Skip to main content

boot - How can I make my computer ask me which OS I want to load while booting?


I have 2 hard disk, one with one partition with OS, and the other with 2 partitions, one with OS and the other one whithout.


I want to be able to decide which OS I want to load each time I boot the computer. Of course, I can change BIOS' configuration and modify the boot order, but I don't want to do that each time.


Edit: Both OS are Windows XP



Answer



There are several layers where you can act.


Beware, however, that all these options can make your operating systems unbootable, if done improperly. You are responsible of what you do, please be cautious.


Bios-level boot menu


Modern BIOSes have an option for a "boot menu". Look at the BIOS settings. It can even choose other boot options, like CD, USB or network boot. But it needs to press a key (often ESC, F10 or F12).



  • Pros: will work if you add or remove disks

  • Cons: no personalized labels, usually just brand name of disks


MBR-level boot menu


MBR is Master Boot Record, the first sectors of the hard disk the BIOS boot on.


You can install there an OS selector. It will occupy the first few sectors of the hard disk.



  • Pros: depend of particular program you choose. Independent of any OS installed, so you can install and remove OSes at will (even all of them), the menu will always work.

  • Cons: depend of particular program you choose.


There are various programs to choose. For years I've used extipl. It is minimalist (text-mode menu, no labels just partition numbers) but always worked for me whatever the changes on my disks.


It may not be obvious when you read a description of a bootloader if it is MBR-level or partition-level.


Partition-level boot menu


If you don't install a specific MBR, the default MBR installed by Windows will just give control to the first operating system found. You an customize there.


Windows XP and beyond are customizable using boot.ini. You can configure for a menu with personalized labels.


See this example from Dual booting XP on 2 hard drives - TechSpot Forums. Follow that link for explanation about risks.


[boot loader]
timeout=5
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="XP on primary drive" /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS="XP on backup drive" /fastdetect
C:\CMDCONS\BOOTSECT.DAT="Microsoft Windows Recovery Console" /cmdcons

There are probably some user-friendly tools to this more easily and prevent some dangers of manual editing.



  • Pros: friendly (though text+keyboard-based), configurable timeout.

  • Cons: attached to the OS, so if the OS is reinstalled or removed, the menu is lost.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular Posts

Use Google instead of Bing with Windows 10 search

I want to use Google Chrome and Google search instead of Bing when I search in Windows 10. Google Chrome is launched when I click on web, but it's Bing search. (My default search engine on Google and Edge is http://www.google.com ) I haven't found how to configure that. Someone can help me ? Answer There is no way to change the default in Cortana itself but you can redirect it in Chrome. You said that it opens the results in the Chrome browser but it used Bing search right? There's a Chrome extension now that will redirect Bing to Google, DuckDuckGo, or Yahoo , whichever you prefer. More information on that in the second link.
Post a Comment
Read more

linux - Using an index to make grep faster?

I find myself grepping the same codebase over and over. While it works great, each command takes about 10 seconds, so I am thinking about ways to make it faster. So can grep use some sort of index? I understand an index probably won't help for complicated regexps, but I use mostly very simple patters. Does an indexer exist for this case? EDIT: I know about ctags and the like, but I would like to do full-text search. Answer what about cscope , does this match your shoes? Allows searching code for: all references to a symbol global definitions functions called by a function functions calling a function text string regular expression pattern a file files including a file
Post a Comment
Read more

How do I transmit a single hexadecimal value serial data in PuTTY using an Alt code?

I am trying to sent a specific hexadecimal value across a serial COM port using PuTTY. Specifically, I want to send the hex codes 9C, B6, FC, and 8B. I have looked up the Alt codes for these and they are 156, 182, 252, and 139 respectively. However, whenever I input the Alt codes, a preceding hex value of C2 is sent before 9C, B6, and 8B so the values that are sent are C2 9C, C2 B6, and C2 8B. The value for FC is changed to C3 FC. Why are these values being placed before the hex value and why is FC being changed altogether? To me, it seems like there is a problem internally converting the Alt code to hex. Is there a way to directly input hex values without using Alt codes in PuTTY? Answer What you're seeing is just ordinary text character set conversion. As far as PuTTY is concerned, you are typing (and reading) text , not raw binary data, therefore it has to convert the text to bytes in whatever configured character set before sending it over the wire. In other words, when y...
Post a Comment
Read more

linux - CentOs 7.1 - Install Tomcat 8

I am using this tutorial as a setup reference to getting a Tomcat 8 running on CentOs 7.1 , but after typing: [root@localhost tomcat]# sudo systemctl start tomcat I get the error: Job for tomcat.service failed. See 'systemctl status tomcat.service' and 'journalctl -xn' for details. systemctl status tomcat.service prints the following: [root@localhost tomcat]# systemctl status tomcat.service tomcat.service - Apache Tomcat Web Application Container Loaded: loaded (/etc/systemd/system/tomcat.service; disabled) Active: failed (Result: exit-code) since Wed 2015-11-25 16:54:33 CET; 1min 19s ago Process: 45873 ExecStart=/opt/tomcat/bin/startup.sh (code=exited, status=203/EXEC) Nov 25 16:54:33 localhost.localdomain systemd[1]: Starting Apache Tomcat Web Application Container... Nov 25 16:54:33 localhost.localdomain systemd[1]: tomcat.service: control process exited, code=exited status=203 Nov 25 16:54:33 localhost.localdomain systemd[1]: Failed to start Apache Tomcat Web App...
Post a Comment
Read more