
        MWRLOAD -  A utility program written by Marty W. Rhodes

  This is a hard drive bootstrap loader program that will allow the
  user to select which partition/OS to boot and run.  It installs in
  the Master Boot Record (1st sector) of the first hard drive and resides
  there with the partition table for that drive.  It needs to be installed
  using a the separate installation program (INSTALL.EXE) that came with 
  it.  You will also need the program EXE2COM.EXE to strip off the EXE 
  header after linking.  (Full source for both EXE2COM and INSTALL should
  also have been included in this archive.)  

  If, for some reason, this loader does not work properly with your 
  system you can uninstall it by booting from a bootable DOS diskette 
  that has the FDISK program on it and typing:
        
                     FDISK /MBR <enter>
    

  This program works like the default DOS FDISK boot loader unless the user 
  holds down the ctrl key when booting.  If the ctrl key is down when this 
  program is invoked, it prompts the user to enter a partition number to
  boot from.  If the user types in a number between 1 and 4 then the 
  operating system in that partition will become the default boot O/S
  from then on.  If the user types anything else (other than 1, 2, 3, or 4), 
  then nothing is changed.  

 ***** WARNING:  This program does almost no sanity checking.  It assumes 
  you know what you are doing.  If you tell it to boot a partition that 
  is not really bootable or that does not even exist, it will obligingly 
  attempt to do so for you.  (This sort of mistake can, of course, be 
  easliy fixed by rebooting, holding down the ctrl key, and changing the
  default boot partition again - this time to one that is valid.)    


  This archive contains the full source code for the loader program.  It 
  was written on an MS/DOS system using Borland TASM v4.0.  It should 
  work with most older versions of TASM and it should be easy to port 
  to MASM, if you don't have TASM.  It should work, as is, on just 
  about any Intel 80x86 system but the source is included if you need 
  to make changes or if you just want to play.  The BUILD.BAT file will 
  compile, link, and install it for you if you have TASM and TLINK in 
  your path.  The source should also be easy to port to other I86-based 
  operating systems (UNIX, OS/2, NT, etc.), since it (by necessity) makes 
  no DOS-specific calls.  It uses only hardware/BIOS calls.  After all, 
  it's hard to make any DOS calls when DOS has not even been loaded yet!
 
  I wrote this program because I needed it on my system after I 
  installed LINUX and Windows NT in addition to MS/DOS.  I found their 
  boot loaders to be inadequate, in the case of LINUX, and non-existent, 
  in the case of Windows NT and MS/DOS.  I also did it as an exercise to 
  teach myself I86 assembler language.

  NOTE:  If you make changes to this program, your final linked 
  executable file (MWRLOAD.COM and MWRLOAD.BIN, in my case) must not 
  exceed 446 bytes!!!!   In fact, it would be best if they were 
  exactly 446 bytes long (you can pad out to that with binary zeros.).  
  If your code exceeds 446 bytes, you will get unpredictable results.  
  But then I am probably wasting my time telling you this because 
  NOBODY, who didn't already know that, would be foolish enough to 
  try writing their own bootstrap loader, would they? <g>

  This program is being distributed as freeware and was uploaded to 
  Simtel.net by the author.  The author makes no warranties about 
  this program and does not offer technical support.  Since this 
  program was distributed with full source code, your best source 
  of technical support is the source code itself.    

  I can be reached via e-mail at:   mwrhodes@home.com

  

 
