WXP and use W98 from a USB hard drive

[Guest]

I'm using Windows XP Home Edition and I want to use Windows 98 on a USB
hard drive . I may even want to boot from the USB hard drive with W98 on it
and I am using a USB/IDE adapter and it goes ok with the hard drive I want to
load W98 onto . Oh yeah , search the knowledge base - ok . Has anyone any
tips for me while I have a look through the knowledge base ?

 

[Guest]

Should I install W98 first onto the USB drive , like I should when setting up
a dual boot computer with W XP and W98 ie: install W98 first then reinstall W
XP on the internal hard drive ? I have a manufacturers USB/IDE adapter cd
with drivers , hopefully for W98 and not just for W98SE .

 

[Doug Knox MS-MVP]

No version of Windows, to date, supports booting from a USB device. First problem, the USB drivers aren't loaded until the operating system is. There is a published hack that will allow booting Windows XP from a USB device, but that doesn't apply to 9x operating systems.

 

[Guest]

I looked this up on google and found a website that said only the Fat
file systems could USB boot . But I think I will take your word for it
thankyou .
Could I load W98 onto a USB hard drive and simply plug and play W98 when
I want to use W98 ?
.......or am I venturing from earth into the clouds above yet again ?

 

[NoNoBadDog!]

Chances are very slim that the motherboard BIOS will allow booting from a
USB drive.

Consider the fact that the swap file has to reside on the drive, that device
drivers will have to install on the drive, and that 99.9% of consumer
motherboards will not boot from a USB drive, and you have your answer.

You are wasting your time.

Bobby

I looked this up on google and found a website that said only the Fat
file systems could USB boot . But I think I will take your word for it
thankyou .
Could I load W98 onto a USB hard drive and simply plug and play W98 when
I want to use W98 ?
.......or am I venturing from earth into the clouds above yet again ?

 

[Guest]

The Winfast bios allows at least a dozen boot options and booting from a USB
hard drive is on of them . The USB device I want to use came with a driver cd
fwith Windows98 drivers on it . All the clues are there for using a USB
hard drive with Windows98 on it . Is there anything else preventing using a
USB hard drive with Windows98 while having WindowsXP on an internal hard
drive ?

 

[Eugene]

One of the things I would like to know, even though it may be slightly off
topic, is that assuming you do get windows xp to run off the usb (2.0) hard
drive, would windows run at a decent speed.

thanks

The Winfast bios allows at least a dozen boot options and booting from a
USB
hard drive is on of them . The USB device I want to use came with a driver
cd
fwith Windows98 drivers on it . All the clues are there for using a USB
hard drive with Windows98 on it . Is there anything else preventing using
a
USB hard drive with Windows98 while having WindowsXP on an internal hard
drive ?

 

[Sharon F]

One of the things I would like to know, even though it may be slightly off
topic, is that assuming you do get windows xp to run off the usb (2.0) hard
drive, would windows run at a decent speed.

Probably not. Throughput is slower than what a local drive could deliver.

 

[Guest]

Could I load Windows98 onto a second hard drive that's connected to the
IDE cable with the first hard drive that has Windows Xp on it as a Dual Boot
operating system , load the Windows98 USB/IDE adapter driver onto it , then
mount the second hard drive as a USB hard drive and boot W98 ?
am I pushing my luck....?
I did find an article saying how to boot from a USB hard drive , though I
can't remember now if it was about W98 , think it was XP .

--
my signature

The Winfast bios allows at least a dozen boot options and booting from a USB
hard drive is on of them . The USB device I want to use came with a driver cd
fwith Windows98 drivers on it . All the clues are there for using a USB
hard drive with Windows98 on it . Is there anything else preventing using a
USB hard drive with Windows98 while having WindowsXP on an internal hard
drive ?

 

[Doug Knox MS-MVP]

Windows 98 requires DOS to load. You would at a minimum, need DOS level drivers for USB to be able even start 98 loading. If you're going to put in the second drive, just put it in the machine and invest ina good boot manager.