dual boot install of freebsd windows xp using windows boot manager (early 2006): install freebsd set slices (aka windows partitions), leave first for fat32 10GB (type 12) I set 2nd for ntfs partition (type 15) slice/partition/format rest... choose NONE/NO BOOTLOADER (do not touch bootrecord!) after install of bsd reboot with windows install media windows (xp) install now... select to install on c drive (which dumps you into format of this slice/partition) format with fat as soon as format is done (it has a %complete gui) force a reboot on reboot restart install process, selected my ntfs/unpartitioned-but-designated space format and install.... after install boot into bsd from CD (I used freesbie)! for the following I needed details provided by mount (freesbie automounts a bunch of stuff) the command "mount" alone will list the mounted filesystems, in the list you will see your first slice/C: drive (mine was ad0s1) and the mount point (mine was /mnt/dos.1 ): mount the c drive read+write (as root) from the terminal, this (for me) was: mount -uw /mnt/dos.1 next I copied the desired boot file (I still am foggy on the details of mbr, etc etc) indicated in the freebsd install guide: cp /mnt/ufs.3a/boot/boot1 /mnt/dos.1/BOOTSECT.BSD and then edit my boot.ini file (vi /mnt/dos.1/boot.ini ) to add this boot option to the bottom: C:\BOOTSECT.BSD so my file looks something like (I only added the last line): timeout=30 default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS [operating systems] multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Windows" C:\BOOTSECT.BSD="FreeBSD" rebooted rebooted into windows and freebsd a few times to confirm it worked, and it does ................ additional topics/experiences: power management in freebsd (as of 6, possibly earlier) is called ACPI for Advanced Configuration and Power Interface portsnap is really great for getting the latest ports: portsnap fetch portsnap extract portsupgrade -a (upgrade all my ports) /usr/ports/sysutils/fusefs-ntfs has ntfs read and write support portaudit -Fda ( ports/security/portaudit ) gets you security notices on all your ports, wow this is too easy