Install Grub4Dos to your Hard Disk

An article by Bharat Balegere    10 Comments  Last Modified on January 7, 2017

Grub4dos it is a versatile bootloader capable of dual/multi-booting DOS, Windows, Linux and other operating systems. It can be used to select which operating system to load when multiple operating systems are available.It is one of the most common bootloader used to boot USB Drives.It has many features such as iso emulation ,memory mapping etc.The full list of features and a detailed guide on using them can be found at Grub4Dos Guide

In this article I will show you how to Install Grub4Dos to your Hard Disk using a tool called Bootice .Bootice is a utility to modify or backup/restore your MBR(Master Boot Record) or PBR(Partition Boot Record).Bootice supports a lot of bootloaders including Grub4Dos.

I have used grub4dos bootloader and bootice  in Kaspersky Rescue Disk 10 Bootable USB Creator .

Install Grub4dos to MBR (Master Boot Record) in Windows 7

Video Tutorial

Text Instructions.

1. Download Bootice and the latest version of Grub4Dos .
2. Extract the contents of the downloaded archives using archiving tools such as 7-zip.
3. Copy grldr and menu.lst from the extracted contents of the Grub4Dos archive to the root of your C Drive
4. Open menu.lst with notepad and delete the contents of the file.Copy and paste the following code.Booting Windows 7
   timeout 10
   default 0title Windows 7
   find --set-root --ignore-floppies --ignore-cd /bootmgr
   chainloader /bootmgr
   
   title Reboot
   reboot
   
   title Shutdown
   halt

   If you want to boot Windows XP use the following code

   timeout 10
   default 0
   
   title Windows XP
   find --set-root --ignore-floppies --ignore-cd /ntldr
   chainloader /ntldr
   
   title Reboot
   reboot
   title Shutdown
   halt

   Code for Dual Booting Windows XP and Windows 7

   timeout 10
   default 0
   
   title Windows 7
   find --set-root --ignore-floppies --ignore-cd /bootmgr
   chainloader /bootmgr
   
   title Windows XP
   find --set-root --ignore-floppies --ignore-cd /ntldr
   chainloader /ntldr
   
   title Reboot
   reboot
   
   title Shutdown
   halt
5. Run Bootice with Administrator Privileges.
6. Select your  Hard Disk and Click on Process MBR
7. Now select Grub for Dos and click on Install/Config.
8. Click on Save to Disk

Screenshot of Grub4Dos menu

Restoring Original MBR

1. Run Bootice with Administrator Privileges.
2. Select your Hard Disk and Click on Process MBR
3. Select Windows NT 6.x MBR and click on Install/Config

Installing Grub4Dos without modifying MBR or PBR

You can install Grub4Dos without modifying the MBR or PBR by just renaming GRLDR to NTLDR or BOOTMGR.

1. Rename NTLDR( if XP ) or BOOTMGR (if 7/8) to WINLDR in your C Drive
2. Copy GRLDR to the root of your C Drive and rename it to NTLDR or BOOTMGR
3. Copy and edit menu.lst
   timeout 10
   default 0
   title Windows
   find --set-root --ignore-floppies --ignore-cd /winldr
   chainloader /winldr

You can visit the Grub4Dos Forums at Reboot.Pro for more advanced information such as booting iso files etc.

Check grub4dos-chenall for latest version of Grub4Dos with additional features.