Dual Boot 98 and XP

[dodgyone]

I have two hard drives (10GB {newest} and 3.5GB {quite old}) and I would like to install Windows 98 and XP on my PC.

I beleive that you should always start by installing the earlier system first!

I would like to partition the drives so that each has a partition for the operating system files and a partition for general files (Windows 98 could fit on the older hard drive and XP on the newer 10GB drive!).

How do you partition the hard drives so that each operating system is configured to use only the required partitions for their own set up?

Any other ideas / suggestions?

Thank you....

 

[Mulga]

Install 98 on the larger drive then run the XP installation. It will detect the 98 and give you a choice of upgade or clean install. Select clean install. It will then allow you to create a partition for XP, giving you the choice of FAT32 or NTFS. Note that if you choose NTFS you will not be able to access this partition from within 98 so if you are going to keep data on this partition which you want to access from both OSs choose FAT 32. Proceed with the installation as normal, when you are finished the system should give you a choice of OS at boot up with XP being the default. You could then use the other HDD for data storage.

 

[dodgyone]

After the 98 install (I presume you meant on a drive with no partitions!) you can partition the drive to use XP but can you go one step further and add another partition in the NTFS format for general files etc? So that you have three partitions

1 = Windows 98 (FAT32)
2 = Windows XP (NTFS)
3 = General files (NTFS)

I just want to make sure that I don't have to partition the drive before the 98 and XP installation to accommodate this. I'd hate to be almost finished and to have to start all over again!

Another thing though... I wouldn't of minded keeping the Windows 98 installation entirely on the older 3.5GB hard drive (create x2 FAT32 partitions for the OP and general files) and then install XP on the larger new drive (creating x2 NTFS paritions for the OP and general files. Any suggestions / ideas / forseeable problems?

Thanks for your advice..

 

[PAndersen]

Before installing Win98 (on the newest drive), you should
use a partition tool and create, say 4 partitions :
C: boot partition and Win98 , 1GB or less.
E: XP system partition , say 3 GB.
F: Data 1
G: Data 2
The old drive (backup of data ?) might have 2 partitions,
D: and H: .

 

[Comtech]

Set your older drive as C: ACTIVE using fdisk, adjusting the jumpers accordingly, install windows98.
Restart, using a startup disk with CD-ROM access to install XP. Choose custom install (not upgrade) and specify D: as the place to install it.
Once finished, XP will have installed a boot manager (boot.ini) file on C: and you will have the choice of either OS. You can also repartition the new drive, and change from FAT32 to NTFS if you like, during the install process.
It's easier to do, than to explain. Cheers,
Jim

http://members.cnx.net/reboot/

 

[Guest_imported]

All the information u were given is CORRECT. and Yes its easier to do than to explain. But REMEMBER NO MATTER what format u use with XP part of the installation files for XP will be on C:\(Master Drive. And if i understand u correctly u want to put all your general files in a NTFS partition so that only XP which will be NTFS can read them only... think first NTFS can read fat None of the FAT(s) can read NTFS...seems to me ur making something very easy very hard. I use Win98ME and XP dual boot.

 

[Comtech]

The way I've explained it, assumes that 98 is the OS that will be used the most.
Yes, XP (NTFS) can read/write to FAT32, but not the other way around, thus the whole XP installation (and 3rd partition) will be hidden while running 98. If you DON'T want it to be hidden, just install it as a FAT32 system (XP install gives you the option). Cheers,
Jim

http://members.cnx.net/reboot/

 

[dodgyone]

Thank you everyone... I think I have anough info to get on and try it for myself now.

I think I'm gonna go with C: as Win98, D: as WinXP and then leave the rest (E on plain old FAT32 for general files so that each OS can get to them.

Cheers ;o)

 

[mventour]

if you've had problems with this "old" drive, including noisy operation, then don't use it for backup data. i made that mistake with my MP3 Library, and i came home one evening and the disk size read "0(0(". i still don't know what that means. If you sting me, I won't mind.

 

[Guest_imported]

I have two harddisk, the new (20gb) and old (2gb), i want the '98 in the old one and xp on the new one. But i want to the new one as drive C: ( Master ) while the old one as drive dSlave). And i want to have a dual boot. how to install both of them and have a dual boot?? I've tried several times but failed.

i've tried install and the position only the old one as CPrimary) '98 and the new one DSlave)'xp. i don't want the setting of harddisk like that. I want the new harddisk as Master (C and have XP

 

[bandit1]

I have a new clean install of XP Pro and have been suffering through driver compat. issues (particularly nVidia demons). Seemingly random system crashes and XP fingers the garphics card and/or drivers as the culprit. And there seem to other issues alo
(AMD Atlon XP 1600, ecs K7VTA3 motherboard, 512 ram, 40 gig HD, GeoForce TNT card,) I've updated all the drivers and problems persist. MS recommends turning off all accelerationas a "fix". Great!??.

