Can you recommend any good multiboot managers ?

[DarKStar]

I have a 500GB drive partitioned - Windows XP Pro SP3 installed on first, VISTA SP1 on 2nd and other partitions are free for additional OS installs.

Recently I have installed Windows XP Pro SP3 on a 3rd partition as I want to dedicate this one strictly for gaming while keeping my 1st for work purposes, I also want to from time to time format and re-install fresh - Now when I came to install Windows XP on the 3rd partition it screwed up the vista bootloader and shows me the windows xp bootloader instead Now of course I knew this would happen as I installed XP then VISTA then another XP - of course I know how to bring back VISTA's boot loader I can do it with my eyes closed - no problem there - BUT I don't want to have to mess around every time I install an OS and I am getting fed-up of the vista bootloader and xp bootloader...... I need something that will automatically in one menu access XP, VISTA, XP2, VISTA2, XP3, etc, whatever with one loader - with the program "capturing" and remembering the boot sectors, etc.

Anybody recommend something good, best program to use ? What do you use ? What would you recommend ?

I have a few in mind but would ike to get your opinions !



Thanks.

[Infiniti]

EasyBCD?

[Airshehan]

Originally Posted by Infiniti

EasyBCD?

Yeah, I agree with Infiniti. EasyBCD

[DarKStar]

Nope this one is no good at all for me - I don't want a VISTA bootloader editor - If I install a 2nd Windows XP *AFTER* VISTA was already installed, the vistabootloader is gone and the traditional XP boot menu appears forcing me to manually restore the vista boot loader.

Also this free software still uses your regular bootloader, I don't want that - I would be willing to pay for something decent

//edit: Has anybody ever used Acronis OS Selector ? lol even says you can install multiple OSes on the SAME partition, who would want to do that, but it looks powerful anyway, easyBCD works on an existing bootloader, I don't want Vista's *** bootloader I want a nice one - I really don't like that "legacy OS" menu selection in vista's loader anyway, I want a bootloader that does this

* Windows XP Pro (Dedicated work)
* Vista (DX10 gaming)
* Windows XP Pro (Dedicated games DX9)
* Windows XP Pro (dedicated hardware/software test)
* Vista (dedicated software/hardware test)

in ONE MENU !

I wonder how good is Acronis OS selector - will go see if there is a trial.

[1Tanker]

Originally Posted by DarKStar

Nope this one is no good at all for me - I don't want a VISTA bootloader editor - If I install a 2nd Windows XP *AFTER* VISTA was already installed, the vistabootloader is gone and the traditional XP boot menu appears forcing me to manually restore the vista boot loader.

Also this free software still uses your regular bootloader, I don't want that - I would be willing to pay for something decent

//edit: Has anybody ever used Acronis OS Selector ? lol even says you can install multiple OSes on the SAME partition, who would want to do that, but it looks powerful anyway, easyBCD works on an existing bootloader, I don't want Vista's *** bootloader I want a nice one - I really don't like that "legacy OS" menu selection in vista's loader anyway, I want a bootloader that does this

* Windows XP Pro (Dedicated work)
* Vista (DX10 gaming)
* Windows XP Pro (Dedicated games DX9)
* Windows XP Pro (dedicated hardware/software test)
* Vista (dedicated software/hardware test)

in ONE MENU !

I wonder how good is Acronis OS selector - will go see if there is a trial.

I used to like GAG...not sure how it works with Vista/W-7, though. I haven't used third-party boot-loaders for a few years...i just use the windows bl, or Linux bl(GRUB/LiLo).

[Chilly]

GRUB or LiLo?

[KeepSix]

I second GRUB

[DarKStar]

I have just finished reading the PDF file for Acronis Disk Director 10, has OS Selector - looks really cool - you can install your OS - take SNAPSHOTS of the bootsectors and store it as a file - then use the OS Selector to point to those bootsectors - can even use multiple OSes on the same partition without conflits - So I think I'll take my chances on this - see if there is a trial and download it - and if it's not too expensive once trial is over I will buy it - I've already had excellent luck with Acronis products so far.

I've checked the others mentioned above and they do not have quite what I am looking for as those will work with your existing bootloader - i want a complete REPLACEMENT of my OS bootloaders.

Thanks for the replies - and if anybody comes up with other programs please let me know.

[JD]

Disk Director hasn't been updated for ages though which is slightly worrying to me. And I kind of doubt the trial will let you install that. All the trial does is let you pretend to move around partitions and what not but you can't apply any changes.

[The MAX]

GRUB ftw.