Win98/XP Dual booting

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since the problem with Kate's PC...I now have a spare 40GB HDD to go with my current 80GB HDD...i have just installed Win 98SE on the smaller drive...but now I cant get it to dual boot!! i had to remove the IDE from the 80GB drive in order to format the smaller drive...I manage to install 98SE but how do I get it to show both the OS's so I can choose which one to boot from? thanks for the help guys...

 

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What about editing the boot.ini file manually on the c: drive.

You will need to add a line for your windows 98 intall. I think something like this will work OK:

multi(0)disk(1)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows 98" /fastdetect

if not post the contents of your boot.ini and I'll try again.

Sorry to be so vague but I've had a long weekend and I'm pretty tired

 

I dont blame you Si...i have had a long week and why I am still up I will never know

oh by the way which boot.ini file? Win 98 or XP? and whereabouts can I do it? can it be done thru XP in my computer or is there another way? remember i cant even boot into 98 on its own without manually removing the IDE cable of the bigger HDD

 

If XP was on the PC first then yes you can edit it through my computer? advanced> Startup and recovery> settings> toedit startup options blah blah >edit button

 

yeah you have had a long weekend i'll give it a bash now...

in fact I ma baffled...english if possible please...

 

98 shouldnt have a boot.ini file
and there should only be one C: drive regardless

i recall something about those legacy OS' having to be installed on the boot drive, so make sure the drive 98 is installed on is set as the boot device

good luck

 

I hear you mate but how do I make it the boot device? Xp was installed first and I just installed 98 tonight...

 

Ok guys...here is something odd....i dont appear to have a boot.ini file anywhere on my system....

 

its a hidden file noel
make sure you have show hidden files enabled

 

hidden files are being shown but still no sign...where exactly is the file stored? I must be losing it...

 

you also need to make xp show system critical files noel!

you could of course, go looking for a boot program which will take control from the POST, something like system commander, etc.

Fergal

EDIT: and its inthe C: drive root directory

 

well I gave up on it last nite as I was getting tired and didnt go to bed til about 1am...so I will sort it out 2nite and hopefully get it installed. I am doing all the right things I am sure of it...when I go into FDISK and choose disk 2 after formatting and all the usual it still cant and wont install cos it either tries to format D: (the CD drive) or it tries to install into C: (which has already been taken by XP) so how can I change the drive letters and not make it try and install it onto C: or D:? Also does anyone know why it keeps making BOOTIT EMBR drive cos when I have done FDISK thats what I get when go into XP and look at My Computer....I am getting confused here....HELP!! all I want to do is just install Win 98SE...is that too much to ask?

 

Well I have had a scout around the web and searched on Google but all of the sites I seem to visit state that I need to install the older OS first... even my A+ book mentions it....but now I have reinstalled XP and put just about everything back in I dont want to go thru it again...now guys surely there is a way of installing 98SE into the 40GB HDD without doing anything to XP on the 80GB HDD....and I still need to know how to change the drive letter so that it doesnt try and install 98SE into C: or even D: damn thing....

 

if its trying to install it to D: then it has detected D: as your second drive


letters are relative, they are mearly pointers for your OS, one install of XP may detect a disk as C: whilst the other detects it as F:
it depends on what else is in your system

windows should of automatically pushed your CDRom back to E: during its install and hence why it sees your second disk as D:
i dont think it would 'try' and install on the CDRom, never had that occur

 

I see what you mean...but when I reinstalled XP I created a partition on my 80GB HDD so half of it is C: and the other is now E: which is my back up and D: is still the CD drive...so really it should just make it either D: or put the CD drive to F: even. I really need to think about this one....I was going to say consult the manual...but thats not right...is it? :

 

Ok...update time kids...after so many hours of trying to get this sorted...I finally managed to get 98 installed on the other HDD and am able to boot into it....except the only way I can boot into it is by making the 40GB HDD the first boot device cos when I edited the boot.ini in XP as Si told me how to do...it recognised there was 98 but it wouldnt boot cos of disk hardware configuration...but I wasnt bothered...so unless you guys know a way of getting rid of that message for now I am happy to just keep it as it is and leave 98 to be the first boot OS and when I want to get into XP I just have to press F8 at the boot process. like I said any suggestions would be most welcome...thank you..

 

Ok so I have been at my wits end trying to install both 98Se and ME on the same HDD but have had enough and now I am using the 40GB HDD to store some DVD movies and use it for more back up...talk about messing with your head...it really does know how to give a huge headache...and it was making the missus angry...

 

why would you want ME and 98SE on the SAME hard drive?
are you talking same partitions??
its actually remarkably easy getting them to work together if you have an NT based system as well, without one you dotn actually get a boot loader, the later installed one takes the MBR for itself

 

well thats what was doing my head in...I was a partition program and theres me thinking it would install them both on seperate partitions and instead one OS would overwrite the other one!! so I just gave up as I have been at it for nearly a week now...dont wanna hear another word about partitions and dual booting windows...think I might just sell both 98Se and ME...

 

The reason it was installing on the same partition is they both need to installed on C:\. It's only the later OS's that you can choose where you want it installed.