Any way, in my attempt to live with this while debugging, swapping video cards, whatever, I thought I would go the dual boot route.

Is there a way to safely add WIN ME to my box as a second operating system after I have installed XP Pro. I really don't want to start over again from a clean drive. I'm running Norton Sys Utilities with GoBack, because of the numerous crashes and dumps, but this is incompatable with System Commander which other wise could do the dual boot install for me.

I'm open to suggestions...Thanks
GLB

 

[Guest_imported]

i have a problem. i have win 98 on my 40gb hard disk and i want to set up a dual boot with winxp on the same disk. i choose to set up a clean install of xp. okay here's where the problem starts. the computer restarts and the menu comes up to install xp on another partition press c.
step 2 the only partitions that xp will let me install it on is my c: drive which had win98 on it or the 8mb temp partition needed to install xp, i cant seem to add another partition for xp to dual boot. can anyone help me???
thanks for all your time guys

 

[Guest_imported]

I just a brand new computer with 40GB hardrive and I partitioned it 10:30.

I would like to have windows98 (10GB) and windows xp(30GB) dual boot up. How would I go about this?

Would I just install Windows98 on one drive and WindowsXP on the other drive?

Thanks

 

[electraboy]

NewComputer : Yes !
XP (and NT4.O, WIN2K) has a built in boot manager that detects previous installations en adds them to the boot manager.
It's possible too install first XP and than windows 98, but it's a lot easier to do it your way !! It is impossible to make anything foolproof because fools are so ingenious.

Murphy's Laws​

 

[jkhatun]

hi All: i have a question: i have a 20 gig HD and i had win98 and win2k PROF installed
in a dual boot. I had the 20 gig partioned into 4 pieces

1) (c drive FAT32) 3.2gig installed win98

2) (d drive NTFS) 10.2gig installed win2000prof

3) (e drive NTFS) 3.2gig winXP prof. and

4) (f drive fat16) 1.95 gig just for data and stuff.

I first had win98 and win2k installed for about 1 and a half years and it was working just
fine, I was able to boot into anyone of the OS without any problem but now I just installed winXP on
the E drive and it works perfectly and win2k works fine too without any problem but I am not
able to boot to my win98 OS. when i boot to 98 it gives a black blank screen. I need to get
into 98 to resize my XP partion to make it bigger, once i can accomplish this i will remove 98.
can some one please tell me how i can get win98 working again??? thanks for your help.

Jayeda! email me @ jkhatun2k@hotmail.com

 

[gifton]

I have a dual booted system, ME and XP. ME went on first and since then I have installed XP to a seperate partion. ME resides on C: and XP on E:. The reason for doing this was to build a new operating system whilst the old one was still operational and then resize the XP partition when I had no further use of ME. The problem I have is that XP automatically puts its system files on drive C: so I cannot get rid of it. I would also like XP to be C:. How do I achieve this?

 

[wolluf]

Backup, remove both existing partitions and reinstall XP on its own (by far the best option). There are others (post back if you want details), but they're honestly not worth the trouble.

 

[gifton]

I would appreciate any other methods as it is a complex windows build.

 

[wolluf]

Backup vital stuff before starting anything.

Do this for all options.
Save the boot sector files ntldr, ntdetect.com & boot.ini somewhere on your XP partition.
Edit the boot.ini to remove the Windows ME entry & change the XP to boot from partition 1 rather than 2.
Also make an XP boot floppy by copying the 3 files to formatted floppy.

Option 1. If you've Partition Magic 7.
Delete all files on ME partition.
Merge the 2 partitions using PM.
Copy the boot sector files back to root of new drive.
Boot the disk using XP install CD & choose repair using recovery console (you'll need administrator password).
Run fixboot command. Reboot should get you into XP
Note. PM created partitions are not always compatible with booting windows - so this may not work. XP should still think its on E: (I think).

Option 2 - If you've Norton Ghost & Cd writer.
Copy the boot sector files back to root of XP drive.
Ghost an image of the XP partition to CD(s).
Remove both partitions & create new one (fdisk?)
Ghost image back to new one.
Run fixboot on new partition.
Should now boot XP (still on E: I think).

Option 3 - if you've another hard drive (big enough for your current XP installation & another basic one).
Install XP (temporary) on partition of second drive, leaving space for second partition big enough for your XP.
Create second partition & copy entire you XP install (use explorer - make sure hidden & system files visible) to this partition (except paging file).
Copy the boot sector files to root of 2nd partition too.
Remove both partitions from main drive, create a new one & copy back installation.
Remove temporary drive & reboot into recovery console.
Run fixboot - again should reboot into XP.

Hope this is helpful - note there are no guarantees (the PM option is particularly likely to not boot).