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╔═════════════════════════════════════╗
║ MASTERBOOTER v2.8 DOCUMENTATION ║
║ Copyright (c) 1997-1999 Nagy Daniel ║
║ Release date: 06-28-1999 ║
╚═════════════════════════════════════╝
SHAREWARE VERSION
┌──────────┐
│ CONTENTS │
└──────────┘
Disclaimer............................ 1
Copyright............................. 2
Introduction.......................... 3
Files in the Package.................. 4
Features.............................. 5
Compatibility......................... 6
Usage................................. 7
A Step-by-step Example................ 8
History............................... 9
Registration......................... 10
Contact, About the Author............ 11
┌────────────┐
│ DISCLAIMER ├──────────────────────── 1 ─────────────────────────────────────
└────────────┘
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!
┌───────────┐
│ COPYRIGHT ├───────────────────────── 2 ─────────────────────────────────────
└───────────┘
All copyrights are exclusively owned by the author, Nagy Daniel.
This is the shareware version.
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 separately is not allowed!
Selling for money, modifying or reverse engineering is prohibited
without the author's prior permission.
┌──────────────┐
│ INTRODUCTION ├────────────────────── 3 ─────────────────────────────────────
└──────────────┘
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
(six in the registered version).
MasterBooter is compatible with many operating systems.
┌──────────────────┐
│ FILES IN PACKAGE ├────────────────── 4 ─────────────────────────────────────
└──────────────────┘
BOOTFIX.COM - Boot sector fix utility
EFDISK.EXE - Extended FDISK partitioning program
EFDISK.TXT - EFDISK documentation
EFDHUN.TXT - Hungarian EFDISK documentation
FAQ.TXT - Frequently asked questions and answers
FILE_ID.DIZ - Description for BBS systems
MRBOOTER.EXE - MasterBooter executable
MRBOOTER.TXT - MasterBooter documentation
MRBTHUN.TXT - Hungarian MasterBooter documentation
MRESCUE.COM - Rescue disk maker utility
REGISTER.FRM - Registration form
┌──────────┐
│ FEATURES ├────────────────────────── 5 ─────────────────────────────────────
└──────────┘
- Capability of booting from any harddisk's any partition
- Compatibility with many operating systems:
MS-DOS, Novell DOS, Caldera DR-DOS, IBM DOS
Linux
FreeBSD
SCO OpenServer
OS/2 (Warp, Merlin)
Windows95, Windows98, Windows2000
Windows NT
Solaris
Oberon
BeOS
Unknown OS with 'standard' boot process (*)
- Programmable delay time (2 is the default in the shareware) (*)
- Primary FAT, HPFS/NTFS partition hiding/unhiding
- Password protecting a partition
- Hiding the last partition from the boot menu (protecting) (*)
- Optional beeping when the boot menu appears
- Up to three operating systems on a single computer without
the hassle of boot disks! (Registered version allows six!)
- VERY small memory and harddisk space requirement for the setup
program only. The loader doesn't use any memory or disk space!
- Support for command line options to customize your boot menu (*)
- Safety and easy-to-use user interface
(*) these features work in registered version only!
┌───────────────┐
│ COMPATIBILITY ├───────────────────── 6 ─────────────────────────────────────
└───────────────┘
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 of more
than 540MB, then your motherboard 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 shouldn't conflict with any other programs which
don't alter your disk's Master Boot Record.
Known programs which alter the MBR (and therefore can't be used
with MasterBooter) are:
- 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
┌───────┐
│ USAGE ├───────────────────────────── 7 ─────────────────────────────────────
└───────┘
Introduction:
─────────────
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 systems. MasterBooter uses
three sectors after the Master Boot Record.
Overview:
─────────
If you have all operating systems installed, all you need to do is
to run MRBOOTER.EXE, and configure your boot menu. Before doing so,
you can use MRESCUE to create a backup copy of your partition tables
and boot sectors.
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 harddisk into as many primary partitions
as you intend to have operating systems (up to a maximum of four per
harddisk). Format them, install DOS to them, then use MRBOOTER
to configure the boot menu. 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
────────────────────────────────────
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 /mbr. This will install a correct
Master Boot Sector loader and signature. Then start EFDISK.
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.
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 optimize your use of disk space by making each partition
just below one of the "doubling points" (i.e. 255, 511, 1023
megabytes, etc.). However if you plan to convert the partition into
any non-FAT type, this is not important.
