Special Edition Using Microsoft Windows XP Professional (3rd Edition)

Even with all the advice in this chapter, managing more than one operating system on the same machine at the same time can be a daunting task. Fortunately, some special tools can save you at your darkest moments. (You never expected to find purple prose in a computer book, did you?)

The Windows XP multiboot loader is capable of supporting a large number of multiboot situationsprobably more than will fit on the screen in a list. Still, editing the BOOT.INI file is an intimidating process, and you must remember quirky rules about the order of operating system installation.

If you're interested in loading up a killer system with three or more operating systems, we recommend using a program designed specifically for the job. I'll describe a couple of them for your consideration.

Once again, the PowerQuest people come to the rescue with their offering, called BootMagic, which is bundled with PartitionMagic and is now owned by Symantec. This program uses a graphical interface to help you set up and run multiple operating systems in the same machine, with a minimum of compatibility problems. You can run the setup interface from DOS, Windows 9x, or Windows NT/2000/XP. The program supports Windows XP/2000, Windows 95/98, Windows NT 4.0 (server and workstation), Windows NT 3.51 (server and workstation), Windows 3.x (must be installed with DOS 5 or later), MS-DOS 5.0 or later, PC-DOS 6.1 or later, Open DOS, OS/2 3.0 or later, Linux, BeOS, and most other versions of DOS and PC-compatible OSes. Check their site at www.symantec.com/partitionmagic for more info. (The Symantec purchase is worrisome, as their customer support is at the abysmal end of the spectrum, but we'll see how the product fares.)

Another similar program is System Commander, from V Communications. This product has received rave reviews from some magazines. System Commander enables you to install and run any combination of PC-compatible operating systems, including Windows 95/98, Windows 3.x, Windows NT, DOS, OS/2, and all of the PC-compatible Unixes including Linux. Like BootMagic, this program also has a graphical user interface. In addition, it does partition management such as resizing, creation, and deletion. It's available from V Communications, Inc. (check their site at www.v-com.com).