ÉÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ» º MASTERBOOTER v2.0 DOCUMENTATION º º (C) Nagy Daniel 12-20-96 º ÈÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍͼ SHAREWARE VERSION ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ CONTENTS ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Disclaimer............................ 1 Copyright............................. 2 Introduction.......................... 3 Files in package...................... 4 Features.............................. 5 Compatibility......................... 6 Usage................................. 7 A step-by-step example................ 8 History............................... 9 Registration......................... 10 Contact.............................. 11 ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ DISCLAIMER ÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ 1 ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Using this program comes without any warranty. The author and distributors will not accept responsibility for any damage incurred directly or indirectly through use of this program. Use at your own risk! ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ COPYRIGHT ÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ 2 ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ This program is copyright (c) Nagy Daniel. This program is shareware. You are free to distribute it by electronic means and make as many copies as you want on electronic or magnetic media, as long as the files of this package remain unmodified, with copyright notices intact. Distributing parts separtely is not allowed! Selling for money is prohibited without the author's prior permission. ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ INTRODUCTION ÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ 3 ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ MasterBooter is a very powerful utility which enables your computer to use multiple operation systems without changing harddisks or messing with boot floppies. You can choose among up to three operating systems at boot time (four in the registered verison). MasterBooter is compatible with many operating systems. ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ FILES IN PACKAGE ÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ 4 ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ EFDISK.EXE - Extended FDISK partitioning program EFDISK.DOC - EFDISK documentation EFDHUN.DOC - Hungarian EFDISK documentation FILE_ID.DIZ - Description for BBS systems MRBOOTER.EXE - MasterBooter executable MRBOOTER.DOC - MasterBooter documentation MRBTHUN.DOC - Hungarian MasterBooter documentation MRESCUE.COM - Rescue disk maker utility REGISTER.FRM - Registration form ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ FEATURES ÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ 5 ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ - Cabapility of booting from any disk's any primary partition - Compatibility with many operating systems: MS-DOS Novell DOS Linux OS/2 Windows95 (*) Windows NT Unknown OS with 'standard' boot process (*) - Programmable delay time (*) - FAT partition hiding/unhiding - Password protecting a partition - Up to three operating systems on a single computer without the hassle of boot disks! (Registered version allows four!) - VERY small memory and harddisk space requirement for the setup program only. The loader doesn't use any memory or disk space! - Safety and easy-to-use user interface (*) these features work in registered version only! ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ COMPATIBILITY ÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ 6 ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Requirements: - 80286 processor or newer - MS-DOS or compatible operating system (for installation only) - At least one harddisk - Keyboard - VGA adapter - If you have a harddisk with capacity more than 540MB, then your mainboard MUST have a new BIOS (EBIOS) which supports large drives, else you won't be able to use MasterBooter. Most 486 and all Pentium machines have such BIOS. This program souldn't conflict with any other programs which don't alter your disks Master Boot Record. Known programs which alter the MBR (and therefore can't be used with MasterBooter): - LILO (Linux's booter) if installed in MBR. Note that if LILO is installed in its partition's boot sector (the Linux partition superblock), then MasterBooter CAN coexist with LILO! - MicroHouse's EZ-Drive - OnTrack's Disk Manager - PC Vault ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ USAGE ÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ 7 ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Introduction: ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Every time you turn on your computer, the BIOS executes a small program, which resides in the very first sector of your harddisk. This sector is the so-called Master Boot Record (MBR). This small program examines the partitions, and loads the operating system of the partition which has the 'active' flag. A