I have a Dos CAD program that I can't afford to upgrade ($2500) to be
compatible with WinXP (most of the features like zoom that need extended
memory, do not work in the WinXP Command Prompt screen/shell). It worked
fine on our Win95 machine until a couple weeks ago when the Win95
explorer.exe crashed - going into a continuous loop and that pushed the old
harddrive over the edge. That old computer is not worth spending time on.
Also, I have a non-Dell harddrive with Win98 installed (Yes I still have the
disk) from another computer whose motherboard burnt out.
Last Jan, our new WinXP computer harddrive crashed and Dell replaced it, but
it took me more than a week to get back up to speed with all the program
rebooting and updates etc. that has to be done when a HD crashes. So, I
hesitate to start over by putting Win98 on first and then rebooting WinXP
after, and I thought that I would just install the Win98 HD as a second
drive. That is how I got here to this forum, but after reading off and on for
this past weekend, I am more confused than ever over which way to approach
this. So, my question to you experts (remembering that I am not) is: "Which
is the better (meaning easier, less-problem producing, least time-consuming,
less complicated for an ignorant person) method of getting my CAD program to
function.
1. Sticking with one HD and going thru the whole double rebooting process?
(If so, would one of you direct me to a step-by-step procedure. Thank you.)
2. Installing the Win98 HD as is hoping WinXP's New Hardware Installer can
handle the 2nd HD without a driver (I'm sure the driver is on that 2nd HD
somewhere!) [OK, maybe I can locate the manufacturer on the web and download
a driver.]
3. Some other solution that you experts know about that would be better.
4. Tell me to go to the Dell user forum and stop bothering you.
Thanks in advance for all your time and good knowledge. R-

Richard, how large are your hard drives? A dual boot using one drive
for both OS's would be very easy to setup.
Just install Win98 first. You can use the second drive for your CAD and
other programs. I would use FAT32 for both
OS's. This way you can access WinXP from Win98 which can be very handy at
times. If you are familiar with FDisk
you can create two partitions otherwise I think XP will create a
partition during install. XP will install it's bootloader on
the Win98 partition giving you a Menu at bootup to select either one. I
am partial to dual boots though. On one of my
drives I have WinMe, Win2000pro, WinXPpro, WinXPpro2 and Fourteen Linux
Distros. But then again I'm nuts.
"Richard" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:1346A143-70EB-48F9-93A9-(E-Mail Removed)...
>I have a Dos CAD program that I can't afford to upgrade ($2500) to be
> compatible with WinXP (most of the features like zoom that need extended
> memory, do not work in the WinXP Command Prompt screen/shell). It worked
> fine on our Win95 machine until a couple weeks ago when the Win95
> explorer.exe crashed - going into a continuous loop and that pushed the
> old
> harddrive over the edge. That old computer is not worth spending time on.
> Also, I have a non-Dell harddrive with Win98 installed (Yes I still have
> the
> disk) from another computer whose motherboard burnt out.
> Last Jan, our new WinXP computer harddrive crashed and Dell replaced it,
> but
> it took me more than a week to get back up to speed with all the program
> rebooting and updates etc. that has to be done when a HD crashes. So, I
> hesitate to start over by putting Win98 on first and then rebooting WinXP
> after, and I thought that I would just install the Win98 HD as a second
> drive. That is how I got here to this forum, but after reading off and on
> for
> this past weekend, I am more confused than ever over which way to approach
> this. So, my question to you experts (remembering that I am not) is:
> "Which
> is the better (meaning easier, less-problem producing, least
> time-consuming,
> less complicated for an ignorant person) method of getting my CAD program
> to
> function.
> 1. Sticking with one HD and going thru the whole double rebooting
> process?
> (If so, would one of you direct me to a step-by-step procedure. Thank
> you.)
> 2. Installing the Win98 HD as is hoping WinXP's New Hardware Installer
> can
> handle the 2nd HD without a driver (I'm sure the driver is on that 2nd HD
> somewhere!) [OK, maybe I can locate the manufacturer on the web and
> download
> a driver.]
> 3. Some other solution that you experts know about that would be better.
> 4. Tell me to go to the Dell user forum and stop bothering you.
> Thanks in advance for all your time and good knowledge. R-

Richard,

Personally I do NOT like dual boot systems, since if you have a problem
(corruption, etc.) in one OS, it can adversely affect the other one also and
T/S problems gets a lot more complicated than it needs to be. Many will
disagree with me here, but I've BTDT and then decided to take an alternative
course of action.

