[plop_pagetop.gif] URL: [1]http://www.plop.at/en/bootmanager.html
PLoP Boot Manager v5.0
page update: 05/Oct/2009
[2]1. Introduction
[3]2. Features
[4]3. Screenshots
[5]4. Download
[6]5. Licence
[7]6. Harddisk installation
[8]7. Running without harddisk installation from Floppy, CD, Windows
boot menu, Syslinux, LILO, GRUB, network
[9]8. The Boot Manager
[10]9. Configure the Boot Manager binary plpbt.bin with plpcfgbt
[11]10. Disable the USB driver under DOS
[12]11. Hidden partition / Cleared partition
[13]12. USB info
[14]13. Windows XP and Windows Vista dual boot with hidden (cleared)
partitions
[15]14. Using the Boot Manager as USB harddisk driver for DOS
[16]15. NOD32 Virus report
[17]16. FAQ's - Frequently asked questions
[18]17. Test team
1. Introduction
_________________________________________________________________
The PLoP Boot Manager is a small program to boot different operating
systems. You can boot the operating systems from harddisk, floppy,
CD/DVD or from USB.
You can start the boot manager from floppy, CD, network and there are
many more ways to start the boot manager.
You can install the boot manager on your harddisk. There is no extra
partition required for the boot manager.
The PLoP Boot Manager is written by Elmar Hanlhofer.
The current version is [19]plpbt-5.0.4.zip.
2. Features
_________________________________________________________________
* CD/DVD boot without BIOS support
* USB boot without BIOS support (UHCI, OHCI and EHCI)
* Floppy boot
* Different profiles for operating systems
* Define up to 16 partitions
* No extra partition for the boot manager
* Hidden boot, maybe you have a rescue system installed and the user
should not see that there is another system installed
* Boot countdown
* Hide partitions
* Password protection for the computer and the boot manager setup
* Backup of partition table data
* Textmode user interface 80x50
* Graphic user interface 640x480, 800x600, 1024x786, 1280x1024
* MBR partition table edit
* Start of the boot manager from harddisk, floppy, USB, CD, DVD
* Starting from Windows boot menu
* Starting from LILO, GRUB, Syslinux, Isolinux, Pxelinux (network)
* The boot manager is freeware
3. Screenshots
_________________________________________________________________
Main menu
[20]mainmenu
zoom
Main menu (textmode)
[21]mainmenu
zoom
Profile partitions
[22]mainmenu
zoom
MBR partition edit
[23]mainmenu
zoom
4. Download
_________________________________________________________________
You can download all files [24]here.
5. Licence
_________________________________________________________________
The PLoP Boot Manager is freeware.
* The Program is free to use for personal and commercial use.
* The Program may not be sold.
* The origin of this software must not be misrepresented; you must
not claim that you wrote the original software. If you use this
software in a product, an acknowledgment in the product
documentation would be appreciated but is not required.
This software is provided 'as-is', without any express or implied
warranty. In no event will the authors be held liable for any damages
arising from the use of this software.
6. Harddisk installation
_________________________________________________________________
There are many ways to install the boot manager to the harddisk. If
you want run the boot manager without harddisk installation then see
[25]Running from Windows boot menu, LILO, GRUB, Syslinux, Floppy, CD.
Warning Linux users: Install LILO or GRUB to the boot sector of your
Linux instead of the Master Boot Record (MBR). The PLoP Boot Manager
is not a Linux loader and cannot start Linux without LILO, GRUB,
Syslinux and similar!
[26]The install program
[27]Install program menu
[28]Harddisk install using Floppy with a disk image
[29]Harddisk install using CD with an ISO file
[30]Harddisk install using DOS
[31]Harddisk install using Windows boot menu (2K, XP and VISTA)
[32]Harddisk install using Syslinux, Isolinux, Pxelinux (Network)
[33]Harddisk install using LILO
[34]Harddisk install using GRUB
The install program
_________________________________________________________________
There are 2 versions of the install program. Basically both versions
do the same. The only difference is that plpinst.com creates a backup
file plpback.bin to restore harddisk sectors for a complete boot
manager uninstall. The second version plpinstc.com skips the backup
part. You have to use the second version for installation from write
protected media like CD's or if you install from network or any other
boot manager.
The install programs are installing the boot manager always on the
first harddisk of your computer.
Install program menu
_________________________________________________________________
1. Full boot manager install
With this option you install the boot manager to your harddisk. If
you have an installed operating system, then the install program
creates a profile for you to boot this operating system.
With the installation from floppy, the install program makes a
backup of the sectors where the boot manager will be installed. The
install program writes the backup to the floppy disk. With this
backup its possible to remove the boot manager completely from your
harddisk. If you use the CD installation, then it's not possible to
restore the sectors. In this case the uninstall routine creates a
new MBR to boot the current operating system. The partition table
data won't be changed.
