Top 15 rEFInd Alternative and Similar Softwares | Dec 2024

rEFInd is a fork of the rEFIt boot manager for computers based on the Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI) and Unified EFI (UEFI). Like rEFIt, rEFInd is a boot manager, meaning that it presents a menu of options to the user when the computer first starts up, as shown below. rEFInd is not a boot loader, which is a program that loads an OS kernel and hands off control to it.

I decided to fork the earlier rEFIt project because, although rEFIt is a useful program, it's got several important limitations, such as poor control over the boot loader detection process and an ability to display at most a handful of boot loader entries on its main screen. rEFIt's author, Christoph Pfisterer, didn't respond to my e-mails, and the latest official version of rEFIt, 0.14, was released in March of 2010. Thus, it appears that rEFIt has been abandoned. Forking the project to give rEFIt new features seemed like the thing to do. ...

1. Partita 2000

Partita 2000 Partita 2000 is a tiny boot manager with a Y2K patch for old BIOSes. It features a timed autoboot and can automatically change partition type to hidden for selected partitions when loading a given OS.......

2. Grub2Win

Grub2Win Safely dual boot Windows and Linux without touching the Windows MBR.Grub2Win installs to Windows 8, Windows 7, XP, 2000 or Vista. It boots native, open source GNU grub version 2.00 code. Everything is contained in one 7 MB directory on your Windows C: drive.The simple Windows GUI and instructions will......

3. rEFIt

rEFIt rEFIt is a boot menu and maintenance toolkit for EFI-based machines like the Intel Macs. You can use it to boot multiple operating systems easily, including triple-boot setups with Boot Camp. It also provides an easy way to enter and explore the EFI pre-boot environment.......

4. Extended Operating System Loader

Extended Operating System Loader Written in C++ and licensed under GNU GPL, XOSL (eXtended Operating System Loader) is a user-friendly, window-based graphical boot manager handling large disks and over 30 different operating systems.Some features...- customizable GUI with a resolution of up to 1600x1200 (includes a font converter)- mouse and keyboard support; hotkeys- password protected......

5. GRUB for DOS

GRUB for DOS GRUB for DOS is an universal boot loader based on GNU GRUB. It can boot various OSes (some directly, some using their standard boot managers) on different media (HDD, CD/DVD, external USB devices, etc).......

6. Grub Customizer

Grub Customizer Grub Customizer is a graphical interface to configure the GRUB2/BURG settings and menuentries.......

7. Bootice

Bootice Bootice - utility to modify or backup/restore your MBR (Master Boot Record) or PBR (Partition Boot Record). With Bootice, you can easily change your MBR/PBR to another type. Supported boot records are: Grub4DOS, SysLinux, PLoP Boot Manager, MS NT52/60, .... For example, with this utility, you can install Grub4DOS to......

8. EasyEFI

EasyEFI EasyEFI is a boot CD that works with all processors, which will enable install Mac OS X Snow Leopard Retail on a PC.It is recommended to install Mac OS X a separate hard drive (especially if you have Windows or other installed OS), as OSX requires the installation of a......

9. EasyBCD

EasyBCD EasyBCD is NeoSmart Technologies multiple award-winning answer to tweaking Windows bootloader. With EasyBCD, almost anything is possible, e.g. to boot a Win7-VHD-image. Setting up and configuring Windows boot entries is simple, and there is no easier way to quickly boot right into Linux, Mac OS X, or BSD straight from......

10. Upstart

Upstart Upstart is an event-based replacement for the /sbin/init daemon which handles starting of tasks and services during boot, stopping them during shutdown and supervising them while the system is running.......

11. Visual BCD Editor

Visual BCD Editor Visual BCD Editor - advanced GUI version of bcdedit utility. Automatic boot loader creation - Windows 7|Vista|XP|VHD. Fix boot manager and dual boot problems.......

12. PLoP Boot Manager

PLoP Boot Manager The PLoP Boot Manager is a small program to boot different operating systems. You can boot the operating systems from harddisk, floppy, CD/DVD or from USB. You can start the boot manager from floppy, CD, network and there are many more ways to start the boot manager. You can install......

13. iReboot

iReboot iReboot is NeoSmart Technologies simple yet effective reboot helper tool. iReboot sits in your taskbar at startup (only taking up 400KB of memory!) and lets you choose which operating system you want to reboot into. Instead of pressing restart, waiting for Windows to shut down, waiting for your BIOS to......

14. BootIt Bare Metal

BootIt Bare Metal BootIt Bare Metal is a boot manager and partition manager software utility. Whither you want to do non-destructive repartitioning or boot multiple operating systems, this is the product for you. Manage your partitions, install and boot multiple operating systems with ease, back up and restore partitions or entire drives –......

15. Clover EFI bootloader

Clover EFI bootloader This is EFI-based bootloader for BIOS-based computers created as a replacement to EDK2/Duet bootloader.Featuresusing UEFI BIOS or own CloverEFIcan boot Windows UEFI on real Mac and on old PCcustomizable GUI: themes support, own icons, fonts, background image, animated pictures, mouse pointers.theme databaseF1 - multilingual help, depending on language in......