Installing Win2k with Win 98 1

[xscape]

I've got Win 98 SE running, but I've just 'aquired' a copy of Win 2k Pro. I wanna run the two on different partitions (I'm thinking FAT32 and NTFS, but should I go for just FAT32 for Win 2k as well??).

Thing is, I'm not sure where to start. Without splashing out on any extra software, how do I go about partitioning it and sticking Win2k on so it'll dual boot? Sorry if this sounds like a really basic question, but I just don't wanna mess up my HD and loss what I've got on there. (And just as an aside, is IIS included with it like PWS on Win 98, or do I need to get that seperately?).

Thanks a lot for any advice!!

 

[wolluf]

Hmmm.

If your win98 partition is occupying the whole of your only hard drive then you will need software such as partition magic to shrink current partition to make space for second one for win2k. If you haven't got PM there are some freewares which you could use (but all I've seen are difficult to use - although i've not looked in a while). New hard drive is probably as cheap as PM.

If you do get hold of copy of PM (and I certainly wouldn't suggest certain P2P sharing software to find a copy), only use it to shrink existing partition (don't create new partition for win2k - use tools in win2k install to do that - can cause problems is you use PM to create partition to install win2k onto). Start the install from win98 and choose clean install rather than upgrade - it will create a dual boot menu. Win2k does come with IIS.

Some points (assuming you're going ahead):-

Once dual boot is set up, it can be a nuisance to remove win98 (for example, once you've noticed how much better it is than win2k) - as all boot files will be in the win98 partition.

You could use a 3rd party boot manager (I use the one at

http://www.boot-us.com

- free for personal use) which allows you to install the operating systems independently of each other (so messing with one won't upset the other). This is my preference.

Ideally, if you could get to use another PC with win2k on first (using apps you use in win98) to ensure you liked it and it supports your apps - you could then just go for win2k (again, unless you like playing with dual/multi-boot setups - which I do - I'd recommend this. Win2k is so much more stable than win98, it just makes life a lot easier).

Sorry for rambling a bit - hope this helps.

 

[Snickle]

This page should help with Win2000 [XP is built on same core as 2000]:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q306559

FAT32 will allow both Win2000 and Win98 to access all partitions, Win98 can't work with NTFS at all.

 

[wolluf]

PS on FAT32/NTFS -

http://www.sysinternals.com

has a free utility which allows win98 to read (not write - that costs) NTFS filestore.

 

[xscape]

Hey thanks guys, I might see if I can 'aquire' a copy of PM (er, well it's being 'aquired' as I write this ;-)) so I'll see how I get on with that. Thanks again!

 

[xscape]

OK, I've installed Partition Magic Pro V7.0, and had a good read of all the documentation with the prog and on the web site. I'm almost ready to roll except....

I've got a 40gb Hardrive, and 10gig's already full with win 98 stuff. I tried resizing the partition so that I've got about 10gig left to put Win2k on - though I haven't actually commited to any changes yet because... it says that the new partition is outside the 8GB boundary to be bootable. However if the system supports INT13 then it can boot beyond the 8gb boundary. Well, to be honest I have no idea whether it does or not. INT13? Is that some part of the BIOS, or hardware or what?

So does this mean if I commit to the changes and put this partition in place I won't be able to boot into Win2k? Or will the dual boot selector sort that out? I just hate messing with Hard Drives as it's such a critical part (though I've backed most stuff up it's annoying to have to do the whole thing again).

Thanks a lot if you can help!!

 

[wolluf]

xscape,

Win2k will boot quite happily from the last 10GB on a 40GB disk (bios can obviously see whole disk cos you're accessing it!). As I said earlier, please use win2k install tools to create & format this partition (I suggested using PM to just shrink the win 98 partition - not create the new one). If you've already created it, then during the win2k install, delete it first & recreate with win2k tools. The PM one may work, but lots of instances of it not (when PM creates partition table entry it doesn't use MS standard).

 

[xscape]

Woooohooo! I've got it all sorted! Was a bit weird at the start cos it couldn't install at first (jumped out saying it couldn't read/write to C drive), so I disabled Norton Antivirus and whoosh (er, that's the sound of Windows installing)! Great stuff! Thanks a lot!!

 

[Snickle]

Glad to help. Keep in mind that nearly all software installations have a message to close open programs, that includes AntiVirus.