Looking for free OS-independent boot manager

[Vanguard]

This post is not meant to proselytize another OS other than Windows. I
just figure some Windows users have experimented with various multiboot
managers to know which might work best in my case. It looks like I
might end up getting a position where I need to do software QA on
various hardware/software platforms which include Windows and Solaris.
I've used Solaris before but it's been around 6 years since, and I'd
like to brush up on my skills. I'm looking for a multiboot manager that
resides entirely with the MBR bootstrap area (446 bytes) which is the
first physical sector of the first physical hard drive found by the BIOS
bootstrap program. The rest of the multiboot manager must reside in the
first track (which, I believe, goes unused) to hold the rest of the code
for the multiboot manager program and any extended partition tables that
it manages. This way, nothing of the multiboot manager will reside in
any partition and eliminates any requirements regarding what file system
is used in that partition. This requirement, for example, kills off
BootMagic (included in PartitionMagic) since it requires the rest of its
program to reside on a FAT32 partition, and I'm not going to waste the
last primary partition allocation along with an oversized partition just
for a boot manager. I want the multiboot manager to be completely
independent of any OS and that means completely independent of any file
system which means the multiboot program cannot be within any partition.

I currently have Windows XP Pro installed in one primary partition but
will need to install Solaris 10 x86 into another primary partition.
Currently I have only the one hard drive with multiple partitions. My
current setup is:

Drive 0:
Partn 1 = Windows XP Pro SP-2 (NTFS); 30GB
Partn 2 = Data files (NTFS); 70GB
Partn 3 = Unused primary partition; 15GB

I was actually surprised that I had the 15GB partition still around. It
was used for an install of Windows ME when I needed it to run old games
that wouldn't run under Windows XP. But it was still there so I deleted
it and recreated a partition as FAT32 (which will get changed by the
Solaris install). That primary partition is at the end of the drive so
there won't be a problem with partition numbering (like as is used in
boot.ini). I don't care about sharing files between Windows and Solaris
so it isn't necessary to concern myself about which OS can read what
file systems. The Solaris partition will be self-contained and will
have Solaris 10 x86 and any data files that I generate under that OS.

I did find Smart BootManager at Sourceforge but it seems pretty old and
to be an abandoned program (https://sourceforge.net/projects/btmgr/).
Yet it may still be fully functional and support Windows and Solaris. I
downloaded its user guide (which had to be extracted from a tar.gz file
and then renamed to the .html extension since it is an HTML doc) which
mentions that it resides wholly within the first track (with the MBR and
other unused sectors) so it is truly OS independent. BootMagic requires
a FAT32 partition, so it's out as a choice. PQBoot (also with
PartitionMagic) must run under Windows or MS-DOS, so it's out. OS/2
BootManager is what BootMagic came from so I suspect it is out. System
Commander is out (I've heard that it is not OS independent) because it
costs money. I'm looking for free solutions. I don't yet know much
about XOSL (http://www.ranish.com/part/xosl.htm) but it's help mentions
installing it into a partition which would violate the requirement that
it be completely independent of any OS (and its file system). Obviously
the NT dual-boot is out because it resides within a partition and first
requires that partition's first sector to have its boot loader loaded by
the MBR bootstrap program before you even get to it reading the boot.ini
to present a selection of OS'es to then load.

Other than Smart BootManager, I have yet to find another multiboot
manager that is free and resides wholly in the first track (which is
unused except for the first sector for the MBR). For now, I want to
multiboot between Windows and Solaris, but later I might reuse or create
more partitions, even on other drives, for other OS'es. Nope, I'm not
interested in Virtual PC or VMware (at this point) because, well, those
cost money, too, plus I am not interested in running a guest OS in a VM
atop a parent OS (because I don't want to waste the resources on the
parent OS when all I want to run is the guest OS). Multibooting is the
most viable means for me to have multiple OS'es on my one home computer
without having to resort to removable drives.

