• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

New W2k system. Should I dual boot?

Muse

Muse

Lifer
I was just going to run Win2k, but I looked at a game I bought and it said it didn't support NT or 2k. Some research revealed that it'll work OK (Alice), but the producers of the game don't want to support Win2k or NT because, well, it's more work and trouble, so they put that on their box.

I'm not really a gamer, in fact the only game I've played besides a chess game a few years ago, is Quake demo before Quake I was released. My new system should be a real gaming machine, though, and I thought I would give them a try as long as I have the hardware now. See what I've been missing. I now have Alice, Max Payne and Deus Ex ... none installed yet.

HD space is so cheap now, I can allocate a 2 GB partition for Win98SE, and it'll only cost me around $5. Should I dual boot on a just-in-case basis? Or is there a downside to dual booting? For instance, every time I boot, I think the boot manager waits for you to decide which OS you're going to use, and it waits 30 seconds before picking the default, presumably W2k. Can you select the timeout for this? Say 2 seconds?

Thanks...

Dan
 
To change the time it waits until automatically booting, either change the boot.ini file (the selection you want to change will be obvious), or in the system control panel under startup and recovery, there's a section for default os and time to wait.

If you are dual booting for gaming, you might find that everything runs ok in 2k, and you don't need 98.
 


<< To change the time it waits until automatically booting, either change the boot.ini file (the selection you want to change will be obvious), or in the system control panel under startup and recovery, there's a section for default os and time to wait.

If you are dual booting for gaming, you might find that everything runs ok in 2k, and you don't need 98. >>

Well, why DO people dual boot? AFAIK, it's games. What other reasons are there? Apps not "supported" in 2k?
 
before you go throught the hassle of configuring a dual boot, try and run the game in Windows98 Compatability mode. I had such a problem and it was fixed. To run anything in this mode, right click on the .exe or shortcut and there should be a "compatability" tab. Select it there
 
Dual boot. When I installed Win2k, I kept Win98 because of what people were saying about games, but also because some of my programs didn't work with Win2k and I wasn't spending the money to upgrade the apps.

I use Win2k almost exclusively. The games I have run fine in Win2k, but there are times I use the Win98 boot - primarily for certain apps - or I have a need to go into DOS (rarely, but it comes up now and then).

As far as the waiting is concerned, you can select the time. I have Partition Magic, and I set if for 5 or 10 seconds (can't remember now) and if I don't feel like waiting, I just hit enter.
 


<< Dual boot. When I installed Win2k, I kept Win98 because of what people were saying about games, but also because some of my programs didn't work with Win2k and I wasn't spending the money to upgrade the apps.

I use Win2k almost exclusively. The games I have run fine in Win2k, but there are times I use the Win98 boot - primarily for certain apps - or I have a need to go into DOS (rarely, but it comes up now and then).

As far as the waiting is concerned, you can select the time. I have Partition Magic, and I set if for 5 or 10 seconds (can't remember now) and if I don't feel like waiting, I just hit enter. >>

I just, for the first time, went to a command prompt in Win2k: Run command - cmd [ENTER]. It looks like any DOS window I've seen in Win9x or NT. Maybe it's XP that doesn't support it, or am I dreaming? So how is the DOS functionality you get with Win98 better than for W2K? Also, you can always boot to a DOS or Win9x floppy for DOS. Of course, your DOS isn't going to read NTFS data in any case.

Still, it seems like a not big deal to add dual boot. I don't see any drawback (never done it though) other than the loss of 2 GB of HD space (if that's what I give it) and the couple of seconds I intend to have the boot manager wait for my selection.
 
Yeah, it's probably just a matter of preference.

I've had computers since the mid-80's so I know DOS very well. I've got FAT32 partitions so the NTFS isn't an issue with me. But, remember, I can only access DOS when I'm in the Win98 boot. Obviously, I can do whatever in Win98 - but, remember, Win2k is hidden. I can move or delete stuff in a copy of the Win2k directory, and then copy it over when I've booted in safe mode in Win2k.

I'm also holding onto Win98 because I have to sync my office and home computers for work with Laplink which isn't upgraded for Win2k along with about 3 or 4 other apps that I use.

Now that I typed this out, for what you've described, a dual-boot is probably over-kill for you, especially since it looks like you're using NTFS. Just go with the Win2k setup. If you run into problems with gaming, then you can always switch to a dual-boot.

PM me if you need any help down the road.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top