I
like utilities. I like them better than productivity software
because utilities let you do interesting things both for
and to operating systems. Some will automate tasks, others
fix problems and others let you probe into the operating
system to see what the heck it's doing. There's another
class of utilities that attempt to make operating system
installation simpler. Ghost is a good example. Another
is EasyBoot.
EasyBoot
allows you to create a bootable CD or DVD that will install
one or more operating systems selected from a menu. To
my way of thinking using the program is a bit quirky,
but once you fathom its slightly different approach,
in about an hour you can make a bootable CD with a couple
of Windows operating systems ready to install. You can
also make Linux installation CDs and mix a Linux distribution
with a Windows installer on the same CD. You won't see
that in EZB System's information on EasyBoot, but if
you dig into their forums you can find out how.
Installation
is simple and presents no problems. When you start EasyBoot
it presents you with two windows. The first is the EasyBoot
configuration window where you will define your menu
and the tasks that menu will perform. The second is the
Menu Preview which reflects the choices you make. The
menu is very configurable and you can customize it to
fit your particular needs. For example, you can insert
a 640x480 background graphic of your choice (e.g., one
showing your company's logo).
The
first time I cranked up EasyBoot I was a bit irritated
to discover that nowhere in the EasyBoot window was there
a way to pull in the operating system installation files
with which to create the CD. I eventually opened the
help file, which is only available via the Windows program
menu (go to Start> Programs> EasyBoot> EasyBoot
Help).