ABOUT BOOT LOADERS - SYSLINUX and GRUB

Which one should I choose?

  • What's a Bootloader?

    The BOOT LOADER - SYSLINUX or GRUB - help your PC boot up and load an operating system. Here is the step-by-step:

    1. You press POWER ON
    2. Your BIOS looks for hard drives, CD/DVDs and USB drives
    3. According to the settings you selected, it will select a BOOTABLE DEVICE (usually a hard drive) with a BOOT LOADER (just a tiny file with instructions), and then...
    4. Load the full operating system: like Windows or Linux.
    5. The operating system then loads a Desktop and manages other applications; spreadsheets, internet etc.

    Different bootloaders work in different environments. For example, a Windows bootloader - NTLDR - will not boot a Linux system. But GRUB is a little smarter. GRUB stands for GRAND UNIFIED BOOTLOADER and can boot almost anything. If you can get GRUB to work on your Hard Drive or USB Flash Drive, its probably the best choice.

    SYSLINUX is older and was developed by INTEL. It was the standard for a long time and usually works well, but sometimes it freezes and usually takes longer to boot than GRUB.

    The big advantage to SYSLINUX is it was specifically made for booting Linux from a MSDOS/Windows platform. This means if you can't get GRUB to work, there is probably a good chance you can get SYSLINUX to do the job.

    The Pocket Rocket Linux CLONE USB utility uses GRUB (actually GRUB4DOS) and makes the USB drive in a Linux environment. If you need to create a Pocket Rocket Linux USB Drive with SYSLINUX (because your GRUB version isn't working), you need to use our WEB SITE utility to create your new USB drive. Like SYSLINUX, the web site utility was specifically made for Windows and MSDOS users and will create a Pocket Rocket Linux Bootable USB Flash Drive, load the drive up with everything to boot Pocket Rocket Linux and leave your Windows system intact.

    After booting up with Pocket Rocket Linux, you can make a GRUB based USB boot disk and you will probably notice it boots faster and more reliably. But for some tough PCs, SYSLINUX may be the best choice: its older and was specifically designed for Windows and MS DOS PCs.

    CRASHED LAPTOP OR PC? USE YOUR NEW DISK TO RESCUE YOUR DATA!

    Either SYSLINUX or GRUB can be used to create a boot disk, and then after getting your PC running, you can go fish for your old documents and photos, back them up and do the job without ever booting Windows.

    In fact, you may never want to boot Windows again!

    SMALL PROBLEM: Sometimes SYSLINUX "hangs up"/freezes while booting, and usually takes longer to boot than GRUB. If you use SYSLINUX and the screen hangs up, simply turn it off and on and most of the time SYSLINUX can get the PC booted up.

    SMALL PROBLEM: Some Windows PCs (like the E-Machine) have a hard time recognizing USB drives made with GRUB, and may not boot with GRUB at all. This is probably not the best choice if you want to have a PC data recovery USB Flash Drive that works everywhere on almost any PC.

    If your PC will not boot from a USB Flash Drive, then you need this utility to install Pocket Rocket Linux directly on a C: hard drive.

    How Long Does This Take?

    • Normal speed takes 10 - 30 minutes to completely erase all prior data on a USB drive before partitioning and formatting the new USB drive and installing Pocket Rocket Linux.

    • Fast speed does not erase, partition or format the new USB drive. Any old data is left intact. This is a good choice if you want to keep your existing USB data and installation is much faster: usually 3 - 5 minutes.

      However the USB drive may or may not boot up. The existing format may or may not work in different PCs. Try the Fast method and if it does not work, then use the Normal speed (slow) to prepare the USB drive correctly.

    • Destroy mode erases a USB drive to DoD standards and can take hours writing and rewriting every byte with random data before creating a Pocket Rocket Linux USB drive. Start it in the morning and hope it is done by dinner time. This is ideal for people who absolutely want all traces of old data removed from a hard drive or USB flash drive before installing Pocket Rocket Linux.