I have a few systems (used for testing) with removable HDD trays. This way I
have one OS/drive and just remove the drive, insert the other one and boot
up. Some of the best removable trays are made by CRU, Inc. and you can find
them in some of the bigger computer stores.
http://www.cruinc.com/

Thus you can have your WinXP system for most things and separately a system
with Win98 and your CAD program.

Is it safe to assume that you've tried WinXP's Compatibility settings tab
for the CAD program under WinXP and found that it didn't work properly for
you? If you haven't tried this first, that would be my first recommendation
(rather than using dual drives/OS).

--

Regards,
Len Segal, MCP
Microsoft - MVP
--------------
My reply address is intentionally wrong to reduce SPAM Email.
NOTE: We do not respond to unsolicited Email support questions,
please post questions in newsgroup.



"Richard" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:1346A143-70EB-48F9-93A9-(E-Mail Removed)...
>I have a Dos CAD program that I can't afford to upgrade ($2500) to be
> compatible with WinXP (most of the features like zoom that need extended
> memory, do not work in the WinXP Command Prompt screen/shell). It worked
> fine on our Win95 machine until a couple weeks ago when the Win95
> explorer.exe crashed - going into a continuous loop and that pushed the
> old
> harddrive over the edge. That old computer is not worth spending time on.
> Also, I have a non-Dell harddrive with Win98 installed (Yes I still have
> the
> disk) from another computer whose motherboard burnt out.
> Last Jan, our new WinXP computer harddrive crashed and Dell replaced it,
> but
> it took me more than a week to get back up to speed with all the program
> rebooting and updates etc. that has to be done when a HD crashes. So, I
> hesitate to start over by putting Win98 on first and then rebooting WinXP
> after, and I thought that I would just install the Win98 HD as a second
> drive. That is how I got here to this forum, but after reading off and on
> for
> this past weekend, I am more confused than ever over which way to approach
> this. So, my question to you experts (remembering that I am not) is:
> "Which
> is the better (meaning easier, less-problem producing, least
> time-consuming,
> less complicated for an ignorant person) method of getting my CAD program
> to
> function.
> 1. Sticking with one HD and going thru the whole double rebooting
> process?
> (If so, would one of you direct me to a step-by-step procedure. Thank
> you.)
> 2. Installing the Win98 HD as is hoping WinXP's New Hardware Installer
> can
> handle the 2nd HD without a driver (I'm sure the driver is on that 2nd HD
> somewhere!) [OK, maybe I can locate the manufacturer on the web and
> download
> a driver.]
> 3. Some other solution that you experts know about that would be better.
> 4. Tell me to go to the Dell user forum and stop bothering you.
> Thanks in advance for all your time and good knowledge. R-

As an alternative, look at Virtual PC or similar. You can then run the app
concurrently.

True multi-booting into a DOS/9x environment is going to be problematic. The
hardware is rapidly outstripping the abilities of those platforms to
support.

--
Walter Clayton
Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.
http://www.dts-l.org


