Bootloader that works from Windows

[AeroASM]

I was just wondering: would anything bad happen to my computer if I used a kernel mode driver to disable paging and protected mode and get back down to real mode; then load up and boot my own toy OS?

[Bieb]

Without shutting down Windows?  I'd think that would have some pretty negative effects.

[Mark Jones]

"Type-checking is the work of Satan."  LOL :lol  :U

[thomasantony]

I was just wondering: would anything bad happen to my computer if I used a kernel mode driver to disable paging and protected mode and get back down to real mode; then load up and boot my own toy OS?

Best way to find out is to try it out :bdg

Thomas :U

[Tedd]

There's a program - loadlin? - that I assume does something similar. Check to see if it does anything special :wink

[Bieb]

"Type-checking is the work of Satan."  LOL :lol  :U

But oh so true.  Type checking is the single most thing I hate about HLLs.  I'm great at remembering what I'm using valiables for, and I hate how compilers are always trying to make sure I remember.  I mean, if I want to interpret a bool as an integer, why the hell can't I?  They're both 8 bits in size...

[thomasantony]

Hi,
   Same here. Why bother whats the difference b/w HSH*T and HBULLSH*T or HANDLE or HICON? They are all DWORD and most HLL programmers don't understand that.

Thomas :U

[Tedd]

To carry on with the off-topic discussion.. ::)

Although we (ASMers) like to argue that all of this type-checking is non-sense becase we know better and an integer is a dword, as is a bool, as is blah blah blah.. The problem is that this decision is actually up to the compiler and although these types are usually dwords, they don't HAVE to be, and indeed with 64-bit processors they probably won't be. The type-checking mechanism hides all of this from you to 'protect' you from shooting yourself in the foot. Whether you like the fact that the compiler hides things and inserts code behind your back to second guess what you're doing is down to preference. As bit-twiddlers we like to know what's going on, etc, so all of this is an annoyance to us.
My own opinion is that it can have its uses, but that doesn't mean it's useful everywhere; in fact I find it quite annoying most of the time. I'd prefer a type-checking system that I could choose when and when not to use - eg. do checking for 'types' (integer, bool, float, etc) but not for 'non-types' (byte, dword, ...) - something I plan on implementing in my assembler/compiler when I get around to writing it (read: the week after never :bdg)

[AeroASM]

I was just wondering: would anything bad happen to my computer if I used a kernel mode driver to disable paging and protected mode and get back down to real mode; then load up and boot my own toy OS?

Best way to find out is to try it out :bdg

Thomas :U

I am scared that it might cause a triple fault or similar. Then the device driver will be stuck in memory and will activate everytime I start Windows rendering it unusable so I have to reinstall it - which might be a bit difficult with a broken cd drive.

[Mark Jones]

You don't keep a daily backup???  :eek  :naughty:

[AeroASM]

What should I back it up on to?

[Vortex]

What should I back it up on to?

All your current system, If I understood correctly Mark's reply.

You should backup your machine before experimenting something risky. :naughty:

[MichaelW]

What should I back it up on to?

You could replace your broken CD drive with a CD-RW drive, and solve two problems.