[ct-user] Idea for multiple OS support

[R. P. McCormick]

In regards to the lengthy thread about operating systems ...
here's an inexpensive solution that I haven't seen anyone mention:

There are numerous sources where you can purchase removable
IDE disk caddies, sometimes for as little as $10 or $15.
(Last place I think I saw inexpensive ones was Tiger Direct.)
I use these extensively for testing various alpha and beta
builds of operating systems ...

For those of you who maybe don't know what these are ...
they mount in any standard 5.25 inch "drive bay", and provide
a fix component that typically has rails and a power and
I/O bus connection ... the drive mounts in a small carrier
that can be easily inserted and removed.  (Buy two of these ...)

In one carrier format a disk with your favourite CT supported
operating system ... though many people may (still?!) use 
MS-DOS v6.22 (or even older), if you're using a newer computer
(and it has a Windows 9x license), you may want to consider 
creating a Windows 9x recovery disk, and formatting and installing
the quasi-DOS kernel and programs (in whatever FAT partition
you desire).  As you can imagine, there's better support 
in those more recent operating systems for today's motherboard
architectures and BIOS's.

In another carrier format a disk with your favourite operating
system, whatever that may be.

If you have room for two carriers in your system ...
and you have two IDE adapter channels ... you can even
set up your system so that it automatically boots from
the disk that's inserted into the primary IDE channel
(master disk).  The other disk can also be a master,
albeit its on the secondary IDE channel, and would 
only boot if the primary wasn't available.

Just switch drives to switch operating systems ...
and depending on what disk format you utilised,
you may be able to read and write the other drive
either way you boot!

Cheers,
Bob PA3GCQ / W1QA / ZL2GCQ

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