you want, then
repeat steps 5 through 20. Some operating systems (such as
Windows 95) will overwrite the EMBRI code. If that is the
case all you need to do is boot with your BootIt
installation diskette and run the transfer utility to switch
to the hard drive EMBRM. After the transfer has completed,
select the Install EMBRI/EMBRL utility to update the EMBRI
and EMBRL. Once the update is complete, you'll be back in
business. You could actually run the utility from the
floppy but, the backup file will be located on the floppy
and not the hard drive.
Single Partition: Installing Windows NT/other on
unpartitioned hard drive.
1) Install BootIt.
2) Create a Partition for Windows NT. From the EMBRM menu
choose to work with hard drive 0 then choose "Add New Entry"
by pressing enter. Continue until you have setup a
partition of type 6.
3) Format the partition using the format utility.
4) Create a menu entry for the Windows NT partition. Use
the Boot Menu Configuration utility. Enter the description
for the entry then press enter. Tab over to the partition
field and press enter and select the partition from the
list. (If its not on the list you forgot to mark the
partition bootable when setting it up). Tab over the MBR
for HD1 then press enter an again select the partition.
Press F10 to save your changes.
5) Press escape until you enter the Boot Menu (one ESC key
past the EMBRM main menu).
6) Choose the entry from the menu to update the MBR. It
will display a message saying that there is no operating
system installed on the partition.
7) Now insert your installation diskette in the A: drive
and press a key to continue. The installation diskette
will now be booted.
8) You should usually use the advanced or custom
installation choices to make sure the installation routine
doesn't try to create a new partition. Remember that the
OS and system tools only see the partitions that are in the
MBR, so if it creates or moves a partition it may put it
right on top of an existing one that is not currently in the
MBR partition table. You can however create or move volumes
in an extended partition provided that the actual extended
partition doesn't get moved or expanded.
9) That's it your done.
One common configuration is to have multiple primary
partitions (one for each operating system) and one common
(shared) extended partition. To do this you indicate the
boot partition, then you add both the boot partition and
extended partition to the MBR for each configuration.
BootIt 2 Order Form
Text version in file REGISTER.FRM
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