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[MrHaugen]

I know this might be the wrong place for this, but I'll ask anyway.
If you know a great forum this question fits just say so. I have had a hard time finding it.

I need 1 system for media and one for games.
Don't want to mess them both together. And SLI setup don't work with 2 screens wich I use with the media OS. Have to disable one of the cards....

Is there ANY way you can choose OS with a remote control?? That would be the best.

Today I'm using 2 different HD's and presing ESC and choosing secondary HD if I need to play games.
There IS the option of scripting a Shutdown file with modifies the boot.ini and makes the system boot on the other operation system.

Any other thoughts on the subject?

[InflatableMouse]

Doing a new setup of windows to another disk will add itself to the boot.ini, giving you a choice between the two. You will have a bootmenu.

Depending on what you want to do with the 'media pc' and your current hardware specs, you might want to consider Vmware Player (free software) and a free appliance (both downloadable from www.vmware.com). You can then setup your Windows in the Vmware appliance, reformatting the disk that came with the appliance.

The pro's for using Vmware is that you dont need to reboot and simply start another windows in your current windows without desturbing the current session. I used this for Windows Media Center to stream to my xbox360. Works just fine.

[MrHaugen]

I have been using VMWare for 3 months at work now, and love it.
But you simply DON'T run games on a VMWare machine. The grapics get screwed up.
Even in Vista beta 2 it slows down so much I needed to cancel the project.

The other downside is that is also requires alot of memory and prosessing power if there are things going on on both VMWare machines.
If I would just use the Media OS for music it would work. But I also use pretty extreme options in ffdshow with Zoom Player. Have not tested it yet, but I'll be the VMWare would freak out.

So I have to say VMWare is out of the question.

There have to be some other ways. Any way you can do this with hardware? Hard Drive switching or something?

[Mr ChriZ]

2 Computers and a remote KVM switch spring to mind?

[glynor]

If you want somewhere really full of nerds to ask you might want to check here:

http://www.avsforum.com/

I would think, personally, that you should be able to come up with some sort of keyboard-like controller that will work in the boot select menu.

[glynor]

I would think, personally, that you should be able to come up with some sort of keyboard-like controller that will work in the boot select menu.

What about this:

http://www.fentek-ind.com/keypad.htm#kpw21usb

or this:

http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/products/details/US/EN,CRID=2162,CONTENTID=10159

The keypad should be recognized just like a keyboard by the OS and should work even from BIOS screens and whatnot.  The one thing I can't tell with the Logitech one is if you can enable/disable numlock through it (and you wouldn't need the mouse obviously).

EDIT: If you didn't need to go wireless, you could even go with something like this:

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=182650&CatId=0

And program it yourself to have whatever keys you want.  These programmable keypads work just like keyboards (you program it by putting it into program mode and then hooking up a regular keyboard to it and entering the keypresses that way).

[MrHaugen]

2 Computers and a remote KVM switch spring to mind?

I only got one, and would never have the use of powering them both up at the same time.

[MrHaugen]

What about this:

http://www.fentek-ind.com/keypad.htm#kpw21usb

or this:

http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/products/details/US/EN,CRID=2162,CONTENTID=10159

The keypad should be recognized just like a keyboard by the OS and should work even from BIOS screens and whatnot.  The one thing I can't tell with the Logitech one is if you can enable/disable numlock through it (and you wouldn't need the mouse obviously).

EDIT: If you didn't need to go wireless, you could even go with something like this:

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=182650&CatId=0

And program it yourself to have whatever keys you want.  These programmable keypads work just like keyboards (you program it by putting it into program mode and then hooking up a regular keyboard to it and entering the keypresses that way).

Good suggetions.
- I could have one with a cord hidden away or implemented in the wall or something. But it's not intuitive for other users than my self. And I would rather not have more components to work with.
- Could also have one wireless mounted under my table or something. It would probably need recharging now and then though.

Maby I'll buy an electro motor, equip my cabinet with 2 power buttons, and have the motor switch ide og sata cables depending on wich power button you hit. The would require som contact points and cable fiddeling thou.


Are there no 3'rd party boot managers wich can work with LegacyUSB drivers (or whatever) for my Imon Pad?
The IR reciever uses a the internal USB connection.

[InflatableMouse]

So if vmware or 2 pc's are out of the quetion, then the only other option is rebooting into the other OS. The default XP boot menu should suffice. At least, it does for me. I boot between vista x64 and a regular XP.

[glynor]

Are there no 3'rd party boot managers wich can work with LegacyUSB drivers (or whatever) for my Imon Pad?
The IR reciever uses a the internal USB connection.

I would guess no.  If it doesn't work in the BIOS, then it probably won't work in most boot loader apps.

The only thing I think that could work would be GRUB.  Have you tried the device in Linux at all?  I know there's a way to use GRUB with Windows installs (even, I think, if you don't have Linux installed at all on the machine, though that makes it more difficult).

[MrHaugen]

So if vmware or 2 pc's are out of the quetion, then the only other option is rebooting into the other OS. The default XP boot menu should suffice. At least, it does for me. I boot between vista x64 and a regular XP.

I would kind of agree. My whole point is to get ridd of any keyboard. The only thing I want is the remote control.
If I'm gonna get it to work my way I have to make a kind of HD switch that works remotely. That will not be an easy task.
Think I have to stick with a script that edits the boot loader and restarts to the oposit OS. That way I can easily switch between the OS without using a keyboard or lifting my ass from the comfortable chair. The os have a really fast boot time anyway. So it will not be that much trouble to start in the wrong one.

The only thing I think that could work would be GRUB. Have you tried the device in Linux at all? I know there's a way to use GRUB with Windows installs (even, I think, if you don't have Linux installed at all on the machine, though that makes it more difficult).

That might be. I have never looked into it.
Would need a keyboard og keypad anyway I guess.

BTW. I CAN make a dual boot startup menu with the OS's on different disks right? Don't want the fuckers on the same disk. So easy to mess it all up.

[newsposter]

Why not use the free VMware server and host your several operating systems in virtual machines??  CPU and Ram are dirt cheap these days.  The convienence of running all this together is certainly worth the test.

[MrHaugen]

The reason is that it requires some more resourses to run one base OS and then 1 or 2 virtual machines. Will never get the same effect as using one OS at a time. I want value for my money...

The second reason is that the graphic part of VMWare sux. I have been running about 4-5 different operating systems for 4 months on work now. It's totally cool until you need some demanding video post prosessing and not to mention games! Bah.

The point is to get the most out of the media Os and the games OS too. I tried to run Vista in WMVare but aero skin totally killed it.
WMVare is a good thing. But there are still limitations.