ive gotten a couple of emails about a post i placed in the os/2 forrum about how i have so many operating systems on my system and how to do it also on how i set up cdroms for fully automated os install so here it is in a nutshell 1. i have it easier than most because i have 4 hard drives by using a ide accelerator card for those of you that dont know what this is its a pci expasion card that allows for additional ide ports (very few support cdroms they will have to be placed on the motherboards eide connections. anywhooo one get your hands on the operating systems many unix based ones are free for download the others can be purchased normally or bought on ebay or found on warez sizes by looking for the right appz next youll need partitioning software such as partition magic i use this and another one that allows me to edit the mbr (mater boot record) that way i can easily disable boot flags second youll need to configure your bios to allow the cdrom as first boot device (unless your gonna use floppy (yuck)) this is done by accessing your bios when your system boots wait a second or two (but defenitly before the system speaker beeps) and then hit either del f1 or f2 dependent on manufacturer go to your boot menu and (important) keep everything in the same order and as is except for the cdrom boot order keep the others in the same order now you can boot from cdrom (handy for most unix based installs) next youll need to decide what your home partition will be (the one that houses your boot manager(sys commander bootmagic lillo etc) go ahead and install this system as you would normaly when your fininshed with the install you will need to install the partition software and boot manager. next youll have to decide on what kind of configuration you want (what operating systems) since i dont know i use my own as an example 1.win 3x-whistler 2. unix 3. quinx 4.bsd allforms 5 be os 5 6. all forms of commercial linux 7 solaris 8 os2/warp (the only one that gives me grief) (on install only) 9 mac(emulated if you know how to run native let me know pleeeeeeease) 10 lesser known unix based systems one you have to recognize wich of thees require the c drive and a primary partition theese are all windows (personal editions) 3x,95,98 me doss network editions can go anywher also 0s2/warp (dont be fooled by what i said they may require c: but they can befooled into even using logical drives 2nd determine what file structure youll use for each (most support multiple formats (windows 95 and up supoport 16 -32 fat 2000 supports 16,32 and ntfs) i recommend a blend of linux ext2 and 16 and 32 fat 16 is recognizable by all systems.. but is limmiting especially if your using newer systems. next create all thees lovly partitions keeping in mind minumum sizes for each os (do your research first) also some require swap files or partitions or even boot partiontions. once theese have been generated the easiest thing to do is get all system disks ready (if you dont have create off cdrom or download them you can find locations in other posts) well go with my current config to give you a base idea on what to do now ( mind you there is allways multiple ways of doning anything on a computer) i started with me as my primary next i inserted my 98 startup disk and rebooted at the command prompt i typed a:sys d: this transfers the command.com to the d drive (im about to make it my win 98 c: drive) i also took my system disk with the cdrom dos drivers and installed them now reboot. go to your boot manager and add the the partition to its menu (make sure in settings that your original partition is hidden from this one) (side not when i made all my partitions i labbeled them as to what system was going there makes it much easier later down the road also make each one a distinctive size so if by no other way you recognize the part by its size (that you hopefully wrote down)) now save your settings to the boot manager and reboot when the boot manager screen pops up durring boot select the new entry this should bring you to a command prompt in the new partition cycle through your drive letters till you find your cdrom and install the next one normally in my case win 98 then 95 keep in mind your only allowed 3 primary partitions and 23 logical but to create any logical one primary drive must be left to create whats called an extended drive out of wich all your little logical drives are born (this is where additional hard drives are a boon if for no other reason you have alot more availiabel primarys also you can disable them in bios to make it easier to install new operating systems.) this is where it starts to get tricky i would choose to install os2 next making sure that the 3 first ones you instaled were fat 32 (os2 now wont see them ) also remove all boot flags boot your system with the os/2 disks if your install hangs up reboot and when the little bar flashes up with the os2 words behind hit alt and f2 this will display all files as their loaded watch for when the system hangs and write down which file it was (also youll need to download drivers for any hard drive over 4 gig) boot back to your home partition using a rescue disk (you did create one when it prompted you