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

This post is not meant to proselytize another OS other than Windows. I
just figure some Windows users have experimented with various multiboot
managers to know which might work best in my case. It looks like I
might end up getting a position where I need to do software QA on
various hardware/software platforms which include Windows and Solaris.
I've used Solaris before but it's been around 6 years since, and I'd
like to brush up on my skills. I'm looking for a multiboot manager that
resides entirely with the MBR bootstrap area (446 bytes) which is the
first physical sector of the first physical hard drive found by the BIOS
bootstrap program. The rest of the multiboot manager must reside in the
first track (which, I believe, goes unused) to hold the rest of the code
for the multiboot manager program and any extended partition tables that
it manages. This way, nothing of the multiboot manager will reside in
any partition and eliminates any requirements regarding what file system
is used in that partition. This requirement, for example, kills off
BootMagic (included in PartitionMagic) since it requires the rest of its
program to reside on a FAT32 partition, and I'm not going to waste the
last primary partition allocation along with an oversized partition just
for a boot manager. I want the multiboot manager to be completely
independent of any OS and that means completely independent of any file
system which means the multiboot program cannot be within any partition.

I currently have Windows XP Pro installed in one primary partition but
will need to install Solaris 10 x86 into another primary partition.
Currently I have only the one hard drive with multiple partitions. My
current setup is:

Drive 0:
Partn 1 = Windows XP Pro SP-2 (NTFS); 30GB
Partn 2 = Data files (NTFS); 70GB
Partn 3 = Unused primary partition; 15GB

I was actually surprised that I had the 15GB partition still around. It
was used for an install of Windows ME when I needed it to run old games
that wouldn't run under Windows XP. But it was still there so I deleted
it and recreated a partition as FAT32 (which will get changed by the
Solaris install). That primary partition is at the end of the drive so
there won't be a problem with partition numbering (like as is used in
boot.ini). I don't care about sharing files between Windows and Solaris
so it isn't necessary to concern myself about which OS can read what
file systems. The Solaris partition will be self-contained and will
have Solaris 10 x86 and any data files that I generate under that OS.

I did find Smart BootManager at Sourceforge but it seems pretty old and
to be an abandoned program (https://sourceforge.net/projects/btmgr/).
Yet it may still be fully functional and support Windows and Solaris. I
downloaded its user guide (which had to be extracted from a tar.gz file
and then renamed to the .html extension since it is an HTML doc) which
mentions that it resides wholly within the first track (with the MBR and
other unused sectors) so it is truly OS independent. BootMagic requires
a FAT32 partition, so it's out as a choice. PQBoot (also with
PartitionMagic) must run under Windows or MS-DOS, so it's out. OS/2
BootManager is what BootMagic came from so I suspect it is out. System
Commander is out (I've heard that it is not OS independent) because it
costs money. I'm looking for free solutions. I don't yet know much
about XOSL (http://www.ranish.com/part/xosl.htm) but it's help mentions
installing it into a partition which would violate the requirement that
it be completely independent of any OS (and its file system). Obviously
the NT dual-boot is out because it resides within a partition and first
requires that partition's first sector to have its boot loader loaded by
the MBR bootstrap program before you even get to it reading the boot.ini
to present a selection of OS'es to then load.

Other than Smart BootManager, I have yet to find another multiboot
manager that is free and resides wholly in the first track (which is
unused except for the first sector for the MBR). For now, I want to
multiboot between Windows and Solaris, but later I might reuse or create
more partitions, even on other drives, for other OS'es. Nope, I'm not
interested in Virtual PC or VMware (at this point) because, well, those
cost money, too, plus I am not interested in running a guest OS in a VM
atop a parent OS (because I don't want to waste the resources on the
parent OS when all I want to run is the guest OS). Multibooting is the
most viable means for me to have multiple OS'es on my one home computer
without having to resort to removable drives.

