Plop Boot Manager

Overview

Plop Boot Manager is a small boot utility for starting operating systems from local drives, optical discs, USB devices or a network. It suits people who need boot options their BIOS does not provide, especially USB or CD/DVD boot on older systems. Its broad boot-source and integration support is useful, but the listed release is dated 2013 and the way it is launched affects whether settings can be saved.

Key features

Plop’s built-in USB driver can start USB devices without BIOS USB boot support, using UHCI, OHCI and EHCI. Its IDE CD/DVD driver likewise supports optical boot without BIOS support. That makes it a practical option when firmware lacks these boot paths, rather than a general-purpose modern boot-management suite.

It can boot from hard disks, floppy disks, CDs/DVDs, USB and network. Installation in the disk’s first sectors before the first partition avoids creating an extra partition. It can also be launched from LILO, Syslinux, GRUB, GRUB4DOS, GRUB2, Windows boot.ini or Windows BCD; PXELINUX network startup and storage as a BIOS option ROM add further deployment choices.

Configuration includes operating-system profiles, up to 16 partitions, partition hiding, a boot countdown, and text or graphical interfaces. Password protection covers the computer and its setup. The maker also says Plop can access USB hard disks up to 2 TB despite a BIOS limit of 128 GiB. These options give experienced users ways to shape a boot menu and work around firmware constraints, but starting from plpbt.bin rather than installing to the MBR prevents saving boot-manager settings.

Pricing

Plop Boot Manager 5 is free: free. The license permits personal and commercial use, and free inclusion in non-profit products, but the software may not be sold. There is no paid tier or trial to compare. It is provided as-is without express or implied warranty, and the authors disclaim liability for damages arising from its use.

The download page lists version 5.0.15, dated 2013-04-15. That release date is an important consideration for anyone choosing a boot utility for current hardware or relying on ongoing maintenance.

Platforms

Plop is listed for Linux and Windows, with BIOS support, multiboot support, boot-entry editing and boot-menu customization. Its documented integrations span Linux boot managers and Windows boot configuration, while the USB and optical drivers specifically address missing BIOS boot support.

Who it's for

Choose Plop if you need to boot USB or optical media on a BIOS-limited machine, or want a boot manager that can be added alongside common Linux and Windows boot loaders without another partition. Its profile, partition-hiding and password features also suit users who want more control over startup choices.

Look elsewhere if you need a recent listed release, or if your setup requires saving configuration while launching from plpbt.bin. The warranty disclaimer also makes it a poor fit for users who require an explicit warranty.

Pros and cons

• Pro: Built-in USB and IDE CD/DVD drivers can enable booting without corresponding BIOS support.
• Pro: Multiple installation and launch routes, including installation before the first partition and integration with several Linux and Windows boot managers, offer flexibility without an extra partition.
• Pro: Free for personal and commercial use, with no charge for the listed plan.
• Con: Settings cannot be saved when launched from plpbt.bin instead of installed to the MBR.
• Con: The listed 5.0.15 release dates to 2013-04-15, which may give pause to users seeking a more recently listed version.
• Con: The software comes without express or implied warranty, and its authors disclaim liability for resulting damages.

Alternatives

Boot-US is worth comparing if you want a freemium option with a free plan for private PCs and public schools, or a paid one-PC license at 24.50 USD billed once. Clover Bootloader is a free alternative with Linux, macOS and Windows platform listings and a BSD 2-Clause license that permits source and binary redistribution. Launchpad is listed as a free choice for open-source software projects, with Canonical Ltd. identified in its site copyright notice. OpenCore is a free option with a public open-source repository under the BSD-3-Clause license.

rEFInd is another free alternative if an EFI-based computer is the right fit; its binaries are for x86, x86-64 and ARM64, and it uses GPL version 3. SARDU MultiBoot Creator has free registered and standard plans for personal, non-commercial use, with remote automatic updates included in the registered plan. Super Grub2 Disk is a free alternative. SYSLINUX is free under GNU GPL version 2 or later. Browse Boot Manager Software for more options.

Verdict

Plop Boot Manager is a strong fit for technically capable users trying to boot USB or optical media on BIOS-limited systems, with a useful range of boot-loader integrations and no license cost. Its dated listed release, inability to save settings when run from plpbt.bin, and no-warranty terms are clear reasons to choose another option if those constraints matter more than its firmware workarounds.