Quick dual boot question

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newtechie

I'm gonna create a dual boot system probably with 98/XP or 2000/XP but I
haven't decided which yet. I know I have to install the oldest O/S first
but what I wanted to know is when I go to install the 2nd O/S, will I have
to option to create another partition or will it better if I just create it
with partition magic after I finish installing the 1st one??

Thanks in advance,
Newtechie
 
newtechie said:
I'm gonna create a dual boot system probably with 98/XP or 2000/XP but I
haven't decided which yet. I know I have to install the oldest O/S first
but what I wanted to know is when I go to install the 2nd O/S, will I have
to option to create another partition or will it better if I just create
it
with partition magic after I finish installing the 1st one??
Click to expand...


No...

run fdisk (or partition magic)
and partiton your drive first...you will need two partitions
 
Two words - Virtual PC.

Don't play with dual boot, it is just a waste of time.

If you insist on not following my advice (as I would expect any real techy
geek would not):

Make you system partition at least 3 GB if installing 98 (why you would want
98, i do not know). Then devote the rest to your extended partition and
logical drive. You will need to prepartition and format with fat32 in this
case.

If you choose 2000 as the first OS make sure your system partition is at
least 4 GB. No prep is needed on the drive, just follow the monkey steps and
all will be made clear.

But, really, just use a virtual PC program. I know you might just want to do
it. So go ahead. Then if you find a reason it was useful let me know (other
than just so you could say you did it). I have only ever run into one
instance where a multibooting system was a good thing.

Sorry I am so cynical and negative, but this is just such an old horse and
its been beat to death so many times.

--
Manny Borges
MCSE NT4-2003 (+ Security)
MCT, Certified Cheese Master

There are 10 kinds of people in the world. Those who do understand binary
and those who don't.
 
heck I've been multi booting for years with never a problem...
using a virtual machine will cause the guest OS to take a hit in
performance...
and is never really quite the same as just plain running the desired OS
 
Well, new techie,

there are two main products out there as far as i am concerned:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtualpc/default.mspx
and
http://www.vmware.com/.

I don't have a favorite, but vmware will let you make linux vms and will
load vista(if you have it).

But the MS product is SO easy to use.

And with a liberal amount of RAM in your PC you can run several OSes
simultaneously. And at the same time even.

So get a reading and google anything you need clarification on.

So with that , I will exit, stage right.

--
Manny Borges
MCSE NT4-2003 (+ Security)
MCT, Certified Cheese Master

There are 10 kinds of people in the world. Those who do understand binary
and those who don't.
 
Ah yes, BUT no one says you need to run all your VMS at one time.

I will bet you any amount you want that I can open a saved state win 98 VM,
do what I need to do, save the state back to the HD and continue on in XP
long before you can achieve the same thing with a dual boot system.

With cheap RAM and killer processors we don't need to be shackled by
inflexible multi boot configurations any longer.

Embrace the present.

Yes, you are right. They never are quite the same. They are quicker to load,
easy to backup, have nifty features like undo disks, are easy to clone and
experiment with, and are readily portable. And you don't have to spend all
your time watching your computer boot.

And for those of you out there who want to experiment with networking you
can build a whole virtual network with a single PC. Move up to the higher
end VMwares and Virtual Server and you can play with clustering without
spending the 8 grand minimum on the required hardware(you could probably do
it cheaper, but I readily admit to being a hardware snob).

Of course there is a small minority out there who may find an incompatible
application or two. Usually game software.
To them I say, just go invest an a cheap PC and a KVM. I mean, really, 98
will run like a champ on p2 400. Those can be found for about 20-40
bucks.Just go look.

--
Manny Borges
MCSE NT4-2003 (+ Security)
MCT, Certified Cheese Master

There are 10 kinds of people in the world. Those who do understand binary
and those who don't.
 
Manny Borges said:
Ah yes, BUT no one says you need to run all your VMS at one time.

I will bet you any amount you want that I can open a saved state win 98
VM, do what I need to do, save the state back to the HD and continue on in
XP long before you can achieve the same thing with a dual boot system.

With cheap RAM and killer processors we don't need to be shackled by
inflexible multi boot configurations any longer.
Click to expand...


It might work for you but the reason I still keep win98 is for my legacy dos
apps.

I'm an experimentor and need real mode dos from time to time...

but I suppose that would not be a terribly high priority for most folks.


I also run Linux and the performance is superior with a HD install
as opposed to running within a virtual machine
 
wgrant49 said:
I'm gonna create a dual boot system probably with 98/XP or 2000/XP but I
haven't decided which yet.
Click to expand...

