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"

 

[carlton1]

Done it. This is how my computer was set up before adding any more operating systems
1st HDD a 20GB HDD partitioned into 3
2nd HDD a 2GB
HDD XP already installed on the 1st partition of the 1st HDD.

I then installed 98 on 2nd HDD, got that working.
Then I installed a 2nd copy of XP on the 3rd partition of the 1st HDD. This created a boot menu for all 3 operating systems. I then booted into the original installed XP and removed the 2nd XP path from the boot.ini file.

This leaves me with XP for normal everyday use & 98 for game playing. Great......

Easiest way would be to have 98 installed first then add XP but I did not want to loose all my original settings, groups etc in the XP I already had installed. Hope this helps someone, I can not believe I am the only one to have suffered this problem.

 

[Snipeatwrk]

When setting up for dual booting you must install the older operating system first. In your case windows98. I myself ran fdisk and split my 40gb HD in half.You can either enter a size or a percentage. I then installed win ME on the first partition (C). Then while booting from the winXP cd it will ask if you want to use NTFS or FAT32 file system and pretty much automatically install on the empty D partition.

 

[pvl]

I have found lots and lots of very useful information
at this site

http://www.ultratech-llc.com/KB/?File=BootMgr.TXT

(not only about dual booting).
Hope that it will help you too ....

 

[carlton1]

Thanks for everyone's help. As has been pointed out (on more than 1 occasion on more than 1 forum, install the older O/S first. Unfortunatly on this occasion I was a victom of circumstance. I had no intention of putting 98 or any other O/S back on to my computer. I only wanted to do so because of a couple of older games I could not run on XP.(Even using the compatability wizard) Did not know that until I had got XP up & running with everything setup how I wanted it. Then I decided to give 98 a go but I did not want to loose everything I had done with XP, hence me trying to install 98 AFTER putting XP on.
Still it all works now, thax to pvl for that link I will have a good look at that. Cheers.......for now!!

 

[brettybaby]

I am trying to get xp pro and 98 to work

i installed 98 first and then xp pro next under different folders

I did not get a boot menu for the two os


does anyone know why and can anyone give me some help?

 

[jpm121]

Not supposed to be different FOLDERS -- supposed to be different PARTITIONS (i.e. drive letters). Expect possible conflicts in program installations, possible swap file corruption, etc.

You can try editing your BOOT.INI file to get the two choices to show up, but I expect you won't care for the results in the long term. Do a search for BOOT.INI in the M$ knowledge base.

 

[Mulga]

carlton1,
Excellent workaround for a problem I suspect many will come across. Thanks. All things are possible except skiing through a revolving door.

 

[DualBooter]

carlton1
hey thanks for the work around man, but had one question. After you remove the second XP from the boot.ini, can you delete the second XP partition, or is that just asking for trouble? Didn't know whether deleting that second partition would give the boot loader trouble or not.


Ecto Cooler = greatest Hi-C ever

 

[Guest_imported]

I installed Windows XP first and didnt intend on installing another operating system, but then later decided I wanted Win 2000 so I installed that on a seperate partition and I have the old Windows 2000 dual boot menu which wont load XP. Do you know how I can get the XP dual boot menu with out re-installing the OS's?

Thanx

 

[PAndersen]

Scot Finnie is also reviewing the topic :

http://www.scotsnewsletter.com/24.htm#multib

V-Communication's System Commander seems to be useful.

 

[TheGoodRev]

The correct answer is to install the older operating systems first yes, but since thats not always an option:

To get your XP partition working; Boot up the working 2000 partition, put in the XP CD, and find the files 'boot.ini' 'ntldr' and 'ntdetect'. Select them and copy them onto the root of your XP partition (it'll replace the older file versions there).

Why? When you install win2k, in all its glory and wisdom, it decides to copy over your XP boot up files with its older version numbers.(the 3 files I mentioned). You can check it yourself if you like, the file dates will tell you which is older.

I was pretty disapointed that the Win2k installation doesnt provide warning its copying over newer files, but nonetheless it doesnt, so just be aware of it.

I dont think this technique will fix the win98 problem however, because it wont use the NT style boot-up files.....

 

[wolluf]

Dual booting - use a third party boot manager, and escape all issues of what to install first etc. I use one called Boot-us, which is inexpensive and comes with tools to hide (even from NT/2k/XP) partitions which means each install does not overwrite boot sectors of other operating systems. So you can add/remove operating systems to your heart's content, and it won't affect rest of your setup.

Just my 2 pennyworth

 

[cdogg]

I was able to reinstall Win98SE after I already had Win2K installed. I originally followed the outline of installing Win98 first followed by Win2K. Of course after reinstalling Win98, I ran into the same problem.

carlton1, your workaround is a good option. A quicker one for anyone else who cares is to use the repair installation utility from the Win2k or WinXP CD. You must boot to the CD and then you will get prompted for the option to "repair". There is a combination of steps that you must follow, and I don't recall since it was a long time ago when I did this. But I do know that after finishing the repair and creating a boot.ini file under C:\ (my Win98SE partition), everything worked like a charm. I did not have to reinstall Win2K!!
ck_blk@yahoo.com

 

[Guest_imported]

I installed Win98 then XP Pro, but didn't think I needed 98, so I told XP to overwrite the Windows folder. I later discovered I did, and then simply installed 98 via bootup disk on the same partition as XP. This gives me a bootup menu when I first turn on the computer, allowing me to choose which OS I want. Both OS work perfect, and I have not experienced any problems. I was just wondering why is it necessary to have separate partitions for the two OS?

 

[cdogg]

It is not necessary, but is preferred. Both OS's can use similar paths like C:\Temp or C:\Program Files. If you install apps into the same directories on both OS's, you can run into problems. Plus, when you want to defrag, one OS will put itself before the other.

Better to have seperate partitions for clarity...

You also can't have use NTFS unless NT/2K/XP is on its own partition.


ck_blk@yahoo.com

 

[Guest_imported]

I have two different hard drives on my computer. one is 30 gig and other is 4 gig. I installed XP on 30 gig hard drive and used my other 4 gig hard drive to store files. Now i needed windows 98 to try out a game that works only on 98 so i installed win 98 on 4 gig hard drive. Now when i boot, it boots straight to XP. I can see my 4 gig hard drive under windows explorer with all the win 98 files and folders however it doesnt show both OS while booting. I know if i install 98 first and then XP, it will solve problem but i dont want to erase XP since i dont want to go through the trouble of updating XP and other thins installed in it again. I know that i will have to do something in boot.ini file. However i dont know what to. Currently its like this:

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect

Help me out!!!!

 

[linney]

This line is at the bottom of my Boot.ini file........

C:\="Microsoft Windows ME"

That is the instruction to boot to ME.
Change the C to your drive with Windows 98 on it, and ME to 98.

It would be interesting to know if changing and adding it works. Let us know (if you try it).

 

[wolluf]

Changing the boot.ini file won't help (you need an image of the boot sector of win9x/ME installation before XP installed to boot) - but you should be able to boot win98 by changing bios setting (most bioses allow you to set first boot device to second hard drive or D). You can change it back when you want to return to XP. Alternative is getting a 3rd party boot manager (I use & would recommend the one at

http://www.boot-us.com

if you're interested).

 

[TheGoodRev]

There is a little bit of dodgy advise on this page, I highly reccomend just using the microsoft support website, and see for yourself.

support.microsoft.com