2. Write mbr loader only
A small program (the loader) is required in the MBR to start the
boot manager. Operating systems like Windows XP are writing during
the installation their own small program into the MBR. If you
install Windows XP after the boot manager, then Windows XP will
start instead of the boot manager, because the loader is
overwritten with the program from Windows XP. To setup that the
boot manager starts before Windows XP you have to use Write mbr
loader only.
3. Boot Manager update
With this, you can update the boot manager. But only updates with
boot manager v5 are working.
4. Complete uninstall
Warning, this option is only available with the installation from
floppy.
The install program takes the backup that was saved on the floppy
disk and writes it back to the harddisk.
Warning, if you changed anything with the partition table, then do
not use this option!
5. Short uninstall
With this option, the program writes a new MBR to start the current
operating system. The partition table will be unchanged.
6. Set Boot Manager screen to textmode
Configures the Boot Manager to start in textmode.
7. Boot Manager hotkeys
See [35]Hotkeys.
8. Reboot
The computer will be restarted.
Harddisk install using Floppy with a disk image
_________________________________________________________________
A floppy disk image is a file that contains every sector of the floppy
disk. You cannot copy the image file on a floppy disk like a common
file. It's required to use a special program that writes sector per
sector of the image file to the floppy disk sectors. There are many
programs available to do this.
Download the current boot manager [36]plpbt-5.0.4.zip. Extract it to
get the floppy disk image. You find the disk image in the install
directory. The name of the file is plpbtin.img
DOS: You can use [37]diskimg.com with diskimg -d a -w plpbtin.img
Windows: Write the disk image with the program [38]rawwritewin to the
floppy disk
Linux: dd if=plpbtin.img of=/dev/fd0
Harddisk install using CD with an ISO file
_________________________________________________________________
Download the current boot manager [39]plpbt-5.0.4.zip. Extract it to
get the iso file. You find the iso file in the install directory. The
name of the file is plpbtin.iso
Notice: The CD installer makes no backup for a complete uninstall. See
[40]The install program.
Windows:
You can use [41]Nero, or the free program [42]CDBurnerXP, or any
other program that can burn ISO images.
Use the option like burn ISO on CD or burn ISO Image. Then choose
the boot manager ISO and burn it.
Linux:
[43]cdrecord is the linux program to burn ISO images to a CD.
Burn the ISO with cdrecord: cdrecord -v dev=
image>
Example:
If you access your CD burner with /dev/hdd
cdrecord -v dev=/dev/hdd plpbtin.iso
Harddisk install using DOS
_________________________________________________________________
Download the current boot manager [44]plpbt-5.0.4.zip. Extract it to
get the install program. In the install directory there are 2 install
programs (plpinst.com and plpinstc.com) for using under DOS.
plpinst.com creates a backup file plpback.bin for a complete boot
manager uninstall. plpinstc.bin makes no backup. Use plpinstc.com for
write protected media like CD's.
Harddisk install using the Windows boot menu (2K, XP and VISTA)
_________________________________________________________________
Download the file [45]plpgenbtldr-0.7.zip and extract it.
* Create a directory like c:\plop. You can use any directory you
want.
* Copy plpinstc.com and plpgenbtldr.exe to your c:\plop directory.
* Rename plpinstc.com to plpbt.bin.
* As administrator/with administrator rights open a command shell
and change to c:\plop
* Then start plpgenbtldr
This program searches for the file plpbt.bin In the current
directory.
plpgenbtldr generates the file plpbtldr.bin.
* Adding to the boot menu. Windows 2K and XP is different to Windows
VISTA
+ Windows 2K, XP
add the line below to your c:\boot.ini
c:\plop\plpbtldr.bin="Install PLoP Boot Manager"
+ Windows VISTA
open notepad as administrator and create a file c:\boot.ini
add those lines
[boot loader]
[operating systems]
c:\plop\plpbtldr.bin="Install PLoP Boot Manager"
Thanks to tri_zet for this info
Now you should be able to install the PLoP Boot Manager from your
Windows boot menu to your harddisk.
Problems/Errors
plpbt.bin must not be fragmeted! Use [46]contig to take care, that
plpbt.bin is not fragmented.
Harddisk install using Syslinux, Isolinux, Pxelinux (Network)
_________________________________________________________________
Download the current boot manager [47]plpbt-5.0.4.zip. Extract it to
get the boot manager install program. You find the install program
plpinstc in the install directory.
Add plpinstc.com to the config file
* for Syslinux it's syslinux.cfg
* for Isolinux it's isolinux.cfg
* for Extlinux it's extlinux.conf
* for Pxelinux it's pxelinux.cfg/default
Add the following lines to the config file
label plpinst
linux plpinstc.com
Copy plpinstc to the same directory where the config file is.
You start the install program when you enter plpinst at the Syslinux
command prompt.