"Rich Barry" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:k322e.47107$(E-Mail Removed)...
> Richard, how large are your hard drives? A dual boot using one drive
> for both OS's would be very easy to setup.
> Just install Win98 first. You can use the second drive for your CAD and
> other programs. I would use FAT32 for both
> OS's. This way you can access WinXP from Win98 which can be very handy
> at times. If you are familiar with FDisk
> you can create two partitions otherwise I think XP will create a
> partition during install. XP will install it's bootloader on
> the Win98 partition giving you a Menu at bootup to select either one. I
> am partial to dual boots though. On one of my
> drives I have WinMe, Win2000pro, WinXPpro, WinXPpro2 and Fourteen Linux
> Distros. But then again I'm nuts.
> "Richard" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:1346A143-70EB-48F9-93A9-(E-Mail Removed)...
>>I have a Dos CAD program that I can't afford to upgrade ($2500) to be
>> compatible with WinXP (most of the features like zoom that need extended
>> memory, do not work in the WinXP Command Prompt screen/shell). It worked
>> fine on our Win95 machine until a couple weeks ago when the Win95
>> explorer.exe crashed - going into a continuous loop and that pushed the
>> old
>> harddrive over the edge. That old computer is not worth spending time
>> on.
>> Also, I have a non-Dell harddrive with Win98 installed (Yes I still have
>> the
>> disk) from another computer whose motherboard burnt out.
>> Last Jan, our new WinXP computer harddrive crashed and Dell replaced it,
>> but
>> it took me more than a week to get back up to speed with all the program
>> rebooting and updates etc. that has to be done when a HD crashes. So, I
>> hesitate to start over by putting Win98 on first and then rebooting WinXP
>> after, and I thought that I would just install the Win98 HD as a second
>> drive. That is how I got here to this forum, but after reading off and on
>> for
>> this past weekend, I am more confused than ever over which way to
>> approach
>> this. So, my question to you experts (remembering that I am not) is:
>> "Which
>> is the better (meaning easier, less-problem producing, least
>> time-consuming,
>> less complicated for an ignorant person) method of getting my CAD program
>> to
>> function.
>> 1. Sticking with one HD and going thru the whole double rebooting
>> process?
>> (If so, would one of you direct me to a step-by-step procedure. Thank
>> you.)
>> 2. Installing the Win98 HD as is hoping WinXP's New Hardware Installer
>> can
>> handle the 2nd HD without a driver (I'm sure the driver is on that 2nd HD
>> somewhere!) [OK, maybe I can locate the manufacturer on the web and
>> download
>> a driver.]
>> 3. Some other solution that you experts know about that would be better.
>> 4. Tell me to go to the Dell user forum and stop bothering you.
>> Thanks in advance for all your time and good knowledge. R-
>
>

Thanks for your reply Rich, I have a 120GB HD, on a Pentium 4/2.4GHz
processer, with 512 mb ram, using WindowsXP Home.

"Rich Barry" wrote:

> Richard, how large are your hard drives? A dual boot using one drive
> for both OS's would be very easy to setup.
> Just install Win98 first. You can use the second drive for your CAD and
> other programs. I would use FAT32 for both
> OS's. This way you can access WinXP from Win98 which can be very handy at
> times. If you are familiar with FDisk
> you can create two partitions otherwise I think XP will create a
> partition during install. XP will install it's bootloader on
> the Win98 partition giving you a Menu at bootup to select either one. I
> am partial to dual boots though. On one of my
> drives I have WinMe, Win2000pro, WinXPpro, WinXPpro2 and Fourteen Linux
> Distros. But then again I'm nuts.
> "Richard" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:1346A143-70EB-48F9-93A9-(E-Mail Removed)...
> >I have a Dos CAD program that I can't afford to upgrade ($2500) to be
> > compatible with WinXP (most of the features like zoom that need extended
> > memory, do not work in the WinXP Command Prompt screen/shell). It worked
> > fine on our Win95 machine until a couple weeks ago when the Win95
> > explorer.exe crashed - going into a continuous loop and that pushed the
> > old
> > harddrive over the edge. That old computer is not worth spending time on.
> > Also, I have a non-Dell harddrive with Win98 installed (Yes I still have
> > the
> > disk) from another computer whose motherboard burnt out.
> > Last Jan, our new WinXP computer harddrive crashed and Dell replaced it,
> > but
> > it took me more than a week to get back up to speed with all the program
> > rebooting and updates etc. that has to be done when a HD crashes. So, I
> > hesitate to start over by putting Win98 on first and then rebooting WinXP
> > after, and I thought that I would just install the Win98 HD as a second
> > drive. That is how I got here to this forum, but after reading off and on
> > for
> > this past weekend, I am more confused than ever over which way to approach
> > this. So, my question to you experts (remembering that I am not) is:
> > "Which
> > is the better (meaning easier, less-problem producing, least
> > time-consuming,
> > less complicated for an ignorant person) method of getting my CAD program
> > to
> > function.
> > 1. Sticking with one HD and going thru the whole double rebooting
> > process?
> > (If so, would one of you direct me to a step-by-step procedure. Thank
> > you.)
> > 2. Installing the Win98 HD as is hoping WinXP's New Hardware Installer
> > can
> > handle the 2nd HD without a driver (I'm sure the driver is on that 2nd HD
> > somewhere!) [OK, maybe I can locate the manufacturer on the web and
> > download
> > a driver.]
> > 3. Some other solution that you experts know about that would be better.
> > 4. Tell me to go to the Dell user forum and stop bothering you.
> > Thanks in advance for all your time and good knowledge. R-
>
>
>

