XP and 98 in partitioned drives

I just bought a new Dell, that will come with XP, and - as a devoted 98 user, I want to know if I can partition my new 80 gig drive to allow me to continue with 98 - at least until I get used to XP.

Will Partition Magic do this for me? And, if so, how about another partition for Linux?

Jack Wert

 

PM will do that for you with as many partitions as you want.

Booting into those other OS's may pose a problem, though. XP will recognize older OS's, but older ones don't recognize XP so you don't get the boot options if XP is installed before them.

You will need a boot manager, too.

 

XP and 98 partitioned drives

Thanks for the info. The machine will come with XP installed, so I will not have any option to change that. Will Partition Magic also come with Boot Magic - as with my present version? If so, will it give me a "boot menu" on startup - allowing me to choose which OS to use for any session?

Jack

 

If you still have the option, try to get a full XP CD with your system. Then you can reinstall as needed without using a recovery disk/partition that returns your computer to its day of birth.

If you want to just leave XP installed, then Boot Magic works great. I installed 98 after XP just as you are planning and BM gave me the boot options on startup.

I had Boot Magic in a separate program, so check the Powerquest site to see what PM includes. Just follow the directions from XP or 98 (Boot Magic needs to be installed on a FAT partition) and you should be fine. I've always found Powerquest's directions to be excellent (if followed, of course
). There are other boot managers available, even free ones, but I haven't tried them.

PM 7 works fine on XP and I like the GUI better than 8.

 

Thanks, again, Abraxas. I just received my new computer, but will not be able to work on it for a while, as I must "recondition" my old one for my wife, who does not understand quite as much as I about these things, and that is not much. Her old one was a 133Mhz job, with only a 1.6 gig HD, and it became a bit of a problem. At least that provided me with a reason to upgrade mine.

It is amazing how soon these machines "die" of old age and the various forms of computer dimentia that start soon after the first year. It is further hard to believe that my new machine will also join that group in just a few more years.

But, at the ripe old age of 80, I begin to understand. I will post an update when I get it up and ready for service with its partitioned drive. Thanks, again.

Jack

 

How do I install Windows® 98/Me after I've installed XP?
(without 3rd party software)

Have a look at this site

http://www.dougknox.com/

 

To Abraxas - I have received my PM 7.0, and am ready to go with the partitioning, but a question came up to stop me - until I am more sure of how to proceed.

I remember seeing somewhere that it might be good to change the file system of XP to FAT32 in order to be able to transfer files between XP and 98. I do not remember where I saw that, and am now asking for either confirmation, or other advice.

If I leave the XP system with NTFS and configure 98 for FAT32, will that be a problem for transferring files?

Jack

 

You will be able to see the 98 partition from XP (NTFS) but not the other way.

Therefore you will be able to copy files from 98 to the XP partition. As Regards PM7, I was under the impression that it does not work under XP (NTFS) but if as Abraxas says it works OK on his system, who am I to doubt it.

 

PM7 supports NTFS just fine. PM will tell you if you try to do the impossible.
http://www.powerquest.com/support/primus/id452.cfm

As Mahmud603 has pointed out, XP will see FAT32 partitions, but 98 can't see NTFS partitions. It might be a good idea to make yet another partition, while you are in the process anyway, and make it FAT32. That partition can be used for common storage by both OS's and will be a way to transfer from one to another.

If you make the change from NTFS to FAT32, both OS's will be able to see one another. NTFS is, however, a better file system. On the other hand, FAT32 is faster on disks that are small.

 

Thanks, Abraxas and Mahmud603. I am still a bit confused as to what you mean by "98 cannot see NFTS partitions" Does that mean files created in the NTFS partition cannot be read by a FAT32 OS application?

Just what is meant by "see" when it comes to the partitions? Does it mean that files created in one partition can or cannot be read by applications in the other partition?

Jack

 

Exactly.
Win98 will not "see" the NTFS partition, just as though it were not there, or were unpartitioned space.

But, XP will "see" the FAT32 partition, it will be in My Computer, and you can access it just like any other disk/folder/partition.

 

OK, I think I understand, but now I have a new problem. I have created the new partition, but have not been able to load 98. I make the new partition active, and reboot, after which the screen asks for a disk (floppy). I used my 98 rescue disk and went through the process using the "supported by CDRom" (No 1 on the list) and it goes through a process that apparently loads quite a bit of stuff but ends with a DOS A:\ prompt. I have not been able to get past this.

I sort or remember going through this kind of thing previously with my old computer (also with PM partitioning) but do not remember how it was resolved.

I now have a C: drive with XP, and a partitioned G: drive waiting for 98, but do not know how to load 98. I do have the CD, but the machine only asks for a floppy. Can you offer any help here?

 

Boot from a Win98 or WinME startup disk. Somewhere in the process, it will tell you what letter was assigned to your CD-ROM (probably E: ). When you get to the A:/ prompt, type E: or whatever letter has been assigned to your CD-ROM. Then: setup
That should start the process.

 

XP and 98 on separate partitions

Thanks, again. I finally got 98 loaded. It became a bit complicated, involving DOS commands, on which I have become quite stale, but I did get it loaded, and that is the most important thing.

My only problem, now, is that XP apparently made an XP version of Word my default "reader" for .doc files. How this happened, I do not know, but I am not happy with it. I think it means I will not be able to read such files with my ole version of Word (7.0) in my Win98 partition.

Such is life. In any case, thanks, again for your help, and sorry to be so late responding. We had a major snow storm, and that took some time for recovery so I could get back to the computer.

Jack

 

That doesn't sound right. If you boot into 98, then XP should have nothing to do with any docs you access from 98. But, if there is a problem of some sort, there is a good forum you can always visit.........