Harddisk install using LILO
_________________________________________________________________
Download the current boot manager [48]plpbt-5.0.4.zip. Extract it to
get the boot manager install program. You find the install program
plpinstc.com in the install directory.
Copy plpinstc.com to /boot.
Add to your /etc/lilo.conf the following
image=/boot/plpinstc.com
label=plop-install
Run lilo to update lilo.
Harddisk install using GRUB / grub4dos
_________________________________________________________________
Download the current boot manager [49]plpbt-5.0.4.zip. Extract it to
get the boot manager install program. You find the install program
plpinstc.com in the install directory.
Copy plpinstc.com to /boot.
You have to choose the correct root settings in menu.lst for your
system.
The following is an example
title PLoP Boot Manager Install
root (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/plpinstc.com
When you reboot, you should be able to choose the install program from
your grub menu.
7. Running without harddisk installation from Floppy, CD, Windows boot menu,
Syslinux, LILO, GRUB, network
_________________________________________________________________
You can use the PLoP Boot Manager without harddisk installation with
the boot manager binary file plpbt.bin. It's possible to configure the
binary with [50]plpcfgbt.
Warning: If you start the Boot Manager in the following ways, then the
Boot Manager DOES NOT save the changes you made in the
profile/partitions menu! Use this Boot Manager features only when you
installed the Boot Manager with the install program. See [51]Harddisk
installation.
[52]Run from Floppy with a disk image
[53]Run from CD with an ISO file
[54]Run from Windows boot menu (2K, XP and VISTA)
[55]Run from Syslinux, Isolinux, Pxelinux (Network)
[56]Run from LILO
[57]Run from GRUB
Run from Floppy with a disk image
A floppy disk image is a file that contains every sector of the floppy
disk. You cannot copy the image file on a floppy disk like a common
file. It's required to use a special program that writes sector per
sector of the image file to the floppy disk sectors. There are many
programs available to do this.
Download the current boot manager [58]plpbt-5.0.4.zip. Extract it to
get the floppy disk image plpbt.img.
DOS: You can use [59]diskimg.com with diskimg -d a -w plpbt.img
Windows: Write the disk image with the program [60]rawwritewin to the
floppy disk
Linux: dd if=plpbt.img of=/dev/fd0
You can configure the plpbt.bin on the floppy with [61]plpcfgbt.
Run from CD with an ISO file
_________________________________________________________________
Download the current boot manager [62]plpbt-5.0.4.zip. Extract it to
get the iso file plpbt.iso.
Windows:
You can use [63]Nero, or the free program [64]CDBurnerXP, or any
other program that can burn ISO images.
Use the option like burn ISO on CD or burn ISO Image. Then choose
the boot manager ISO and burn it.
Linux:
[65]cdrecord is the linux program to burn ISO images to a CD.
Burn the ISO with cdrecord: cdrecord -v dev=
image>
Example:
If you access your CD burner with /dev/hdd
cdrecord -v dev=/dev/hdd plpbt.iso
Run from the Windows boot menu (2K, XP and VISTA)
_________________________________________________________________
Download the file [66]plpgenbtldr-0.7.zip and extract it.
* Create a directory like c:\plop. You can use any directory you
want.
* Copy plpbt.bin and plpgenbtldr.exe to your c:\plop directory.
* As administrator/with administrator rights open a command shell
and change to c:\plop
* Then start plpgenbtldr
This program searches for the file plpbt.bin in the currrent
directory.
plpgenbtldr generates the file plpbtldr.bin.
* Adding to the boot menu. Windows 2K and XP is different to Windows
VISTA
+ Windows 2K, XP
add the line below to your c:\boot.ini
c:\plop\plpbtldr.bin="PLoP Boot Manager"
+ Windows VISTA
open notepad as administrator and create a file c:\boot.ini
add those lines
[boot loader]
[operating systems]
c:\plop\plpbtldr.bin="PLoP Boot Manager"
Thanks to tri_zet for this info
Now you should be able to start the PLoP Boot Manager from your
Windows boot menu.
You can configure the file plpbt.bin with [67]plpcfgbt.
Problems/Errors
plpbt.bin must not be fragmeted! Use [68]contig to take care, that
plpbt.bin is not fragmented.
Run from Syslinux, Isolinux, Pxelinux (Network)
_________________________________________________________________
Download the current boot manager [69]plpbt-5.0.4.zip. Extract it to
get the boot manager binary program plpbt.bin.
Add plpbt to the config file
* for Syslinux it's syslinux.cfg
* for Isolinux it's isolinux.cfg
* for Extlinux it's extlinux.conf
* for Pxelinux it's pxelinux.cfg/default
Add the following lines to your config file
label plp
linux plpbt.bin
Copy plpbt.bin to the same directory where the config file is.