Thanks for your reply Walter. Unfortunately, I am using WinXP Home and my
understanding is that VPC requires Win2K or WinXPPro.

"Walter Clayton" wrote:

> As an alternative, look at Virtual PC or similar. You can then run the app
> concurrently.
>
> True multi-booting into a DOS/9x environment is going to be problematic. The
> hardware is rapidly outstripping the abilities of those platforms to
> support.
>
> --
> Walter Clayton
> Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.
> http://www.dts-l.org
>
>
> "Rich Barry" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:k322e.47107$(E-Mail Removed)...
> > Richard, how large are your hard drives? A dual boot using one drive
> > for both OS's would be very easy to setup.
> > Just install Win98 first. You can use the second drive for your CAD and
> > other programs. I would use FAT32 for both
> > OS's. This way you can access WinXP from Win98 which can be very handy
> > at times. If you are familiar with FDisk
> > you can create two partitions otherwise I think XP will create a
> > partition during install. XP will install it's bootloader on
> > the Win98 partition giving you a Menu at bootup to select either one. I
> > am partial to dual boots though. On one of my
> > drives I have WinMe, Win2000pro, WinXPpro, WinXPpro2 and Fourteen Linux
> > Distros. But then again I'm nuts.
> > "Richard" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> > news:1346A143-70EB-48F9-93A9-(E-Mail Removed)...
> >>I have a Dos CAD program that I can't afford to upgrade ($2500) to be
> >> compatible with WinXP (most of the features like zoom that need extended
> >> memory, do not work in the WinXP Command Prompt screen/shell). It worked
> >> fine on our Win95 machine until a couple weeks ago when the Win95
> >> explorer.exe crashed - going into a continuous loop and that pushed the
> >> old
> >> harddrive over the edge. That old computer is not worth spending time
> >> on.
> >> Also, I have a non-Dell harddrive with Win98 installed (Yes I still have
> >> the
> >> disk) from another computer whose motherboard burnt out.
> >> Last Jan, our new WinXP computer harddrive crashed and Dell replaced it,
> >> but
> >> it took me more than a week to get back up to speed with all the program
> >> rebooting and updates etc. that has to be done when a HD crashes. So, I
> >> hesitate to start over by putting Win98 on first and then rebooting WinXP
> >> after, and I thought that I would just install the Win98 HD as a second
> >> drive. That is how I got here to this forum, but after reading off and on
> >> for
> >> this past weekend, I am more confused than ever over which way to
> >> approach
> >> this. So, my question to you experts (remembering that I am not) is:
> >> "Which
> >> is the better (meaning easier, less-problem producing, least
> >> time-consuming,
> >> less complicated for an ignorant person) method of getting my CAD program
> >> to
> >> function.
> >> 1. Sticking with one HD and going thru the whole double rebooting
> >> process?
> >> (If so, would one of you direct me to a step-by-step procedure. Thank
> >> you.)
> >> 2. Installing the Win98 HD as is hoping WinXP's New Hardware Installer
> >> can
> >> handle the 2nd HD without a driver (I'm sure the driver is on that 2nd HD
> >> somewhere!) [OK, maybe I can locate the manufacturer on the web and
> >> download
> >> a driver.]
> >> 3. Some other solution that you experts know about that would be better.
> >> 4. Tell me to go to the Dell user forum and stop bothering you.
> >> Thanks in advance for all your time and good knowledge. R-
> >
> >
>
>
>

VPC works perfectly on my WinXP Home system. In fact I had Win98se
running as a guest with no problems.

