remove and reinstall windows xp home for dual boot

[dud716]

I would like to set up a dual boot with WIN XP-HOME and
WIN 98-SE. Presently, my computer is set up with WIN XP-
HOME as the OS. I would like to partition my hard drive
(60Gig. IBM Deskstar) to accomodate both operating systems.

I have been told that I have two problems to resolve.

1.)
WIN 98-SE can NOT be installed on a partition other
than C: Currently, WIN XP-HOME is on partition C:, and the
partition can NOT be relabled, herin lies the problem.

2.)
If I wipe my hard drive clean, then install WIN 98-
SE, I will then be UNABLE to install WIN XP-HOME because
of the problem with the limited number of installations of
WIN XP-HOME.

It has been suggested that I make a floppy disk copy of
the BOOT.INI file in order to enable the reinstallation of
WIN XP-HOME onto my computer. If this is the case, how do
I create this bootable floppy disk?

I have purchased a copy of POWERQUEST'S PARTITION MAGIC in
order to accomplish the task of setting up a dual boot,
however, I still have questions regarding the
reinstallation of WIN XP-HOME, once I have wiped my hard
drive clean and installed WIN 98-SE.

I believe my concerns are based on MICROSOFT's licensing
protection of the WIN XP-HOME CD-ROM, which prevents
repeated installations of WIN XP-HOME from the same CD-
ROM. If possible, can you shed some light on this topic.

P.S. I am a novice, but I can follow directions.
Thank you, (e-mail address removed)

 

[John Barnett - MVP]

You are a novice that's read all the wrong signals. First
let's take XP. You can install XP on the same computer as
many times as you like. All you have to do is reactivate
it. What you cannot do is install your copy on your main
pc and then install it on another. This is where the
confusion lies. You only have one licence, so you can
only use it on one machine. This does not affect the
amount of time you install it on this 'one' machine. You
will only have further problems with activation if you
upgrade your hardware, and then a simple free phone call
to microsoft activation should have you up and running
again.
As for dual boot Microsoft recommend that the oldest
operating system, i.e., Win 98 be installed first,
followed by the latest, i.e., Xp. There is a way of
installing 98 after xp, but it is somewhat complex and
not for the novice.
Partition magic is ideal for partitioning your hard
drive, but some people have experienced problems with
Partition magic and XP. Make sure you have the latest
version of Partition Magic.
As you are aware an xp installation can have either a
fat32 or ntfs file system. Windows 98 can only have
fat32. As you are a novice i would suggest you stick with
fat32 for windows xp. If you ever use 'dos' to access
your system, i.e., a windows 98 startup disk and you have
formatted xp's partition in ntfs you will not be able to
access the ntfs partition because dos does not recognise
ntfs.
Creating a bootable floppy is simple enough, but you need
to have your dual boot system in place first because you
are going to need to copy your boot ini file, ntdetect
and ntdlr files.
Installing xp and dual boot system have been reported in
many posts. but rather than you have to search the
newsgroup i am going to suggest that you contact me
direct at the email address above and perhaps we can
address your specific worries and, hopefully, get you up
and running.

Hope this helps

John Barnett - MVP
Associate Expert