Bootit NG - An Exceptional Program!

[Skyhawk]

When you find an exceptional piece of software that is priced about half of its competitors you want to share it with others. This is the case with "Bootit NG". The link to the web site is:

http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/

In my "Is it possible to make a second boot partition in D: from the C: partition?" thread, Aboard mentioned "Bootit NG". (Thanks Aboard!) I found that Bootit NG is not only a boot control software but a multi-function software that only costs $34.95.

Here's basically what Bootit NG (Next Generation) can do:
- Create multi boots beyond any amount a normal human could need.
- Partition or re-partition hard drives up to 2 tetabytes in size. It can repartition without data loss!
- Copy one boot partition into a second partion or more partitions to end up with dual, triple or whatever amount of boots.
- On boot up, it can allow a user selected amount of seconds to select a boot but can also timeout and reboot automatically into the last previous boot.
- On a dual WinXP Pro boot that I set up, the inactive partition is still shown on My Computer and all data is accessible. In my case the C: and D: drive letters between the two partitions are just swapped depending on which partition is booted.
- Can back up partitions in normal or compressed modes.
- It can do much more that the above that would take too long to go in to here.

Using Bootit NG I partitioned a new hard drive in half. I installed WinXP Pro, all drivers and all applications that I wanted in both boot partitions in to the first C: partition. This took two days!

I then copied the entire partition-1 to partition-2 using Bootit NG and set up a dual boot using Bootit NG. This took about 30 minutes since I was learning how to do it. I set the boot delay for 5 seconds. End result is I now have two bootable WinXP Pros and the second one only took 30 minutes to set up! Unbelievable!

Bootit NG does not replace the Acronis TrueImage (which I also have and use) since it cannot do incremental backups. TrueImage can also create the "Acronis secure zone" which is impervious to virus infections for backed data which Bootit NG cannot do. Bootit NG is not for the pure novice as it does not have a novice interface and does take some understanding of what one is trying to do.

Just wanted to share this unbelieveable value with you all since Aboard shared it with me. Hope this helps someone out,

Skyhawk

[ABoard]

Originally Posted by Skyhawk

- On a dual WinXP Pro boot that I set up, the inactive partition is still shown on My Computer and all data is accessible. In my case the C: and D: drive letters between the two partitions are just swapped depending on which partition is booted.

Decided not to "clear" / "hide" it, huh? I prefer to keep only one WinXP Pro (OS) partition visible at a time, but I can see how having access to the partition can be useful.

Originally Posted by Skyhawk

Bootit NG does not replace the Acronis TrueImage (which I also have and use) since it cannot do incremental backups.

You are correct. BootIt NG has a very powerful and reliable partitioning and imaging facility, but it does not provide the bells and whistles of Acronis TrueImage. After all, BootIt's main purpose, at least if we go by its name, is to be a boot manager.

Originally Posted by Skyhawk

Bootit NG is not for the pure novice as it does not have a novice interface and does take some understanding of what one is trying to do.

I couldn't agree more, but I prefer my tools like this. Maybe I'm masochistic.

Anyway, glad you had such success with BootIt NG. I would have been a little embarrassed had my advice ended up creating problems rather than helping.

[Skyhawk]

Originally Posted by ABoard

Decided not to "clear" / "hide" it, huh? I prefer to keep only one WinXP Pro (OS) partition visible at a time, but I can see how having access to the partition can be useful.

Yes, I like to have access to everything on my PCs at all times if possible. Comes in handy if I need to reference something in the inactive partition to fix something in the active partition.

You are correct. BootIt NG has a very powerful and reliable partitioning and imaging facility, but it does not provide the bells and whistles of Acronis TrueImage. After all, BootIt's main purpose, at least if we go by its name, is to be a boot manager.

I was always skeptical about PowerQuest purposely limiting the hard drive sizes in Partition Magic in order to sell upgrades to larger disk sizes in the future. Terabyte on the other hand is my kind of company in that it allows partitioning of hard drives up to 2 Tetra Bytes right off the bat. This is one reason why I'll recommend Bootit NG to everyone who might have a need. I think Terabyte should rename it to Partition&Bootit.

I love it!
Skyhawk

[bjadams44]

I just recently discovered BootitNG through the Langa List and I too am very happy with the program. It does take some learning to use the program and the documentation is not the greatest but for a boot program with imaging included it has done a great job for me.

[Ozzie]

I haven't tried the image portion yet, but so far I'm really liking this program.
I put a new drive in my notebook and Aboard helped me with some fine tuning.

It has been solid and I can't see going back for any reason...