Good luck, jimbo


Richard wrote:
> Thanks for your reply Walter. Unfortunately, I am using WinXP Home
and my
> understanding is that VPC requires Win2K or WinXPPro.
>
> "Walter Clayton" wrote:
>
> > As an alternative, look at Virtual PC or similar. You can then run
the app
> > concurrently.
> >
> > True multi-booting into a DOS/9x environment is going to be
problematic. The
> > hardware is rapidly outstripping the abilities of those platforms
to
> > support.
> >
> > --
> > Walter Clayton
> > Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently
advanced.
> > http://www.dts-l.org
> >
> >
> > "Rich Barry" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> > news:k322e.47107$(E-Mail Removed)...
> > > Richard, how large are your hard drives? A dual boot using
one drive
> > > for both OS's would be very easy to setup.
> > > Just install Win98 first. You can use the second drive for your
CAD and
> > > other programs. I would use FAT32 for both
> > > OS's. This way you can access WinXP from Win98 which can be
very handy
> > > at times. If you are familiar with FDisk
> > > you can create two partitions otherwise I think XP will create
a
> > > partition during install. XP will install it's bootloader on
> > > the Win98 partition giving you a Menu at bootup to select
either one. I
> > > am partial to dual boots though. On one of my
> > > drives I have WinMe, Win2000pro, WinXPpro, WinXPpro2 and
Fourteen Linux
> > > Distros. But then again I'm nuts.
> > > "Richard" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> > > news:1346A143-70EB-48F9-93A9-(E-Mail Removed)...
> > >>I have a Dos CAD program that I can't afford to upgrade ($2500)
to be
> > >> compatible with WinXP (most of the features like zoom that need
extended
> > >> memory, do not work in the WinXP Command Prompt screen/shell).
It worked
> > >> fine on our Win95 machine until a couple weeks ago when the
Win95
> > >> explorer.exe crashed - going into a continuous loop and that
pushed the
> > >> old
> > >> harddrive over the edge. That old computer is not worth
spending time
> > >> on.
> > >> Also, I have a non-Dell harddrive with Win98 installed (Yes I
still have
> > >> the
> > >> disk) from another computer whose motherboard burnt out.
> > >> Last Jan, our new WinXP computer harddrive crashed and Dell
replaced it,
> > >> but
> > >> it took me more than a week to get back up to speed with all the
program
> > >> rebooting and updates etc. that has to be done when a HD
crashes. So, I
> > >> hesitate to start over by putting Win98 on first and then
rebooting WinXP
> > >> after, and I thought that I would just install the Win98 HD as a
second
> > >> drive. That is how I got here to this forum, but after reading
off and on
> > >> for
> > >> this past weekend, I am more confused than ever over which way
to
> > >> approach
> > >> this. So, my question to you experts (remembering that I am
not) is:
> > >> "Which
> > >> is the better (meaning easier, less-problem producing, least
> > >> time-consuming,
> > >> less complicated for an ignorant person) method of getting my
CAD program
> > >> to
> > >> function.
> > >> 1. Sticking with one HD and going thru the whole double
rebooting
> > >> process?
> > >> (If so, would one of you direct me to a step-by-step procedure.
Thank
> > >> you.)
> > >> 2. Installing the Win98 HD as is hoping WinXP's New Hardware
Installer
> > >> can
> > >> handle the 2nd HD without a driver (I'm sure the driver is on
that 2nd HD
> > >> somewhere!) [OK, maybe I can locate the manufacturer on the web
and
> > >> download
> > >> a driver.]
> > >> 3. Some other solution that you experts know about that would
be better.
> > >> 4. Tell me to go to the Dell user forum and stop bothering you.
> > >> Thanks in advance for all your time and good knowledge. R-
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
> >

Thanks for your reply Len. Yes I have set it up under Win95 compatibility
settings, but the program is Dos-era and for some reason, many of the
functions that need "extended memory" are not able to work under WinXP.
(Sadly, this is becoming a real problem because historical data will be of no
use as time passes unless the programs that read them are continuously
upgraded with the OS upgrades. Many of those companies have been put out of
business like the one that designed the CAD program I have. My wife is a
librarian, and my sister is a historian, and both complain about the
inability to access old data as the programs disappear or as the storage
medium disintegrates. Some books have lasted thousands of years, but
electronic data will be lucky to last a half century.)

