* *** BINGINSTALL TXT - 6 Feb 2010 22:50:30 - JKNAUTH BootIt Next Generation (BING) Installation and Configuration ====== ==== ========== ====== ============ === ============= The following is a highlevel description of how I install and configure Boot IT Next Generation (BING) on a Windows XP PC. I also describe the partitioning that I typically do for a new Dell Windows XP PC. I have used a somewhat similar setup on a Vista system, although the system as shipped by Dell did not put the Dell Utilities and Dell Restore partitions in the same places as with Windows XP. For the Vista system, I just put the BING partition at the end of the disk. I didn't bother with deleting the two Dell partitions since I decided to use BING's option to support more than four primary partitions, so the two extra Dell primary partitions did not cause a problem. I later did the same thing on a Windows 7 system. Jeff Knauth >>> USB mouse warning: For some PCs, BING and its setup program do not support a USB mouse. In that case you will have to use the keyboard or touchpad to navigate in BING. Alternatively you could temporarily use a PS/2 mouse. <<< PREPARE THE BOOTIT NG INSTALLATION CD ======= === ====== == ============ == Download a BING zip file from terabyteunlimited.com/bootitng.html. You can install and test with this download as a trial copy. The trial copy is fully functional, but lasts only 30 days. Turn the trial copy into a registered copy by buying a key. Purchase a key (for about $35) from terabyteunlimited.com/bootitng.html. Receive e-mails containing the two-line key and instructions. Create a two-line REG.TXT text file with the key as the two lines. I found I could put a third (blank) line followed by a fourth line with comments, e.g., to name the PC on which this BING copy would be installed -- matches key to PC This is a convenient way to record the key for future use. Create a BING CD. Unzip the downloaded zip file into a work directory. Execute MakeDisk.exe in the work directory and follow the prompts. Paste the two lines of license key information where required. The default options should work for most people. The "Installation and Getting Started Guide" has details if needed. (http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/downloads/bootitng.pdf) INSTALL BOOTIT NG IN ITS OWN PARTITION ======= ====== == == === === ========= >>> See the warning above about considerations for using a USB mouse with BING. Note that the following is an overview of the installation steps. The detailed BING installation dialog is in a subsequent section. <<< Boot from the BING CD created above. To do this when using a newer Dell PC: Insert the CD in the CD/DVD/CD-RW drive to be booted. Boot the PC. Press F12 when prompted at top right of the Dell black screen. Select "CD/DVD/CD-RW Drive" (or some equivalent designation). Alternatively (and less desirable), temporarily change the BIOS boot sequence to boot the CD drive before all other drives. Use BING facilities to partition the hard drive (if required). If an 8 MB contiguous area of free space is not available on the hard drive, create such a space for BING. For example, select and Delete an unneeded existing partition. (I usually delete the Dell Utilities partition -- see below. This frees up a primary partition slot. I can run the Dell Diagnostics from the Dell Reference CD or from diskettes. I also delete the Dell Restore partition, which isn't that useful after a while; that frees up another primary partition slot.) Or Resize an existing partition to shrink it. The empty space must be at least 8 MB (only 8 MB of it will be used). There must be at least one primary partition slot available. Install BING in the empty space. Let the install program find the empty space. BING will create an 8 MB primary partition in the empty space. Register BING. This turns off the trial copy timer that would elapse in 30 days. BING uses the license key data put on the CD by MakeDisk.exe. BING then displays your name as the registered owner. CONFIGURE BOOTIT NG ========= ====== == Configure BING settings, e.g., the timeout value. The defaults should work for most people. See nbtha.org/IT/Hints/BINGprocs.txt for my settings. Rename partitions to something meaningful. Add boot menu items and configure them. Arrange the boot menu items in the desired order. DETAILED INSTALLATION DIALOGS ======== ============ ======= Boot the BING CD as described above and then follow these dialogs: Free Up Some Hard Drive Space for BING ---- -- ---- ---- ----- ----- --- ---- Setup ................................... Cancel Entering maintenance mode ............... OK Select "Partition Work" icon. Select the Dell Utility partition entry. Select "Delete". Confirm delete (leave defaults) ......... Yes Select "Close". Select "Resume". Install BING on the Hard Drive ------- ---- -- --- ---- ----- Setup ................................... OK Enable more than four primaries? ........ No Allow setup to choose partition? ........ Yes Dedicated partition? .................... Yes Click OK to begin? ...................... OK Can't create backup EMBR -- continue? ... Yes Setup completed successfully ............ OK Read the "News Contents" information. Select "Close". Remove diskette and restart ............. OK Register BING -------- ---- Select "Maintenance". Select "Register" icon. Register ................................ OK Input will be applied at next boot ...... OK Select "Reboot". Configure BING --------- ---- Select "Maintenance". Rename partitions to meaningful names, e.g., WINXP and $$TEST$$. Select "Partition Work". Select partition to rename, e.g., "MBR Entry 1". Select "Properties". Enter the desired partition name. Select "OK". Repeat as needed to rename other partitions. Select "Close". Edit and reorder the boot menu items. Select "Boot Edit". Select "Edit" to edit an existing boot menu item. Fill in information (see examples below). Note that in the MBR Details area (right side of screen), it is very important to order the entries correctly with the "Move Up" and "Move Dn" buttons, and to hide the correct entries with the "Hide" button. See the examples in the next section and the BOOT.INI rationale at the end. Select "OK". Repeat as needed to edit other boot menu items. Use "Move Up"/"Move Dn" to order boot menu entries as desired. Select "OK". Select "Resume" or "Reboot". Examples of How I Set Up My Boot Menu Items ======== == === = === == == ==== ==== ===== Above I renamed the two Windows XP partitions as WINXP and $$TEST$$. Each boot menu item will boot one Windows partition and hide the other one. Entry 1: ----- -- Identity: WINXP Icon: (windows) 0: BootIt EMBRM HD: 0 1: WINXP Boot: WINXP 2: $$TEST$$ (hide) 3: DATA x Default nothing else checked Entry 2: ----- -- Identity: $$TEST$$ Icon: (yellow) 0: BootIt EMBRM HD: 0 1: $$TEST$$ Boot: $$TEST$$ 2: WINXP (hide) 3: DATA nothing checked HARD DRIVE PARTITIONING SCHEME ==== ===== ============ ====== I divide my hard drive into four primary partitions: three bootable partitions and an extended partition which is further divided into logical volumes for data. The first bootable partition is where BING resides. The second bootable partition, labeled WINXP, is used for my production Windows XP. The third bootable partition, labeled $$TEST$$, is used for a test copy of Windows XP. I usually buy Dell PCs, which (in Windows XP days) were partitioned as follows when shipped: a small Dell Utilities partition containing Dell hardware diagnostics, a Windows XP partition occupying most of the disk space, and a multi-gigabyte backup partition which contains a compressed image of the Windows XP partition as Dell shipped it. When I get the PC, I first boot it to finish the basic Windows installation. I next run the hardware diagnostics to be sure the PC is healthy. Then I boot from a BING CD and run BING from that CD to make a backup (just in case) of each of the three partitions that Dell had installed. I then delete the Dell Utilities and Dell Backup partitions. The main reasons for getting rid of the Dell partitions are to free up the hard drive space and to make the primary partition slots available. Note that BING allows you to have more than four primary partitions, as an option, but that comes with some caveats. Deleting the two Dell partitions causes no problems. I will get a CD or diskettes from Dell to run Dell Diagnostics again if I ever need to. Also, from now on I will make frequent, current system backups with BING. Note that the Dell Backup partition isn't too useful after the PC has been used for a while. New applications get installed, many Windows settings get changed, new hardware is added, application data is created, etc. -- none of this is recorded in the Dell Backup partition. Going back to Dell's ground zero and starting over would be a real pain. Once the Dell Utilities partition is deleted (around 40 MB), that leaves plenty of space to install BING (8 MB) in the now-freed area. I next use BING to shrink the Windows XP partition to a reasonable size (I usually shrink it to 15 or 20 MB). I then create a second partition of exactly the same size where $$TEST$$ will eventually reside. Finally, I create the DATA extended partition to occupy the rest of the hard drive and create some logical volumes in it. I do the NTFS formatting for the DATA volumes while running under Windows since BING does not do NTFS formatting. Here are the before and after partitions (not shown to scale). Before: +--------------+----------------------------------------+-------------+ | Dell Utility | Windows XP | Dell Backup | | [primary] | [primary] | [primary] | +--------------+----------------------------------------+-------------+ After: +------+-------+-----------+----------+-------------------------------+ | BING | Free | WINXP | $$TEST$$ | DATA: VOL J, VOL K, ... | |[pri.]| | [primary] | [primary]| [primary (extended)] | +------+-------+-----------+----------+-------------------------------+ Using the above partitioning and the partition hiding shown in the boot menu item examples makes things much easier for partition copying and restoring. For example, you can copy the WINXP partition to $$TEST$$, or vice versa, and not have to change the BOOT.INI file. This is because the booted partition appears to be the second bootable partition in each case even though its location changes during the copy operation. (If you don't understand this, just be glad you don't have to fiddle with it after every copy.)