boot win98 manually

[SkyTrax]

Hi,

Is there a method to boot Win98 on another HD (D:) manually from DOS prompt without tweaking the boot sequence or the IDE cable inside the box ?

I have to physical hard drive with an old installation of win98 on the second.

Thanks

[ski]

Start at a C:\> prompt, type D: and press Enter, at the D:\> prompt type WIN and press Enter.
See if that works.

However, if the D drive is from another system, then it will contain that system's hardware data which may cause problems booting up properly.

[Rick]

Install a Boot Loader is the easiest way

Lilo, Grub, Gag and many others are available

[Rick]

Originally posted by ski
Start at a C:\> prompt, type D: and press Enter, at the D:\> prompt type WIN and press Enter.
See if that works.

However, if the D drive is from another system, then it will contain that system's hardware data which may cause problems booting up properly.


If it is Booted off the c:\ drive and the path statement leads to the c:\windows then all that would happen is the windows version on C: would start..

All so the file and references in the Now installed d: drive more than likely has everything set to the old install as C:\
This would Just cause more errors and problems

[ski]

If it is Booted off the c:\ drive and the path statement leads to the c:\windows then all that would happen is the windows version on C: would start..
I said 'Start at a C:\> prompt', not 'Start at a C:\Windows> prompt'.
If the Ctrl key is held down during startup and 'Command prompt only' is selected, then the system will go to a C:\> prompt, and not a C:\Windows> prompt.
Then, typing D: at the C:\> prompt and pressing Enter will go to a D:\> prompt, and typing Win and pressing Enter may boot the system into Windows from the D drive.

[SkyTrax]

Thanks for reply,

Yes the other hard drive was from another machine, i don't really need the installation on it, it was just for fun and experimentation, that's why i don't want to install a boot loader.

Thanks

[pave_spectre]

Then, typing D: at the C:\> prompt and pressing Enter will go to a D:\> prompt, and typing Win and pressing Enter may boot the system into Windows from the D drive.

It wouldnt work like that since it would look in the default PATH variable to find the command 'win', and D:\ is never included in PATH except when the current working directory.

Finding the D:\ win command, and running wont work either since the installation of Windows 98 is always to the C: drive so having on the slave will not allow it to boot without something like a bootloader that allows other drives/partitions to be hidden or drive letters altered at boot, making any OS on a slave drive (D: ) think it is on the master drive (C: ).

[SkyTrax]

Hi again,

I just tried by typing d:\win and the master c:\ installation starts.

[pave_spectre]

I would reccomend you try a bootloader that allows hiding of other installations partitions/drives, my personal favourite is GAG (http://gag.sourceforge.net/) which may require a bit of experimentation and definitely read the docs that come with it.

[ski]

Rick and pave_spectre,

Thanks for setting me straight.