You start the boot manager when you enter plp at the Syslinux command
prompt.
You can configure the file plpbt.bin with [70]plpcfgbt.
Run from LILO
_________________________________________________________________
Download the current boot manager [71]plpbt-5.0.4.zip. Extract it to
get the boot manager binary program plpbt.bin.
Copy the plpbt.bin file to /boot.
Add to your /etc/lilo.conf the following
image=/boot/plpbt.bin
label=PLoP
Run lilo to update lilo.
You can configure the file plpbt.bin with [72]plpcfgbt.
Run from GRUB / grub4dos
_________________________________________________________________
Download the current boot manager [73]plpbt-5.0.4.zip. Extract it to
get the boot manager binary program plpbt.bin.
Copy the plpbt.bin file to /boot.
You have to choose the correct root settings in menu.lst for your
system.
The following is an example
title PLoP Boot Manager
root (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/plpbt.bin
When you reboot, you should be able to start the boot manager from
your grub menu.
You can configure the file plpbt.bin with [74]plpcfgbt.
8. The Boot Manager
_________________________________________________________________
1. Hotkeys - Global keys
Cursor up/down Move the bar
Enter Choose selection
ESC Close window
CTRL - ESC Switch to textmode
CTRL - PAGE UP Switch to higher screen resolution
CTRL - PAGE DOWN Switch to lower screen resolution
z Enable/Disable window zoom animation
2. Main menu
In the main menu you see all visible profiles to boot an operating
system. You can start an operating system from floppy, cd/dvd or
usb. You can go to the setup of the boot manager, partitions and
profiles. If your bios supports APM, you can shutdown your
computer.
Special additional keys for USB boot:
* press SHIFT to force USB 1.1
* press CTRL to wait for a keypress before starting the operating
system. You have here the option to press "n" (next) and continue
the search for mass storage devices to boot from another usb
device.
2.1. Main menu hotkeys
1-9 Boot profile
q Quick boot, open a list of all possible hardcoded partitions to
boot
w Write MBR with the profile settings, but do not boot
f Boot floppy
c Boot CD/DVD
u Boot USB
press SHIFT to force USB 1.1
press CTRL to wait for a keypress before starting the operating
system. You have here the option to press "n" (next) and continue the
search for mass storage devices to boot from another usb device
3. Setup
3.1. Partitions
You can manage your partitions here. The install program creates an
entry for all primary partitions it finds. The names are from HDA1
up to HDD4. HD means harddisk. HDA stands for harddisk A and is the
first harddisk. The numbers 1-4 are the numbers of the primary
partitions.
Notice for linux users: HDA has nothing to do with the devices in
linux like /dev/hda.
Edit label
You can change the label for the partition. This label is used in
the boot manager. The maximum length is 16 chars.
Select Device
Here, you choose the harddisk of the partition.
HDA = Harddisk 1
HDB = Harddisk 2
HDC = Harddisk 3
HDD = Harddisk 4
Partition ID
There are 2 ways to set the ID of a partition.
1. Enter partition ID
You can enter the hexadecimal value for the partition.
2. Select ID from list
This list has the mostly used partition ID's. If the requested ID
is not in the list, then use Enter partition ID.
View/Edit/Copy data
This is used to change the values of partitions in the MBR.
BP means boot manager partition. This values are stored in the boot
manager.
P1-P4 this are the current values of the primary partitions in the
MBR.
You can edit the hexadecimal values in the partition table. You can
select a row with s (select) and paste the values to the row where
the cursor is with p. With this function, you can import partition
values to the boot manager or change values in the MBR. This can be
very useful in emergency cases.
Clear partition data
Clearing the data means clearing of the partition data in the boot
manager. The data on the partition itself is unchanged.
Reset changes
Use it if you changed something and you want to restore the whole
values of the partition in the boot manager. This is possible until
you close the partition edit window.
3.2. Profiles
Profiles are used to start different operating systems from
different harddisks and partitions. It's also possible to detect
changes in the MBR made by other software and import or forget the
changes.
If you have an operating system installed and you install the boot
manager, the installer creates a profile to boot the current
operating system.
Edit label
You can edit the label of the profile. This label is shown in the
main menu. It's useful to use a label to see what operating system
is going to boot. The maximum length is 16 chars.
Show in main menu
With this option you select if the profile is shown in the main
menu or not. Only visible profiles can be booted. It also has
effects on the default profile in the boot manager setup.
Linked partitions
You select from which harddisk, partition and bios device number
you want to boot with this profile. You can also select what
partitions or cleared partitions should be used for the MBR.
Configure partition entries
There are 3 states for a partition entry
1. a selected partition
Press enter to choose a partition from a list with all partition of
this harddisk available from Partitions.
If another software change this entry in the MBR, the boot manager
detects this change at the next startup. You can choose if you want
to import the new values or forget them.
