Creating a Muliti-Boot system against microsoft advisement issue

[Guest]

I'm planning on using a windows 98 impovered (no ram drive) startup disk to
install windows 98 on a 5 gigabyte clean logical partition formated to FAT32
while having an active existing WinXP on another partition. Afterwards using
the WinXP cd-boot recovery console's 'fixboot' and 'bootcfg' to repair the
XP's boot instructions and implement Win98 as a multi-boot option. Do you
believe this should work?

 

[Carey Frisch [MVP]]

How do I install Windows 98/Me after I've installed XP?
http://www.dougknox.com/xp/tips/xp_repair_9x.htm


--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows XP - Shell/User
Microsoft Newsgroups

Be Smart! Protect Your PC!
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/protect/default.mspx

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:

| I'm planning on using a windows 98 impovered (no ram drive) startup disk to
| install windows 98 on a 5 gigabyte clean logical partition formated to FAT32
| while having an active existing WinXP on another partition. Afterwards using
| the WinXP cd-boot recovery console's 'fixboot' and 'bootcfg' to repair the
| XP's boot instructions and implement Win98 as a multi-boot option. Do you
| believe this should work?

 

[Guest]

Unfortunately that doesn't apply to me since my WinXp drive is NTFS and
lettered F:
In my opinion, i don't see why my solution wouldn't work, but i'm very open
to criticism.

 

[Guest]

Windows 98 has to be on a primary partition. You will need a 3rd party boot loader to accomplish what you want to do (install 98 after XP and have it boot).

I would recommend Disk Manager from www.acronis.com, it has partitioning software and a boot loader.

--
Just my 2¢ worth,
Jeff
__________In response to__________
| Unfortunately that doesn't apply to me since my WinXp drive is NTFS and
| lettered F:
| In my opinion, i don't see why my solution wouldn't work, but i'm very open
| to criticism.

 

[Guest]

As far as i know, this is a primary partition, it's not an extended one, i
have created it using the primary partition option, and it is the first
logical partition created on the drive, one of 4 available. When you say
primary partition, are you reffering to it exclusivly atempting to install on
drive lettered c:?

I apologise if i haven't grasped what you were saying.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Unfortunately that doesn't apply to me since my WinXp drive is NTFS and
lettered F:
In my opinion, i don't see why my solution wouldn't work, but i'm very open
to criticism.

Absent a 3rd party boot manager, Win98's boot files *must* reside on
the Primary Active partition (the C: drive, by definition), and that
partition must be formatted in a file system compatible with Win98 -
either FAT16 or FAT32. If you C: drive is NTFS, your technique won't work.

--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:



You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on having
both at once. - RAH

 

[Guest]

You created it as a primary. Ok, now you need to make it active. You can not make it active with the tools provided in XP. 98 has to be installed 1st or you need a boot loader program.

BTW to answer a question you posed in another NG, XP has been on the market for over 3 years if your method would work wouldn't there be instructions on how to do it be on the web. You are not the 1st to think of your proposed method in a span of 3 years, it hasn't worked for anyone else.

--
Just my 2¢ worth,
Jeff
__________In response to__________
| As far as i know, this is a primary partition, it's not an extended one, i
| have created it using the primary partition option, and it is the first
| logical partition created on the drive, one of 4 available. When you say
| primary partition, are you reffering to it exclusivly atempting to install on
| drive lettered c:?
|
| I apologise if i haven't grasped what you were saying.

 

[Guest]

I vaguely suspected so, but really hoped that partition files are stored in
some sort of magic-file system boot area of the drive which is
multi-interpretable and independant of various file systems. Thank you.

 

[Yves Leclerc]

Not with Windows 8x or Windwos XP. Other Boot loaders can do this. One
good one is System Commander.

 

[Alex Nichol]

Unfortunately that doesn't apply to me since my WinXp drive is NTFS and
lettered F:
In my opinion, i don't see why my solution wouldn't work, but i'm very open
to criticism.

Having made and installed a Win98 on a Primary FAT 32, you should be
able to boot the XP (making that partition Active with the Win98 FDISK)
and copy the boot.ini, ntdetect.com and ntldr over to C:. Then boot the
98 again and you should be able to use Doug's method to add the needed
line to boot.ini and create the BootSect.Dos file. Then XP fixboot will
boot from C: through XP loader to either. XP will still be drive F: but
that is presumably OK