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══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ DocsBoot+ version 0.42 MenuPlus extension documentation ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Copyright 1994-1998 Zac Schroff, all rights reserved ══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ Introduction to MenuPlus ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The MenuPlus extension replaces the built-in menu in DocsBoot+ with a more sophistocated menu. Several æsthetc enhancements are made over the original menu, certain functionality has been improved, and new features have been added : Descriptions -- Partition descriptions are no longer required to fit in a DOS-4 extended BPB volume label. Descriptions can be up to 48 characters long and can be applied to any kind of partition. Passwords -- A password can be defined that must be entered before the menu is displayed, another password protects the settings of the MenuPlus extension, and each item in the menu can have a password assigned to it before they will boot. All of the passwords can be the same, different, or any combination. Menu bypass -- The menu is completely compatible with DocsBoot+'s option to bypass the menu. If DocsBoot+ does not request the menu, nothing will be displayed for it. Floppies -- Only floppy disc drives that are in the system will be listed in the menu. Item hide -- Each menu item can be set so it is always included in the menu when it is valid, or never included in the menu. Unknown hide -- Items which MenuPlus has not been set up to recognise can be hidden so they will not show up in the menu. Runtime setup -- MenuPlus includes a built-in setup facility so it can be configured without having to load some other program or reboot the system to a setup floppy. Hotkeys -- MenuPlus can assign an alphanumeric hotkey to each partition, and use this key to quickly select and boot the partition. Adaptability -- If MenuPlus is not configured to hide all of the partitions that have not been added to its catalogue, it will automatically generate temporary descriptions of all of the partitions that are not in its catalogue. The descriptions it generates are close to those used in the full mode of the DocsBoot+ menu. Up to 30 user definitions can be added to the MenuPlus catalogue, for a total of 32 definitions (the first two are the floppy drives and can not be deleted from the catalogue, though they can be edited). MenuPlus does offer a simple security system (passwords) to discourage casual cracking. However, the security is far from complete, since it does not protect partitions from being accessed once the system is booted, among other things. Do not expect MenuPlus to protect your company secrets against a determined attempt to break into your systems. ══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ Legal stuff ~~~~~~~~~~~ READ THIS 1. Usage license DocsBoot+ is a shareware program. This means that you are granted the right to run DocsBoot+ and its associated utilities and other files (henceforth collectively referred to as `the Program') for the purpose of evaluating it for up to a month. After this time, you must either register your copy (which extends the right to use the program until some other term of this agreement is broken), or you must remove the Program from your system. You may repeat the evaluation process with new versions as they become available. 2. Permitted use and restrictions You may install the Program on your system in accordance with the instructions that are included. You may operate the Program in accordance with said instructions. You may NOT reverse-engineer, disassemble, attempt to modify the Program except as expressly or implicitly provided in the instructions included with the Program. 3. Reistribution You may distribute the Program in its unmodified original archive file only. You may NOT distribute the Program in any other form, or if you have modified it in any way. You may NOT distribute the Program for a profit. 3a. BBS exemption to redistribution restrictions Computer Bulletin Board Systems (BBSes) operator may charge for access to their systems or file areas, but may not charge specifically for the Program. 3b. Shareware distribution company exemption to redistribution restrictions Companies who specialize in the distribution of shareware programs on CD-ROM or other media may redistribute the Program for profit along with other programs, providing that : i. they state plainly on the package or on the medium (preferably both) that the programs contained are shareware and must be registered with their authors for continued use, and ii. they do not charge unusually high prices for the redistribution of the Program. 3c. Specific exemptions to redistribution restrictions Exemptions to certain aspects of the redistribution restrictions may be negotiated. Please contact Zac Schroff (zschroff@docsware.com) for more information or if you wish to negotiate an exemption. Note that exemptions are granted only physically and in writing, never electronically or verbally. 