2. don't touch
The partition entry in the MBR will not be changed from the boot
manager. That is the default setting.
If a software changes this entry in the MBR the boot manager cannot
detect this change.
3. cleared
The boot manager set's this entry to 0 in the MBR. An operating
system cannot detect that there is/was a partition.
WARNING: if the boot manager has not stored the values of the
partition in "Partitions" then you lose the partition values in the
MBR and you cannot access the data on the partition. It's possible
to restore those values, but its better, easier and safe to store
the values in Partitions.
Partition programs will say this is unallocated space! Do not
partition this space! You can lose data if you do it wrong.
Linked partitions - hotkeys
b set boot partition. You select, what partition you want to boot
with this profile. The boot manager set a bios drive number
automatically. It's possible to change it with another key.
c clear partition. You set this entry to "cleared" and the boot
manager cleares this entry in the MBR when you boot this profile.
d don't touch. You set the entry to don't touch and the boot
manager does not change this entry when you boot this profile.
e edit boot flag. The boot flag has the bios drive number used by
the boot sector routine. In some cases it's required to change this
value.
r remove boot flag. Here, you remove the boot flag from the
profile.
Clear profile data
You can clear the profile data in the boot manager. The data in
Partitions are not changed.
Reset changes
Use it if you changed something and want to restore the whole
values of the profile in the boot manager. This is possible until
you close the profile edit window.
3.3. Boot manager
Startmode
The boot manager has two modes to start. With the user interface
menu and hidden.
For the hidden mode, you have to set the bootcounter and you have
to select a default profile. The default profile boots after the
countdown. The user can not see that there is a boot manager in the
background. If you want to go into the boot manager, then press
ESC.
Boot countdown
You can enable and disable the countdown.
If the bootcounter is enabled, the boot manager waits the given
time and starts after the countdown the last used profile or the
default profile, depending on your settings.
Edit boot countdown
Choose between 1 and 99 seconds.
Select at start
At start, the boot manager set the bar to the selected option. This
works for the hidden start mode too.
You have the following options
1. Last booted profile
2. Default profile
3. Floppy
4. CDROM
5. USB
Default profile
You can select the default profile from a list of all visible
profiles.
Show floppy boot
Show the floppy boot option in the main menu.
Show cdrom boot
Show the cdrom boot option in the main menu.
Show usb boot
Show the USB boot option in the main menu.
Force USB 1.1
Use USB 1.1 controller even if there is a USB 2.0 controller.
Mode 1: Ignore the EHCI Controller
Mode 2: Setup EHCI Controller and set all ports to the companion
host. Some controllers need this option to force usb 1.1.
Use Mass Stor Dev
Use Mass Storage Device. Boot the X mass storage device that was
found. Other devices are ignored.
Textmode after boot
You can select the textmode during the startup of an operating
system. Choose between "don't change" or 80x50.
Graphicmode
Select the screen resolution in the boot manager. Choose between
textmode 80x50 and graphicmode 640x480, 800x600, 1024x768,
1280x1024.
Zoom animation
Enable and disable the window animation.
Font
Select the boot manager font or the bios font.
Starfield
Enable and disable the starfield animation.
Masterpassword
Setup the master password. Disable the boot manager password
protection with an empty password.
Setuppassword
Setup the setup password. Disable the boot manager setup password
protection with an empty password.
9. Configure the Boot Manager binary plpbt.bin with plpcfgbt
_________________________________________________________________
[75]plpcfgbt-0.5.zip is a tool to configure the binary version
plpbt.bin of the boot manager. This program is available for Windows
and Linux. You start the program from a command shell. If you run the
program without parameters then you will see the help information.
Usage: plpcfgbt [OPTIONS] file
Options:
========
PARAM SET VALUES
vm video mode text, 640x480, 800x600, 1024x768, 1280x1024
stm start mode menu or hidden, hidden requires cnt=on and dbt not off
cnt countdown on or off
cntval countdown value in seconds between 1 and 99
dbt default boot off, profile, floppy, cdrom, usb
prf profile value between 1 and 16
stf starfield on or off
zan zoom animation on or off
fnt font bt or bios
usb1 force usb 1.1 on or off
int19h int19h/os boot do not boot the os and use int19h, on or off
Infos about int19h see [76]here.
Examples
* Print current settings
plpcfgbt plpbt.bin
* Configure hidden boot and boot the usb device
plpcfgbt stm=hidden cnt=on cntval=1 dbt=usb plpbt.bin
10. Disable the USB driver under DOS
_________________________________________________________________
If you run DOS and the PLoP USB driver is loaded, then you can disable
the USB driver with [77]plpdisd-0.1.zip. When you disable the driver,
then you are able to load other DOS usb drivers.
You can run plpdisd from config.sys
DEVICE=\plpdisd.exe
Its also possible to run it from the autoexec.bat or command line.
