Lets you partition your hard disk to run more than one operating system on your PC. MasterBooter is a boot manager that comes with a powerful paritioning program. It lets you install and run up to six operating systems on a single PC. You can password protect operating systems, hide and unhide FAT partitions for compatibility, set up a custom delay time, and more. MasterBooter supports Windows 95/98, DOS/Windows, Novell DOS, OpenDOS, IBM DOS, OSR2, Windows NT, OS/2, Linux, Unix FreeBSD, Solaris, and more.
Published by Daniel Nagy MasterBooter Home Page
http://www.vein.hu/~nagyd/mrbooter.html
Install a new OS
Quick and easy to add new operating systems and keep your existing,reliable operating systems
Test your software
Test your program on more systems at various stages of development
Training centers
Training centers and classrooms can train on Win9x, Win NT, Novell, OS/2 and more on the same machine
Multi-lingual operating systems
MasterBooter lets you have any OS in more than one language on the same PC
Password security
Password security for any installed operating system while using no resident memory
MasterBooter Key features
Supports up to six operating systems on a single PC (three in the shareware version)
Supports DOS/Windows, Novell DOS, OpenDOS, IBM DOS, Windows95/98, OSR2, Windows NT, OS/2 v3.0 and v4.0, Linux, FreeBSD, SCO OpenServer, Solaris and even unknown operating systems
Supports delay time at boot (1-99secs or infinite, 3 secs fixed in the shareware version)
Supports system names up to 16 characters long
Supports password protecting an operating system
Supports hiding an operating system from the boot menu for best security (registered version)
Supports primary FAT and NTFS/HPFS partition hiding/unhiding (to avoid messing up other primary FAT partitions and to enable running DOS and Windows systems from a slave harddisk)
Supports optional beeping when boot menu appears
Documentation in English, Hungarian and more languages
A small utility to save your old partition table and boot sectors for safety
Easy to use user interface, small resource requirement. MasterBooter doesn't need a separate partition or memory unlike other boot managers and TSRs
Registered version supports command line options to set the default system, delay time, FAT hiding/unhiding and more...
A partitioning utility is included for easy harddisk setup before installing an OS.
It's EFDISK!
Some of the above features are only available in the registered version! Please read the documentation for further details.
EFDISK - the partitioning solution for MasterBooter
Features:
Create up to 4 primary partitions per harddisk
Create any types of partitions (except extended. Use AEFDISK to create logical drives)
Hide/unhide FAT and NTFS/HPFS partitions
FAT32 compatible
Activate the partition you want
Create, delete, hide/unhide, activate partitions from command line or GUI
General:
EFDISK is a partitioning utility. It's much more efficient than the standard DOS FDISK. You can create more primary partitions, up to four per harddisk.This means, that You can have up to four operating systems per harddisk! With EFDISK you can create, delete, activate and hide/unhide partitions with ease.
EFDISK supports command line options. Be sure to check out aefdisktoo!
EFDISK can handle up to four harddisks and also tested with SCSI controllers which support standard BIOS calls.
Before using this product, read the whole documentation first! It contains many very important information.
Why EFDISK?
You want to create more primary partitions for more operating systems
You share your computer with others and you'd like to hide FAT partitions sometimes...
You need a versatile boot manager. MasterBooter and EFDISK come in one single package
General answers
Q: How do I uninstall MasterBooter?
A: Run 'efdisk /mbr'.
Q: I have uninstalled MasterBooter / I have disabled FAT hiding and some FAT systems cannot boot. Why?
A: Before v2.2 you had to unhide all hidden FAT partitions before disabling FAT hiding. From v2.2 MasterBooter can unhide hidden FAT partitions on-the-fly. However, if you uninstall MasterBooter be sure to unhide all hidden FAT partitions first. If you use v2.7 or newer then the 'efdisk /mbr' command will automatically unhide all hidden FAT and NTFS partitions and will remove the boot menu.
Q: What about future upgrades?
A: They are free for registered users. If you need it via e-mail I'll send you for free. If you need it on floppy disk, send me a floppy or 5USD to cover the postal fees and the price of the floppy disk.
Q: Where can I find newer versions of MasterBooter?
A: The official URL is: http://www.cyberjunkie.com/masterbooter. Each time I release a new version, I upload it to SimtelNet, SAC and Albert's Ambry. Search there, if the link on the MasterBooter official page is too slow. Their URL are:
ftp://ftp.simtel.net/pub/simtelnet/bootutil/
ftp://ftp.stuba.elf.sk/pub/msdos/SAC/utiltask/
http://www.alberts.com (search for the string 'mrboot')
Q: Can I have the source code of the executables?
A: Sorry, no.
DOS/Win9x problems
Q: After installing Win9x, the boot menu disappears. Why?
