elliot2002
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anyone got a dual boot system - a few questions
Hi there, I need to use XP (primarily for remote diagnostics) but don't want to get rid of win98SE just yet. I decided to implement a dual boot system, but as I have no direct experience of this it makes me a little edgy. I would be very grateful if you could answer these preparatory questions:
1) Providing I install XP after win98 is there any problem in putting XP on my D drive. Am I right in thinking the MBR (stored on the primary partition) will indicate to the boot manager where the respective installations are stored – allowing me to choose at startup
2) If I install XP on a separate drive (or partition) will they function as entirely separate installations and not throw up any conflicts
3) Providing I use the same file system I understand that there is no problem sharing files between operating systems. What is the situation with programs though? Would I need to reinstall any programs that have dll’s in my original system folder (eg office) – or could I just drag shorcut’s over from my c-drive. Also would I just be able to redirect outlook express (and outlook) to the relevant dbx and pst files and share mail and outlook resources between installations.
4) if I reformat and reinstall c – will it erase the master boot record and render the second installation (XP) unusable
5) Is there any way to revert afterwards, removing XP from the second drive and returning completely to a conventional boot up situation
1) Providing I install XP after win98 is there any problem in putting XP on my D drive. Am I right in thinking the MBR (stored on the primary partition) will indicate to the boot manager where the respective installations are stored – allowing me to choose at startup
2) If I install XP on a separate drive (or partition) will they function as entirely separate installations and not throw up any conflicts
3) Providing I use the same file system I understand that there is no problem sharing files between operating systems. What is the situation with programs though? Would I need to reinstall any programs that have dll’s in my original system folder (eg office) – or could I just drag shorcut’s over from my c-drive. Also would I just be able to redirect outlook express (and outlook) to the relevant dbx and pst files and share mail and outlook resources between installations.
4) if I reformat and reinstall c – will it erase the master boot record and render the second installation (XP) unusable
5) Is there any way to revert afterwards, removing XP from the second drive and returning completely to a conventional boot up situation
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emery800
I forgot to indicate that you should do a custom install of XP and when you run it, you would say no to upgrade current OS and then select a clean install and check where it is going to install and make sure you select "D". Dave
ASKER
Cheers mate, you answered them all perfectly - excellent timing too, I was just about to go ahead and install. Now I will be able to relax!
Just one thing - what exactly does the sys c: command do?
thanks,
Bowen.
Just one thing - what exactly does the sys c: command do?
thanks,
Bowen.
If your running wither 95 or 98 versions as the first OS and you boot to the command prompt with a bootdisk and run sys c: it copies the system files back to the computer and makes it look like the only system on the machine is the 95 or 98. It overrides the the files necessary for w2k or xp to show or boot. :>) Dave
ASKER
Thanks again,
I will now proceed,
atb,
Bowen.
I will now proceed,
atb,
Bowen.
Good Luck! Thanks, and take care! Dave