11. Hidden partition / Cleared partition
_________________________________________________________________
There is a important difference between "hidden" and "cleared"
partitions.
* Hidden Partition: Operatings systems, backup soulutions and so on
can see them but they ignore them. I would say, this is a pseudo
hidden partition.
* Cleared Partition: No program (except the boot manager) knows that
there is/was a partition defined in the MBR. This is really
hidden. It looks like unallocated space for every program. That
means no other program can access the data on that partition (with
some work and searching the harddisk there are still ways to
access the data). There is a risk, if you repartition the
harddisk, you will overwrite your invisible partition and all data
on it if you do it wrong.
The partition should be visible in one profile and hidden (and not cleared)
in another profile
Lets say you want to have the second partition on HDA (HDA2) on one
profile visible and on another hidden (and not cleared).
* Use an empty entry in partitions. Give it the label "hidden hda2".
* Select the device HDA.
* Go to "VIEW/EDIT/COPY DATA".
* Move the cursor to P2 and press "s". Now move up to "BP" and press
"p".
* Press ESC and go to "Partition ID". Choose "Select from list".
Choose the hidden version of your partition.
* Press ESC and save your changes.
* Go to "profiles".
Now you can assign the "visible" version of your partition to one
profile and the "hidden" to another profile.
12. USB info
_________________________________________________________________
* Only USB mass storage devices are supported. The USB support
allows to boot from usb harddisk, usb sticks and usb cardreaders.
USB floppys and CD/DVD drives are not working.
* There is no USB HUB implementation. It's required to connect your
USB device directly to the USB port of your computer.
* The USB implementation works on many computers. If it does not
work on yours, please contact me. Maybe we can fix it.
Current status see [78]Bootmanager Status.
13. Windows XP and Windows Vista dual boot with hidden (cleared) partitions
_________________________________________________________________
The goal is to install Windows XP on the first partition and Windows
Vista on the second partition. I want that no windows has access to
the partition of the other Windows. There should be a third partition
that will be used as shared partition. Both Windows have access to
this partition.
There are many ways to do this. I will describe one way.
It works only with the [79]Harddisk installation!
What should be the result
* Windows XP on partition 1
* Windows Vista on partition 2
* A shared partition for both Windows as partition 3
* No Windows has access to the other Windows partition
* Realized with the PLoP Boot Manager (harddisk installation)
Basic conditions
* The harddisk is not partitioned
* No boot manager is installed
The description
Install Windows XP
At first install Windows XP. Create with the Windows installer a
partition with the size you want. I use a 10GB partition. Install
Windows XP on this partition.
Setup Partitions
When you installed your Windows, go to the Disk Management and
create a second primary partition for Vista and a third primary
partition for the shared data.
Install the boot manager
Now comes the boot manager part. Boot from the boot manager install
floppy or CD. Install the boot manager to the harddisk and then
reboot.
Configure the Windows XP profile
The boot manager created a profile called "installed os" to boot
Windows XP. It also imported the 3 primary partitions. The names
are HDA1, HDA2 and HDA3.
Now go to setup and profiles. Select installed os. Give it the new
label windows xp.
Select linked partitions. Press enter at the first slot of HDA and
select HDA1. At the second slot press c to set it to cleared. You
can leave the third slot as don't touch or select HDA3. See the
difference at [80]configure partition entries.
Configure the Windows Vista profile
Now leave the configuration of Windows XP and go to an empty
profile in Profiles. Give it the label windows vista. Set show in
main menu to yes. Now select linked partitions. Press at the first
slot c to set it to cleared. At the second slot press b to set the
boot flag. Press enter and select HDA2. On the third slot choose
the same as for windows xp (don't touch or HDA3).
Install Window Vista
Go back to the main menu. Now you see windows xp and windows vista.
Move to windows vista and press Enter. This writes the profile
settings to the harddisk. The booting will fail, because Vista is
not installed. Now boot the Windows Vista install DVD. In the
installer you should see at the partitions screen at first an
unallocated space (there is xp installed) and 2 primary partitions.
Select the first primary partition to install Windows Vista. when
the Windows Vista installation has been finished, its possible,
that Vista is booting immediately and the PLoP Boot Manager does
not come. In this case use Write mbr loader only from the PLoP Boot
Manager install floppy or CD.
Now you should have two bootable Windows on your harddisk and they
don't know from each other. You can share data between both with the
shared partition.
Windows Vista on the second harddisk
It's similar to the previous description, if you want to install
Windows XP on the first harddisk and Windows Vista on the second
harddisk. The second harddisk is HDB in the boot manager. So install
Windows Vista to the first partition of the second harddisk. Set in
the vista profile/linked partitions the first slot of HDB to HDB1 and
press b. The boot manager will set the boot flag to 81h. This should
be ok for your installation.
