General OSS Questions Before I Install

[Doug_B]

I have DD V10.2160 and have been using the partition app for a while but have not used or even installed OSS to date. I have just set up a more complicated multi-boot than I've had before, where I now have 5 instances of XP installed on my first hard drive, 3 in primary partitions and 2 in logical partitions. Of course, the ones in logical partitions were initially installed into a primary, and I used ATI 11 to restore their image backups to 2 new logical partitions and subsequently fixed the Hidden Sectors parameter of each partition using DD. They are all independent of each other, each with their own boot.ini file; they each boot with c: being assigned to them. I have tested them with success using two other boot managers (GAG and OSL2000), but each of these managers has limitations on hiding the other partitions, thus my desire to try out OSS, as it looks like for each installed OS partition, OSS can set which other partitions are hidden.

My first set of questions revolves around where to actually place the OSS install. A couple of the current partitions will not last too long; they will be replaced with different images of XP, and there may be a bit of moving/resizing of the partitions (though not reordering per se). I currently have DD10 installed only on one partition, which is one that will be removed soon (I always use DD from either the Linux CD or a BartPE CD).

I'm interested in knowing how the installed config interacts with the code and data that OSS places into the MBR / beginning of the hard drive. Does the data from the bootwiz file actually get fully loaded into the MBR, or does the OSS code in the MBR always access the file that's in the installation partition when the PC boots (or something in between)?

Can changes to the bootwiz file be made from the OSS boot menu? Can OSS be installed on one of the logical partitions where I have XP installed? Any impacts if the partition on which OSS is installed changes order, say due to a partition being added or deleted prior to the install partition?

Does OSS automatically pick up XP installs on logical partitions, or will I need to manually add them?

I'll save a few more questions for later.

Thanks.

Doug

[MudCrab]

-{ Quote: "Does the data from the bootwiz file actually get fully loaded into the MBR, or does the OSS code in the MBR always access the file that's in the installation partition when the PC boots (or something in between)?" }-
The OSS programs use the BOOTWIZ.OSS file. This file remains in the installation folder and doesn't get copied into the MBR (it wouldn't even fit).

-{ Quote: "Can changes to the bootwiz file be made from the OSS boot menu?" }-
If OSS works correctly on your computer, you can manage the changes to your OS entries using the OSS program. This can be either from the booted version or from OSS in Windows.

-{ Quote: "Can OSS be installed on one of the logical partitions where I have XP installed?" }-
Yes, it can. However, I recommend that you select a non-OS partition (a shared data partition, for example). The reason is to keep the OSS files from getting messed up or lost when you do OS partition restores or reinstalls.

-{ Quote: "Any impacts if the partition on which OSS is installed changes order, say due to a partition being added or deleted prior to the install partition?" }-
You may need to reactivate OSS. Also, you may need to make some manual changes to certain booting files. It depends on how you make the changes.

-{ Quote: "Does OSS automatically pick up XP installs on logical partitions, or will I need to manually add them?" }-
They have to be manually added. You can find instructions in this thread (http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=184826). Post #10 has the main instructions. Make sure to use an OS ID value that's not already used.

[Doug_B]

Thank you for answering my questions, Mudcrab. You were a big help. I'll post back after I've had a chance to play around with it. Unfortunately, my schedule may prevent me from getting some play time for the next week.

Doug

[Doug_B]

Worked on this today, and everything seems to be working correctly, including booting from 2 logical partitions, which I added to the bootwiz file manually [Reminder: These are all XP]. One initial problem wiith OSS the first time through the GUI was the inability to unhide the non-active primary partitions when configuring each partition's properties to boot to themselves. So I fixed that with a bootwiz file edit after experiencing the ramifications of this.

For the logical partitions, I set the parameter associated with writing to the boot sector on bootup to zero. Although the primaries have this parameter set (by default), I'm not sure I really need it for any of the partitions. I'm assuming it would help if one has multiple OSes on a single partition? I would assume the same goes for the various Windows system-related directories. Not sure about the list of 5 OS boot-related files of which OSS keeps track, but I chose not to add these files or the directories to my logical partition properties either.

Doug

[MudCrab]

-{ Quote: "One initial problem with OSS the first time through the GUI was the inability to unhide the non-active primary partitions when configuring each partition's properties to boot to themselves. So I fixed that with a bootwiz file edit after experiencing the ramifications of this." }-
Due to various bugs and a certain lack of manual control in the GUI, editing the BOOTWIZ.OSS file is often the quickest and easiest method to fix problems like this.

-{ Quote: "For the logical partitions, I set the parameter associated with writing to the boot sector on bootup to zero." }-
I always set this to zero for manually added entries. The necessary saved boot sector file doesn't exist anyway so it can't be written.

-{ Quote: "I would assume the same goes for the various Windows system-related directories. Not sure about the list of 5 OS boot-related files of which OSS keeps track, but I chose not to add these files or the directories to my logical partition properties either." }-
I've not found these to be necessary either. In my experience, OSS doesn't always properly detect changes to these files even if they are in the list.