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grubinst can be used to install Grub4Dos boot code to MBR/BS under Windows NT/2K/XP and Linux/FreeBSD. Its usage is similar to bootlace.com.

grubinst_gui is a graphical interface running under the Windows system, with which you can conveniently use the functions of grubinst.

Note: grubinst only takes charge of installing the GRLDR boot code to MBR/BS, and you still need to manually copy the GRLDR file to the root directory of a FAT16/FAT32 partition.

Download addresses:

http://grub4dos.sourceforge.net/grubinst-1.1-beta4-bin-w32.tar.gz
http://grub4dos.sourceforge.net/grubinst-1.1-beta4-src.tar.gz

New functions of grubinst:
* Support installation to partitions and floppy disks
* New option --list-part for displaying partition information
* --hot-key= supports using strings to represent hotkeys, for example --hot-key=ctrl-a
* Corresponding short forms are added for common options.

New functions of grubinst_gui:
* Support Chinese interface
* Can display partition lists in files/disks
* New options corresponding to the new version of grubinst are added
* New test button, which can display the parameters for calling grubinst

For detailed usage, please refer to the README.txt file

Beta2 fixes:
* Bug that no response when refreshing partition list
* Bug that cannot access extended partitions larger than 4G under Linux

Beta3 fixes:
* Bug that errors occur when installing to floppy disk images

Beta4 fixes:
* --time-out parameter has no effect
* Only one of the two options "Restore from file" and "Restore from original MBR" can be selected

Last edited by bean123 on 2007-1-23 at 10:17 AM ]

New User Guide:

Under Windows NT/2000/XP, you can quickly install Grub4Dos to the MBR or a partition with the following steps:

Prerequisite: You must have a FAT16/FAT32 partition. If all partitions are NTFS, please refer to the last part.

1. Download grubinst and extract it.
2. Double-click grubinst_gui.exe.
3. In the list on the right of "Disk", select the hard disk/floppy disk where you need to install Grub4Dos. If you have multiple disks (including USB mobile disks), please pay attention to the disk size shown in , so as to select the correct disk.
4. If you need to install to a partition, click the "Refresh" button on the right of "Partition List", and then select the required partition from the drop-down list (supports FAT12/FAT16/FAT32/EXT2/EXT3). If you need to install to the MBR, this step can be omitted.
5. If you want to be able to restore the original MBR/BS in the future, enter the file name for saving in "Save File".
6. Click "Install", and a command window will appear. If you see "The MBR/BS has been successfully installer", it means the installation is successful.

Of course, the above steps are only for installing the boot code. To start Grub4Dos normally, the following steps are also needed:

7. Download the latest version of Grub4Dos from http://grub4dos.jot.com/WikiHome or http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=104188
8. Find grldr in the compressed package and put it in the root directory of the FAT16/FAT32 partition.
9. Edit the menu.lst file (it should be placed in the same directory as GRLDR) to configure the boot menu.

If there is no FAT16/FAT32 partition, you cannot install Grub4Dos to the MBR/BS, but can only use the NT boot manager to start Grub4Dos:
1. Download Grub4Dos, extract GRLDR to the root directory of the system disk (C:\)
2. Edit C:\boot.ini (this file is hidden), and add a line at the end of the file:
C:\GRLDR="Load Grub4Dos"
3. Edit the C:\menu.lst file to configure the boot menu.
4. When starting Windows next time, a "Load Grub4Dos" item will be added. Select it to enter Grub4Dos

Grubinst_gui User Guide:

1. Install Grub4Dos to the hard disk/floppy disk image.
Enter the image file name in the input box next to "File", and when pressing "Install", it will be installed to the specified image.

When modifying a floppy disk image, check the option "Floppy Disk Image".

2. Option Settings

Read-only mode:
Simulate the required operation but do not actually write the MBS/BS to the hard disk/image.

Output detailed information:
Let the background program grubinst output more detailed information, which is recommended.

Do not save the original MBR (for installation to MBR)
Before modifying the original MBR, grubinst will save the original MBR to the second sector. If this option is selected, this function is blocked.

Do not search for floppy disk at startup (for installation to MBR)
At startup, if GRLDR is not found on the hard disk, Grub4Dos will try to find it on the floppy disk. If this option is selected, this function is blocked.

Do not boot the original MBR (for installation to MBR)
If the original MBR is saved in the second sector, when Grub4Dos cannot find GRLDR, it will boot with the original MBR. If this option is selected, this function is blocked.

Prefer to boot the original MBR (for installation to MBR)
If this option is selected, the original MBR will be used to boot preferentially.
Note 1: Grub4Dos only reserves one sector of space to store the original MBR. If the original MBR exceeds one sector, only the first sector will be saved, so it cannot be booted with the original MBR.
Note 2: If this option is used, there will be a 5-second waiting time at startup. If you press the space bar within 5 seconds, Grub4Dos will be started. If you press other keys or the 5-second timeout occurs, the original MBR will be booted. The waiting time and keys can be customized.

