how to dual boot xp/2000 installing win xp 1st

Just a newbie question,

just wanted to know how to dual boot win xp and 2000 pro or even 98, if i installed win xp
first. i've been told i have to use partition magic to be able to do it but i just couldn't find a
step by step guide on how do it. can someone please point me in the right direction or at
least a website.

Thanks

You can just install whatever flavour of windows on any unpartitioned space you have. If you dont have any unpartitioned space remaining on your hdd, then you must use a tool like partition magic to create a partition. You format the partition with fat32 if your installing 98 on it, or ntfs or fat32 if your installing 2000 on it. Im guessing the partition windows xp is installed on is ntfs, if this is the case and your installing windows 98 on the spare one, then to be able to see the partition from windows xp, you need to have both volumes formatted with fat32. Its just a simple matter of popping in the cd, booting from it then during the install selecting the partition you want to install it on.

I would suggest you read this first:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/u...re/2000xp.mspx


The correct method is to save any important data, reformat and partition your drive, then load your operating systems oldest first.

You can use utilities such as Partition Magic, but you would be wise to assume that you will lose everything and end up having to do it the recommended way, so BE SURE to backup important data FIRST.

You do not need any tutorials on how to use Partition Magic (Tragic?), if you obtain a legitimate copy you will find that it comes with full instructions and is pretty intuitive anyway. Where the problem arises is when PM screws up the active partitioning and you lose partitions, data or operating systems.

If you get it to work the first time, or if you decide to use it as your boot/partition manager at the outset, then you will be just fine. I would just not recommend using any tool to attempt to repartition a live system. By that I mean resizing a partition that is occupied Freespace and blank/empty partitions are not a problem.

So, if you decide to go this route, here is my suggested checklist:

1. Get rid of all your rubbish............ obsolete demos, logs, temporary files etc.
2. Defragment your drive(s).
3. Backup important data and applications.
4. Make sure that you have FULL VERSIONS of the required operating systems.
5. Make sure that you have all the required drivers for your kit.
6. Install Partition Magic and follow the instructions.

BE AWARE

1. DRIVERS, DRIVERS, DRIVERS you will need them for all your devices, and the operating systems you intend to use them with.
2. Some of your modern kit just won't work with older operating systems, so you may have to install "redundant hardware" (generally obtained very cheaply as second user, if not free :D)
3. You will have to install your applications for each OS.
4. Think about your partition types FIRST; FAT and NTFS are quite different.

LEGAL NOTICE:

You are only permitted to have your ORIGINAL operating system as an OEM version, all others must be legitimately acquired COMMERCIAL versions.

Good luck!

Thanks for the info fellas,

Basically, the situation that I have is that I have an application that only runs on Win 98/2000 (unbelievable) and there is no XP patch for this application according to the software company that I contacted. So i thought I would just install Win 98 to run the application.

For arguments sake, I have an 80GB HD. It's partitioned - (20GB - C: and 60GB - D:). It's been formatted as NTFS and I have installed Win XP on C:\.

This is where I was going to use Partition Magic because I know I won't be able to install Win 98 on a NTFS partition. My other option was put another HD in and format it to FAT 32 so I
can install Win 98. It seems a little bit extreme though for what I want to do.

So what I was going to do was copy ntdetect.com, ntldr and the boot.ini file from c:\ and put it where I've installed Win 98 and then edit the boot.ini file to point to the correct partitions for XP and 98 because , but once you install win 98 when you boot up it will load only win 98 with no boot options (Is this correct?.)

Anyway that was my master plan, but it's probably best like you said to back up all my important files and just re-format and then install Win 98 1st then XP.

Thanks for the help again.

windows 98 doesnt using the ntdetect and ntldr files, its based on fat after all! I would still go ahead and repartition with pm, its safe enough, just do a backup first. After youve got win98 installed then you can install the repair console i.e. inserted winxp cd, start>run {cddrive}:\i386\winnt32.exe /cmdcons, reboot, select the repair console, run bootcfg /rebuild from the prompt which will detect any windows installations and add them to the boot.ini file.