How to install Windows 95, 98 & ME on one machine?

[Guest]

Hello everyone:


I need all three versions of OS -- Windows 95, 98, ME to test our product --
is it possible to install all three on one computer, provided I have three
HDDs or 3 separate partitions?

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Hello everyone:


I need all three versions of OS -- Windows 95, 98, ME to test our product --
is it possible to install all three on one computer, provided I have three
HDDs or 3 separate partitions?

Yes, it is possible, but since this is a WinXP newsgroup
you had best post your question in a Win9x newsgroup.

 

[Guest]

Why don't you create Virtual Machines (VM's) for each of the OS's that you
want to test. In this case you wont need separate HDD's or partitions. You
can do this by using a machine with Win XP Pro as the host OS, and Virtual
Server 2005 for the virtualization. Microsoft made Virtual Server 2005 R2
free in early April 2006, check the Virtual Server 2005 home page.

VS2005R2 will run on Win XP Pro in a "non production environment". That
means MSFT wont support the product when it's run on XP. Don't worry to
much, it seems to work quite well. They will support Virtual PC but you have
to buy that one...it's not that expensive.

I suggest that if you do use virtualization, only run one VM at a time so
that concurrent RAM and CPU usage doesn't impact on the machine performance.

 

[Rick \Nutcase\ Rogers]

Hi,

Yes, it's possible, and you can do it with either 3 drives or 3 volumes.
You'll need a decent boot manager, this one is my personal favorite: BootIT
NG from www.terabyteunlimited.com, and it will allow you to do exactly what
you are asking.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

 

[Carey Frisch [MVP]]

"You cannot configure a computer to multiple boot any combination
of Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows Me because Windows 95,
Windows 98, and Windows Me use the same boot file. Therefore, multiple
booting Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows Me at the same time is
not supported."

How to Multiple Boot Windows XP, Windows 2000, Windows NT,
Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows Me, and MS-DOS
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/q217210/

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows - Shell/User
Microsoft Community Newsgroups
news://msnews.microsoft.com/

---------------------------------------------------------------------------­----------------

:

| Hello everyone:
|
| I need all three versions of OS -- Windows 95, 98, ME to test our product --
| is it possible to install all three on one computer, provided I have three
| HDDs or 3 separate partitions?

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Yes, you can if you use a decent boot manager, as
Rick suggested. Your restriction applies only if you rely
on the native Windows NT/2000/XP boot manager.

 

[Guest]

I need all three versions of OS -- Windows 95, 98, ME to test our product --

is it possible to install all three on one computer, provided I have three
HDDs or 3 separate partitions?

Based on old memories, multi-booting was easiest if you created a 2GB or
smaller
FAT16 C: partition and installed MSDOS 6.22 first. This triggers the
creation of BOOTSECT.DOS when you install other systems.

The only issue I remember was when using MSDOS and qemm, which would read
BOOTSECT.DOS to to put MSDOS.SYS into himem and it would get the wrong one. I
patched it to use a file called BOOTSECT.622 instead.

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Based on old memories, multi-booting was easiest if you created a 2GB or
smaller
FAT16 C: partition and installed MSDOS 6.22 first. This triggers the
creation of BOOTSECT.DOS when you install other systems.

The only issue I remember was when using MSDOS and qemm, which would read
BOOTSECT.DOS to to put MSDOS.SYS into himem and it would get the wrong one. I
patched it to use a file called BOOTSECT.622 instead.

As Carey Frisch correctly pointed out, you cannot
multi-boot several DOS-based OSs, because they
all use the same boot files. You do need a proper boot
manager such as BootIt or XOSL
(http://www.ranish.com/part/xosl.htm). Let's not confuse
the OP with untried recipes!

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Hello everyone:


I need all three versions of OS -- Windows 95, 98, ME to test our product --
is it possible to install all three on one computer, provided I have three
HDDs or 3 separate partitions?

It would be possible, using a 3rd-party boot manager, as none of those
operating systems have any sort of built-in multi-boot support or
capability. Another possibility, as some else pointed out, would be to
use a virtual computer environment, created by either VMWare or VirtualPC.

But, is it really worth the effort? After all, all three of the
mention operating systems are long past their days of usefulness; every
day, there are fewer and fewer computers using them. You business'
bottom line would probably be better served if you were to test your
product on modern operating systems, such as WinXP, Vista, and the more
popular Linux distros.


--

Bruce Chambers

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