Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.basics (
More info?)
One way around all of this is virtualization with Virtual PC 2004, VMware,
or SVista. Virtualization has really changed how one can do multiple OS's.
"William B. Lurie" <billurie@nospam.org> wrote in message
news:OepajrAxEHA.3808@TK2MSFTNGP15.phx.gbl...
> Rick "Nutcase" Rogers wrote:
>> Hi,
>>
>> Since Win98 was installed as C, adding it to the existing boot will not
>> work as it is in the wrong position. A quick and simple fix is to use a
>> boot manager like BootIT NG so that it can swap the positions (not
>> physically, but it tricks the system into believing this) and boot one
>> installation or the other.
>>
>> If you are familiar with your system BIOS, you could also swap them back
>> and forth each time, just set the desired system as the primary bootable
>> device.
>>
>> Otherwise, you will need to make several major changes. It will require
>> reinstalling one or the other of the operating systems so that it sees
>> itself as the slave drive and associated drive letter. It may also mean
>> repartitioning, as currently your WinXP system is likely using NTFS.
>> Since Win98 cannot load from an NTFS drive, it would have to be converted
>> to FAT32. Without a tool like Partition Magic (the only one I know of
>> that claims to be able to make this conversion), the only way to do this
>> is to start from scratch. You would need to reinstall Win98 to the slave
>> drive, then install WinXP to a FAT32 formatted primary.
>>
> Let me as a frustrated non-expert add a few comments, although Rick has
> been quite clear and explicit. I have found that it is extremely easy
> to have two hard drives, with one OS on each, and interrupt the boot-up
> by hitting "Del", and then making minor changes in the BIOS, to direct
> the boot-up to whichever hard drive I want. One is set (jumpered) as
> "Master" and the other as "Slave", and they operate one at a time. They
> can be XP or 98 or 95, independently.
>
> Partition Magic is a flexible, easy-to-use tool for managing multiple
> hard drives and multiple partitions. It will even copy a complete
> partition from one drive to another. What I haven't been able to do
> reproducibly is copy a complete partition containing an OS and files,
> from one drive to another, and then be able to run the clone
> independently as a Single Drive; as a Slave, yes, but not as a single
> or master. My many posts, and many answers, attest to that. I'm still
> trying.
>
> --
> William B. Lurie