Dual boot ME and XP with 4 hard drives (questions)

[abc]

Hi:

I'm finally moving to XP after using 31, 95b, 98se and now ME
over the past 15 years.
I have 3 large hard drives (120, 120, and 200) and will be
getting another 120 early next week, for a total of 4 drives. . I
currently have ME on the 1st partition of my primary master drive.
(I'm using the Promise TX133 Ultra controller.)

I need to keep ME, but I also want to add XP, and will be using
a 3rd party boot manager, probably osl2000 or bootit ng.

When I add XP, I want to put it on an NTFS partition.

Here's my questions:

1. Should I have ME and XP on different partitions of the
__same__ hard drive, or should I put them on different hard drives?
I want to keep them both for now, and _maybe_ delete ME in a few
months, and just keep XP.
( I have no problem moving files around to clear room to
create/convert new partitions, if needed.)

2. If you have a dual-boot setup, or experience with one, what
would you recommend as far as the design layout? I can put 2 or 3
partitions on each drive.

3. I have several games that I would like to be able to play with
both ME and XP. Because ME is on FAT32 and XP will be on NTFS, I
realize that I will need to have 2 installs for each game that I want
to run on both.

4. Could you please recommend/suggest some good layouts, and
possibly any layouts to avoid?


Primary Master
part 1 (currently ME on fat32)
part 2 (currently storage on fat 32)


Primary Slave
part 1 (currently game files for ME, on fat 32)
part 2 (currently storage on fat 32)


Secondary Master
part 1 (currently storage on fat 32)
part 2 " " "



(When I get my fourth drive, I can rearrage any drives as necessary
as far as master/slave and primary/secondary and fat32/ntfs.)

I realize that NTFS can see fat32, but fat32 cannot see ntfs.



Sorry if these are stupid newbie questions. I've dual-booted dos &
win9x in the past, but these were always fat16 & fat 32 setups, and
were easier for me to figure out. I really want the stability of
NTFS (for XP), but it really complicates things in my head.

(I have Partition Magic 8.0 to do the partitioning.)

Finally, let me say that I have a couple games that I'm told will
NOT run on XP, so I need to keep ME for now. I've seen some posts
where people recommend deleting all 9x/ME installs and going with
just a single clean XP install. I will delete ME later __if__ I
can get these games to work with XP, but for now I really need both.

Also, I do NOT want to use XP's built-in boot manager. I've
seen it on a friend's system, and I don't like it. I have System
Commander, and just got copies of Bootit and osl2000.


Many thanks for your time, help, and suggestions.

abc

 

[Guest]

You can add xp or viseversa with ME on same hd,i take it youre
purchasing xp pro,from youre description(s) home wont cut it
unless you dont mind reverting back to ME for the xp install to
take place.As for the rest,i wouldnt waste my time on ME or FAT32,
thier both dinasours.

 

[Sunny]

First up make sure that you patch Partition Magic up to Ver 8.1
Pasted below is some very helpful info I got from these New Groups.
(I assume you have a controller card to run CDROM/CDRW?)
I installed PM8.1 to both WinME and WinXP, however you can only install Boot
Magic to one OS, (WinME) as it will not allow two installs. (PQ Boot is
installed with PM8.1 and can get you out of trouble) :
--------------------------------------------------------
Setting up a duel boot OS.
1. Install BootMagic on ME (Be sure to create a BM rescue floppy disk).
2. Use PM to resize ME down to 8GB.
3. Create a new Primary partition of ?GB using the unallocated space just
after the ME partition..
Note: Since the ME is using drive letter C:, then when you bootup to ME, it
will still be C:. But when you bootup to XP, it will be C: also. This is
because only one primary partition can be active at any one time. The other
primary partition is automatically hidden.
4. Format it to whatever FAT you are going to use FAT32 or NTFS (I recommend
the latter).
5. Make the new primary partition "Active"
6. Reboot up to the XP CD.
7. Select the newly created partition and follow instructions.
8. After XP is installed, insert your BM floppy disk, and reboot.
9. Select ME from the menu.
10. Run the BM Configuration Utilities to setup your boot menu and to
activate it.
10. Run PM and partition the rest of your hard drive in sets of 8GB
partitions.
You can have partitions larger than 8GB for FAT32, but use them only for
storage, not for running programs. If using NTFS, the size is not a problem.
And too since ME can't read NTFS, you need to create a FAT32 partition to
share files between ME and XP (e.g. sharing the "My Documents" folder).
Koldbear

Boot your system from the Windows XP CDROM disc, it will let you choose
which partition you want to install it to. When XP Setup is done, you will
have a boot menu that will let you select which version of Windows you want
to run.
Richard G. Harper (MVP Win9x) (e-mail address removed)

 

[Sunny]

You can add xp or viseversa with ME on same hd,i take it youre
purchasing xp pro,from youre description(s) home wont cut it
unless you dont mind reverting back to ME for the xp install to
take place.As for the rest,i wouldnt waste my time on ME or FAT32,
thier both dinasours.

Very handy for running "dinosaur games" though
(especially classic flight sims that XP won't run)

 

[Sunny]

Boot your system from the Windows XP CDROM disc, it will let you choose
which partition you want to install it to. <snip>
Richard G. Harper (MVP Win9x) (e-mail address removed)

Oops, included Richard Harper's "XP's built-in boot manager" instructions,
then read your "do NOT want"
My goof <g>

 

[I'm Dan]

I have 3 large hard drives (120, 120, and 200) and will be
getting another 120 early next week, for a total of 4 drives. .
I currently have ME on the 1st partition of my primary master
drive. (I'm using the Promise TX133 Ultra controller.)