Use 2000, forget 98..........Unless ya want 98 for a reason.
I know I have to install the oldest O/S first
Click to expand...

No you don't if you use 3rd party software............Key clue you are
giving me is that you have PMagic which comes with BootMagic.........
but what I wanted to know is when I go to install the 2nd O/S, will I have
to option to create another partition or will it better if I just create it
with partition magic after I finish installing the 1st one??
Click to expand...

Partition Magic/BMagic will be your "GOD" in this scenario.......

Here's my first set of questions:

1) How is your system setup now? Is it installed with proprietary crap
or was a clean install from a full retail cd?

2) Are you using full retail install CD's?

3) Explore your PMagic disk and verify that you do indeed have the
"BTMagic" folder available..........

4) Just curious........Why do you want a dual boot?

Just a quick note:

I have been dual booting for "years" and currently run 4 OS's on one
drive on various machines for testing purposes so I am very
familiar.....I "NEVER" have and will "NEVER" use Windozes way of setting
up dual boot scenarios "EVER"......3rd party booting & partitioning
software is the best way to go..........
If you are interested in how I "easily" do it than just humor me with
the questions, than I will explain to you how I setup my system. If ya
like that way than you just learned a nice way to do it...... ;0)
--
************************************************
The Tobes of Hades, lit by flickering torchlight
The netherworld is gathered in the glare
Prince By-Tor takes the cavern to the north light
The sign of Eth is rising in the air.
By-Tor, knight of darkness,
Centurion of evil, devil's prince.
 
I appreciate your enthusiasm and commitment, but your responses prove that
you haven't actually ever used any virtual machine software before.

--
Manny Borges
MCSE NT4-2003 (+ Security)
MCT, Certified Cheese Master

There are 10 kinds of people in the world. Those who do understand binary
and those who don't.
 
Manny Borges said:
I appreciate your enthusiasm and commitment, but your responses prove that
you haven't actually ever used any virtual machine software before.
Click to expand...

yes i have...
i've used both VM Ware and Bochs
 
newtechie said:
I'm gonna create a dual boot system probably with 98/XP or 2000/XP but I
haven't decided which yet. I know I have to install the oldest O/S first
but what I wanted to know is when I go to install the 2nd O/S, will I have
to option to create another partition or will it better if I just create it
with partition magic after I finish installing the 1st one??
Click to expand...



The simplest way I've found to dual boot between Win9x/Me and WinXP
would be to partition your drive(s) roughly as follows:

C: Primary FAT32 Win9x/Me/Legacy Apps
D: Extended NTFS WinXP/Modern Apps

Adjust the partition sizes according to your actual hard drive(s)
size and the amount of space you'd like to allocate to each OS and its
applications.

Create the partitions using Win9x's FDISK so you can enable large
disk support (FAT32). (No need for 3rd party partitioning
utilities/boot managers and their frequent complications.)

Install Win9x/Me first, being sure to select "C:\Windows" (or
D:\Windows, if you prefer) when asked for the default Windows
directory. When you subsequently install WinXP, be sure to specify
"D:\Winnt" (or "D:\Windows," "C:\Winnt" as referred/applicable) when
asked for the default Windows directory, to place it in the other
partition. The WinXP installation routine will automatically set up a
Multi-boot menu for you. The default settings for this menu can be
readily edited from within WinXP. NOTE: If you elect to place
Win9x/Me on the "D:" drive, you'll _have_ to leave the "C:" drive as
FAT32.

This method can be adapted to using 2 physical hard drives by
placing the boot partition (C:, which still must be FAT32) and either
of the operating systems on the Primary Master hard drive, and the
second operating system on the second hard drive.

It is also possible to have a 3rd partition for shared
applications, but it would be necessary for such a partition to be
formatted in the common file format (FAT32). The applications would
also have to be installed into each OS (to ensure proper system file
placement and registry updates), one at a time, but the bulk of the
program files could be located on this common partition. I do not,
however, actually recommend doing this as, if you were to uninstall
such an application from one OS, you may not be able to gracefully
uninstall it from the second OS, having already deleted crucial
installation data during the first uninstall action.

Just about everything you need to know (URLs may wrap):

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q217/2/10.ASP

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/using/howto/gettingstarted/multiboot.asp



--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:



They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. -Benjamin Franklin
 
newtechie said:
I'm gonna create a dual boot system probably with 98/XP or 2000/XP but I
haven't decided which yet. I know I have to install the oldest O/S first
but what I wanted to know is when I go to install the 2nd O/S, will I have
to option to create another partition or will it better if I just create it
with partition magic after I finish installing the 1st one??