harddisk can contain up to four primary partitions, but only one can be active at a time. This flexible technique enables many operating systems to be used on a PC. However, these systems often have their own unique loader code, and won't let you use other systems, unless you know tricky methods to get past this. MasterBooter works by replacing the program in the MBR with its own loader code that you can configure, so you can select from any installed operating system. Overview: ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ If you have all operating systems installed, all you need to do is to run MRBOOTER.EXE, and configure your MBR. Before doing so you can use MRESCUE to create a backup copy of your partition tables. The Rescue utility from Norton Utilities is also a good choice to save all important areas of your harddisks. If you want to create a completely new system, follow the instructions below. Using EFDISK, partition the disk into as many primary partitions as you intend to have operating systems (up to a maximum of four per harddisk). Install DOS to them, and then use MRBOOTER to configure the MBR. Then install an operating system on each partition. When complete, you will be able to choose which system to boot each time you start your computer! 1) Preparing To Partition Your Harddisk ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ WARNING: Re-partitioning your harddisk will erase ALL data from it! Make sure you have backed up any important files! Since most operating systems need to be started from a primary partition to boot reliably, you will need to use a disk partitioning utility that lets you make multiple primary partitions. FDISK, which is supplied as standard with DOS and Windows95, cannot create more than one primary partition, so the MasterBooter package includes EFDISK for this purpose. First, create a boot floppy and put copies of the following files onto it: MRBOOTER.EXE (the MasterBooter utility) EFDISK.EXE (disk-partitioning utility) FDISK.EXE (disk-partitioning utility) FORMAT.COM (to format DOS partitions) If you need to install any operating systems from a CD-ROM, you will also need CD-ROM driver files, plus properly configured AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS files for this. Make sure it works before proceeding! Reboot your machine with your boot floppy. From the relevant directory at the A: prompt, type EFDISK. This will start the EFDISK utility. Note that this version of EFDISK handles only the first two harddisks! EFDISK will gather information about your disks and partitions. You will then be provided with a list of all partitions on all disks and their parameters. From this list you can choose the partition entry you want to change. When you select a partition, EFDISK will ask the following questions: - The hexadecimal type ID of the partition. EFDISK will show you the most common types and their IDs. - The starting cylinder of the partition (the minimum is 0). If the previous partition ends on cylinder 'x' then set this to 'x+1'. This number is decimal. - The ending cylinder number of partition. EFDISK will show you the maximum cylinder number available for the actual harddisk. The number of heads and sectors per track are determined automatically for each disk, you don't have to mess with them. Pressing SPACE will activate the highlighted partition, pressing DEL will clear it. NOTE: EFDISK doesn't check for partition errors! It's not an 'intelligent' program. You have total freedom to set all parameters, even if they are incorrect or redundant! When setting up partitions, bear the following in mind: Due to DOS file system limits, the larger the partition, the more space is wasted by "overhang." If you have a large drive (around 800MB or above) you may want to optimise your use of disk space by making each partition just below one of the "doubling points" (i.e. 255, 511, 1023 megabytes, etc.). You can also have "extended" partitions, but EFDISK can only create primary partitions. You can, however, use the standard DOS FDISK utility to create an extended partition, and then create "logical drives" within that if you wish. Bear in mind that you can have a maximum of four primary and extended partitions on one drive, because each allocates one partition entry in the table. After preparing all partition entries, press F10 to save the new partition table to disk. 2) Using MRBOOTER ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Now that you have successfully partitioned your harddisk, you can use the MRBOOTER utility to set up your system for booting multiple operating systems, then install the systems you wish to run. How you now proceed depends on which operating systems you plan to install, but you will probably need to format and install DOS on at least one of them if you are planning to put DOS, Windows 3.x or Windows95 on any partition. Use FORMAT.EXE on your boot floppy with the /s switch to format and install the DOS kernel on the relevant partitions. Now boot from your floppy and run MRBOOTER. You will be asked to name each boot partition. Here you can enable passwords and FAT partition hiding. When you have finished, you can then write this information to the MBR and MasterBooter has been installed! When you next reboot from the harddisk you will see a small menu asking you to type a number corresponding to the operating system you wish to boot. If you use password protecting, then you will be asked for a password. If you enter bad passwords 3 times, the computer will stop. If you enable partition hiding, then only the active FAT partition will be seen (as drive C:), the other primary FAT partitions on the master harddisk will be hidden. Now you can begin installing the operating systems. 