14. Using the Boot Manager as USB harddisk driver for DOS
_________________________________________________________________
I know this is very special. Maybe its useful for some people. You
have to configure the plpbt.bin with [81]plpcfgbt to use int19h
instead of booting the operating system.
plpcfgbt int19h=on plpbt.bin
Now you have to start plpbt.bin with a boot manager like grub,
syslinux or what ever during boot time (supported boot managers see
[82]here). Choose USB and the boot manager will install the usb driver
and go back to your boot manager. If you start DOS you will have
access to your usb drive as last harddisk. But remember, the usbdrive
is only as "read only" device available.
If it works for you then use plpcfgbt int19h=on stm=hidden cnt=on
cntval=1 dbt=usb plpbt.bin
To disable the usb driver from DOS see [83]plpdisd.
15. NOD32 Virus report
_________________________________________________________________
This problem was fixed but with the new NOD32 versions its back. Its a
false report.
16. FAQ's - Frequently asked questions
_________________________________________________________________
1. [84]I booted DOS from USB and I cannot write on the drive
2. [85]Are there plans to add write support in the future
3. [86]The boot manager detect's my usb cdrom, but booting hangs
4. [87]My USB keyboard does not work when I booted from USB
5. [88]Can I use my PCMCIA Card to boot from USB
6. [89]I want to install the boot manager from my USB device, but I
cannot choose my internal harddisk
7. [90]I use plpbt.bin and it forgets my settings
8. [91]I can not boot from my SATA CD/DVD drive
1. I booted DOS from USB and I cannot write on the drive
My drivers have no write routines implemented. You want to know
why? My intention was to have USB drivers for UHCI, OHCI and EHCI
controllers in my tiny boot manager. The space to install the boot
manager without the need of a partition is very limited. So there
was no space left for write routines.
2. Are there plans to add write support in the future
Its in my mind, but there are no fix plans.
3. The boot manager detect's my usb cdrom, but booting hangs
USB CD/DVD drives are not supported.
4. My USB keyboard does not work when I booted from USB
USB keyboards are not supported by my drivers. When you boot Linux
or Windows, then your keyboard will be available when those
operating systems are taking control over the USB hardware.
5. Can I use my PCMCIA Card to boot from USB
No, PCMCIA is not supported.
6. I want to install the boot manager from my USB device, but I
cannot choose my internal harddisk
The problem with installing on the internal (in this case the
second) harddisk with the installer is, that the installer imports
the partitions from the usb device and thinks this are the
partitions of the first harddisk. When the boot manager boot's
later from the real harddisk then the imported partitions are not
correct. You see the problem? Sure it would be possible to add an
option to handle this situation, but there are so many other ways
to install the boot manager, that there are no plans to add this
feature to the installer (except, many people request this
feature).
7. I use plpbt.bin and it forgets my settings
You have to configure plpbt.bin with plpcfgbt. All changes you
make within the boot manager menu are only valid until you reboot.
The changes are not saved.
8. I can not boot from my SATA CD/DVD drive
SATA CD/DVD drives are not supported. Only IDE CD/DVD drives are
working.
17. Test team
_________________________________________________________________
Special thanks goes to
* Florian "Bazong" G.
* Diego Rodriguez
* Rodrigo Cassali
* Giano
* George A. Martinez
* Koen van Beek
* Pete K
* Raymond
* Michael Reichenbach
* Julius Schwartzenberg
Thanks for you patience and trying again and again a lot of test
programs.
