Dual boot WinXP and Win98SE

[BigToque]

I've looked at a bunch of these dual boot threads, but none of them specifically gets at what I'm gonna ask...

Is it possible to install WinXP on C (formatted as NTFS) and install 98SE on D (formatted as FAT32)?

I keep reading that Win9x requires that the first partition (that I want to have as NTFS) MUST be FAT/FAT32. If this is true, does that mean that I should install Win98 on C and WinXP on D? I'd like to put XP on C because it is the quickest partition.

 

[Twista]

From what i know its older os 1st. So windows 98se 1st and than xp second.

(windows 2000 first than windows xp last.)

 

[FreakyGuy]

Yes it's possible! I've booted 98/ME/Linux/XP off various combos. Even on 2 +++ drives hooked up.

http://www.ranish.com/part/

If you want to read the XP partition from 98 then it has to be Fat. Otherwise you can use NTFS for XP. XP will read both Fat and NTFS, but 98 won't read NTFS.

This program takes some time to learn but is very powerful once mastered. You can boot off any hard drive in your system.

 

[optimistic]

Ah, thanks this answers my 1st question.

My second question would be if WIN98 would have to be optimized in some way to run with 512MB ram. I read that 1GB can't be utilized unless optmized. How about 512?

 

[bacillus]

win98 should not require any tweaking to run 512Mb of ram.
it's another story if you exceed 512Mb

 

[13black]

Dual Boot After The Fact
I found this tip in an email I get from PC Magazine and thought it might be useful to some of you.

I want to run both Windows 2000 Pro and Windows 98 SE on my computer.
When I bought a new hard drive, I installed Windows 2000 on it first.
But my subsequent research seems to indicate that I should have installed Windows 98 SE first and then Windows 2000 on a separate partition.
How do I remove Windows 2000 from the drive so I can partition it and then install Windows 98 SE first and reinstall Windows 2000?

You don't have to remove Windows 2000.
Start by installing Windows 98 SE in a different partition.
When you're done, insert the Windows 2000 CD and reboot to start Windows 2000 setup.
On the Welcome to Setup page, press R (for Repair).
When you reach the Windows 2000 Repair Options page, press R again.

You'll then be prompted to select a repair option.
Press M for Manual. Then press the Up Arrow until Verify Windows 2000 system files is highlighted; press Enter to clear this selection.
Press the Down Arrow to select Continue (perform selected tasks), and then press Enter.

The system will ask whether you have an emergency repair disk.
Press L, indicating it should Locate your existing installation.
Once it does so, press Enter to complete the repairs.
This will establish dual boot for you. (This procedure also works for Windows XP.)

 

[13black]

Edit: I got an error and ended up with multiple posts.

 

[13black]

Edit: I got an error and ended up with multiple posts.

 

[optimistic]

Originally posted by: bacillus
win98 should not require any tweaking to run 512Mb of ram.
it's another story if you exceed 512Mb

thankyou! and thanks black for the tips.

 

[13black]

Originally posted by: optimistic

Originally posted by: bacillus
win98 should not require any tweaking to run 512Mb of ram.
it's another story if you exceed 512Mb

thankyou! and thanks black for the tips.

You're welcome, let me just add that I have never tried it myself. I personally won't be scared to try it, but thats just me.
I have run win 98se with 512 meg of ram. It ran fine, no problems that I know of. I think in the end I did tweak it, but thats just me,
My father laughs at me because I hose my system every couple of months from tweaking or hacking the registry.
He's been running 2k now for over two year's without problems or having to reinstall.
Here is some info I have saved:
The actual RAM limit for Windows 95. 98 and Me is 2 gb of physical RAM, as described in the Microsoft Knowledge Base article Q181594 http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q181/5/94.asp

However there are some vcache limitations that should be put into place with larger amounts of RAM by adding a MaxFileCache value to the [vcache] section of system.ini. The value entered should be approximately 70% of the total installed RAM in kilobytes, with an absolute maximum of 512000. Thus for a system with 384 mb of RAM the entry would read
MaxFileCache=275000
and for systems with 700 mb or more it would be
MaxFileCache=512000

The 70% limit is intended to prevent problems with vcache "runaway" that can otherwise occur when working with huge data files, meaning files that are equal to or greater than the total installed RAM, or when working with folders that contain vast numbers (tens of thousands) of data files. The 512000 absolute limit is an additional protection against "out of memory" errors that can otherwise occur if the vcache builds up to a very large value resulting in a lack of space in the 1 gb system components portion of the 4 gb virtual address space used by Windows.