global menu:
Notes: This page is under construction.
MULTI-OS BOOT MANAGERS
For those who wish to run combinations of Win95, Win98, Win3.1, DOS, Linux, OS/2 ....etc., from the same (or more than one) hard disk. Partition managers are listed on the DISK UTILS pages. Not for the faint of heart- and I make no personal recommendations about these. Much thanks to Dev Teelucksingh, Alek Markiewicz, and Bjorn Simonsen for bringing many of these programs to my attention.
XOSL- Graphics mode multi-OS boot manager.
unrated [added 02-27-00 updated 01-01-01]
XOSL is a professional-looking, graphics mode OS loader which has received a good deal of public praise. Beneath the polished interface lies a program loaded with features, including:
XOSL currently requires: 386+ PC w/ 4Mb of RAM, VESA VBE 1.2 compliant display controller, and 300kb of free disk space.
01-01-01: v1.1.5 (12-00) is latest release.
Author: Geurt Vos, Netherlands (2000). Suggested by Bjorn Simonsen.
See Home Page for latest version, betas, manual, and discussion list.
GAG- Boot manager for multiple OS's.
unrated [added 04-22-01]
(Untested here)
Notes: A FAQ and extended readme are available in source code distribution zip if you feel a need to read these docs prior to the installation process (only a brief readme is distributed within the installation zip).
Author: Raster Software Vigo, Spain. GAG Home Page
v4.01 and v2.1 and source code available from download page.
SyMon- Small boot manager for multiple OS's.
unrated [added 10-11-99 updated 02-15-00]
Features:
" SyMon does not work with partitions on file system level. Thus it cannot start several OSes from one file system. This means that it is not recommended to install it instead of System Commander or similar loader that is configured to boot several Microsoft systems from one file system. This is the only...limitation of using the SyMon."
Authors: Vladimir Dashevsky, Daniel Smelov. Russia (2000). Thanks to Dev Teelucksingh for the link.
03-12-01: Release 3 is now shareware but release 2.05 (1-00) remains a free download.
See home page for FAQ's and download info: Home Page.
The above site may be difficult to access at times- a copy of the english package is also here: smn2engl.zip (v2.05, 47.7K)
XFDisk (eXtended FDisk)- Open source FDISK replacement with boot manager.
Please refer to extended description.
Partition Manager- Partition manager and advanced boot manager.
This popular partition manager package also includes a boot manager. Please refer to description and links on Disk Utils page.
DOS BOOT MANAGERS
Autocon- DOS boot manager.
* * * * * [added 10-5-98]
reviewed by H. Schwartz (10-3-98)
If you use DOS and Win3.x you may have up to 3 different boot managers to contend with:
Most DOS boot managers accomplish task #2. However, they should really be called ``reboot managers''. They do not provide a menu of choices during bootup. Instead, you must first boot DOS, using a default config.sys and autoexec.bat. Then you can use the boot manager to quickly REboot to alternate autoexec.bat and config.sys files.
Autocon is different: It provides its own menu system so that you can choose one of up to 50 different sets of config.sys and autoexec.bat files to read and execute, during the bootup process itself. Alternately, autocon will work with the boot menu system that comes with MSDOS 6 and above. However, autocon's own menu system can be used with earlier versions of DOS, or with other kinds of DOS (e.g., OpenDOS, Free DOS)
Autocon also comes with a user-friendly, mouse-menu interface that lets you manage your alternate sets of config.sys and autoexec.bat files. (These alternate sets of files are stored in a small data-base.) Some of its options include:
Like the other boot managers, the command: "autocon name2 <RETURN>" allows you, at any time, to quickly reboot DOS to a configuration you have named, ``name2''.
Author: Larry Weaver (1993)
download autoconx.zip (137K)
OTHER BOOT UTILS
ONBOOT- Run programs only during warm, cold, or daily boot.
* * * *
From the docs: "ONBOOT is a simple utility designed for your AUTOEXEC.BAT. It allows you to have AUTOEXEC run selected programs only during a warm boot (Ctl-Alt-Del), a cold boot (power on), or the first boot of the day. For example, placing the command "ONBOOT DAILY CHKDSK" into AUTOEXEC will cause AUTOEXEC to run CHKDSK only once a day, the first time the PC is turned on."
Released by Christopher J. Dunford (1989). Suggested by Marianna Van Erp.
While v1.0 is widely available on SimTel mirrors, the enhanced v1.10 is difficult to locate on the Net. Uploaded to my web space.
Reboot- Warm or cold boot PC, with cache flushing.
unrated [added 10-10-99 updated 04-22-01]
There are multitudes of rebooters around that can warm/ cold boot a system... this one does both and should be safe.Reboot /C forces a Cold boot with RAM test. Reboot /W forces a Warm boot without RAM test. Plain Reboot defaults to a warm boot.
"It has special code to flush Norton NCACHE and PC Tools Cache quickly. It also handles any other cache, such as SuperPCKwik, and Smartdrv that correctly flush the cache on a disk reset. It is DESQview, QEMM stealth, OS/2 and Windows aware, mouse and cache friendly....Works under DOS, and DOS emulation in Windows 3.1 and Windows 95/98, OS/2 but not NT."
Author: Roedy Green, Canada (1999). Home Page.
04-22-01: Updated link to v3.5 (12-99), added home page link.
download reboot35.zip (15K)
[ Go to Top | Front Page ]
© 1994-2001. Rich Green