Dual Booting Windows XP and 98 SE

[123456]

I'm gonna dual boot these two. I've got Partition Magic 8.0. Now I just need to know how to do the rest....

[Rick]

Create the partitions you want for each and format one for use with win98 (Fat32)
Then
Install Win98 first.
Then install winXP and ntloader will set itself up to allow dual booting

[123456]

Reinstall XP?!
There MUST be another way.
How's 20gb for the partition for 98? I have a 160gb hdd, 108gb free now.

[Paul Komski]

There MUST be another way.
There a couple of other ways especially if using a boot manager and since you have PM you should also have both Boot Magic and PQboot. If not you can achieve similar results using the free XOSL boot manager.

Before you begin, do ensure you have your WinXP installation CD from which you can boot to its recovery console (in case of later problems) and that you have PM installed on a bootable CD or its two bootable floppies. I cant stress this enough.

Use PM to create a primary FAT32 partition for Win98 just after the WinXP partition. Make that partition active and hide all other primary partitions, obviously including WinXP for the time being, (and which should happen automatically when changing the active partition). Dont let the Win98 partition go beyond the 128 GB barrier. 20 gig would be huge for Win98 but thats up to you - 2 to 5 Gig should be more than adequate.

Install Win98 into the partition you have made for it. If you have hidden the WinXP partition it will "assume there is only one partition on the drive" and behave accordingly.

Install BootMagic using this fat partition if you want to use Boot Magic and then configure it to give you a dual boot menu for Win98 and WinXP or edit it the first time you boot to its boot menu.

Alternatively just install PM into the Win98 installation and use PQboot to select to reboot the other primary partition (WinXP) either immediately or at the next boot. Then install PM into WinXP the next time you boot to it and use PQ boot from within WinXP to change the booting over to Win98 in like manner.

There is a small chance that if your bios are too old that you would need to install Win98 at the start of the drive but let us try to avoid messing with the WinXP partition for the time being. You can do that later if its necessary.

To be on the safe side have four nearly identical entries in boot.ini before you hide WinXP so that you can boot to any primary partition if the installation of Win98 changes the partition table order for any reason; delete the extra ones later when all is working OK.
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional orig" /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional 2" /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(3)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional 3" /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(4)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional 4" /fastdetect

Note that if WinXP is on NTFS it will be effectively hidden from the Win 98 installation without setting its partition format specifically to hidden.

[123456]

My WIN XP partition is NTFS..should've mentioned that.
Oh yeah, I do have my XP installation with me. I have everything that came with my PC, (July 2004 purchase, XP Home).

[Paul Komski]

NTFS is fine - it just means that you wont be able to "see" it from MyComputer in Windows 98. It may mean you are given a warning when starting the Win98 installation; a warning you can ignore.

FYI you can browse both Hidden and NTFS partitions with the Partition Magic (version 8 anyways) when it is installed in Windows. Choose the Partition on the Right and then Browse Partition on the Left. You can then cut, copy and paste files/folders onto Visible FAT partitions, where they can then be directly accessed by the Win98.

I do have my XP installation with me
Thats fine as long as it is an installation CD and not a restore CD as provided by some of the proprietary OEMs.

[123456]

Okay, I'm making the partition 20gb and FAT32.

[123456]

Gosh darn it. My PC has no recovery CD, just a recovery partition. And it has no floppy drive, (didn't need it). Now it won't boot windows. i get the message: "Reboot your pc and change the drive to boot" when the Windows 98SE is in the cd. How do I boot my original os?

[Paul Komski]

Now it won't boot windows.
Can you state just what you did to what, I guess, is a proprietary laptop? As long as all you did was create a new primary partition and set it as active you need to unhide the WinXP partition and reset it as active. A cinch to do with PM (or PTedit) on floppies or added to a self-made bootable CD.

... and that you have PM installed on a bootable CD or its two bootable floppies. I cant stress this enough.

It really is mandatory to have a partition manager at your disposal (that you can run from without windows) when doing this sort of work. It is also a good idea to have any important data backed up both generally speaking and particularly at times like this.

If you are being stymied at the moment because you cant boot to the Win98 CD do check in the BIOS setup that it is set to boot to the CD before the HDD in the boot order settings. A setting which is going to be necessary in any case to allow you to boot from any other bootable CDs needed to get you back to where you started from.

At this stage I suggest using BootIt-NG to restitute things and I would also suggest using it as your boot manager in preference to PQ's Boot Magic (which in the absence of its own recovery floppies be very difficult and quirky to repair). Download the fully functional trialware and unzip from http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/ Then use the bootitng.iso file to create a bootable CD with Nero or other burning software. Then boot your problem pc with that CD.

