How do I create a multiboot system?



-- Ken from Pittsburg, California

Q: I would like to use multiple operating systems on my computer.
 Is there an easy way to do this without having many
 programming skills? 

-- Ken from Pittsburg, California 

A: So you want to create a multiboot system-- that is, have
 multiple operating systems on one computer. It's surprisingly
 easy to do. As with all system work, you should back up your
 system before you do it.

If you want to create a dual-boot system to try out Windows 95
 without destroying your Windows 3.1 setup, here are some tips
 for safe installation.

	Copy the contents of your DOS directory to a backup
	 directory named backupDOS. It's possible that the
	 Win95 installation will delete some of them.

	Install Win95 into a completely new directory (you may
	 want to rename your Win3.1 directory) and then install
	 Win95 into the Windows directory or into a
	 Win95 directory.

	After the installation, you can copy the contents of the
	 DOS backup into the main DOS directory. From then on,
	 when you start your machine, press F8 when the machine
	 says "Starting Windows 95" to get a menu that allows you
	 to boot your previous version of DOS. It will take you
	 into DOS 6, and you have a Win95/DOS dual boot. 

You can also install multiple operating systems-- from Windows 98
 to Linux-- on your computer. The easiest way is to use a boot
 manager program like System Commander from V Communications.


*****************************************************************

How to Triple-boot Between Windows NT 4.0, Windows 95, and
 Windows 3.1

Windows Sources <http://www.zdnet.com/wsources/>
 
There's even a way for you to dual- or triple-boot between
 Windows NT 4.0, Windows 95, and Windows 3.1. If you're running
 an NT-only machine, select the DOS option from the boot menu,
 then install Win 3.1 first and Win 95 second (install each in
 its own folder).

If both Win 95 and NT 4.0 are already installed on your system,
 you can add Win 3.1 to the mix. You can't, however, create an
 option to boot directly to Win 3.1 or DOS. Instead, boot up NT
 4.0 and select the Microsoft Windows boot option, which loads
 Win 95. When you see the Starting Windows 95 message, press F8.
 This displays the Win 95 boot menu. Choose the last item on the
 menu, which reads "Boot the previous version of MS-DOS." Now you
 can install and subsequently run Win 3.1.


*****************************************************************

How to Dual-Boot Win 95 and DOS

Windows Sources <http://www.zdnet.com/wsources/>
 
If you upgraded to Windows 95 from Windows 3.1, and some of your
 DOS apps won't run, try editing the MSDOS.SYS file to dual-boot
 to the Windows 95 GUI and your old DOS version. To do this, type
 in BootMulti=1 under the [Options] heading. This sets the
 default boot to the Windows 95 GUI; but if you press F4 when the
 Starting Windows 95 message appears, the old DOS version will
 boot instead.

If you'd rather set the old DOS version as the default, type in
 BootWin=0 after [Options]. And to boot to the Windows 95 GUI,
 just press F4.

"TipFinder" 

*****************************************************************

Can I dual-boot Win95 with older DOS versions even if I'm
 running OSR2?

A Windows 95 OSR2 Warning
Written by Neil J. Rubenking PC Magazine Online
 <http://www.pcmag.com/>
 
Readers should be cautious about the suggestion in the March 25,
 1997, User-to-User as to adding dual-boot capability to a Windows
 95 machine: If you have Windows 95 OSR2, you will end up with a
 system that will not boot. When OSR2 was in beta testing, it
 could be installed as an upgrade and could dual-boot with a
 previous operating system; Microsoft removed these features for
 the final release. (No future release of Windows 95 will support
 dual-booting with earlier DOS versions.) The technique described
 in the March 25 column lets you boot to the previous OS but
 hangs when you try to boot to OSR2 again. This information is
 from the excellent FAQ at
 www.users.cts.com/king/s/serwin/osr2.html.

You can still use a third-party boot manager for dual-booting
 (such as the one bundled with PartitionMagic 3.0 for OS/2 or
 Windows NT 4.0).

As an experiment, I tried following the steps given in
 User-to-User on a new PC that came with Win 95 OSR2
 preinstalled. I ended up having to boot an emergency repair disk
 and use SYS C: to restore the boot sector before the PC would
 again boot.

Numerous hazards of this sort are involved with the use of OSR2,
 and I am surprised how little mention of this appears in the
 computer publications. Most users I've spoken to don't even
 realize that a different Win 95 version is on their new machines
 and that the changes can have a critical effect on operation,
 particularly for running older applications.

Gregory Sherar

Minneapolis, Minnesota

PC MAGAZINE: If you're not sure whether your new computer has
 Windows 95's OSR2 (OEM Service Release 2), right-click the My
 Computer icon and select Properties. On the General page of the
 resulting System Properties dialog, you'll see a long version
 number below the words Microsoft Windows 95. The original
 release has the version number 4.00.950, and OSR2 has 4.00.950B.
 This version is available only preinstalled on a new computer;
 it is not sold as an upgrade for existing systems. And as this
 reader notes, it does not support dual-booting to a previous DOS
 version. Unfortunately, this fact wasn't known when the
 User-to-User article mentioned above was written.

When you attempt to enable dual-boot under OSR2 using techniques
 recommended for the original version of Windows 95, you will be
 able to switch to your old DOS, but you won't be able to switch
 back! The computer may hang, or you may get an error message
 about an unsupported DOS version. To solve this problem, boot
 from a disk and use the command SYS C: to restore the system
 files on drive C:.

If you don't have an emergency boot disk, or if you have only a
 disk created for the original version of Windows 95, now is the
 time to create one. Open a DOS box, put a blank disk in your A:
 drive, and issue the command

FORMAT A: /U /S /V:BootDisk

The /S switch causes FORMAT to copy the bare minimum of system
 files to the boot disk. With this disk you can boot into DOS 7.1
 (the version associated with OSR2). But it's wise also to copy
 SYS to the emergency disk, along with other low-level utilities
 such as FORMAT, FDISK, ATTRIB, EDIT, MOVE, XCOPY, and SCANDISK.
 These files are found in the Command folder under the folder
 that contains Windows 95 itself.

The inability to dual-boot to old DOS is a small change in OSR2;
 the big change is FAT32 support. FAT32 is a 32-bit file system
 that avoids the wasted disk space inherent in FAT, the file
 system used by DOS and the original Windows 95. FAT cannot
 support hard disks larger than 2GB; FAT32 handles huge disks
 with ease. The catch? No other operating system can access a
 disk that uses FAT32. Not DOS, not Windows NT, not even the
 previous version of Windows 95.

For a system that uses OSR2, we advise caution in applying tips
 and techniques developed for the original version of Windows 95.
 The full extent of OSR2's differences hasn't been mapped, and
 there may be other pitfalls like the dual-boot problem.

Check out the excellent FAQ at
 www.users.cts.com/king/s/serwin/osr2.html

"PC Tech Online" 
