Need a new boot manager - fixed usenet reply

[Splork]

Hi,

I am building a new system. Will use XP and eventually install
Win7 on another partition.

I like keeping things separate. Previously used FAT32 and
System Commander. System Commander requires a fat partition.

If I create a fat partition, above or below the target
partition, XP installs it's boot files there and labels it
drive C: D: gets the windows install.

Leaving all the unused space on the drive
unpartitioned/unformatted I get XP properly installed on the
Second partition area. System Commander will not function
though. I suppose I could try adding the fat partition after
the OS install, but that gets cumbersome when it comes time to
install Win7. Deleting the dos partition to install Win7 makes
the boot manager fail. Would be lots of creating and deleting
that partition if it succeeds at all.

Is there a boot manager that you folks know about that will
allow me to have the booted OS show up as drive C:

Win 98 and WinXP coexisted well and behaved under system
commander. Can I get this functionality back for NTFS OSs

Suggestions welcome

 

[Trimble Bracegirdle]

Its best to have different O/S's on different Physical drives
then switch between them by selecting in the Motherboard BIOS the disk
to boot first.

You will have to find a new Boot Manager but bear in mind that Windows 7
own boot manager can competently cope with Multi-boot
with other older O/S's.

Install the newest system first then older onto that.
All versions of Windows ever, require use of the first part of a HD
Boot Sector (shared or not) to start.

Do you really need FAT32 ???? convert to NFTS if possible.
Remember FAT32 can not do files larger than 4 GB & cannot
manage large modern disc capacities over 32GB with out problems.
(\__/)
(='.'=)
(")_(") mouse (He Makes His Own Newsgroups....Wow !!!)

 

[Splork]

Its best to have different O/S's on different Physical drives
then switch between them by selecting in the Motherboard BIOS the disk
to boot first.

You will have to find a new Boot Manager but bear in mind that Windows 7
own boot manager can competently cope with Multi-boot
with other older O/S's.

Install the newest system first then older onto that.
All versions of Windows ever, require use of the first part of a HD
Boot Sector (shared or not) to start.

Do you really need FAT32 ???? convert to NFTS if possible.
Remember FAT32 can not do files larger than 4 GB & cannot
manage large modern disc capacities over 32GB with out problems.
(\__/)
(='.'=)
(")_(") mouse (He Makes His Own Newsgroups....Wow !!!)

Thanks for your reply

Not using fat32. Otherwise I would be able to do what I wish.
Had very large FAT32 partitions though. Not limited to 32GB.

Have one very fast drive for OSs. Will only use 2 OSs but both
must reside on that drive. Which ever OS I boot, I would like
it to show up as C:

Will install XP on back of the drive so Win7 (future) can
occupy the first part of the drive.

My old boot manager took control of the boot sector in
conjunction with some files in a fat partition. Worked great.

I do not currently have Win7.

Still need a NTFS boot manager

 

[Splork]

Always install the oldest OS first, which in your case would be XP. Then
install Windows 7 and it's boot loader, BCD, will handle everything,
giving you a choice at boot up as to which OS you want to boot.
Forget about using FAT as it is old and not as near as secure as NTFS.

Thanks

So win7 has a good boot manager??

Will it allow me to install Win7 into an unused space that will
be a separate partition from the XP Partition?? Independent??

Will the booted OS be C:\ ??

I am a bit new to Win7/Vista so I do not know how they do
things. Win98 and XP behaved well but XP was definitely more
"bossy"

 

[none]

So win7 has a good boot manager??

Will it allow me to install Win7 into an unused space that will
be a separate partition from the XP Partition?? Independent??

Will the booted OS be C:\ ??

I am a bit new to Win7/Vista so I do not know how they do
things. Win98 and XP behaved well but XP was definitely more
"bossy"

I have a multiboot system (W98,W2K,XP,W7,Linux) and choose to use W7's
bootloader and BCD. W7's loader is ok but will *NOT* assign whatever OS is
booted to drive 'C', and to the best of my knowledge CANNOT perform that
task! Thus if W7 is loaded on drive 'C' it will ALWAYS be drive 'C'.

So if I followed your trend of thought, you NEED to look for a System
Commander replacement (and I'd be curious to know what it would be).

 

[Gary Richtmeyer]

I have a multiboot system (W98,W2K,XP,W7,Linux) and choose to use W7's
bootloader and BCD. W7's loader is ok but will *NOT* assign whatever OS is
booted to drive 'C', and to the best of my knowledge CANNOT perform that
task! Thus if W7 is loaded on drive 'C' it will ALWAYS be drive 'C'.

So if I followed your trend of thought, you NEED to look for a System
Commander replacement (and I'd be curious to know what it would be).

Take a look at Acronis Disk Director (ADD) - a new release was made
available a few weeks ago.

My laptop is setup for multi-boot with a single HD partitioned into 3
primary partitions for OSes (Win XP Pro, Vista Ultimate 32-bit and Win 7
Ultimate 64-bit), and 1 extended partition for data available to all
OSes. When an OS is booted, it's system disk is always C: and the data
disk is always D:. The other OS disks are E and F which allows
cross-system work if necessary.

I chose ADD as it removes any dependence on installing the oldest OS
first, then the 2nd oldest, etc. Each install stands on its own and
makes my life easier!

Gary Richtmeyer