Thanks in advance,
Newtechie
Click to expand...

What is the drive and partition setup you want? Two patitions on one
physical drive or two physical drives? Which OS do you want on which
partition or drive?

You can probably do it however you want, with or without any 3rd party
partitioning program. The specifics to the questions I ask will
determine how to accomplish this.

I personally would choose Win2K over Win98, though, it's more stable. If
you do go with Win98 make sure it's Win98se.

Steve N.
 
(No need for 3rd party partitioning utilities/boot managers and their
frequent complications.)
Click to expand...

Just curious.........What "frequent" complications would that be?
--
************************************************
The Tobes of Hades, lit by flickering torchlight
The netherworld is gathered in the glare
Prince By-Tor takes the cavern to the north light
The sign of Eth is rising in the air.
By-Tor, knight of darkness,
Centurion of evil, devil's prince.
 
philo said:
yes i have...
i've used both VM Ware and Bochs
Click to expand...

and i should add that having several bootable OS's can be quite handy if you
need to
go in and repair another one.
 
Hi ByTor,

Thanks for your reply. Here are the answers to your questions:

1. I'm using WinXP(MCE) on a 250gb hard drive and it was a clean install
from OEM disc.
2. No retail cd.
3. I'll have to check the Partition Magic disc but I'm sure it's there.
It's version 8.
4. No specific why I wanna dual boot.

Now I'm curious to know how would you set up a dual boot with Partition
Magic? I am interested in your 'easily' to do it suggestion :-)

newtechie
 
Hi Steve,

Thanks for your reply.
It'll be configured on one 250g hard drive on 2 different partitions. I'll
probably do 2000/XP since the majority thinks this is the way to go. Is
there a way to get around reinstalling the current system?

Thanks,
newtechie
 
There is no reason to put the WinXP in an Extended partition.
If you put it in a Primary partition, its partition will have the
capability to boot between the OSes.

*TimDaniels*
 
wgrant49 said:
Hi ByTor,

Thanks for your reply. Here are the answers to your questions:

1. I'm using WinXP(MCE) on a 250gb hard drive and it was a clean install
from OEM disc.
2. No retail cd.
3. I'll have to check the Partition Magic disc but I'm sure it's there.
It's version 8.
4. No specific why I wanna dual boot.

Now I'm curious to know how would you set up a dual boot with Partition
Magic? I am interested in your 'easily' to do it suggestion :-)

newtechie
Click to expand...

1st question.....

Is the drive SATA or IDE?
More than likely when installing Win2K the SATA drives may have to be
installed first....I myself have not experienced a clean install on a
SATA system yet, whether XP or 2K, maybe someone can confirm that
portion first as I don't like to claim I know something if I'm not
sure.......Usually from what I understand they are done from "text"
mode, meaning use of a floppy.........Proprietary machines today do not
come with them hardly anymore, reinstalls are done through image
"restore" disks from manufactorers, no need to install SATA
drivers......

2nd:

How do you wanna split your drive? Me personally I use 40-60gig drives
for my OS drives and DO NOT store data within the OS partition(I use
imaging software and having dat present is just plain stupid in the end
resulting size of the image).....I am a firm believer in NOT storing
data there, I use seperate physical HD's or another partition in the
same drive which would be your case I assume with one 250gig
drive?.........
I ask because with a dual boot how will your save & share your data
between the two? In a "Classic" windows tools dual boot scenario the
drive will not be hidden so data is accessable, when using a prog &
setup 3rd party both OS's will be hidden from each other......
Do you want to now create, because you have a 250gig drive, a 3rd
logical partition to store all your data, shrink/resize your XP install
and use a smaller size partition for the second OS? Most people let
everything save to the defaults programs & windows save to, hence
"major" issue when their OS's begin to melt down, wanna do a
restore/clean install & they have NO idea where their data is.........
See now you've opened another arena, organization of data!

Don't get me wrong I'm not trying to discourage you from learning how to
dual boot but these are just some areas ya may wanna think
about........If you decide to pull an OS & wipe it which one wil you end
up keeping.......If it's XP on the first partition no problem, wipe the
second one resize your partition to swallow the extra space & be
done......

If ya feel ya wanna continue let me know and I'll walk ya through
everything........

--
************************************************
The Tobes of Hades, lit by flickering torchlight
The netherworld is gathered in the glare
Prince By-Tor takes the cavern to the north light
The sign of Eth is rising in the air.
By-Tor, knight of darkness,
Centurion of evil, devil's prince.
 
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