XOSL is free and it comes close to meeting your requirements.
Here are its main characteristics:
- It is completely independent of any OS.
- Its boot code resides in the MBR.
- It will support any number of OSs (as many as you have partitions).
- It lets you hide partitions selectively.
- It allows you to boot into an OS that is installed on
a logical drive, on a slave disk or on a disk connected
to the secondary IDE controller.
- It does not modify the boot environment of the installed OSs -
it merely invokes their boot loaders.

However . . . it requires its own partition of around 14 MBytes.
This partition can reside anywhere, e.g. at the far end of your
extended partition. It uses its own file system and it is neither
visible nor accessible from the other OSs. This is usually no
problem: 14 MBytes is very little space and since the number
of logical partitions in an extended partition is unlimited, it won't
claim a partition or a drive letter that you might need elsewhere.

 

[Vanguard]

XOSL is free and it comes close to meeting your requirements.

However . . . it requires its own partition of around 14 MBytes.

Thanks for the info. I had glanced at XOSL but it required a partition.
That means there must be a file system within that partition. I don't
know if it then requires MS-DOS or some other OS to support the file
system since it is possible not to use an OS by using the boot sector in
that partition to load a "loader" program that kicks off the boot
manager program.

Although it may only require 14MB, the smallest partition that I can
create on the 120GB hard drive is 39.2MB (because they are created on
cylinder boundaries), so there would be wasted space. Not much but
some. Also, this could result in drive letter changes even if a drive
letter is not assigned with the OS to that partition, if recognized by
the OS. That's why I wanted a boot manager that resided wholly within
the first track of the first hard drive since that track goes unused
except for its first sector for the MBR. At 63 sectors per track, and
512 bytes per sector, the available space for a boot manager contained
wholly within the first track would be 446 bytes for the boot area in
the MBR (first sector) plus 62 sectors times 512 bytes/sector, or 32,190
bytes, which seems plenty large enough for a boot manager that just uses
the console to show a menu selection and not waste space on a pretty
GUI.

I figure if Smart BootManager can fit inside the first [hidden] track
then other boot managers (and which may be currently supported instead
of stagnant, like Smart BootManager) might also manage to fit inside
just a track and not require a partition at all. There is also GAG
(http://gag.sourceforge.net/) that I just found today and it is
currently supported so I'll have to compare it against Smart
BootManager.

Thanks for the info on XOSL.

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

See below.

Thanks for the info. I had glanced at XOSL but it required a partition.
That means there must be a file system within that partition. I don't
know if it then requires MS-DOS or some other OS to support the file
system since it is possible not to use an OS by using the boot sector in
that partition to load a "loader" program that kicks off the boot
manager program.

XOSL is self-supporting. It does NOT require an OS
to look after its partition.

Although it may only require 14MB, the smallest partition that I can
create on the 120GB hard drive is 39.2MB (because they are created on
cylinder boundaries), so there would be wasted space. Not much but
some.

I assume that this would be less than 0.1% of the total disk
space, equivalent to a few cents when compared to the cost
of the disk. Now really . . . If you're so concerned about
wasting a tiny amount of disk space then you should ask
your dealer for a free 500 MByte second hand hard disk.
Make it the secondary slave and place the XOSL
partition there.

Also, this could result in drive letter changes even if a drive
letter is not assigned with the OS to that partition, if recognized by
the OS.

This is incorrect. Windows will not assign drive letters to
foreign partitions. You should test this for yourself.

That's why I wanted a boot manager that resided wholly within
the first track of the first hard drive since that track goes unused
except for its first sector for the MBR. At 63 sectors per track, and
512 bytes per sector, the available space for a boot manager contained
wholly within the first track would be 446 bytes for the boot area in
the MBR (first sector) plus 62 sectors times 512 bytes/sector, or 32,190
bytes, which seems plenty large enough for a boot manager that just uses
the console to show a menu selection and not waste space on a pretty
GUI.

