Dual OS booting and hard drive partitioning

I want to create a Dual boot system and 5 partitions on my 80 gig hard drive. heres what i want to do:

C:\~20 gigs- Windows ME (FAT32)
D:\~30 gigs- Windows XP Pro (NTFS)
E:\~10 gigs- Backup (FAT32)
F:\~10 gigs- data and programs (NTFS)
G:\~10 gigs- for other OS (Longhorn or Linux) (UNKNOWN)

Now here comes my question, Should i use FDISK or any other third party software to partition my hard drive. And can i use my restore CD's to install ME.

 

If you are getting a fresh start - wiping the system and installing - you don't need anything.

Start with ME and only set up whatever size partition you want for it.

Then install XP in the size partition you want. XP's device manager is good enough with drive/partition things to let you finish the remaining partitioning just using it.

About the only time you'll need a 3rd party app like Partition Magic or similar is with a system that is already set up where you need to adjust things on the fly. Even then, it's only system partitions that need PM since XP can deal with data partitions on a running system.

 

I know that. but the problem is that the restore CD makes its own configuration for the partitions. I had windows ME as my preinstalled OS on my computer. i upgraded to Xp pro.
What the restore cd and the preinstallation have is that it makes the "C" drive (Active) 78 gigs and the "D" drive (Logical) 2 gigs. In this case should i use third party software?

 

Why even keep ME? Seems redundant.

Johanna

 

I agree with Johanna, however...
If you DO want to keep ME, and you only have "recovery" disks, then you're going to have to do it differently.
First, install ME as normal.
Next, grab a partition manager such as PowerQuest's Partition Magic.
Make your partitions, leaving ME (the boot "C" partition) alone, other than resizing it smaller.
Make the second parition big enough to hold XP.
Install XP on the second partition.
If you had a "normal" ME disk, then you could make your partitions in fdisk, install ME, then install XP, and you wouldn't need PM.

 

restore CD

Always good to mention if you had one of those abominations inflicted on you rather than a normal install CD.

 

I want to keep ME because i have ALOT of software not compatible with XP. I tried looking for drivers, but found nothing.

 

W How bout of i put Windows 98 (Normal version) instead of windows ME. I have another thing to add, Can i use an upgrade version of windows 98 to put on an empty partition by itself.

 

I'd have to say that 98SE on the PC and ME off into outer space would be an improvement.

I know the 98 upgrade version usually wants to see a valid OS CD (not the recovery thing) if you are putting it on as a fresh install rather than upgrading another OS.

It's interesting that you say you have 'a lot' of software that won't run on XP though. Other than a few older games and some odd bits of hardware, I didn't think there was that much.

For applications, have you tried making a desktop shortcut and then setting it to run in compatibility mode for 98 or ME or whatever? Some that won't run as installed will do fine that way.

 

I, too, have run into very little software that didn't work w/XP despite the design for an older OS. Have you TRIED any of this software with XP yet?I'd be interested in seeing a list of what you have that won't work with XP. XP does have an excellent backwards capability, as Newt mentioned.

If you are determined to keep ME, Reboot explained exactly what to do.

Johanna

 

If you do not want to buy Partition Magic, you can always use a DOS program called FIPS to resize your partition in DOS mode. You can get it from here.

 

Im sorry for the misunderstanding. my fault. I didnt mean ALOT ALOT of programs. Here are a few programs:

*Adaptec cd creator 4
*Intel pocket pc camera software
*several games

 

As explained above, with restore disks, you MUST install using those first, THEN partition, THEN install XP. You have no other choice.
If your ME installation is working fine, you can use any 3rd party partitioning program (fips or PM, etc.), to create the partitions you want, then install XP.
This will give you the multi/dual-boot menu, with a default of 30 seconds to choose which OS you want.

 

Re: apps not running on XP--Adaptec CD creator being one. Get rid of it. It has ***up more CDs for me than using them as sanding disks. Buy Iomega Hot Burn for a measly $20 and CD burning, copying etc. will not only be a breeze, but most importantly will give you disks that can be read by ANY CD reader, not just those massaged by Adaptec. Oh, Hot burn out of the box runs great under XP with no modifications, updating, etc., etc.

 

Thanks Guys. Now Heres another question, What 3rd party partitioning and Dual booting software do you recommend?

 

You don't need any dual/multi-boot software. Win2k, XP, Linux, and others have it included.
Partition Magic is probably the best partitioning software, however, it's not cheap. If you do quite a bit of repartitioning (every couple of weeks or so), it's well worth the investment.
There are free partitioning programs, but they either don't work as well, or are confusing (at best) to use.
Simple rule of thumb: install the dumbest OS first...meaning, in this order:
DOS
Win 3.xx
Win95
Win98
Win98SE
Win ME
Win 2K
Win XP (and variants, such as Tablet, and Media versions)
Win Server 2k3
Linux (and other "free" OS's such as BSD, etc.)

The boot.ini file can be edited manually to select default boot OS, as well as delay time.
If you're installing Linux, then it has a (at least two) splendid multi-boot menu's to choose from.
If you're only installing multiples of Win9x/ME, then, and ONLY then, would you need 3rd party multi-boot software.

 

flaring_griever I understand your wanting to keep ME and not having to buy new software if you don't have to. Easy 4, if working is good. If you have CD covers, etc. It is a hassle to change to another program.....

But I think you are using a waste of space through your partitioning scheme. You will only have about 72 GB. I would recommend about

C: 5 GB for ME and Programs

D: 12 GB for XP and Programs

E: 10-12 FAT 32 Backup

F: 35 GB NTFS

G: 10 GB Other OS


The bigger F will give you some play for large files, like Video files if you want to get into those. Video files take up a lot of space, especially editing. FAT 32 has a 2 GB file size limit.