4. Disclaimer of warranty The Program is provided as-is and without warranty of any kind. DocsWare, Zac Schroff, and any licensee or authorized agent of DocsWare (henceforth referred to collectively as the Agent) expressly disclaim any and all warranties and/or condition, expressed or implied, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of fitness or usability for any purpose, satisfactory quality, continuous error-free or reliable operation, merchantability for any particular purpose, or that it will meet the requirements of any particular situation. The Agent makes no warranty for the readability, accuracy, correctness or reliability of the documentation which is included with the Program. No oral or written statement, nor advice given by the Agent shall create a warranty in any way, nor shall it increase the scope of any warranty. Should the Program prove defective, you, and not the Agent, assume the entire cost of all necessary servicing, repair, or correction. Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion of implied warranties, so some of the above exclusions may not apply to you. The terms of this disclaimer do not alter or prejudice your statutory rights in acquiring the Program other than in the course of a business, neither do they exclude or limit any liability for personal injury or death caused by the Agent's negligence. 5. Limitation of liability. Under no circumstances, including negligence, shall the Agent be liable for any special, incidental, consequential, or indirect damages arising from or relating to this license or the Program. Some jurisdictions do not allow the limitation of incidental or consequential damages, so the above limitation may not apply to you. In no event shall the Agent's liability exceed the lesser of the cost to you of the Program or the amount of fifty (50) US dollars. 6. Export law assurances. You may not use or export or re-export the Program except as authorized by United States law and the laws of the jurisdiction in which the Program was obtained. Particularly, but without limitation, the Program may not be used or otherwise exported or re-exported : i. to anybody on the United States Treasury Department's list of Specially Designated Nationals, or ii. to anybody on the United States Department of Commerce's Table of Denial Orders, or iii. into or to a resident or national of any United States embargoed country. 7. Government end users. Government end users are to follow the laws and terms which apply to everybody else. 8. Controlling law and severability. This license shall be governed by the laws of the United States of America. If for any reason a court in a competent jurisdiction finds any provision, or portion thereof, to be unenforceable, the remainder of this license shall continue in full force and effect. 9. Complete agreement. This licenese contitutes the entire and complete agreement between all parties with respect to the Program and the use of the Program. This license supercedes any and all prior or contemporaneous understandings or agreements about such matters. No modification or amendment to the terms of this license will be binding unless it is in writing, and signed by an Agent who has been specifically and properly authorized to make such modifications or amendments. ══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ Trademarks ~~~~~~~~~~ Several trademarks from various sources were mentioned somewhere in this document. Here is a listing of some of the trademarks and their owners (any not listed here are still the property of their respective owners) : Trademark Owning entity ──────────────────────────── ──────────────────────────────────────── Adaptec Adaptec, Inc. AMI American Megatrends Incorporated ATI ATI Technologies Inc. BootManager International Business Machines corp. Borland Borland International BSD Berkeley Systems Development group DR-DOS Digital Research corporation Digital Research Digital Research corporation DiskManager Ontrack research DocsBoot, DocsBoot+ Zac Schroff DOSWatch Zac Schroff ExtraDrives Zac Schroff IBM International Business Machines corp. Microsoft Microsoft corporation MS Microsoft corporation MS-DOS Microsoft corporation Norton Utilities Peter Norton, then later Symantec corp. Ontrack Ontrack research OS/2 International Business Machines corp. PC, PC-XT, PC-AT International Business Machines corp. PC-DOS International Business Machines corp. Toshiba Toshiba America corporation UnixWare Novell originally, now SCO VersaBoot, VersaBoot ][ Zac Schroff Windows, Windows 95, Win95 Microsoft corporation Windows NT, WinNT Microsoft corporation ══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ Installation of the MenuPlus extension ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Once you have installed DocsBoot+, boot your system to an OS that allows you to access the floppy as a DOS floppy disc, and allows access to the first FAT partition on the primary hard disc. If you have the `Load extension from directory' option on the DocsBoot+ `Boot parameters screen' set to `no', copy the file MENUPLUS.DBX from the DocsBoot+ disc to the root directory of the first FAT partition on your first physical