BCDW vs CD Shell

[ArmyDoc]

I use CD Shell prosonally, but a lot of posts also deal with BCDW - and very often both methods are being used inside the same topic, possibly adding to the general confusion.

I've gone the way of CD SHell because flyakite uses it in his guide, and only later learned of the exsistence of BCDW. By then, I had become proficient enough with CD Shell and could achieve the results I wanted to, and didn't have the time, patience nor the inclination to start using another method.

I'm wondering if I'm missing something out?

So I propose to use use this topic to discuss the merits, weakpoints etc. of both methods to help others make an educated choice.

[Alanoll]

but....

didn't the man also create a BCDW module for CDShell?

[LiquidSage]

They are synergistic. Use both CDShell and the BCDW plugin. CDShell is powerful and easy to learn. Extremely compatible on a variety of systems, old to new. The limited GUI is supplemented with BCDW plugin module, Showgif. Now you can make animated, interactive menus using gifs. The BCDW itself is great for problem files and .wbt's (Acronis boot disks are easy to put in an AIO when they are converted to a wbt and called using bcdw.)

Let's not forget that the new cdshell supports .imz booting. Now I have even more space on my CD to play with. I think I'm in love with both

*Hint - An .imz is not made by WinImage. It is a compressed .ima/.img file made using gzip/gunzip. After compression, simply change the last letter of the file's extension to a 'z'. So after compression, of an ima, you would call it imz. Here is an nifty tool called WinGZ that will take care of any thinking involved in the whole process. Remember, if you use WinImage's .imz compression, your file WILL NOT BOOT!

I don't think you should choose just CDShell or BCDW. Be naughty and choose both!

[bobby100]

@LiquidSage

*.imz isn't a CDShell feature, but Memdisk plugin feature (memdisk is a part of isolinux/syslinux).

New Memdisk (from syslinux 2.10-pre5) can even handle WinImage *.imz files

[LiquidSage]

didnt mean to imply cdshell had native support for imz. nice to know a newer kernel has been released. i haven't check for updates in a bit

[ClauSoft]

I use CDShell but I WILL USE also BCDW for adding Knoppix to my multiboot DVD.