References
1. http://www.plop.at/en/bootmanager.html
2. http://www.plop.at/print/bootmanager_en.html#intro
3. http://www.plop.at/print/bootmanager_en.html#features
4. http://www.plop.at/print/bootmanager_en.html#screenshots
5. http://www.plop.at/print/bootmanager_en.html#download
6. http://www.plop.at/print/bootmanager_en.html#licence
7. http://www.plop.at/print/bootmanager_en.html#installhd
8. http://www.plop.at/print/bootmanager_en.html#noinstall
9. http://www.plop.at/print/bootmanager_en.html#bootmanager
10. http://www.plop.at/print/bootmanager_en.html#plpcfgbt
11. http://www.plop.at/print/bootmanager_en.html#plpdisd
12. http://www.plop.at/print/bootmanager_en.html#hid
13. http://www.plop.at/print/bootmanager_en.html#usbinfo
14. http://www.plop.at/print/bootmanager_en.html#ex1
15. http://www.plop.at/print/bootmanager_en.html#drv
16. http://www.plop.at/print/bootmanager_en.html#nod32
17. http://www.plop.at/print/bootmanager_en.html#faq
18. http://www.plop.at/print/bootmanager_en.html#testteam
19. http://download.plop.at/files/bootmngr/plpbt-5.0.4.zip
20. http://www.plop.at/slide16en01.html
21. http://www.plop.at/slide16en02.html
22. http://www.plop.at/slide16en03.html
23. http://www.plop.at/slide16en04.html
24. http://www.plop.at/en/bootmanagerdl.html
25. http://www.plop.at/print/bootmanager_en.html#noinstall
26. http://www.plop.at/print/bootmanager_en.html#installer
27. http://www.plop.at/print/bootmanager_en.html#instop
28. http://www.plop.at/print/bootmanager_en.html#flpinst
29. http://www.plop.at/print/bootmanager_en.html#cdinst
30. http://www.plop.at/print/bootmanager_en.html#dosinst
31. http://www.plop.at/print/bootmanager_en.html#wininst
32. http://www.plop.at/print/bootmanager_en.html#syslinuxinst
33. http://www.plop.at/print/bootmanager_en.html#liloinst
34. http://www.plop.at/print/bootmanager_en.html#grubinst
35. http://www.plop.at/print/bootmanager_en.html#hotkeys
36. http://download.plop.at/files/bootmngr/plpbt-5.0.4.zip
37. http://download.plop.at/files/DISKIMG.COM
38. http://download.plop.at/files/rawwritewin.exe
39. http://download.plop.at/files/bootmngr/plpbt-5.0.4.zip
40. http://www.plop.at/print/bootmanager_en.html#installer
41. http://www.nero.com/
42. http://www.cdburnerxp.se/
43. http://cdrecord.berlios.de/old/private/cdrecord.html
44. http://download.plop.at/files/bootmngr/plpbt-5.0.4.zip
45. http://download.plop.at/files/bootmngr/plpgenbtldr-0.7.zip
46. http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb897428.aspx
47. http://download.plop.at/files/bootmngr/plpbt-5.0.4.zip
48. http://download.plop.at/files/bootmngr/plpbt-5.0.4.zip
49. http://download.plop.at/files/bootmngr/plpbt-5.0.4.zip
50. http://www.plop.at/print/bootmanager_en.html#plpcfgbt
51. http://www.plop.at/print/bootmanager_en.html#installhd
52. http://www.plop.at/print/bootmanager_en.html#runflp
53. http://www.plop.at/print/bootmanager_en.html#runcd
54. http://www.plop.at/print/bootmanager_en.html#runwin
55. http://www.plop.at/print/bootmanager_en.html#runsyslinux
56. http://www.plop.at/print/bootmanager_en.html#runlilo
57. http://www.plop.at/print/bootmanager_en.html#rungrub
58. http://download.plop.at/files/bootmngr/plpbt-5.0.4.zip
59. http://download.plop.at/files/DISKIMG.COM
60. http://download.plop.at/files/rawwritewin.exe
61. http://www.plop.at/print/bootmanager_en.html#plpcfgbt
62. http://download.plop.at/files/bootmngr/plpbt-5.0.4.zip
63. http://www.nero.com/
64. http://www.cdburnerxp.se/
65. http://cdrecord.berlios.de/old/private/cdrecord.html
66. http://download.plop.at/files/bootmngr/plpgenbtldr-0.7.zip
67. http://www.plop.at/print/bootmanager_en.html#plpcfgbt
68. http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb897428.aspx
69. http://download.plop.at/files/bootmngr/plpbt-5.0.4.zip
70. http://www.plop.at/print/bootmanager_en.html#plpcfgbt
71. http://download.plop.at/files/bootmngr/plpbt-5.0.4.zip
72. http://www.plop.at/print/bootmanager_en.html#plpcfgbt
73. http://download.plop.at/files/bootmngr/plpbt-5.0.4.zip
74. http://www.plop.at/print/bootmanager_en.html#plpcfgbt
75. http://download.plop.at/files/bootmngr/plpcfgbt-0.5.zip
76. http://www.plop.at/print/bootmanager_en.html#drv
77. http://download.plop.at/files/bootmngr/plpdisd-0.1.zip
78. http://www.plop.at/en/bootmngrusblog.html
79. http://www.plop.at/print/bootmanager_en.html#installhd
80. http://www.plop.at/print/bootmanager_en.html#partentries
81. http://www.plop.at/print/bootmanager_en.html#plpcfgbt
82. http://www.plop.at/print/bootmanager_en.html#runwin
83. http://www.plop.at/print/bootmanager_en.html#plpdisd
84. http://www.plop.at/print/bootmanager_en.html#faq0
85. http://www.plop.at/print/bootmanager_en.html#faq1
86. http://www.plop.at/print/bootmanager_en.html#faq2
87. http://www.plop.at/print/bootmanager_en.html#faq3
88. http://www.plop.at/print/bootmanager_en.html#faq4
89. http://www.plop.at/print/bootmanager_en.html#faq5
90. http://www.plop.at/print/bootmanager_en.html#faq6
91. http://www.plop.at/print/bootmanager_en.html#faq7
