Boot Manager can be installed, the machine's fixed disks partitioned, and logical disks created at the beginning of OS/2 Version 2.0 installation. It is possible to install Boot Manager after the operating system has been installed by use of OS/2 V2.0's full-screen FDISK command. See Boot Manager Installation for further information.
The names of the logical drives presented at the Boot Manager startup menu are stored in the MBB for primary partitions and in the Extended Boot Record (EBR) for logical drives in extended partitions. For SCSI drives that may be moved freely between different workstations, this approach allows Boot Manager to identify that drive continuously via the same logical name, even though the internal drive letter assignment may have changed.
Operating systems such as OS/2 and DOS are installed on the logical drives, and the user may then switch back and forth between operating systems via the selection menu displayed at IPL time.
OS/2 Version 2.0 provides two programs to create and maintain partitions on fixed disks. These programs provide substantially similar function and differ primarily in their presentation support requirements:
The normal expectation is that FDISKPM will be utilized for partition maintenance, unless there is some reason that Presentation Manager cannot be loaded.
An FDISK utility was supplied with OS/2 Version 1.3. However, its only function was to completely erase any existing partition information and as such it was only intended for use by the installation process, had no meaningful user interface and was not documented. The primary difference between FDISKPM supplied with OS/2 Version 1.3 and the FDISK/FDISKPM supplied with OS/2 Version 2.0 is the addition of a facility for the creation and management of multiple primary partitions together with additional facilities for management of logical drives, as well as support for managing multiple operating systems installed on the logical drives.