Multi-booting Operating
Systems
August 28, 2004
How to
install Win98 and Win XP on the
same machine?
If you have
installed Win XP first and then
try to install Win98 next, it
won’t work, because Win98 wants
to be on the C: drive by
default.
The
easy way is to install Win98 on
C: drive and then install Win XP
on D: drive. Win XP provides the
NT Boot Loader to boot your
chosen OS during system startup.
During installation of Win
XP, the file "ntldr" is copied
to the root directory of the
active partition and the
installation routine scans the
computer for another known
Microsoft OS.
A boot.ini file is created,
which ntldr will read at each
boot. Boot.ini will be
configured with two entries, one
for Win98 on C: and the other
for Win XP on D:
The XP-Setup routine also
copies the existing Win98
partition boot sector into a
file (bootsect.dos) and replaces
the partition boot sector with a
XP version.
Basic
concept of installing multiple
OS on the same PC
1)
Install first OS on the first
partition
2)
Use
hard disk utility to hide the
first partition
3)
Install second OS on the next
partition
4)
Install a boot manager
By
switching the hidden/active
status of each partition, one
partition or the other can be
booted while the other is hidden
and dormant. Only one partition
can be marked “active”.
A boot
manager can be use to switch the
hidden/active flag. With boot
manager, OS are kept independent
as the boot manager is loaded
before the OS. Installing a
third-party boot manager
involves the altering of the MBR,
and this could be unsafe.
The booted
partition is designated
"active". The boot process
starts by executing code in the
first sector of the disk - the
MBR. The MBR looks over the
partition table to find the
"active boot partition” and the
boot process continues through
that partition.
Non-booted
partitions may optionally be set
"hidden" so they can't be
interfered with by the booted
partition.
So when you boot 98 it will
be designated C: and the XP
partition will be hidden, and
when you boot XP it will be C:
and the 98 partition is hidden.
Removing
the boot manager is as simple as
replacing the MBR again with a
standard version. “fdisk/mbr” in
DOS should do the trick.
Steps to
install a second OS, Win 98 on
an existing Win XP system
Prepare the
hard disk
-
Boot the
Win XP
-
Remove all
temp files,
C:\temp ,
C:\Windows\temp, Temporary
Internet files
-
Scandisk
(Optional, ntfsresize should
take care of that)
-
De-fragment
disk (Optional, ntfsresize
should take care of that)
-
Shutdown
Installing
a second OS need to re-partition
the hard drive. It is safer to
backup the existing system.
-
Attach a
hard disk to the secondary IDE
port
(Note: Hard disk Must be BIG
enough to store image)
-
Boot Ghost
Boot CD-ROM
-
Choose
"Disk to image", store image
file to the backup hard disk
Use ntfsresize to shrink the
existing hard disk
- Boot Knoppix Live CD
- At command prompt, run
ntfsresize
- ntfsresize --info
/dev/hda1
- ntfsresize --no-action
--size 10000M /dev/hda1
- ntfsresize --size 10000M
/dev/hda1
- sfdisk -d /dev/hda >
hda.pt
- dd if=/dev/hda of=hda.mbr
bs=512 count=1
- run fdisk to delete and
recreate primary partition to
a size larger than the resized
ntfs volume, eg 10200, set
type to 7, make it active
#fdisk /dev/hda
Command (m for help): p
Command (m for help): d
Command (m for help): n
Partition number (1-4): 1
First cylinder (1-2480,
default 1): 1
Last cylinder or +size or +sizeM
or +sizeK (1-2480, default
2480): +11000M
Command (m for help): t
Hex code (type L to list
codes): 7
Command (m for help): a
Command (m for help): p
Command (m for help): w
- ntfsresize --info
--force /dev/hda1
Boot Win XP to ensure it is
okay.
Next, boot win98 setup CD.
Asked if want to remove
unknown system files? NO!!!
At some point of time, after
formatting the C: drive, there
may be an error.
Possible Error
After Win98 setup formatted
the hard disk (the unallocated
space), it will complain that
the format is not complete due
to some kind of error, and now
the file system is not
compatible.
This is what you can do:
1) Boot a DOS floppy and
format the C: drive. The C:
drive (FAT32) is created during
the Win98 setup.
2) Copy the cab files from
Win98 directory of the setup CD
to the C: drive
3) Run Setup from C:
drive
Warning that Win98 cannot see
WinNT partition. It is OK.
Win98 create its own partition,
format it, install itself
After install finished, Win98
boots from the hard disk.
Install Smart Boot Manager, SBM
from DOS
David Lee's comment dated Friday,
June 10, 2005 1:32 PM
Re: Multi-booting Operating
Systems,August 28,
2004 article.
I suggest that you parition
the HD first for two
OS. Making the mistake of using
the same "Program
Files" directory on the
same HD "C:\\Program
Files" will result in confusion
over which
applications are win9x and which
are NT.
If you make the C: just for
win 9x and then use D:
for NT-XP your prevent removal
headachs when you
try to uninstall applications
with shared DLLS.
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