"Len Segal" wrote:

> Richard,
>
> Personally I do NOT like dual boot systems, since if you have a problem
> (corruption, etc.) in one OS, it can adversely affect the other one also and
> T/S problems gets a lot more complicated than it needs to be. Many will
> disagree with me here, but I've BTDT and then decided to take an alternative
> course of action.
>
> I have a few systems (used for testing) with removable HDD trays. This way I
> have one OS/drive and just remove the drive, insert the other one and boot
> up. Some of the best removable trays are made by CRU, Inc. and you can find
> them in some of the bigger computer stores.
> http://www.cruinc.com/
>
> Thus you can have your WinXP system for most things and separately a system
> with Win98 and your CAD program.
>
> Is it safe to assume that you've tried WinXP's Compatibility settings tab
> for the CAD program under WinXP and found that it didn't work properly for
> you? If you haven't tried this first, that would be my first recommendation
> (rather than using dual drives/OS).
>
> --
>
> Regards,
> Len Segal, MCP
> Microsoft - MVP
> --------------
> My reply address is intentionally wrong to reduce SPAM Email.
> NOTE: We do not respond to unsolicited Email support questions,
> please post questions in newsgroup.
>
>
>
> "Richard" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:1346A143-70EB-48F9-93A9-(E-Mail Removed)...
> >I have a Dos CAD program that I can't afford to upgrade ($2500) to be
> > compatible with WinXP (most of the features like zoom that need extended
> > memory, do not work in the WinXP Command Prompt screen/shell). It worked
> > fine on our Win95 machine until a couple weeks ago when the Win95
> > explorer.exe crashed - going into a continuous loop and that pushed the
> > old
> > harddrive over the edge. That old computer is not worth spending time on.
> > Also, I have a non-Dell harddrive with Win98 installed (Yes I still have
> > the
> > disk) from another computer whose motherboard burnt out.
> > Last Jan, our new WinXP computer harddrive crashed and Dell replaced it,
> > but
> > it took me more than a week to get back up to speed with all the program
> > rebooting and updates etc. that has to be done when a HD crashes. So, I
> > hesitate to start over by putting Win98 on first and then rebooting WinXP
> > after, and I thought that I would just install the Win98 HD as a second
> > drive. That is how I got here to this forum, but after reading off and on
> > for
> > this past weekend, I am more confused than ever over which way to approach
> > this. So, my question to you experts (remembering that I am not) is:
> > "Which
> > is the better (meaning easier, less-problem producing, least
> > time-consuming,
> > less complicated for an ignorant person) method of getting my CAD program
> > to
> > function.
> > 1. Sticking with one HD and going thru the whole double rebooting
> > process?
> > (If so, would one of you direct me to a step-by-step procedure. Thank
> > you.)
> > 2. Installing the Win98 HD as is hoping WinXP's New Hardware Installer
> > can
> > handle the 2nd HD without a driver (I'm sure the driver is on that 2nd HD
> > somewhere!) [OK, maybe I can locate the manufacturer on the web and
> > download
> > a driver.]
> > 3. Some other solution that you experts know about that would be better.
> > 4. Tell me to go to the Dell user forum and stop bothering you.
> > Thanks in advance for all your time and good knowledge. R-
>
>
>

Richard,

You are correct. Any chance that newer SW can read the data files created by
this old app? Sometimes they supply converters either with the SW or from
the new SW mfr's website.

--

Regards,
Len Segal, MCP
Microsoft - MVP
--------------
My reply address is intentionally wrong to reduce SPAM Email.
NOTE: We do not respond to unsolicited Email support questions,
please post questions in newsgroup.