A: Win9x rewrites the Master Boot Record, erasing MasterBooter from it. Simply reinstall MasterBooter and everything should work fine.
Q: The shareware MasterBooter doesn't recognize my Win9x partition. Why?
A: The shareware versions before v2.2 didn't support Win95. From v2.2 the shareware versions recognize Win95(a) partitions,from v2.6 they recognize OSR2/Win98 too. These operating systems overwrite all FAT partitions' boot sector, and MasterBooter thinks they are all Win95/OSR2/Win98 systems.
Q: After installing Win9x, the shareware MasterBooter doesn't recognize my old DOS/Win95 primary partitions. Why?
A: Both OSR2 and Win98 replace the boot sectors of every existing primary FAT systems during installation (Why? Now that's a good question!), that's why MasterBooter before v2.6 doesn't recognize them then.
Q: DOS, Win9x doesn't boot properly from the slave/secondary harddisk. Why?
A: These operating systems can boot from the slave harddisk only if you enable FAT hiding during MasterBooter installation. Be sure you use v2.2 or newer version of MasterBooter and enable FAT hiding if you'd like to run these OSes from a slave harddisk. If you enabled FAT hiding and the system still doesn't boot, then you have to run the BOOTFIX utility, which corrects the 'Physical Drive Number' value in all boot sectors. Please note, that if you set such corrected slave harddisk system as master later, then you have to rerun the BOOTFIX utility from a system floppy after you reconnected the harddisk as master. In other words, if you get the message 'Invalid system disk', then run the BOOTFIX utility and check the FAT hiding option :)
Q: DOS 6.xx partition begins beyond 2 gigs and doesn't boot. Why?
A: DOS6.xx has a bug in its boot load code which causes this error. The BOOTFIX utility can replace this buggy boot loader with a good one. So, after runnin BOOTFIX, your DOS 6.xx system should work even if it resides beyond 2 gigs.
Win NT problems
Q: Win NT doesn't boot properly from other than the primary master harddisk. Why?
A: Good question. I have no solution, try contacting Microsoft.
Q: Win NT partition begins beyond 2 gigs and doesn't boot. Why?
A: Same as the above...
Problems with other OSes
Q: I have Linux insalled but MasterBooter doesn't see it. Why?
A: LILO must be installed in the Linux partition's boot sector.Then MasterBooter will recognize it.
Partitioning problems, EFDISK problems
Q: I'd like to install a new system, but all harddisk space is in use by one big partition, and I don't want to repartition. Now what?
A: You have to use special software, which can resize or split your existing partition(s) without data loss. I know three programs:
FIPS - this is a freeware program, which can split large FAT partitions
Partition resizer - this is also a freeware program. It can resize and move FAT16/32 partitions
Partition Magic - this is a commercial product by PowerQuest Inc. This program can resize, split, move and convert many types of partitions
Q: I've changed a parameter of an already existing partition with EFDISK and now I cannot see it. Why?
A: First, DO NOT DO SUCH THINGS WITH EFDISK! If you change a parameter of an already existing partition, then EFDISK must erase that partition's boot sector in order to allow the formatting programs to work correctly. Do not resize, move or change the type of an already existing partition! If you did so, please make a rescue floppy and send me the MBRINFO file from it and your harddisk's logical characteristics.
Technical information
General information
A harddisk can contain up to four primary partitions. The partition table (which resides in the very first sector of your harddisk, called Master Boot Record) describes the type, size, position, activity and starting/ending cylinder number of the partitions. In bootable partitions (usually these are primary partitions) the first sector is always the so called boot sector which contains a small OS loader (do not confuse the MBR with the boot sectors!). In these partitions you can install any operating system in theory. But in the real world most operating systems don't allow creating more than one primary partition, or booting another operating system. So creating multiple primary partitions and choosing the operating system at boot time is quite difficult. That's what EFDISK and MasterBooter are for.
There is a small program in the MBR before the partition table (yes, they share only one sector). This program examines the partition table and tries to boot the active partition. There can be only one active partition at a time. So if there are more primary partitions with different operating systems (one OS per partition), then always the active will boot. Boot managers install a different program in the MBR which displays the boot menu. Based on the user's choice this program activates the proper partition, loads its boot sector and transfers control to it.
About FAT types:
There are four types of FAT (File Allocation Table).
FAT12 is now obsolete, used on floppy disks and partitions below 16Mb only
FAT 16 is the next step. It can be used if a DOS partition is between 16Mb and 32Mb.
BIGDOS is also a 16-bit type, but allows larger partition sizes. Plain DOS and Windows95 use this type nowadays (OS/2, WindowsNT and Linux can also be installed over FAT, but there is no point for doing that). The maximum partition size is 2Gb
FAT 32 is the newest. It is intruduced in Windows 95 OEM Service Relase 2. It allows really big partition sizes (2Tb), but it's incompatible with older types.