RIGHT???) duplicate all three disks label one set as set one the other as two now go to disk 1 of set one and open your config sys with notepad remove the line that identifies the file that got hung up and remove it also from your disk now try to reboot (after disableing boot flags again) watch for any other trouble some files and repeat process till it works (oh you'll need to add the line set copyfromfloopy=1 or boot from floppy idont remmember right now chech other forrums its probbably posted there) now when the install starts it will prompt you to replace the disks use set one the first time if it works great if not the next time you try use the second set (only after it prompts you to replace disk 1) after all this it should work now the neat thing is that os 2 should recognize your first available fat 16 drive (regardles if its primary or logical) as your c: (primary) drive when done just add it to your boot managers menu (this is a handy way of installing os/2 to a logical drive without using its boot manager or a boot partition. next i booted to my 2nd hard drives first 16 bit partition but well assume you dont have other hardrives for win 3x so here goes go to your primary os and place a distinctive file in the partition you want to place win3x i use a notepad file named what else 3x i boot using the 3x (3x stands for wind 3.0 through 3.11) and when i get to prompt i cycle through my drives and type dir andhit enter to see whats on them when i find the one with my 3x.txt file i remember the drive letter and then return to my a prompt (make sure after each os install so far that you make sure all other os are invisible to the new installs partition.) now type sys (whatever driveletter it is : as an example it should look something like a:\sys l:) this again transfers the command.com to drive reboot to primay os and add new partion and now istall normally and yes 3x will install to a logical drive if it does not see the first operating systems partitions at all...)people may tell you other wise but as proof i can mail you a screen shot of partition magic on my system showing the varios installs. next it turn to installing my network versions of windows these naturally can be placed on any logical drive and add them selves to the mbr of whatever os it recognized as allready there (to prevent problems i installed whistler from me 2000 from 98 and nt from 3x) nt is the only one of the three that cant use fat 32 i do recomend fat 32 for whisltler and 2000 next i installed linux and unix point to note when doing this do not format usind disk drake and when prompted install lillo to (root partition)not your primary partition (note write down which one your installing to when prompted linux uses different names for drives...) if you install to the first partition this overwrites your mbr (yes you can use lillo but i wouldnt recomend it and any further installs will only muck up matters)remmember to allways add the new os to your boot manager after install also if it doesnt naturaly see it on its own most boot managers have an advanced option use this to tag the partition you desire.. after all theesse i install the os's that require the home partition as a part of their own os like be and quinx thees install to wherever you desire and use windows to load and add their own boot menu to the load process all in all i have over 30 operating systems this way it takes allot of time and effort and TRIAL AND ERROR STRESS ON ERRORS so most importantly you cant be afraid to have to start over and try different install orders and methods as far as making an auto install cd i dont recomend it unless you constantly reinstall os's like i do to try new ones its an incredible lot of work but the key if youve learned enough (you advanced people will get this one) is your autoexec.bat youll need command.com and any other software your macros require (key word macros) next youll need to get a stop watch and pen and paper during an install and place pauses appropriatly between commands also know what keyboard commands will work (how do i go down two fields without a mous((((tab)))etc... also youll have to prevent reboot so the whole macros dosent start over (trickky) or youll have to edit the systems autoexec it installs for the reboot to with the orig macros to launch the second set of macros (easier but not much) so again i dont recomend and no i wont send you an iso format unless your system matches mine because otherwise it will do you no good (system settings will be sett for mine not yours including the speed at wich mine handles applications......)if yours is a clone to mine i might consider mailing you the macros software and autoexec (im not gona give you a copy of the os youll have to aquire that however your consience allows) and with theese tips and the know how to set the cd project to ISO format not jouilett it will work

"boot master" multiboot software mentioned above is available from V-Communications: http://www.v-com.com/product/sc2_ind.html A more recent version than mine, but I recommend it highly. The manual goes into great detail, and, though it could be easier to read, it's the best that I've found. Well worth the price.

thanks for the tip