"Richard" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:51A1CC71-BC86-4726-89CC-(E-Mail Removed)...
> Thanks for your reply Len. Yes I have set it up under Win95 compatibility
> settings, but the program is Dos-era and for some reason, many of the
> functions that need "extended memory" are not able to work under WinXP.
> (Sadly, this is becoming a real problem because historical data will be of
> no
> use as time passes unless the programs that read them are continuously
> upgraded with the OS upgrades. Many of those companies have been put out
> of
> business like the one that designed the CAD program I have. My wife is a
> librarian, and my sister is a historian, and both complain about the
> inability to access old data as the programs disappear or as the storage
> medium disintegrates. Some books have lasted thousands of years, but
> electronic data will be lucky to last a half century.)
>
> "Len Segal" wrote:
>
>> Richard,
>>
>> Personally I do NOT like dual boot systems, since if you have a problem
>> (corruption, etc.) in one OS, it can adversely affect the other one also
>> and
>> T/S problems gets a lot more complicated than it needs to be. Many will
>> disagree with me here, but I've BTDT and then decided to take an
>> alternative
>> course of action.
>>
>> I have a few systems (used for testing) with removable HDD trays. This
>> way I
>> have one OS/drive and just remove the drive, insert the other one and
>> boot
>> up. Some of the best removable trays are made by CRU, Inc. and you can
>> find
>> them in some of the bigger computer stores.
>> http://www.cruinc.com/
>>
>> Thus you can have your WinXP system for most things and separately a
>> system
>> with Win98 and your CAD program.
>>
>> Is it safe to assume that you've tried WinXP's Compatibility settings tab
>> for the CAD program under WinXP and found that it didn't work properly
>> for
>> you? If you haven't tried this first, that would be my first
>> recommendation
>> (rather than using dual drives/OS).
>>
>> --
>>
>> Regards,
>> Len Segal, MCP
>> Microsoft - MVP
>> --------------
>> My reply address is intentionally wrong to reduce SPAM Email.
>> NOTE: We do not respond to unsolicited Email support questions,
>> please post questions in newsgroup.
>>
>>
>>
>> "Richard" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>> news:1346A143-70EB-48F9-93A9-(E-Mail Removed)...
>> >I have a Dos CAD program that I can't afford to upgrade ($2500) to be
>> > compatible with WinXP (most of the features like zoom that need
>> > extended
>> > memory, do not work in the WinXP Command Prompt screen/shell). It
>> > worked
>> > fine on our Win95 machine until a couple weeks ago when the Win95
>> > explorer.exe crashed - going into a continuous loop and that pushed the
>> > old
>> > harddrive over the edge. That old computer is not worth spending time
>> > on.
>> > Also, I have a non-Dell harddrive with Win98 installed (Yes I still
>> > have
>> > the
>> > disk) from another computer whose motherboard burnt out.
>> > Last Jan, our new WinXP computer harddrive crashed and Dell replaced
>> > it,
>> > but
>> > it took me more than a week to get back up to speed with all the
>> > program
>> > rebooting and updates etc. that has to be done when a HD crashes. So,
>> > I
>> > hesitate to start over by putting Win98 on first and then rebooting
>> > WinXP
>> > after, and I thought that I would just install the Win98 HD as a second
>> > drive. That is how I got here to this forum, but after reading off and
>> > on
>> > for
>> > this past weekend, I am more confused than ever over which way to
>> > approach
>> > this. So, my question to you experts (remembering that I am not) is:
>> > "Which
>> > is the better (meaning easier, less-problem producing, least
>> > time-consuming,
>> > less complicated for an ignorant person) method of getting my CAD
>> > program
>> > to
>> > function.
>> > 1. Sticking with one HD and going thru the whole double rebooting
>> > process?
>> > (If so, would one of you direct me to a step-by-step procedure. Thank
>> > you.)
>> > 2. Installing the Win98 HD as is hoping WinXP's New Hardware Installer
>> > can
>> > handle the 2nd HD without a driver (I'm sure the driver is on that 2nd
>> > HD
>> > somewhere!) [OK, maybe I can locate the manufacturer on the web and
>> > download
>> > a driver.]
>> > 3. Some other solution that you experts know about that would be
>> > better.
>> > 4. Tell me to go to the Dell user forum and stop bothering you.
>> > Thanks in advance for all your time and good knowledge. R-
>>
>>
>>

VPC isn't the only player which is why I said 'or similar'.