3) Important Notes ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ - DOS based systems (therefore Windows 95) and Windows NT can only boot from a primary partition of the first harddisk! This means that the OS itself can reside on the slave disk, but it will tamper with the active partition of the master disk. For example Windows 95 and NT will install some garbage into the root directory of drive C:, and will replace the boot sector with its special one. - Before using this program be sure to disable the virus warning option in your system's BIOS (if it has this option), else the BIOS won't let MasterBooter to modify your harddisk's MBR! - If you want to add a partition later, don't hesitate, but after doing so you must re-run MasterBooter to update the new system. - Before running MasterBooter quit all multitasking environments (ie. Windows or OS/2 DOS box) and run plain DOS, because after the program writes the modifications to your harddisk, the system needs to be rebooted. - If you have two harddisks then I recommend the following: Put DOSes and Windowses (3.1, 95 and NT) on the master, OS/2 Warp and Linux on the slave disk. - With DOS and Windows (not NT!) versions it's usually a good idea to create as small partitions as possible for the OSes itselves, and bigger logical drives for common data. - If you want to use common data partitions, create an extended partition with the original FDISK, then create logical drives in it. These logical drives are usable by nearly all OSes. - After installing Windows 95, MasterBooter menu will disappear, because the installer overwrites the Master Boot Record. Don't panic, just simply re-run MasterBooter, and everything will work fine. - If you install Linux on the slave disk, don't let LILO to modify the Master Boot Record, install it in the Linux partition's boot sector instead. Maybe you'll get a warning message saying you will not be able to boot Linux, but don't panic. Just run MasterBooter after the installation is done. - Bear in mind that the active partition is always called C:. Don't overwrite one system with another by choosing the wrong partition to install it on! ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ A STEP-BY-STEP EXAMPLE ÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ 8 ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Let's suppose that we have a 1.6Gig master, and a 540Mb slave harddisk. We won't use FAT partition hiding here. Let's partition the harddisks in the following way: Master: 100Mb - for DOS/Win3.1 300Mb - for Windows 95 (note that Windows 95 is supported in the registered version only!) 500Mb - for programs and data Ä¿ These two partitions will 699Mb - for games, archive area ³ be logical drives in an for writing CD-ROMs ÄÙ extended partition 1Mb - for OS/2 Warp Boot Manager (it can be deleted after OS/2 is fully installed) Slave: 240Mb - for Linux 300Mb - for OS/2 Warp Here's the recipee: 1: Create a system diskette, and copy FORMAT, FDISK, EFDISK and MRBOOTER onto it. 2: Run EFDISK and create the 100Mb and 300Mb partitions on the master harddisk (both are BIGDOS type) 3: When the computer reboots, boot up with the system diskette and run FDISK. Create a 1199Mb extended partition, and crate the 500Mb and 699Mb logical drives in it. 4: After rebooting, use the diskette again. Format C: and F: with the '/s' command line option, D: and E: without it. Now you have two simple primary bootable partitions with plain DOS on them, and two logical drives (D: and E:). 5: Run MasterBooter and select both DOSes. After rebooting, you should see a small bootmenu with the names you've entered in MasterBooter. 6: Select the 100Mb partition, and install DOS and Windows 3.1 on C:. C: is always the partition you boot, F: will be the other primary partition, D: and E: will be the logical drives. 7: Reboot the computer and select the 300Mb partition. Because now it becomes the C: drive, therfore it should be empty and F: should contain the installed DOS/Win3.1. Install Win95 to C:. When Win95 reboots the computer, the bootmenu will disappear. Just continue installing Win95, and if you're ready, re-install MasterBooter. 8: Now the master harddisk is ready to go. Let's continue with Warp and Linux. Before installing Warp, do a 'fdisk /mbr' to uninstall MasterBooter. 9: Install Warp. During installing, you can use Warp's FDISK to create the 300MB HPFS partition. Warp will call it D:. 