DUCE (for installation to MBR)
Usually, you can enter the command mode unconditionally by pressing the 'C' key, thus skipping all configuration files. This may cause security problems. If this option is used, this function is blocked.
Note: DUCE stands for Disable Unconditional Command-line Entrance

Floppy Disk Image
When you install Grub4Dos to a floppy disk image, check this option
Note 1: When installing to a physical floppy disk, you do not need to check this option
Note 2: When you select an image file and refresh the partition list, the program will automatically set this parameter according to the type of the image file.
Note 3: When installing to a floppy disk image or partition, the above parameters applicable to installation to MBR will not work

Waiting time:
Set the waiting time when preferentially booting the original MBR. The default value is 5

Hot key:
Set the hot key to start Grub when preferentially booting the original MBR. The default value is space.
Note: The original version of grubinst (bootlace.com is the same) uses scan codes to represent keys. For example, space is 0x3920. But the new version of grubinst allows using strings to represent keys. For example, a, ctrl-a, shift-a, alt-a, F1, home, end, space, key-5 (the 5 key on the numeric keypad), etc.

Extra parameters:
You can enter other parameters passed to the background program grubinst.exe here

3. Restore function

Save file:
Specify an external file for saving/restoring

Restore from file
When this option is not used, the "Install" button is for normal installation operation. If the save file box is not empty, it specifies the file for saving the original MBR/BS.
When this option is used, the operation of the "Install" button becomes restoring the original MBR/BS from the specified save file

Restore from original MBR
When this option is used, the operation of the "Install" button is to restore the original MBR from the second sector
Note 1: The original MBR must be a single sector, otherwise it cannot be booted after restoration
Note 2: When using this function, the "Save file" should be empty and "Restore from file" should not be selected

4. "Test" button
Used to display the parameters passed to grubinst but does not actually call grubinst.
Note: This is different from "Read-only mode". When using "Read-only mode", the background grubinst is called, but grubinst does not perform the operation of modifying the MBR/BS.

My partitions are all in NTFS format. According to the instruction "If there is no FAT16/FAT32 partition, then Grub4Dos cannot be installed to MBR/BS", but I used the command line method to install the latest version of GRLDR to the MBR, and it is still effective when pressing the hotkey during startup. Why is that?

In addition, the waiting time has no effect. Even if set to 5 seconds, it flashes by in an instant. Can the owner solve this?

Originally posted by cain at 2007-1-23 06:44 AM:
All my partitions are in NTFS format. According to the instructions "If there are no FAT16/FAT32 partitions, Grub4Dos cannot be installed to the MBR/BS", but I used the command line method to install the latest version of GRLDR to the MBR. When booting, press the hot ...

According to the instructions in the documentation, NTFS support will be removed. If it can boot, it may be that the current version still supports NTFS, but it is still recommended to use FAT partitions.

Just now, I found that there is indeed a problem with the processing of the waiting time. Please download the latest beta4 test.

Last edited by bean123 on 2007-1-23 at 10:19 AM ]

bean123, thank you. The hotkey for the latest beta4 is already effective. I want to ask another question:
After installing to the MBR, how to modify the line "PRESS HOT-KEY TO START GURB..." that appears on the screen when booting the computer into your desired text?

Originally posted by cain at 2007-1-24 12:57 AM:
bean123, thank you. The hotkey of the latest beta4 is already effective. I want to ask another question:
The line "PRESS HOT-KEY TO START GURB..." that appears on the screen when booting the computer after installing to the MBR...

This line is embedded in the code, and generally cannot be modified unless the source code is modified.

Can you use software like UE to modify the GRLDR file? Can you give me some pointers?

Originally posted by cain at 2007-1-24 01:24 AM:
Do you modify the GRLDR file with software like UE? Can you give some pointers?

It is not recommended to use UE for modification, but if you really need to modify it:

Open the grubinst.exe file with UE, and search for
"Press space bar"

There are three consecutive strings here:

1. 0D 0A "Press space bar" 00
2. 0D 0A "Press your hot-key" 00
3. " to start GRUB, any other key to boot previous MBR ..." 00

When the hot key is SPACE, the output is 1+3
But when the hot key is another key, the output is 2+3

If you need to modify, you can modify the above strings, but no Chinese can be used, and the starting position of the string cannot be changed. Also, the length of the new string must be less than or equal to the original length (when the length is shorter than the original, you can add #0 at the end of the string, or fill with spaces)

After modifying grubinst.exe, use it to install the MBR, and the hot key prompt will change.

Thanks. Using UE to modify, even changing one character is not okay. When pressing the hotkey, double lines of text will appear. Then, which tool is better to use for modification?

It should be okay. In the UE binary mode, click on the column of characters to the right of the dot, and then you can directly input English characters.

Push up, push up, push up

Thanks to the senior in the ninth floor, I have been looking for this answer for a long time, thank you.

How to change the line of text for the GRUB version number at the top of the GRUB menu list