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
──────────────
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 password checking, FAT
partition hiding and beeping. When you are finished, you can write
this information to the MBR and MasterBooter is installed!
Please note, that MasterBooter can read the keystrokes from a file.
This can be very helpful for system administrators, because setting
up a complete system can be automatic with a simple batch file.
There is a utility is called mrecorder for this task. It can be
downloaded from the masterbooter homepage, but it can be used
for the registered version only!
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. The highlighted is the default. The arrow keys
and the ENTER key can be also used to select a system.
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 accessible (as drive C:), the other primary FAT partitions
will be hidden. Of course all logical drives will be accessible.
Now you can begin installing the operating systems.
3) Uninstalling
────────────
MasterBooter can be uninstalled with the EFDISK program. Simply
typing 'efdisk /mbr' will uninstall MasterBooter. This command
will unhide all hidden partitions. Note that the currently active
partition will boot after restarting the computer.
4) Important Notes
───────────────
General tips:
- 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 it you must re-install MasterBooter to update the
new system.
- Before running MasterBooter quit from Windows NT or OS/2 DOS box
and run plain DOS, because these operating systems won't let
programs to modify the Master Boot Record.
- 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.
- It is usually a good idea to create as small partitions
as possible for the OSes themselves, and bigger logical drives
for common data. Note that logical drives will always be accessible
even if FAT hiding is enabled.
- 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.
- 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!
Windows(9x/NT)/DOS:
- DOS 6.xx cannot boot if its partition begins beyond 2 gigs.
Please run the BOOTFIX utility to fix this error.
- NT cannot boot if its partition begins beyond 2 gigs.
- NT cannot boot directly from other drives than the
primary master.
= After installing MasterBooter, NT's disk administrator may
ask for putting a signature to the disk. No problem with that.
- DOS based systems (therefore Windows9x) can boot from the slave
harddisk only if FAT hiding is enabled!
If your system still doesn't boot, you probably need to run the
BOOTFIX utility.
- A bug in MS-DOS/Windows 95 will prevent access to multiple primary
partitions if the last logical partition on every harddisk is not
a FAT system.
- After installing Windows9x, 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.
- Before installing Windows9x, it is usually a good idea to hide
existing primary FAT partitions, therefore Windows95 cannot
mess with their boot sector and root directory.
- Create a BIGDOS partition before installing Windows NT,
because NT can convert it to NTFS during installation if needed.
So creating an NTFS partition with EFDISK is unnecessary.
OS/2:
- Create a BIGDOS partition before installing OS/2, because
OS/2 can convert it to HPFS during installation if needed.
So creating an HPFS partition with EFDISK is unnecessary.
- Run bootfix.com before installing MasterBooter with OS/2 support
Linux:
- 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. Note that
MasterBooter won't recognize Linux if LILO is not installed
in the Linux partition's boot sector!
FreeBSD:
- If you're installing FreeBSD do not set the beginning of the
FreeBSD partition directly after the Master Boot Record, because
MasterBooter uses three sectors after the MBR.
┌────────────────────────┐
│ A STEP-BY-STEP EXAMPLE ├──────────── 8 ─────────────────────────────────────
└────────────────────────┘
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 MS-DOS/Win3.1
300Mb - for Windows95
500Mb - for programs and data ─┐ These two partitions will
699Mb - for games, archive area │ be logical drives in an
for writing CD-ROMs ─┘ 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 recipe:
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, therefore it should be empty and F:
should contain the installed DOS/Win3.1. Install Windows95 to C:.
When Windows95 reboots the computer, the bootmenu will disappear.
Just continue installing Windows95, 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.