I figure if Smart BootManager can fit inside the first [hidden] track
then other boot managers (and which may be currently supported instead
of stagnant, like Smart BootManager) might also manage to fit inside
just a track and not require a partition at all. There is also GAG
(http://gag.sourceforge.net/) that I just found today and it is
currently supported so I'll have to compare it against Smart
BootManager.

Thanks for the info on XOSL.

Many boot managers restrict you to installing OSs into
primary partitions on the primary master disk. XOSL
has no such restriction. Make sure that Smart BootManager
(or whatever you choose) has this flexibility too.

 

[Steve N.]

This post is not meant to proselytize another OS other than Windows. I
just figure some Windows users have experimented with various multiboot
managers to know which might work best in my case. It looks like I
might end up getting a position where I need to do software QA on
various hardware/software platforms which include Windows and Solaris.
I've used Solaris before but it's been around 6 years since, and I'd
like to brush up on my skills. I'm looking for a multiboot manager that
resides entirely with the MBR bootstrap area (446 bytes) which is the
first physical sector of the first physical hard drive found by the BIOS
bootstrap program. The rest of the multiboot manager must reside in the
first track (which, I believe, goes unused) to hold the rest of the code
for the multiboot manager program and any extended partition tables that
it manages. This way, nothing of the multiboot manager will reside in
any partition and eliminates any requirements regarding what file system
is used in that partition. This requirement, for example, kills off
BootMagic (included in PartitionMagic) since it requires the rest of its
program to reside on a FAT32 partition, and I'm not going to waste the
last primary partition allocation along with an oversized partition just
for a boot manager. I want the multiboot manager to be completely
independent of any OS and that means completely independent of any file
system which means the multiboot program cannot be within any partition.

I currently have Windows XP Pro installed in one primary partition but
will need to install Solaris 10 x86 into another primary partition.
Currently I have only the one hard drive with multiple partitions. My
current setup is:

Drive 0:
Partn 1 = Windows XP Pro SP-2 (NTFS); 30GB
Partn 2 = Data files (NTFS); 70GB
Partn 3 = Unused primary partition; 15GB

I was actually surprised that I had the 15GB partition still around. It
was used for an install of Windows ME when I needed it to run old games
that wouldn't run under Windows XP. But it was still there so I deleted
it and recreated a partition as FAT32 (which will get changed by the
Solaris install). That primary partition is at the end of the drive so
there won't be a problem with partition numbering (like as is used in
boot.ini). I don't care about sharing files between Windows and Solaris
so it isn't necessary to concern myself about which OS can read what
file systems. The Solaris partition will be self-contained and will
have Solaris 10 x86 and any data files that I generate under that OS.

I did find Smart BootManager at Sourceforge but it seems pretty old and
to be an abandoned program (https://sourceforge.net/projects/btmgr/).
Yet it may still be fully functional and support Windows and Solaris. I
downloaded its user guide (which had to be extracted from a tar.gz file
and then renamed to the .html extension since it is an HTML doc) which
mentions that it resides wholly within the first track (with the MBR and
other unused sectors) so it is truly OS independent. BootMagic requires
a FAT32 partition, so it's out as a choice. PQBoot (also with
PartitionMagic) must run under Windows or MS-DOS, so it's out. OS/2
BootManager is what BootMagic came from so I suspect it is out. System
Commander is out (I've heard that it is not OS independent) because it
costs money. I'm looking for free solutions. I don't yet know much
about XOSL (http://www.ranish.com/part/xosl.htm) but it's help mentions
installing it into a partition which would violate the requirement that
it be completely independent of any OS (and its file system). Obviously
the NT dual-boot is out because it resides within a partition and first
requires that partition's first sector to have its boot loader loaded by
the MBR bootstrap program before you even get to it reading the boot.ini
to present a selection of OS'es to then load.

