Win2k and Win98 Boot problems

[T3ddyG]

Hey Guys, I just want to start off by saying, i've looked through the past posts about MBR's being over written, and all these other reasons why installing win98 after win2k ruins things, but my problem doesn't make sense following everything thats been said.
I originally had win2k, and win98 on separate hard drives, dual booting fine. Then i had a problem, and had to format the 2 drives. First i formatted the win98 drive in fat 32, and then reinstalled win98se on it. Then i reformatted the win2k drive in fat 32, then i went to install win2k. It said i should format into NTFS, so i did so. Then installed win2k. win2k is on C:, and win98 is on D:. C is in NTFS, and D is in Fat32. Now,.. when i start my computer Win2k totally doesn't even bring up a boot menu, it just automatically loads up win2k. I just want to know how to get the boot menu to load so i can choose between win2k and win98 at startup. I know this has been examined in other posts, but i've looked through them and they are all rather cluttered, and information is scattered. It all just confused me now, so i'm not sure what to do. Also, i still need to install redhat 7 on a partition i made on the D drive. Will LILO let me choose between win2k, win98, and redhat, if i install that now? Or do i have to wait, correct the win98/win2k problem, and then install redhat? If someone could please help me by posting a clear, detailed response on how to fix my problems... it would be greatly appreciated. Thankyou for everything guys, sorry about bringing up the same topic.

 

[Staver]

I think you won't get Win98 to boot since the boot files for it need to be on C:\ which is in a format they can not access. If you had stuck with Fat32 your boot menu would have worked.

 

[T3ddyG]

Is there any program i can install to take over booting duties, instead of having to reinstall both OS's? Thanks for the help.

 

[T3ddyG]

If i decide to reinstall both OS's since i have nothing on them yet,... should i just install win98 to C: in fat 32, and then install win2k to D: in NTFS? Would that work then? or would i still be getting the same problems b/c of the NTFS format? Also.... does win2k perform any differently on a NTFS or Fat 32 partition? Would my performance be slower if i just installed on a fat32 partition? If it is, i will just set it up with win98 on a fat 32 partition on c: and win2k on a NTFS partition on D: Thanks for the advice

 

[Staver]

Partition Magic will let you move the partitions around as you want and it has an optional bootloader you would not need. I know there are many Shareware booting programs. If you decide to reinstall. Let C: be your swap file drive in Fat16 then D: can be either Windows and E: the other. If D: and E: are Fat32 they can share programs, and by keeping them seperate if one crashes and burns the other is ready to go until you get the other back up.

 

[dcane2000]

I agree with Staver, Win98 can't see NTFS 5.0 partitions so you pretty much screwed yourself by formatting the drive to that. When you want to dual boot and security really isn't a big issue then it is recommended to keep both partitions as FAT32. That way both will have access.