dual boot W2K and Win 3.11 - sep HDDs, pre-existing OSs

[Guest]

I have each OS pre-existing on its' own HDD.
The current user has been physically connecting one or the other HDD as the
IDE Primary Master. I would like to try and connect both drives at once such
that a choice between OSs' can be made during boot but am unsure how to
proceed when both OSs are already installed and configured - each on its' own
drive.
Can I simply make the Win 3.11 drive ... let's say ... the Secondary Master,
then create a boot.ini file at the root of the W2K drive and edit it to
reflect my desired OS nomenclature, boot sequence / default / delay? Or are
there going to be other issues?

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

I have each OS pre-existing on its' own HDD.
The current user has been physically connecting one or the other HDD as the
IDE Primary Master. I would like to try and connect both drives at once such
that a choice between OSs' can be made during boot but am unsure how to
proceed when both OSs are already installed and configured - each on its' own
drive.
Can I simply make the Win 3.11 drive ... let's say ... the Secondary Master,
then create a boot.ini file at the root of the W2K drive and edit it to
reflect my desired OS nomenclature, boot sequence / default / delay? Or are
there going to be other issues?

Your Win2000 drive is most likely a FAT32 or an NTFS drive,
neither of which is recognised by Win311 - yet the boot files
for Win311 must reside on the boot drive (which is the Win2000
drive)!

Your best option goes like this:
- Download a free copy of the XOSL boot manager.
- Install it on the secondary master disk.
- Add the two OSs to its menu.
- Instruct it to swap disks when launching Win311

 

[Guest]

Thanks much Pegasus ... I'll give that a whirl and report back in due course.
Kevin

 

[Guest]

Say Pegasus ... I've now read through the install procedure for XOSL ... I
gather I would prepare by physically connecting both HDDs: W2K as Prim Mstr,
Win 3.11 as Sec Mstr, then boot W2K to MS-DOS (I have a boot disk: Windows
Millennium [Version 4.90.3000]), then run (XOSL)INSTALL.EXE from a floppy
containing all the files in the unzipped 'xosl' folder ... XOSL INSTALL
UTILITY should then see the Win 3.11 Sec Mstr HDD as D:/ ... allowing me to
'Install (XOSL) on a DOS drive' (D:/) ...
Would you recommend installing Ranish Partition Manager and / or Smart Boot
Manager?

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

See below.

Say Pegasus ... I've now read through the install procedure for XOSL ... I
gather I would prepare by physically connecting both HDDs: W2K as Prim Mstr,
Win 3.11 as Sec Mstr,

Yes. Win3.11 can also be a slave - suit yourself.

then boot W2K to MS-DOS (I have a boot disk: Windows Millennium
[Version 4.90.3000]),

Yes, if it gives you a DOS prompt. If not, get a Win98 boot disk from
www.bootdisk.com.

then run (XOSL)INSTALL.EXE from a floppy containing all the files
in the unzipped 'xosl' folder Yes.

... XOSL INSTALL UTILITY should then see the Win 3.11 Sec Mstr
HDD as D:/

Or maybe C:\, if your Win2000 partition is NTFS.

... allowing me to 'Install (XOSL) on a DOS drive' (D:/) ... Yes.

Would you recommend installing Ranish Partition Manager and / or
Smart Boot Manager?

My version of XOSL includes the Ranish Partition Manager. You
may not need it but it won't hurt having it.

 

[Guest]

Thanks again Pegasus ... I appreciate the help ... I'll be trying this come
Monday ... Later

See below.

Say Pegasus ... I've now read through the install procedure for XOSL ... I
gather I would prepare by physically connecting both HDDs: W2K as Prim Mstr,
Win 3.11 as Sec Mstr,

Yes. Win3.11 can also be a slave - suit yourself.

then boot W2K to MS-DOS (I have a boot disk: Windows Millennium
[Version 4.90.3000]),

Yes, if it gives you a DOS prompt. If not, get a Win98 boot disk from
www.bootdisk.com.

then run (XOSL)INSTALL.EXE from a floppy containing all the files
in the unzipped 'xosl' folder Yes.

... XOSL INSTALL UTILITY should then see the Win 3.11 Sec Mstr
HDD as D:/

Or maybe C:\, if your Win2000 partition is NTFS.

... allowing me to 'Install (XOSL) on a DOS drive' (D:/) ... Yes.

Would you recommend installing Ranish Partition Manager and / or
Smart Boot Manager?

My version of XOSL includes the Ranish Partition Manager. You
may not need it but it won't hurt having it.