Mail Archives: opendos/2000/04/30/11:14:09
I was asked about controlling my partitions,so here's my setup for
those who are interested.....
First,I downloaded "BootIt" from www.terabyteunlimited.com. It is
shareware,and is $US30 for a registered version. It would also be advisble
to download the mbrwork.exe utility (which is free) in case of any
difficulties (and your boot floppy would be a handy place to keep it).
BootIt allows up to 255 partitions (the only partition manager to allow
more than 4),though only 4 are visible in one session. Note that this is
the full-blown "BootIt",not "BootIt Lite" or one of the other
stripped-down versions. In your "Boot Menu Configuration",you specify
which partitions to have active with which boots. It then loads those 4
partitions into the MBR.
Most OS's MUST have their boot-code in the first 2Gb of the drive,so
that complicates it a little,but since we can have 255 partitions,it's not
really a problem. :-)
My partitions are as follows.... (SYSx=bootable)
SYSWIN95 (512Mb)
SYSDRDOS (150Mb)
SYSLINUX (root) (150Mb)
LINHOME (150Mb)
LINSWAP (60Mb)
SYSWIN98 (512Mb)
SYS98LITE (512Mb) www.98lite.net (98 without I.E. and "webification")
----------------------2Gb boot-code boundary
LINUSR (600Mb)
LAPTOP (1.4Gb) (to backup my laptop)
DATA (2Gb) (text files and DOS programs)
PROGRAMS (2Gb) (Windows programs and graphical files)
EMBR (11Mb) (BootIt lives here)
The only partition that needs backing up is "DATA",plus any personal
stuff on my Linux partitions. I then also use the DOS "label" command to
label the volumes according to the name I've given them in BootIt - makes
for easier navigation (I also make use of the $x variable in the DR-DOS
prompt,and "set PEXEC=vol" - every time the DOS prompt returns,I get told
which VOLUME I am currently on. For MS-DOS,I had to make a batch-file
to SIMULATE that). :-)
My boot configurations are.....
c: d: e: f:
DR-DOS - SYSDRDOS,DATA,SYSWIN95,SYSWIN98 (last 2 visible for copying
stuff from Windows to "DATA" under the control of DR-DOS - my
OS of choice :-) )
Win95 - SYSWIN95,DATA,PROGRAMS,SYSDRDOS
Win98 - SYSWIN98,DATA,PROGRAMS,SYSDRDOS
98lite - SYS98LITE,DATA,PROGRAMS,SYSDRDOS
...in these 3,DR-DOS commands (f:\drdos\....) and stuff on "DATA" (my
stuff) is accessible whilst in Windows. No need to ever use those weak
MS-DOS commands. :-)
Linux - SYSLINUX,LINSWAP,LINHOME,LINUSR
My problem with Linux is that I'm already at 4 partitions,and can't
include one of the other common partitions to facilitate transfer. I
actually don't NEED the swap volume (since I have 64Mb RAM),but the
install program wouldn't let me NOT have a swap volume. :-(
Note that if you DO run a common partition for Windows programs,you
still need to install the program in EACH instance of Windows. i.e.
(horrible browser ;-) ),if you install an App to "PROGRAMS" in Win95,then
you STILL need to install it again in Win98 (registry stuff). Still
install it to the same place - "PROGRAMS" - so that you're overwriting the
same part,but you need to do it again ANYWAY (and,what a SURPRISE that
something that could be so simple could be so awkward in Windows! ;-) ). I
only need one copy of Netscape to go around my 3 versions of Windows,but I
need to install it 3 times to that one place.
regards,
DONALD - Left-Brain Extraordinaire,Right-Brain in Rehab.
E-mail - donaldp AT au DOT mensa DOT org
BIG DON's Home-page - http://jedi.apana.org.au/~jims_son
(Pedder Passer(Quarterback) Rating,Kirlian photo's,the best of The Beast)
"What I always wanted is to be accepted,not understood" - MAN RAY
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