hard disc. Usually, this is your C drive when you boot DOS from it. If you have the `Load extension from directory' option on the DocsBoot+ `Boot parameters screen' set to `yes', copy the file MENUPLUS.DBX from the DocsBoot+ disc to the DOCSBOOT directory (in the root directory) of the first FAT partition on your first physical hard disc. Usually, this is your C drive when you boot DOS from it. You will need to make sure the `Search for extensions' option on the `DocsBoot+ Boot Parameters' screen in the DocsBoot+ setup is set to `yes'. If it is not, DocsBoot+ will not look for extensions, and will therefore not load the MenuPlus extension (this applies whether the extensions are in the directory or not. ══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ Operation of the MenuPlus extension ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ When you start your system with DocsBoot+ installed, DocsBoot+ will perform its usual initial functions. During the scan for extensions, it will load the MenuPlus extension. When it is loaded, the MenuPlus extension will display a banner indicating it was loaded. If DocsBoot+ does not load the MenuPlus extension, see the above section `Installation of the MenuPlus extension'. When DocsBoot+ would normally display its menu, MenuPlus takes over and displays its menu. MenuPlus has been designed to blend into DocsBoot+, so it will look similar to the full details mode of the original menu. Before any changes are made, the display looks like the one below on my system. ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ DocsBoot+ 0.42:19980703 Copyright (C)1994-1998 Zac Schroff All rights reserved ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── This copy of DocsBoot+ is not registered. Key Drv Description ─── ─── ──────────────────────────────────────────────── A A The primary floppy disc drive B B The secondary floppy disc drive C DOS v7.00 IBM 7.0 FAT 04 00000020 c DOS Maint IBM 5.0 HidFAT 11 0000A000 D ----------- IBM 20.0 FAT 06 00000020 E OS/2 v2.10 IBM 20.0 FAT 06 0000003F e OS/2 v3.00 IBM 20.0 HidFAT 16 0003EC10 F ----------- IBM 20.0 FAT 06 00000020 G OS/2 Maint IBM 20.0 FAT 06 00000020 In 15 seconds, I will boot DOS v7.00 IBM 7.0 FAT 04 00000020 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Arrows select, [Enter] or hotkeys boot, [Space] unhide hidden, [Escape] toggle timed boot, [Ins] add to catalogue, [F6] edit catalogue, [F8] edit menu setup, [F10] use previous menu routine, [^C] reboot the system, [^R] refresh display. ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ On this screen, there are three items per selection. Key is the key that is defined as the hotkey for that selection (it is blank if one has not been defined). Drv is the drive letter for the selection, if applicable (this is normally uppercase; a lowercase drive letter indicates a hidden partition). Description is a description for the selection (it is close to the DocsBoot+ description by default, but it can be modified). The selections will naturally be different on your system, according to your partition and drive layouts, the volume labels on your partitions, and your settings in DocsBoot+ and MenuPlus. From this screen, the following actions can be taken... You can select which partition to boot using the up and down arrow keys. You can select any of the partitions in the list this way. If there are more partitions than are displayed, moving beyond the displayed partitions will scroll others into view. You can boot the selected partition by pressing the [Enter] key. This will immediately begin loading of the operating system which is installed on the selected partition. You can boot a partition by pressing the hotkey that you have associated with the partition. This functions the same as moving the cursor to the particular partition and then pressing [Enter]. If timed boot is enabled, you can wait for the timer to elapse, then the partition indicated in the timed boot message will be booted. You can press [Escape] to toggle the timed boot function. You can press [Space]. If you have selected a hidden partition, it will be unhidden, and all the hidable partitions on the same drive will be hidden. If you have selected an unhidden partition, that partition will be hidden and no other partition will be made visible (this is so you can easily add more partitions without a partition table editor or sector editor). You can press [Ins] to add the currently selected partition to the catalogue, or if the selected partition is in the catalogue, to edit the catalogue entry for the selected partition. There is a limit of 30 user partitions in the catalogue. You can press [F6] to edit the catalogue directly. This allows you to make the same changes as the add to catalogue option, but it also allows you to make changes to several catalogue entries, or to even remove entries from the catalogue (you may need to remove entries if you repartition often -- there is a limit of 30 user partitions in the catalogue). You can press [F8] to edit the configuration of the MenuPlus extension. This allows you to specify the menu password, setup