Hi, Silk.
See inline...
silk said:
Hi
I am thinking of installing windows XP on my machine and have a few
questions
1 - can i triple boot 98/2k/xp ? and is this straight forward ?
You can boot as many copies of Win2K/XP as you like, plus a single copy of
Win9x/ME, but each must be installed in a separate volume (a primary
partition or a logical drive in an extended partition). You can't install
Win9x/ME in ANY volume, though, unless the "system partition" (almost always
C
is formatted FAT (16 or 32); the Win9x/ME "boot volume" must also be
FAT, of course, as well as any volume that holds applications or data that
you want to access from Win9x/ME. The other volumes may be formatted NTFS
or FAT.
2 - does xp use ntfs or has it its own filesystem ? - can i coss read/write
to fat and ntfs ?
WinXP can use either NTFS or FAT, and can mix and match them easily, just as
any Windows version can read from a floppy or a CD/DVD, each of which uses a
different file system.
3 - can i ghost image xp ?
Yes, but I don't know much about this subject.
4 - whats the size of typical installed xp ?
That varies, depending on what features you want to install, where you will
put such space-consuming items as the page file, and how aggressive you will
be in making sure that applications (and their data) install to a different
volume. Also, it tends to grow over time to fill space, if available (ala
Parkinson's law). My own installation started at about 3 GB and has grown
to 5.5 GB.
5 - do i need an internet connection to install xp - i heared this
someplace
No. An Internet connection is extremely useful, of course, but not strictly
necessary. WinXP must be activated within a few (30?) days of installation;
without an Internet connection, you will need to activate via a telephone
call. Also, MS frequently issues Windows Updates; without the Internet, you
will need to get these updates on CDs or other media and install them that
way.
RC
