Win98/XP Partition during upgrade

[brotherbobby]

I have two 40Gb HD on my PC. I originally had Win98. When I upgraded to WinXP I chose to partition each drive to host each OS. When I start my computer, it asks me which OS I would like to use.

Since I still had some software that would only function using Win98, it was helpful, but I am thinking about upgrading those titles to XP compatible versions.

When I get ready, how do I format my Win98 drive to be a WinXP drive so that when I start up my PC, it will no longer ask for an OS, it will boot directly to WinXP.

I want WinXP to recognize both 40Gb drives as NTFS without the Win98 OS on the HD at all.

Thanks for your help!

God bless,
Bobby

 

[linney]

Everything to do with Windows 98 can be deleted except for the boot loading files, ntldr, ntdetect.com and boot.ini. These files are system files in the root of your (usually) "C" drive. They are also hidden, so you may have to turn on the options to show both system and hidden files.

You will have to edit the boot .ini file to remove references to windows 98.

HOW TO: Edit the Boot.ini File in Windows XP (Q289022)

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q289/0/22.asp

If you were to just delete the partition with 98 on it and lose the above files XP wont load.

 

[wolluf]

You might want to take it a step further - you can create an XP boot sector on the XP disk (so it will boot without the win98 disk - leaving you free to do what you want with that disk). If you'd like details, post back & I'll give them.

PS. you can also create a boot floppy - copy 3 files Linney mentions to a formatted floppy disk & it will boot your XP (in case something goes wrong when you 'remove' 98) - even if hard drive boot sector is removed or corrupted.