password, menu display colours, timed boot parameters, and other options for the extension. You can press [F10] to abort MenuPlus (if this option is enabled in the MenuPlus settings) and return to the previous menu. You can press [^C] to restart the system. You can press [^R] to refresh the display. ══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ Addition of partitions to the catalogue ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To take full advantage of the MenuPlus extension, you must tell it about your partitions. To do this, you select a partition on the menu, and press [Ins]. This will take you to the catalogue entry editor screen, where you can assign the partition a hotkey, edit the description of the partition, or set certain optons for the partition. When you press [Ins] on an entry in the menu, you will be preseneted with a screen like the one below. ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ DocsBoot+ 0.42:19980703 Copyright (C)1994-1998 Zac Schroff All rights reserved ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── This copy of DocsBoot+ is not registered. Ltr Drv ID Initial Count Boot ─── ────── ──────── ──────── ──── C 80 00000020 00009FE0 Yes Key Description ─── ──────────────────────────────────────────────── DOS v7.00 IBM 7.0 FAT 04 00000020 Show partition on the menu : Yes Require password for boot : No Password : ******** ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── This is the hotkey that is used to quickly select this partition. It can be any numeric, uppercase alphabetic, or certain symbols. ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ You can change the field you are editing by using the [Up] and [Down] arrow keys. Note that you can not edit the top four fields. Press the [F10] key when you are done to save your changes. Each field has a brief description on the screen, and instructions for editing if the method is not easily decipherable. They are also described below. Ltr : This is the drive letter of the partition, according to DOS, OS/2, WinNT, or other letter-based operating systems, as accurately as DocsBoot+ could guess it (MenuPlus gets all of the base parameters for the partitions from DocsBoot+). This can not be edited, as it is determined automatically when DocsBoot+ scans for partitions on startup. Drv ID : This is the physical device number of the drive that the partition is located on. This can not be edited. Initial : This is the first sector of the drive (using linear sector numbering from zero) that the partition occupies. This can not be edited (use a partitioning utility to change this). Count : This is the number of sectors the partition encompasses. This can not be edited (use a partitioning utility to change this). Boot : This is yes if DocsBoot+ reported this partition appears to be bootable. It is no otherwise. If this is no, MenuPlus will not boot this partition unless the Allow boot nonbootables option on the MenuPlus configuration screen is set to yes. This can not be edited. Key : This is the hotkey that will select and boot the partition from the menu. This can be changed by pressing any alphabetic or numeric key (also some symbols can be used). This can be cleared by pressing [Space]. Note that space is NOT a valid hotkey, as it is already used by the menu enhancer. Description : This is the description of the partition that will appear on the menu (instead of the technical data usually displayed). You can use the [BackSpace] key to erase. Alphabetic, numeric, and many symbols will add text to the description. Show partition on the menu : This indicates whether the partition is to be displayed on the menu. Set this to yes by pressing [Y], set it to no by pressing [N]. Require password for boot : This indicates whether MenuPlus will ask for the password before it will allow this partition to be booted. Note that the partition can still be hidden/unhidden without the password, so it would be a good idea to also password protect the floppy drives and the BIOS setup for the machine (which should be set to boot from C only). Password : This is the password for this partition (note that all partitions in the catalogue can have different passwords. The password can not be displayed, but you can enter a new password by typing in this field, and [BackSpace] can be used to back up. The password will not be displayed as you type, but asterisks will be displayed in its place. The field will revert to eight asterisks when you finish editing it, but the new password will be stored. Please note that trailing spaces on passwords are ignored. ══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ Editing of partitions in the catalogue ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ When you press [F6] from the menu, you will see a screen similar to the one you get when you press [Ins] from the menu. The difference is that you can press [PageUp] and [PageDown] to move to the previous and next entries in the catalogue. Otherwise, you can edit the displayed partition entry as you would edit in the add partition entry screen, discussed above. You can also press [Del] from this screen to remove a partition entry from the catalogue. This action is unrecoverable (there is no undo function), so you will be asked whether you really want to delete the entry from the catalogue. Press [Y] to indicate you do want to delete the partition, [N] if you have changed your mind. Note that you can not delete the definitions of the floppy discs, since there is no way to add the floppy disc entries again. ══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ Configuring the MenuPlus extension ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ When you press [F8] from the menu, you will be taken to the configuration screen for MenuPlus. The display will be like the one below. ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ DocsBoot+ 0.42:19980703 Copyright (C)1994-1998 Zac Schroff All rights reserved ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── This copy of DocsBoot+ is not registered. Require password for menu : No Password : ******** Require password for setup : No Password : ******** Include all partitions : Yes Allow boot nonbootables : No Use boot countdown timer : Yes Delay : 15 Keypress disables timer : Yes Allow F10 to exit menu : No Menu text attribute : 1F **** Menu selection attribute : 70 **** ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── This is the hotkey that is used to quickly select this partition. It can be any numeric, uppercase alphabetic, or certain symbols. ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ You can change the field you are editing by using the [Up] and [Down] arrow keys. Press the [F10] key when you are done editing to save your changes. Each field has a brief description on the screen, and instructions for editing if the method is not easily decipherable. They are also described below. Require password for menu : This indicates whether the password to the right will be required before the menu will be displayed. This can be used with DocsBoot+'s option to hide the menu except when the right shift key is down to help keep unauthorised people booting the system except in one particular way. THIS PASSWORD HAS NO EFFECT IF THE MENU IS DISABLED in DocsBoot+. Set this to yes by pressing [Y], set it to no by pressing [N]. Password : This is the password for the function to the left (there are two `Password' entries). The password can not be displayed, but you can enter a new password by typing in this field, and [BackSpace] can be used to back up. The password will not be displayed as you type, but asterisks will be displayed in its place. The field will revert to eight asterisks when you finish editing it, but the new password will be stored. Please note that trailing spaces on passwords are ignored. Require password for setup : This indicates whether the password to the right will be required before any changes can be made to the MenuPlus settings (this includes the partition catalogue). This can be used with other passwords to keep people from getting around the passwords by simply changing the settings. Include all partitions : This indicates whether all partitions in the list DocsBoot+ generates will be included (when yes), or whether only those in the catalogue will be included (when no). The only way to add new partitions to the catalogue is to have this set to yes, but you can set this to yes, add a new partition, then set it back to no. Allow boot nonbootables : This indicates whether MenuPlus will attempt to boot partitions that DocsBoot+ did not identify as bootable when it did the partition check. If this is yes, MenuPlus will try to boot partitions DocsBoot+ identified as nonbootable. If this is no, MenuPlus will not attempt to boot these partitions. MenuPlus will always allow partitions that were identified as bootable to be booted. Use boot countdown timer : This indicates whether MenuPlus will automatically boot the system after waiting the number of seconds indicated in the delay field, to the right. Delay : This is the number of seconds MenuPlus will wait before automatically booting the system. This has no effect if the use boot countdown timer option to the left is no. Set this using the [+] and [-] keys (the range is only 0 through 63 seconds). Keypress disables timer : This indicates whether MenuPlus will disable the timer on any keypress (if yes), or will simply reset the timer for any keypress (if no). Allow F10 to exit menu : This indicates whether an F10 keypress will be allowed to exit the menu. If yes, pressing F10 will exit MenuPlus and return control to the previous menu function. If no, pressing F10 will have no effect. Menu text attribute : This is the text attribute for the menu text, with an example of what colours this attribute will appear as on your screen. To change the background, press [[] or []]. To change the text colour, press [-] or [+]. Menu selection attribute : This is the text attribute for the menu selection bar, with an example of what colours this attribute will appear as on your screen. To change the background, press [[] or []]. To change the text colour, press [-] or [+]. ══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ [end of file]