Osl2000 Boot Manager
Namuncura Mckoy
OSL2000 is an advanced multi boot manager. Using OSL2000 boot manager, you can directly install, boot and manage upto 100 independent OSs in your computer. Runs on Windows. OSL2000 lets you have independent copies of Windows. It even lets you have multiple copies of the same Windows.
Features of OSL2000 Boot Manager
- Boot Windows (all versions) from logical partitions.
- Boot Windows (all versions) from the second hard disk.
- Run completely independent copies of Windows.
- Run multiple copies of the same Windows.
- Supports Windows (all versions), Linux, DOS and most others.
- Supports boot from hard disk, CD-Rom, floppy, USB, zip & more.
- Up to 100 independent operating systems.
- $$ Cost:Free Trial
(Looking specifically for separate partitions, not Win95B/98's flawed Prev OS boot option on same partition). Would I need LILO, or is there something else? This seems the best way to get what I want (clean DOS 6.22 and Win95C available to me (the latter would be rarely called into service)).
In a nutshell. You need some boot manager. Make at least two primary partitions and one more for backup (it can also be another drive). Install DOS 6.22 on 1st. Make a Ghost image file of it on a backup partition. Now you can delete it or make clean install of Win95 on the same partition. After install also make a Ghost image file to the backup partition. At this point you can just reghost the DOS622 on the 2nd partition (or on 1st if you like that order - it doesn't matter, but if you do this, than you'll have to reghost Win95 image on the 2nd partition). After this you have a bootable system from the 1st partition. Now you install some MultiBoot manager (OSL2000, Acronis Boot Manager, GAG... that supports primary partition hidding - I usually use GAG) and make a boot menu for the both systems.
Obviously there are other bootmanagers that can hide partitions automatically at boot time, but LILO does work. In my experience (mostly with W98SE) LILO is not the sticky wicket ... it's getting Windows to install without trashing the partition table or other partitions.
The download has been tested by an editor here on a PC and a list of features has been compiled; see below. We've also created some screenshots of StartUp Manager Free to illustrate the user interface and show the overall usage and features of this boot optimizing program.
As the name suggests, Startup Manager (aka st-m) is an open source startup manager for the Windows platform. Startup Manager supports:Startup Manager supports startup folders (all users and current user), registry sections and win.ini sections (load and run).
Features of StartUp Manager Free
- Automatic Updates: Stay current with the latest features and improvements through automatic updates.
- Autostart Control: Effortlessly control and organize applications that launch during system boot.
- Background Services: Manage background services to streamline the boot process and improve performance.
- Backup and Restore: Safeguard system stability by creating backups and restoring startup configurations.
- Boot Optimization: Enhance system startup speed by managing and optimizing startup processes.
- Customizable Settings: Tailor settings to individual preferences for a personalized startup experience.
- Delayed Startup: Implement delayed startup for selected applications to improve boot efficiency.
- Detailed Information: Access detailed information about each startup item for comprehensive management.
- Impact Analysis: Assess the impact of each startup item on system resources for informed decisions.
- Quick Removal: Easily disable or remove unwanted startup items with a few clicks.
- Registry Editing: Access and edit startup items directly within the Windows registry for advanced users.
- Resource Monitoring: Monitor system resources in real-time to identify and address potential bottlenecks.
- Startup Profiles: Create and switch between different startup profiles for diverse usage scenarios.
- User-Friendly Design: Designed with simplicity in mind, ensuring accessibility for all users.
- Visual Interface: Intuitive graphical interface for easy navigation and management of startup items.
You can check whether or not an elderly software application is able to take advantage of a dual-core processor by looking in the Performance page of Task Manager. This application is clearly only using one of the two cores, as only one of the CPU Usage windows shows any activity.
Meanwhile, Pace (www.syncrosoft.com) have also released a new version of their License Control Center software compatible with Vista 32/64-bit, so that dongle-protected music applications from Steinberg, Korg, Yellow Tools and the like can be tried out. Also, Propellerheads (www.propellerheads.se) have helpfully tested their product range with Windows Vista and posted the results on their web site, along with an updated Vista installer for Rewire and REX shared libraries that complies with Vista's enhanced security features. Many music software developers are still silent on Vista compatibility, probably because they haven't yet tested thoroughly with the final release version, although I suspect at least a few are simply hoping that their users will do the testing for them.
Also worrying is that both hardware and its drivers will apparently be polled every 30ms to check for such things as voltage fluctuations or signal jitter that might indicate potential hacking of premium content. This additional overhead has already resulted in dropped video frames and audio stuttering on a few review systems, and some industry experts even predict that Microsoft will eventually be able to remotely disable drivers that exhibit any inherent security weakness.
None of these features ought to affect playback of our own original material, and of course the sensible approach is to wait and see what happens in practice, but I know full well that hordes of people will buy Vista as soon as it's released, so let's be careful out there: don't abandon Windows XP until you're sure Vista does what you need in a stable and reliable manner. Above all, remember that until each music developer makes an official announcement about Vista compatibility, you are their guinea pigs.
These work as follows. When you switch on your PC, its CPU takes control and runs the startup procedures contained in the BIOS. The last thing these do is to run the boot routine, which reads the MBR (Master Boot Record) from the first sector of the first physical hard disk. This contains a master boot program and partition table that describes how the drive has been divided up.
If there is only one partition, the master boot program simply loads and boots the operating system installed on that partition. However, if there are several partitions it looks for the current active one and then runs the boot program contained in its first sector. To change your operating system, therefore, you have to make the desired partition 'active', and others containing other operating systems 'hidden'.
Windows XP includes a utility to let you do this, but I've always found third-party 'boot managers' much easier to use, especially since most provide a graphic interface for their initial configuration, rather than making you manually edit text files to hide any OS partitions that you don't want to boot from and give names to those you do.
If the application seems to run OK, there is an easy way to find out if it's taking advantage of the multiple processors. Just launch the Windows Task Manager (using the Ctrl/Alt/Delete key shortcut), click on its Performance page and look at the CPU Usage graphs: with a dual-core or Hyperthreaded processor there will be two windows (one for each processor core), and if the application is using both of them you'll see activity in both graphs. If, on the other hand, only one graph shows any sign of life, your application will only ever use half of the power available from a dual-core or Hyperthreaded processor.
The Acronis OS Selector (www.acronis.com) is part of the Acronis Disk Director Suite that also includes the Partition Expert (similar to Partition Magic), Disk Editor and Recovery Expert, and costs a reasonable $49.99. Terabyte Unlimited's Boot It Next Generation (www.terabyteunlimited.com) also includes a partition manager, plus partition imaging capability, and costs just $34.95. These are both good options but if, like me, you've already got partition-management utilities and just want a boot manager, Star-Tools' Bootstar (www.star-tools.com) costs just $25 and can be recommended for its advanced partition-hiding features. Although I've never personally suffered from a virus attack that crossed from an active Windows partition connected to the Internet to another hidden (inactive) one, Bootstar incorporates 'true' hiding that deletes entries from the MBR partition table, so that they appear as unformatted space. This also means that you'll never suffer from the 'linked clone' problem I discussed in the PC Musician feature in SOS February 2005, when one Windows instance won't boot up without another being visible. It does, however, also mean that while Bootstar is installed you can't use partitioning utilities such as FDisk or Partition Magic, nor imaging utilities such as Norton's Ghost, although you can temporarily deactivate Bootstar to circumvent this.
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