I would choose to install it but DO NOT choose the option to have more than 4 primary partitions. You must either manually or by default let it create an EMBR. This means that it writes to and extends the MBR onto a few unused sectors of the first track. You must then select a FAT partition for it to copy a few of its own files to and hit the Setup button (bottom right) which will only show when it is ready to setup. It will request you remove the CD and reboot. If it has detetected the WinXP partition then click on the entry and see if it boots up OK. If not you will need to go into Maintenance Mode and manually change things in Partition Work or Add/Edit the Boot Menu.

Let us know how things progress or if things need further clarification.

[123456]

OH @$%! It's a desktop. I thought you guys knew what I had...
I created a new 20gb partition, and selected the "Install New OS" button with PM. Now this happens "Reboot and select proper boot device."
BTW, I happened to have the only ISO software in the house.

[123456]

Darn, I can't find the ISO file!
And I'm using VERITAS Record Now! aas I am on my dad's pc..
EDIT: Found the .pdf file nad followed the instructions. Burnt it to a blank CD.

[123456]

Egad! XP booted once perfectly, no messages. Rebooted it, and it says, "Hal.dll cannot be found."
Awesome. Now I am running the hp recovery thing.

EDIT: AAAAAA!!
*Screams till lungs explode/*
The hp recovery console formatted my hard drive? Dammit! *sorry guys.*
Now i have to reinstalll everything. Xp Pro is installing...ugh.
Help me finish my "install programs" list.

Ultra ISO
Office XP 2003
photoshop 9.0 CS2
flash mx 2004
limewire pro
audacity
Eep! My project 64!

MY 1.6 GB picture folder! My music!
:mad: :mad: :mad:

[123456]

God help me. The XP Installation repeats itself. It formats the hard drive, copies files, and repeats those two processes.
Would this plan work?
Plan-Turn off my computer and sister's computer.
Take the hard drive out of my computer, go to Western Digital.com to find out the jumper settings to put on Secondary Slave drive.
install my hard drive as a second hard drive on my sister's pc for now. Install xp on the second hard drive, remove it from her pc and put it in mine. I think it will work, BUT!

My PC Specs-2004
HP desktop, (a650y)
512mb RAM, 160gb hd. 3GHZ, No OS

Sister's PC-1999
Dell desktop, (t5500)
192mb RAM, 20gb hd. 550MHz, Win XP Pro.

Will it work, (I am worried about the rather old hardware on my sister's pc).

[Paul Komski]

Well you are rapidly losing me. I found http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?dlc=en&lc=en&product=425925&lang=en&cc=us&docname=c00239036 which at least gives some outline of your restore options.

You should have been able to choose a non-destructive restore or a destructive restore from either the restore CD (assuming you made one) or from the restoration partition (assuming you didn't delete it after making the restore CD).

I doubt very much if you have any recoverable data (pics etc) at this stage but using GetDataBack from www.runtime.org with your HDD slaved to another PC might get something back if you want to try that out.

The hal.dll is missing error could probably have been cured by choosing the correct boot.ini reference line that you were advised to edit earlier - but that like much else is now history.

Are there any remaining vestiges of BootIt-NG at boot time. If there are then boot t the BiNG CD and choose to uninstall or deactivate it. Then (unless you are going to attempt recovery of any data) reboot again to the BiNG CD and don't reinstall or reactivate it. Choose Maintenance and then go into Partition Work and highlight the WinXP partition; choose properties and if the partition is hidden then unhide it.

Then go into the "MBR Details" section and ensure that the WinXP partition is set as active.

Then delete the new FAT32 partition you created earlier. The idea is to have your pc back as near as possible to the configuration it was in before you started this adventure.

An alternative to try if the above fails would be to enter partition work as above but to then delete both the FAT32 partition and the WinXP partition. I would leave the restore partition alone if it is still in existence.

If even that fails you may need to zero your drive (which will wipe out the restore partition and everything else) and then attempt to restore from restore CD. Installing the OS on another PC is not recommended and will almost certainly not work.

By Recovery Console I presume you mean the MS Recovery Console which HP have placed on the restore CD. But I dont understand what you did there to kick off a reformat and reinstall of the OS.

[123456]

Okay...I have XP up and running now.
I formatted the hard drive by using the windows xp pro installation, then by booting up Boot It NG. Woo. That worked and now I need drivers. I got all but am missing a "usbehci.sys." I NEED that file...my front USB ports are always used.

[123456]

Okay, I just need this last driver: Intel 82801EB 24DD. It is a usb 2.0 controller.

[Paul Komski]

You generally just need to have installed at least SP1 to get USB2 support under WinXP
http://oca.microsoft.com/en/response.aspx?SGD=39c5004e-a01a-44a2-9514-b73508201101&SID=584