Dual boot to 98 after installing XP first 1

[carlton1]

Just tried re-installing win 98 on a different partition to get a game to work and that works fine. But the computer will only boot to 98, I can not access XP.
Used XP recovery program (via install CD) typed "fixmbr" then "fixboot", this gave me a boot menu for both operating systems. I could then get back in to XP but not 98. When I selected 98 in the boot menu I got :
I/O error accessing boot sector file muli(0)disk(0)rdisk(0) partition(1) bootsect.dos
I had previously (using Fdisk) partitioned the 20GB HDD into 3 partitions before originally installing XP.
When I check the boot.ini in msconfig it tells me that the following line does not refer to a valid operating system : F:\="Microsoft Windows 98"

 

[wolluf]

TheGoodRev - problem with MS support is you have to have done things their way in the first place. ConfusedTech already has installed o/s the wrong way round for MS dual booting to work, but there are other viable alternatives (like just using bios or better still a boot manager) which allow you to dual boot from ConfusedTech's starting point.

 

[cdogg]

ConfusedTech,
Because you have two different physical hard disks with one OS on each, you should be OK just modifying the boot.ini file. The reason is better explained in the article below, but I'll give it a shot at a summary.

There are 3 main factors involved in dual-booting: MBR, Boot Sector on each primary partition, and NT files (like NTLDR and NTDETECT). As soon as the POST test completes, the BIOS "reads the MBR off the first sector of the hard drive" - in your case, the 30GB hard drive with XP. The MBR tells the BIOS where the BOOT partition is located. In your case again, it's the HD with XP. This is because when you installed Win98, the MBR wasn't modified because it was on a seperate physical drive. Had Win98 been installed on the same physical drive, the MBR would have been overwritten to show that Win98 is the new BOOT partition. As you already know, that causes problems for some people not being able to see XP after installing Win98. In your case, it was just the opposite because you have the OS's on two separate hard drives.


The quote above was taken from this excellent article on the Boot Process:

http://www.winntmag.com/Articles/Index.cfm?IssueID=62&ArticleID=3952

That said, you should be able to workaround your problem by simply editing the boot.ini file. That's because the boot.ini file is still read by NTLDR during the boot process. If you add the following line, it should work:

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(2)partition(1)="Windows 98"

-OR-

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(2)partition(1)

rdisk pertains to the drive in question (0 for primary IDE Master, 1 for primary IDE slave, 2 for secondary IDE master, and 3 for secondary IDE slave).


If it doesn't work, try what linney suggested:

X:\="Microsoft Windows 98" - where X is the drive letter of Win98 partition.

ck_blk@yahoo.com

 

[Guest_imported]

First of all let me thank to all that replied to my concern.

1) I tried what linney said D:\="Microsoft Windows 98" since D is where i have my win98 installed on. It simply restarts.

2) I tried using multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(2)partition(1)="Windows 98" and it gave me error message "Computer disk hardware config problem. Cannot read from selected boot disk"

3) then i tried multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)="Windows 98" and then it said file missing "hall.dll" from "Windows\system32" Now there is no such file in my D:\Windows\System32 but its in my C:\Windows\System32 where XP is installed. I dont know why its looking for that file.

However now i am currenly downloading boot manager to see if wolluf suggestion works...

 

[TheGoodRev]

Wolluf, MS Support isnt all bad . I had a dual-booting issue crop up with 2000 and XP. They did suggest that you should do it 'in the right order'. But they also provided a work-around, which was re-copying the boot files from the CD-ROM. Thats the only way I was able to find out why the boot issue cropped up in the first place. That process is what i explained in my first response.

 

[cdogg]

ConfusedTech,

I apologize for the mistake. I forgot to mention that the line of code involving the rdisk # depends on the position of the 4GB hard drive (primary IDE slave = 1, secondary IDE master = 2). I'm guessing in your case it was supposed to be 1.

It looks as if the HALL.DLL file is only needed by NTLDR during NT's boot process. I think the main problem is this. Win98 has to be located on the main BOOT partition. Files like NTLDR and the boot.ini file are normally then placed on the Win98 partition autmatically by NT/XP's setup.

You might be stuck either going with a 3rd-party boot program, or trying the following:

1) change boot partition in BIOS to reflect Win98
2) boot to XP CD and run repair option

The repair option should recognize Win98 and rebuild the MBR and main boot sector of the Win98 partition. This is all a long shot, and I'm all out of suggestions...

ck_blk@yahoo.com

 

[wolluf]

TheGoodRev - yeh, MS support isn't all bad! Its just that I've generally found more useful information about multi-booting from other sources. Also, there's a different issue when you have a mix of NT based systems and 95 based system compared to just NT based ones. Basically you can always fix NT based ones by copying version of most recent boot files (ntldr and ntdetect.com) to boot sector & using Fixboot from recovery console if necessary. When win9x/ME are involved, there needs to be an image of their boot sector saved to file (because the boot methods of the two types of o/s are different). This is created during NT/2K/XP install if other operating system already there - so won't be if NT/2k/XP installed first. Third party boot managers can allow installation of the o/s with their own boot sectors intact (by hiding existing one(s) while installing later one(s)) - so you have independence - doesn't matter which first, and you can remove & reinstall with minimal difficulty.

 

[anabavi]

Carlton, or someone else:

I'm in a similar situation except XP is on my second partition because I was running DOS on my first. What do you think would be different from your experience if I installed 98 on my first partition?

 

[Guest_imported]

Hey! Install XP First then 98???

ok, when you boot into 98 insert the Windows XP CD
and run Install Windows XP then New installation
and yadayadayada and all other When computer is restarted,
you will get the Boot Menu Back!

just remove some garbage the setup made
DO NOT CONTINUE WITH WINDOWS XP SETUP CAUZ U R DONE!

 

[Guest_imported]

Hey! Install XP First then 98???

ok, when you boot into 98 insert the Windows XP CD
and run Install Windows XP then New installation
and yadayadayada and all other When computer is restarted,
you will get the Boot Menu Back!

just remove some garbage the setup made
DO NOT CONTINUE WITH WINDOWS XP SETUP CAUZ U R DONE!

 

[wolluf]

anabavi,

What's working on your machine now (or is something now not working - what?) - and what set up are you trying to get to?

 

[anabavi]

Thanks, Technology_BOy and wolluf! I have suffered major losses playing, haphazardly, with partitions and whatnot before so I just wanted to get a second opinion before I lost another system.

Yes, it went off without a hitch. The only problem I had was installing 98 because I only had a CD, no boot floppy. (I was using FreeDOS and 98 wouldn't launch setup from that OS.) And actually, XP detected the 98 installation automatically -- no boot CD. I was very pleased.

Wolluf, the reason I installed 98 is because I'm getting into MIDI recording and XP gave me WAY too much latency. I've seen many, many posts to the contrary, but *my* XP Pro totally and is terrible for MIDI. 98 saved the day for me. (Since I have a halfway decent sound card I didn't want to upgrade just to be disappointed again.)

Thanks for your responses.