┌─────────┐
│ HISTORY ├─────────────────────────── 9 ─────────────────────────────────────
└─────────┘
Version:
1.0b - First official test release. Max number of OSes is 4, no
password protecting, no FAT hiding, system names are
max 8 characters long, no partitioning utility
1.1 - Both versions: - Added EFDISK partitioning program to package
- Fixed typos in documentation
- Removed 'by NagyD' string from loader
- Improved 'string input' routine
- Added Hungarian documentation
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 Windows NT support
- 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 Novell DOS support
2.0 - Both versions: - Added support for password protecting partitions
- Added support for hiding/unhiding FAT partitions
- Better OS detection routine
- Fixed documentation bug in the example section
- DOC files are renamed to TXT
2.1 - Both versions: - After writing the new Master Boot Record,
pressing ESC will quit to DOS (doesn't reboot)
- Tested with OS/2 v4.0 (Merlin)
- Added support for beeping when boot menu appears
Registered: - Added Windows98 support
- Added support for booting up to 6 OSes
2.2 - Both versions: - Added IBM DOS support
- Added FreeBSD support
- On-the-fly FAT unhiding during booting if hidden
- Loader routine now flushes keyboard buffer
- Nicer boot menu
- Now DOS and all Windowses can be booted from
a slave HD, but in this case you MUST enable
FAT hiding. A big thanks goes to Marcel Remkes
for his helping idea
- Added DynamicLoader utility
- Keyboard input is redirected to standard input,
so all keystrokes can be fed from a file
Shareware: - Added Windows95 support (not Memphis/OSR2)
Registered: - MasterBooter now supports command line options
- Delay time can be up to 99 secs
2.3 - Both versions: - Now works in Windows95 DOS box
- Added more systems
Registered: - Added some more command line options
Loader: - Remaining delay time is displayed at boot time
- Default system is highlighted, arrows and ENTER
can be used to select a system
2.4 - Both versions: - Added BOOTFIX utility. Please read the FAQ for
more information. MRBOOTER doesn't patch
boot sectors any more
Registered: - Now default system can be the last booted one,
select 0 at the 'default' question
- Added partition protecting. The last partition
can be hidden from the boot menu
2.5 - Both versions: - Fixed a BOOTFIX bug for FAT32 systems
- Fixed an MRESCUE bug which appeared on systems
with more harddisks
- Added SCO OpenServer support
2.6 - Both versions: - Added MBR virus checking routine in loader
- Added HPFS/NTFS hiding capability
- Added ability to hide partitions on the first
harddisk only
- Removed the dynaload utility (sorry)
Shareware - Added OSR2 and Win98 support
2.7 - Both versions: - Added Solaris support
- Smaller bugfixes and cosmetics
2.8 - Both versions: - Added Oberon support
- Added BeOS support
- Added support for booting Linux from logical
drives
Registered: - Added command line options to set menu colors
- Tested with Windows2000
┌──────────────┐
│ REGISTRATION ├───────────────────── 10 ─────────────────────────────────────
└──────────────┘
Registration benefits the following:
- Unknown OS support
- Programmable delay time
- Programmable default system
- Up to six operation systems (not three)
- Support for command line options
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 for large site license, if the
program is used on min 51 machines
Print the registration form (the file REGISTER.FRM), fill it
and send it to:
Nagy Daniel
2011 Budakalasz
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,
and the newer versions for free if needed.
You can register in three ways:
───────────────────────────────
1) Send cheqe or money order to: Nagy Daniel
Use registered mail only. 2011 Budakalasz
Don't send coins! Ciklamen u. 19.
HUNGARY
2)a Bank transfer from Hungary:
Address: Erste Bank Rt.
8200 Veszprem
Egyetemi fiok 1.
Account No.: 11654005-17340601-54000003
2)b Bank transfer from other country:
Address: Magyar Kulkereskedelmi Bank Rt.
Veszpremi fiok
8200 Veszprem
Ovaros ter 3.
Hungary
Swift code: MKKB HU HB
Account No.: 856-02339-1100-4013
3) Via Albert's Ambry. Check out http://www.alberts.com and
search for 'mrboot' there. Click on 'Buy It!' to download
the registered version using your credit card number.
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:
────────────────────
You can order your copy on a 1.44Mb floppy diskette.
In this case you have to pay additional 5 USD for postage and package.
You can also order via E-mail transfer (preferred). Then you'll
get your copy attached to an E-mail.
Warning!
───────
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!
┌─────────┐
│ CONTACT ├────────────────────────── 11 ─────────────────────────────────────
└─────────┘
If you have any problems, questions or suggestions you can
contact me through snail mail or e-mail.
Bug reports, ideas are also welcomed!
Currently I'm a student at the University of Veszprem,
department of Information Technology. I'm 25 (in 1999).
Postal address: Internet E-mail address:
─────────────── ────────────────────────
Nagy Daniel masterbooter@cyberjunkie.com
2011 Budakalasz
Ciklamen u. 19
Hungary
Fax: (36) 26 340-472 WWW homepage:
─── ─────────────
http://www.cyberjunkie.com/masterbooter
