Booting between 2 different HDD containing different o.s?

[buddytod]

Can anybody give info on booting between 2 different HDD's. One has win98 and the other DOS 6.2. I have a program that will only function correctly under a pure DOS enviroment, (Accounts prog) but I obviously want access to win98 on the pc also! Any help please!

[rond36]

Need more system details ie... systen specs. and drive arangement
We can't help if we don't have enough info http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/rolleyes.gif

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Alright who messed it up this time!

[iisbob]

Off hand i'd tell you too get a 3rd party program such as partition magic ( which contains Boot magic ).

There is a way to do this in your MSDOS.sys file, by changing the default booting OS. Look for a line saying WinDir= it should say something like c:\windows, this tells your bootloader the directory that windows kernel is in so it knows the proper OS to load, you can change that to your directory where DOS is stored ( ie=D:\MS_DOS_6.22) while editing the corresponding lines WinBootDir=; Host WinBootDRv=.

This is a read only, hidden, system file, so you would have to remove all it's attributes in order to make changes. The major problem with this is you'l have to manually change these entries everytime you want to change your booting OS. So i don't recommend it.

A simpliar way is to just edit the BootGUI= line to 0, this will cause your PC to boot into DOS mode; then when you are ready to run windows just type WIN at the prompt and return to your windows enviroment. The only drawback to this is that if you want to return to booting into Windows normally, you'l have to change the BootGUI to 1 to enable windows to load by default.

You can see how a third party app that creates a menu for you can come in handy. http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

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iisbob
"Bachelors should be heavily taxed. It's not fair that some men should be happier than others."
-- Oscar Wilde

[This message has been edited by iisbob (edited 11-04-2001).]

[rond36]

Also in the root directory of my C drive there is a file named
boot.ini it produces a boot menu before any OS is loaded. This is how I choose between Windows ME and XP. Here is what mine looks like:


timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(2)partition(1)\WINDOW S
[operating systems]
C:\="Microsoft Windows ME"
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(2)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect


Yours would look something like this:

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=C:\
[operating systems]
C:\="Microsoft Windows 98"
X:\="DOS 6.2"\comand.com ;rem; X=Drive that contains msdos system files

This is a read only/hidden/system file so you will have to change the attribs on this one also. I don't know if Windows XP wrote this file or it was alredy there. I also don't know if this file is called up by another file like msdos.sys. I found it because Linux created a partition before my Windows XP partition and had to change:

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(2)partition[b](1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP
Professional" /fastdetect
to:
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(2)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP
Professional" /fastdetect
Then I had to go in to Windows XP to remove the linux partition because fdisk wouldn't remove it.
boot.ini is called from msdos.sys has to be read before boot.ini because msdos.sys looks like this:

[Paths]
WinDir=C:\WINDOWS
WinBootDir=C:\WINDOWS
HostWinBootDrv=C

[Options]
BootMulti=1
BootGUI=1
AutoScan=1
WinVer=4.90.3000
;
;The following lines are required for compatibility with other programs.
;Do not remove them (MSDOS.SYS needs to be >1024 bytes).
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxa
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxb
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxc
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxd
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxe
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxf
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxg
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxh
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxi
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxj
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxk
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxl
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxm
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxn
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxo
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxp
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxq
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxr
;xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxs

If bootmulti=0 Boot to Windows
If bootmulti=1 load boot.ini and get menu



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Alright who messed it up this time!



[This message has been edited by rond36 (edited 11-05-2001).]

[iisbob]

The boot.ini is installed by Windows 2000/xp ( NT kernel ) , win98 doesn't have this file natively, that's why you have to create a multi-boot profile yourself or use a third party manager.



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iisbob
"Bachelors should be heavily taxed. It's not fair that some men should be happier than others."
-- Oscar Wilde

[Dinosaur]

Invest in PowerQuest Partition Magic. Version 6 is great, and 7 is probably better. This program was mentioned in a previous Post to this Thread. It is well worth the money, about $60.00. Running more than one OS is tricky and a lot of effort without something like PM, which is as good as anything else and better than some others. Now that version 7 is available, version 6 might be available somewhere at a big discount. Version 6 will do everything you need to do.

Partition Magic can create, resize, move, hide, & unhide partitions. It will do any of these operations without losing data in the partitions being moved or resized. You are advised to back up your data, but PM has yet to lose any data for me, and I have used it a lot. It is handy even if you are not running a multi-OS system. It includes Boot Magic, which will manage a multi-OS system. It is user friendly and comes with excellent documentation. You are likely to be able to hack PM without reading the documentation. It does not do anything potentially disastrous without giving you a chance to change your mind.

When you install Partition Magic, be sure to make a set of PM & Boot Magic rescue disks. They will save you if you make a mistake. For example you could make Windows 98 temporarily invisible while DOS and Boot magic are not yet ready to be used.

For what you want to do, use PM to create a hidden FAT16 partition for DOS at start of your C-Drive. If necessary, resize an existing partition to get the space (500 MB should be enough). Configure Boot Magic. Hide the Windows 98 partition and unhide the DOS partition.

Shut down & Boot from the DOS install diskettes. Install DOS in the partition you made for it.

Shut down, remove diskettes, and let Boot magic do its thing. If you have configured it correctly, it will give you a menu and allow you to choose which OS you want to use. If something is not quite right, use PM rescue disks to restart and and run PM. Hide DOS partition, unhide Windows 98 partition. Restart system using Windows 98 and configure Boot Magic.

The PM documentation should tell you how to do most of the above, but it is not organized to allow you to easily determine the above procedure for installing a multi OS system.

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Gouverneur
Eschew Obfuscation!
If one hundred million people believe a foolish idea, it is still a foolish idea.