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How should I partition my hard drive? 20GB

GeekDrew

Diamond Member
Is it possible to run Windows 98SE, Windows ME, and Windows 2K?

My possible setup is:

2GB Boot/Cab files
3GB Windows 98SE
3GB Windows ME
6GB Windows 2000
3GB NTFS storage
3GB Fat32 storage

Will this work?

Thanks!
 
For your setup you should run ALL Fat32. However if it were my HDD I would run Win 2k only. 🙂

You should scrap the ME and stick with 98SE & Win2K if you want to dual boot. My .02 cents of course....
 
Since home users wont be benefitted by NTFS, I'd suggest this...

Win98SE
Win2K
Games/Storage

Save yourself some trouble with less partitions.
 
In my opinion, you should reduce the number of partitions that you have and make like 4 of them at most. The reason being is that some partitions are bound to have more freespace since you will probably not use them as often. Having more free space on certain will make organization really hard because you have to put your large files in several different locations. I would go boot drive win98se (2gb), win2k (8gb), storage for the fat32 files (10gb).
 
Since you guys seem knowledgable I have a question, can both OS utilize your storage drive. For example Win2k on D: drive play Quake that is on third partition E😀rive? And same question for Win98, can 98 that is on C: utilize Quake that is on E: drive? So what im saying is can the storage drive be used for both OS?

Thank You in Advance? This is very interesting!
 
There's logic to my madness! :Q

Here we go again

C: 2GB Boot/Cab files
D: 3GB Windows 98SE
E: 3GB Windows ME
F: 6GB Windows 2000
G: 3GB NTFS storage
H: 3GB Fat32 storage

C: because I need a place to put it
D: and E: I need both of these because I am actually a computer consultant (that doesn't know a lot in this area) and have different clients with different OSes (the little differences)
F: where else?
G: and H: I'm one of the most organized people that most people will ever meet. I need NTFS for security(there are nosy people that use the same system as me), and I need the Fat32 storage for the 9x OSes.

Now do you have any comments? lol😛

Thanks!
 
Yes, both OS's can access data from all drives (as long as they are all FATT32). However, if you install a program with registry entries such as Office 2000 in Win98SE, it will not run in Win2K and vice versa. You can always install on top of the existing installation of the other OS... but that'll get messy.

Basically choose Win2K as your main OS, install all your programs on that, and you'll be using that OS most of the time. Programs that can't run under Win2K, install under Win98SE. That way, when you need to use those other programs, just reboot into Win98SE...

I'm using WinME/Win2K and I never boot into WinME unless I'm troubleshooting something in Win2K (if Win2K refuses to boot).
 
now tell me what in the world possessed you to make me go read that? 😕 there is no conclusion, modus fouled everything up, and it dragged on forever. i'm nowhere better than i was before...

no offense

st
 
If you care to prove him wrong. It makes me puke when people try to split up their "already so small" 10-20GB hard drive into a million partitions, I have a 40giger one partition, hope this help explain my postion.
 
Oh yea, why do you bother to ask us this question if you already know how you're going to partition?
 
Well, originally, I asked if it was possible...as in running both Win98SE and WinME on the same system...

I'm sorry...didn't understand your position in the argument there for a sec...

ST
 
DCDomain,
excellent idea, you made a light bulb go off in my head. Will i need a boot switching software to switch between the two OS? Also should i wait for the new release or buy win2k now?

Thanks in advance!
 
Here's my take on it.

Start with 3 primary partions and one extended partion. You can have as many logical partitions in the extended partition as you want. Some OSes require a primary partition to install so it's wise to have as many of them as you can, i.e. 3. You never know, you might want them to start mucking about with Linux, *BSD, BeOS, Plan 9 or whatever when you get fed up playing games 🙂

Acquire Partition Magic so you can change the type, resize and move partitions to your heart's content without having to re-install. You can easily fix things if your first attempt proves less than optimal. Great program.

Personally I wouldn't use W2000 without NTFS, but this would proclude sharing its boot partition with WinME and 98 as the latter two can't grok NTFS. If you keep all the OSes in separate partitions you can easily install multiple copies of the same program but sharing "Program Files" folders and the like can get messy so think about where you install your programs as the default C: won't normally suit. On the other hand installing 98, ME and 2000 in the same FAT32 partition is the easiest way to multi-boot and that's the way M$ expects you to do it.

For any partitions that you indend to use purely for data (ie storing images, mp3s, wav's etc), FAT32 is a good choice (unless you intend to use NT since it can only read NTFS and FAT16). Most modern OSes can read FAT32 easily. Use NTFS where security is important. As it's a journaling filesysem, NTFS is also fast at recovering itself after crashes.

Sizewise, I'd initally make the primary partitions quite small, say about 2 or 3 GB and keep only the bare OS installations on them, as much as possible, so you have plenty of large contiguous space to play with. You don't need to use all your disk right away so think about leaving some unpartitioned space for a rainy day.

On the other-hand, you could go for just one big f*ckoff C: drive 🙂
 
No big C: drive. I like partitioning. 😛

I really won't be using the W9x OSes unless I run across a program that is incompatible w/ Win2K...I want all 3 OSes because of reference (many people call me for phone tech supp). I'd also leave the basic programs on there so my mom could use it, in case her computer died or something:frown:...

Now that I think about it, 3GB each is a little much for the W9x OSes... How much should I use for them?😕

ST
 
For the Win9x partitions I think 1.5 gb would suffice... you could probably go smaller, but it's easier to use up any extra space than trying to find space if you get my drift.

Racn, you won't need any special boot software to run dual boots. Win2K will automatically edit the Boot.ini to display a screen for you to choose which OS you want to boot...
 
6 partitions??
geesh thats so unnecessary
two partitions is what i recommend, 1 10 gig win98se and another 10gig ntfs for win2k
buy another hard drive and keep that for storage
 
Shriner: All of those partitions sound like a nightmare. Any more than 3 partitions on that drive is unholy. If you really must run both 98se and ME <shiver>, then create 3 partions--one for each OS. Give yourself at least 10GB for win2k under NTSF. That will solve all your NTSF needs. Then carve up the remaining 10GB between 98se and ME under FAT32. I suggest giving yourself like 8GB for 98SE and 2GB for ME. Then Keep ALL of your FAT32 stuff on the 98 partion. You should be able to have one copy of all your programs running under both 98SE and ME.

Oh, and if you do insist on all those partions, do yourself a favour and go out and get yourself a copy of partion magic. Because I guarantee that regardless of how you decide to carve up your drive you will be wanting to change partion sizes on the fly after a few months...
 
I'll have to take ur advice and get Partition Magic. Wasn't wanting to, but you're completely right...

The reason I like to have everything in its own partition is because of ghosting. I have ghost 2001, and haven't figured out a way to image only a few file. Don't think that there is a way. If I had a single 10gb disc image, that would be quite a disc span. That's why I like having small areas to work with.

Now shoot down my logic any way you can (seriously)

 
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