Just to name one:
http://www.vmware.com/products/deskt...cs.html#hostos

--
Walter Clayton
Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.


"Richard" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:EB98820C-D43B-42FA-9941-(E-Mail Removed)...
> Thanks for your reply Walter. Unfortunately, I am using WinXP Home and my
> understanding is that VPC requires Win2K or WinXPPro.
>
> "Walter Clayton" wrote:
>
>> As an alternative, look at Virtual PC or similar. You can then run the
>> app
>> concurrently.
>>
>> True multi-booting into a DOS/9x environment is going to be problematic.
>> The
>> hardware is rapidly outstripping the abilities of those platforms to
>> support.
>>
>> --
>> Walter Clayton
>> Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.
>> http://www.dts-l.org
>>
>>
>> "Rich Barry" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>> news:k322e.47107$(E-Mail Removed)...
>> > Richard, how large are your hard drives? A dual boot using one
>> > drive
>> > for both OS's would be very easy to setup.
>> > Just install Win98 first. You can use the second drive for your CAD
>> > and
>> > other programs. I would use FAT32 for both
>> > OS's. This way you can access WinXP from Win98 which can be very
>> > handy
>> > at times. If you are familiar with FDisk
>> > you can create two partitions otherwise I think XP will create a
>> > partition during install. XP will install it's bootloader on
>> > the Win98 partition giving you a Menu at bootup to select either
>> > one. I
>> > am partial to dual boots though. On one of my
>> > drives I have WinMe, Win2000pro, WinXPpro, WinXPpro2 and Fourteen
>> > Linux
>> > Distros. But then again I'm nuts.
>> > "Richard" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>> > news:1346A143-70EB-48F9-93A9-(E-Mail Removed)...
>> >>I have a Dos CAD program that I can't afford to upgrade ($2500) to be
>> >> compatible with WinXP (most of the features like zoom that need
>> >> extended
>> >> memory, do not work in the WinXP Command Prompt screen/shell). It
>> >> worked
>> >> fine on our Win95 machine until a couple weeks ago when the Win95
>> >> explorer.exe crashed - going into a continuous loop and that pushed
>> >> the
>> >> old
>> >> harddrive over the edge. That old computer is not worth spending time
>> >> on.
>> >> Also, I have a non-Dell harddrive with Win98 installed (Yes I still
>> >> have
>> >> the
>> >> disk) from another computer whose motherboard burnt out.
>> >> Last Jan, our new WinXP computer harddrive crashed and Dell replaced
>> >> it,
>> >> but
>> >> it took me more than a week to get back up to speed with all the
>> >> program
>> >> rebooting and updates etc. that has to be done when a HD crashes. So,
>> >> I
>> >> hesitate to start over by putting Win98 on first and then rebooting
>> >> WinXP
>> >> after, and I thought that I would just install the Win98 HD as a
>> >> second
>> >> drive. That is how I got here to this forum, but after reading off and
>> >> on
>> >> for
>> >> this past weekend, I am more confused than ever over which way to
>> >> approach
>> >> this. So, my question to you experts (remembering that I am not) is:
>> >> "Which
>> >> is the better (meaning easier, less-problem producing, least
>> >> time-consuming,
>> >> less complicated for an ignorant person) method of getting my CAD
>> >> program
>> >> to
>> >> function.
>> >> 1. Sticking with one HD and going thru the whole double rebooting
>> >> process?
>> >> (If so, would one of you direct me to a step-by-step procedure. Thank
>> >> you.)
>> >> 2. Installing the Win98 HD as is hoping WinXP's New Hardware
>> >> Installer
>> >> can
>> >> handle the 2nd HD without a driver (I'm sure the driver is on that 2nd
>> >> HD
>> >> somewhere!) [OK, maybe I can locate the manufacturer on the web and
>> >> download
>> >> a driver.]
>> >> 3. Some other solution that you experts know about that would be
>> >> better.
>> >> 4. Tell me to go to the Dell user forum and stop bothering you.
>> >> Thanks in advance for all your time and good knowledge. R-
>> >
>> >
>>
>>
>>