Hi, Bill.
It's possible - but it probably won't be easy.
First, recognize that Win9x/ME can't read from, write to, or even SEE a
partition formatted as NTFS, so it certainly can't boot from an NTFS
partition. The WinXP-only (until now) computer probably is formatted as
NTFS-only, especially if it came with WinXP pre-installed. The only way to
make Win9x/ME boot and run is to make the "system partition" FAT (16 or
32) - or use a third-party solution, like Boot Magic or BootItNG (neither of
which have I used). She could also go into the BIOS and change the boot
order of the HDs before each OS switch, but that's a pain and it's not,
strictly speaking, dual-booting.
The system partition is almost always the first partition on the first HD -
nearly always Drive C:. If her WinXP HD's Drive C: is already formatted
FAT32, then the problem won't be too bad. Just go ahead and install Win98
normally, specifying that it should go onto the second HD. This will make
her computer boot into Win98 ONLY. Then she will need to "repair" the WinXP
installation by booting from the WinXP CD-ROM and using the Recovery Console
to run FixBoot and BootCfg to restore the WinXP system files.
But if Drive C: is NTFS, then she will first have to convert that to FAT,
and Microsoft provides no easy way to do it. She will have to either
backup/reformat/restore, or use Partition Magic or something similar to make
the conversion. After which, she can do as outlined in the previous
paragraph.
Remember the Golden Rule for creating a dual-boot system: Always install
the newest OS LAST!
For more information, see Doug Knox's web page:
How do I install Windows® 98/Me after I've installed XP?
http://www.dougknox.com/xp/tips/xp_repair_9x.htm
But why does she need Win98, anyhow? Nostalgia? Chances are, 100% of her
applications will run under WinXP, most with no tweaking at all. WinXP
reads FAT, but she could easily use convert.exe to convert that drive to
NTFS in a few minutes. And she could delete Win98's \Windows folder and
recover all that hard drive space to use for more storage.
Dual-booting has its uses, such as during a transitional period while making
sure all your hardware and software work on WinXP, or for a developer having
to write programs for multiple platforms, or to provide a second copy of
WinXP so that you can boot into that to do maintenance on your main copy.
Otherwise, it's a nuisance! And I speak from experience.
RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
(e-mail address removed)
Microsoft Windows MVP
Bill said:
My sister recently removed the hard drive from an old computer of hers that
has windows 98se installed on it and installed this drive as a second hard
drive for storage in her windows xp pro system. All win98 system files and
registry are still intact on this second hard drive. Can somone tell me how
this machine can be setup as a dual boot system, preferably w/o any
reformatting or repair installations. Any help is greatly appreciated.
TIA
