XP - Win 98 Dual boot?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Martin
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M

Martin

I may be getting a new computer soon and it will no doubt be pre-loaded with
XP. I would like to retain my current setup with Win98 since I have been
warned that many of the programs I have with 98 may not work properly with
XP.
I have researched the idea of a dual boot setup on this group and others
and have ended up a bit confused.

I have Partition Magic, and assuming I could divide the HD into two
partitions with the XP left completely in one, I wondered I could simply use
my Drive Image backup of 98 to transfer it to the other partition. And then
use a boot manager of some kind to select the OS I wanted.

Of course I could just run two computers and switch the monitor, but space
and the wife might not go along with that idea. So I would really
appreciate any comments and suggestions regarding the best way to set this
up on the new machine.

Thanks
 
Disk partitions and robust boot manager (hiding inactive partitions) is one
solution.
Two removable hard drives (one for XP and one for Win98) is another.
You can also run VMware with virtual Win98 machine.
Or remotely connect to older PC (VNC or else).
All depends on what programs you want to run under Win98 and how often.
 
Martin said:
I may be getting a new computer soon and it will no doubt be pre-loaded
with
XP. I would like to retain my current setup with Win98 since I have been
warned that many of the programs I have with 98 may not work properly with
XP.
I have researched the idea of a dual boot setup on this group and others
and have ended up a bit confused.
Click to expand...

Well, first I'd try my programs on XP. The degree of incompatibility is
greatly exaggerated--the main problems are with programs that use a DOS
extender that's not compatible with the XMS standard and those would be
pretty old.

XP can set up dual boot but you have to have 98 installed first and then do
an installation of XP rather than restoring from a recovery disk.
I have Partition Magic, and assuming I could divide the HD into two
partitions with the XP left completely in one, I wondered I could simply
use
my Drive Image backup of 98 to transfer it to the other partition. And
then use a boot manager of some kind to select the OS I wanted.
Click to expand...

Should work as long as 98 doesn't get confused about drive letters.
Personally I'd use VirtualPC or vmWare (vmWare in general works better, but
VirtualPC is the Official Microsoft Way and costs about half as much and is
quite adequate) and run 98 in a virtual machine if I really needed it.
Of course I could just run two computers and switch the monitor, but space
and the wife might not go along with that idea.
Click to expand...

Not really that big a deal if you use a KVM switch--the box itself doesn't
take up all that much space.
 
Martin said:
I may be getting a new computer soon and it will no doubt be pre-loaded
with
XP. I would like to retain my current setup with Win98 since I have been
warned that many of the programs I have with 98 may not work properly with
XP.
I have researched the idea of a dual boot setup on this group and others
and have ended up a bit confused.

I have Partition Magic, and assuming I could divide the HD into two
partitions with the XP left completely in one, I wondered I could simply
use
my Drive Image backup of 98 to transfer it to the other partition. And
then
use a boot manager of some kind to select the OS I wanted.

Of course I could just run two computers and switch the monitor, but space
and the wife might not go along with that idea. So I would really
appreciate any comments and suggestions regarding the best way to set this
up on the new machine.

Thanks
Click to expand...


I agree with J. Clarke's last statement. Although much can be said for dual
booting, there is nothing like having two machines on a KVM switch
(KVM=keyboard, video, mouse. IOW, you hook up your keyboard, monitor and
mouse to the KVM and run KVM cables to each computer, allowing you to swithc
back & forth between the two machines with the push of a button or keyboard
shortcut).

I have this type of setup and love it! I use one machine as a work horse
(ie; recording video, ripping DVDs, encoding, recording audio off the
internet, whatever) and the other to do my business books, watch TV, play,
surf, whatever. I also have the two machines networked so that I can pass
files between them if necessary. It's a great setup!

Walt
 
Martin said:
I have Partition Magic, and assuming I could divide the HD into two
partitions with the XP left completely in one, I wondered I could simply use
my Drive Image backup of 98 to transfer it to the other partition. And then
use a boot manager of some kind to select the OS I wanted.
Click to expand...

The easiest and safest way is to start with 2 partitions and Win98
installed (it will be installed on the first partition, because that
is the only possibility). Than you install WinXP "on top" of that,
and tell it to install itself on the second partition. The boot
manager will be craeted automatically for you.
(I have done this with Win2000 - I assume XP does the same)
Doing this in different order may be possible, but much more
complicated.

Marcin
 
J. Clarke said:
Well, first I'd try my programs on XP. The degree of incompatibility is
greatly exaggerated--the main problems are with programs that use a DOS
extender that's not compatible with the XMS standard and those would be
pretty old.
Click to expand...

Yeah, unless you're running ancient software that needs, for example,
an ISA Soundblaster to work properly, you probably don't need Win98.
 
Marcin Nowak said:
The easiest and safest way is to start with 2 partitions and Win98
installed
Click to expand...
(it will be installed on the first partition,
because that is the only possibility).
Click to expand...

Care to tell me what I have been doing wrong when my Win98 is on D: ?
 
Folkert Rienstra said:
Care to tell me what I have been doing wrong when my Win98 is on D: ?
Click to expand...

Heh, you tell me :-) Are you actually booting from D:? Or is it
just the system folder there? Do you use external boot manager?
It's been years since I actually installed Win9x, so my memories are
fogged, but I don't remember the ability to install Win9x on something
else that C:. But maybe I don't give it enough credit.

Are you suggesting a different solution to the dual boot, where XP
would be on the first partition, and W98 on the second? That would be
interesting.

Marcin
 
Marcin Nowak said:
Heh, you tell me :-)
Click to expand...
Are you actually booting from D:?
Click to expand...

No, but windows is after Dos9x refers it to the D: drive through C:\MSDOS.SYS.
Or is it just the system folder there?
Click to expand...

Nope, Dos too.
Do you use external boot manager?
Nope.

It's been years since I actually installed Win9x, so my memories are
fogged, but I don't remember the ability to install Win9x on something
else that C:. But maybe I don't give it enough credit.

Are you suggesting a different solution to the dual boot, where
XP would be on the first partition, and W98 on the second?
Click to expand...

That depends on whether the process of doing so is supported by WinXP.
That I don't know, but if WinXP can dual boot without disturbing the
boot files (msdos.sys, io.sys) of Win9x then I can't see why not.
If XP discards them and replaces with something else then it may become
a different matter.
 
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