I need to keep ME, but I also want to add XP, and will be
using a 3rd party boot manager, probably osl2000 or bootit ng.

When I add XP, I want to put it on an NTFS partition.

Here's my questions:

1. Should I have ME and XP on different partitions of the
__same__ hard drive, or should I put them on different hard
drives? I want to keep them both for now, and _maybe_
delete ME in a few months, and just keep XP.
( I have no problem moving files around to clear room to
create/convert new partitions, if needed.)

2. If you have a dual-boot setup, or experience with one,
what would you recommend as far as the design layout?
I can put 2 or 3 partitions on each drive.

3. I have several games that I would like to be able to play
with both ME and XP. Because ME is on FAT32 and XP
will be on NTFS, I realize that I will need to have 2 installs
for each game that I want to run on both.

4. Could you please recommend/suggest some good layouts,
and possibly any layouts to avoid?


Primary Master
part 1 (currently ME on fat32)
part 2 (currently storage on fat 32)


Primary Slave
part 1 (currently game files for ME, on fat 32)
part 2 (currently storage on fat 32)


Secondary Master
part 1 (currently storage on fat 32)
part 2 " " "

...(snipped)...

Also, I do NOT want to use XP's built-in boot manager. I've
seen it on a friend's system, and I don't like it. I have System
Commander, and just got copies of Bootit and osl2000.

Since you don't plan on keeping both OS's forever, you definitely do *not*
want XP's built-in multiboot scheme. You can find a detailed explanation on
my website at www.goodells.net/multiboot.

I highly recommend Bootit-NG (BING, to fans). Besides a boot manager, it is
also a partition-managing substitute for PM8 and a partition-imaging
substitute for Ghost or DriveImage. If you don't already have an imager,
you will love this. I avoid any partitioner or imager that runs from within
the partition you need to operate on, so I recommend BING or the DOS version
of PM8 instead of the Windows version.

As for layouts, that's really just a matter of preference. I like all OS
partitions on one disk and backup images of the partitions kept together on
a different disk. It's just easier to remember where everything is. My
preference would be to put OS's on HD0, data on HD1, and backups on HD2
(consisting of occasional partition images of the OS's, as well as daily
backups -- not images -- of the data files). If HD0 dies, I swap it out and
restore from the images on HD2. If HD2 dies, I swap it out and recreate new
images from the original sources on HD0. I don't see where spreading OS's
on different HDs gains anything. (FTR, a more complete backup strategy
includes offloading the backups to CDR or removeable media occasionally.)

With that much disk space, you ought to be cloning OS's so you have
duplicates of each OS. Even with only two OS's, you could have four boot
choices, two of which are disposable clones of your stable OS partitions.
The disposables come in handy for testing new software before committing it
to your stable OS. If it crashes, just reclone from your stable OS and no
harm done. In fact, all my kids' computers multiboot between a stable boot
partition (connected to home LAN) and an at-risk boot partition (disabled
from home file/print sharing) for their Kazaa and virus-vulnerable
activities.

 

[abc]

(snip)

Hi Sunny,

Thanks for all the time & ideas you gave me. Your help, along
with that of some others, gave me a __lot__ of info to study &
digest.
I ended up trying boot magic, the xp loader (ugh!), osl2000 and
bootit.
I spent most of yesterday trying out the different programs.
I finally decided (this morning) to go with Booitit.
I've got both os's running on separate partitions of the same hard
drive, and everything seems to be running well.

Thanks again for your time and suggestions.

abc

 

[abc]

(snip)

Hi Dan:

I responded to your post in another newsgroup, but I also wanted
to respond to you here directly.
Sorry it took so long to get back to you. I was away until
yesterday noon.

Wow, what a goldmine of information & knowledge you have.
I saved your website pages, and followed several links. I've learned
more about partitions, mbr's, etc. in the past 24 hours that I have in
the past 15 years.

I ended up trying several different boot programs. the xp
loader sucks, in my opinion!! I also tried boot magic, osl2000, and
bootit.
At this point, I like bootit the best (except for the $35 price)
and I am currently using it to boot both os's on separate partitions
of the same hard drive. Everything seems to be working well.
I've booted, shut down, and rebooted probably 20-25 times since this
morning, and so far, so good.

Dan, I really want to thank you for all the time and help you
gave me. I was __not__ looking forward to doing this but all the
help I got from you, and others, made the process go quite smoothly.
I made a couple stupid mistakes but recovered ok.

Anyways, now I have to learn how to use XP. At first glance, it
really appears different (visually) from the 9x os's. I know it can
be set up to resemble the 9x's & ME. I've just got to figure out how
to do it.

Once again, a mighty BIG __thank you!!__ for all the help &
time you gave me.

abc

 

[I'm Dan]

At this point, I like bootit the best (except for the $35 price)
and I am currently using it to boot both os's on separate
partitions of the same hard drive. Everything seems to be
working well. I've booted, shut down, and rebooted probably
20-25 times since this morning, and so far, so good.

Good choice! It's one of the best bargains out there.