Other than Smart BootManager, I have yet to find another multiboot
manager that is free and resides wholly in the first track (which is
unused except for the first sector for the MBR). For now, I want to
multiboot between Windows and Solaris, but later I might reuse or create
more partitions, even on other drives, for other OS'es. Nope, I'm not
interested in Virtual PC or VMware (at this point) because, well, those
cost money, too, plus I am not interested in running a guest OS in a VM
atop a parent OS (because I don't want to waste the resources on the
parent OS when all I want to run is the guest OS). Multibooting is the
most viable means for me to have multiple OS'es on my one home computer
without having to resort to removable drives.

Have you tried BootIt NG?

http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/

Steve N.

 

[Vanguard]

Have you tried BootIt NG?

http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/

Problems with BootIt NG:

- Not free. Costs $40. Pretty pricey just for a boot manager. Yes,
BING provides far more than just a multiboot manager (and it is a good
*suite* of features at that price) but all I'm looking for it a
multiboot manager.

- Does not reside wholly within the first (and hidden) track and instead
requires a partition in which to install the rest of its program. It
says, "Booting multiple operating systems from a single partition".

Thanks, anyway.

 

[frodo]

FWIW, the latest CPU magazine has an artical on boot managers, they review
about 6 of them (but I think none were free; BootItNG was closest to
being free).

But a good artical w/ useful info no less.

 

[Steve N.]

Problems with BootIt NG:

- Not free. Costs $40. Pretty pricey just for a boot manager. Yes,
BING provides far more than just a multiboot manager (and it is a good
*suite* of features at that price) but all I'm looking for it a
multiboot manager.

The free 30 day trial is not time-bombed that I know of. Try it, test it
and see.

- Does not reside wholly within the first (and hidden) track and instead
requires a partition in which to install the rest of its program. It
says, "Booting multiple operating systems from a single partition".

Thanks, anyway.

As I understand it can create an Extended MRB (EMBR) which does not
reside on an actual partition, rather on drive sector(s) immediately
adjacent to the MBR and actual partition boundaries begin immediately
past that disk area.

Even at a mere $40 it still may well be your best bet and it is a proven
excellent product. I've spent way more than that on an average weekend
of beer, munchies and cigatettes.

Steve N.

 

[Vanguard]

The free 30 day trial (of BING) is not time-bombed that I know of. Try
it, test it and see.
...
Even at a mere $40 it still may well be your best bet and it is a
proven excellent product. I've spent way more than that on an average
weekend of beer, munchies and cigatettes.

Even if the trial version doesn't actually expire by crippling or
disabling itself, I don't steal software just because it can continued
to be used. It isn't freeware. It's trialware and that means that you
are expected to PAY for it sometime before the trial period expires. It
may be very good but I'm looking for a free solution, so there is no
point is wasting time to install and learn the product only to have to
get rid of it in a month and start the search all over again. For me,
money is pretty tight these days so free is how I have to go. If I had
to, and if there were no decent free boot managers (but there are), I'd
stick with the BootMagic that I already have and sacrifice another
partition to use it. I don't like that setup and why I'm looking for a
free boot manager that resides in the first track (which is not within
any partition).

Thanks for the info. If I had the money, I'd be also reviewing the
commercial products.

 

[Steve N.]

Even if the trial version doesn't actually expire by crippling or
disabling itself, I don't steal software just because it can continued
to be used. It isn't freeware. It's trialware and that means that you
are expected to PAY for it sometime before the trial period expires. It
may be very good but I'm looking for a free solution, so there is no
point is wasting time to install and learn the product only to have to
get rid of it in a month and start the search all over again. For me,
money is pretty tight these days so free is how I have to go. If I had
to, and if there were no decent free boot managers (but there are), I'd
stick with the BootMagic that I already have and sacrifice another
partition to use it. I don't like that setup and why I'm looking for a
free boot manager that resides in the first track (which is not within
any partition).

Thanks for the info. If I had the money, I'd be also reviewing the
commercial products.

I didn't mean to suggest you steal it, just that you try it. I
understand about money being tight, been there, have the t-shirt and
hat. Good luck. Let us know what you find.

Steve N.