10: When all is done, install Linux, but don't let it to write LILO in the Master Boot Record. Install LILO in its own partition's boot sector (superblock) instead. 11: Now install MasterBooter, and live a long and happy life with four OSes on a single PC! The numbers above are just for this example only. The only important thing is that you should leave 1Mb unpartitioned space on the master harddisk, because Warp needs it during installation. ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ HISTORY ÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ 9 ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ Version: 1.0b - First official test release 1.1 - Both versions: Added EFDISK partitioning program to package Fixed typos in documentations Removed 'by NagyD' string from loader Improved 'string input' routine Added Hungarian documentatiom Registered: Minor bug fixes Added support for unknown file system Added infinite boot delay time Shareware: Minor bug fixes 1.2 - Both versions: Less useless MBR writes (better loader routine) If an OS is not on the first harddisk, then MasterBooter will examine that the 'physical drive number' value in the boot sector is correct. If not, it will be corrected. For example OS/2 cannot boot if this value is incorrect. OS/2's Boot Manager doesn't patch the MBR (this was an error in the documentation of MasterBooter), so it can coexist with MasterBooter (but unnecessary). 1.3 - Both versions: Fixed a small bug in the Boot Sector patcher Added LILO detection in the MBR Loader now clears screen if necessary System names can be up to 16 characters long 1.4 - Both versions: Small improvements in loader routine 1.5 - Both versions: Added support for Windows NT Some documentation cosmetics and additions A Big Thanks goes to Jonathan Baker-Bates, who helped me to re-write and correct the documentation. Shareware: Added support for Novell DOS 2.0 - Both versions: Added support for password protecting a partition Added support for hiding/unhiding FAT partitions Better OS detection routine Fixed documentation bug in the example section DOC files are renamed to TXT ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ REGISTRATION ÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ 10 ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ The registration benefits the following: - Windows95 support - Unknown OS support - Programmable delay time - Programmable default system - Up to four choosable operation systems (not three) Registration fee: 20 USD for private license 50 USD for small site license if the program is used on max 50 machines 1 USD / machine if the program is used on more than 50 machines Print the registration form (the file REGISTER.FRM), fill it and send it to: Nagy Daniel 2011 Budakal sz Ciklamen u. 19. HUNGARY ! Registration via E-mail is NOT accepted, since your signature ! is required! Upon registering you'll get the latest registered version of MasterBooter and information about future releases when available. You can register in three ways: ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ 1) Send cheqe or money order to: Nagy Daniel Use registered mail only. 2011 Budakalasz Don't send coins! Ciklamen u. 19. HUNGARY 2a) Bank transfer from Hungary: Address: Mezobank Rt. 8200 Veszprem Egyetemi fiok 1. Account No.: 10600546-71910011 2b) Bank transfer from other country: Address: OTP Veszpremi Korzeti fiok 8200 Veszprem Account No.: B114220 3) Via Albert's Ambry. Check out http://www.alberts.com for more information. There you can register on-line, and immediately download the registered version. It's probably the most comfortable way of registering. This method is available only for private and small site license! The preferred registration method is to send the cash together with the registration form in a registered envelope. This is the fastest, and we don't have to pay additional postal or bank transfer fee. Getting the software: ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ You can order your copy on a 1.44Mb floppy diskette. In this case you have to pay additional 5 USD / 300 HUF for postage and package. You can also order via E-mail transfer (preferred). Then you'll get your copy uuencoded in an E-mail. Warning! ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ You're not allowed to copy or distribute the registered version of this software. If you do so, please consider that my whole work (many weeks I can say...) will be almost wasted time. Please support shareware! ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ CONTACT ÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ 11 ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ If you have any problems, questions or suggestions you can contact me through mail or Internet E-mail. Bug reports, ideas also welcomed! Postal address: Internet E-mail address: ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Nagy Daniel nagyd@almos.vein.hu 2011 Budakalasz Ciklamen u. 19 WWW homepage: HUNGARY ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ http://www.vein.hu/~nagyd Fax: (36) 26 340-472