Question Problems trying multiboot system with 5 partitions... xfdisk can't hide logical partitions, only primarypartitions

[psaez84]

Hi

Some forums recommended XFDISK to have a multiboot system, and it worked perfectly with 4 primary partitions:

1. WIN311 (primary)
2. WIN95 (primary)
3. WIN98 (primary)
4. DATA (primary)

The problem is that now I wanna add a new partition for Windows 2000. XFDISK doesn't let me creating more than 4 primary partitions so I was forced to do this:

1. WIN311 (primary)
2. WIN95 (primary)
3. WIN98 (primary)
4. Extended Partition:
4a. WIN2000 (logical)
4b. DATA (logical)

Now, as you all know, to install an OS, you must hide all the other OS, to avoid breaking the installations. Well, I just can't hide the WIN2000 partition because it's a logical partition and it seems that xfdisk doesn't let to hide it.

Any idea about how to solve this? Maybe if I can create 5 primary partitions xfdisk will let me hide all of them. But how can I create five primary partitions?

I need to achieve it only with free software, no commercial sowftware or infected software please.

 

[slightnitpick]

Can your already installed Windows versions even boot in this system?

From what I have read, an MBR drive can only contain a maximum of 4 primary partitions. You'd make a fifth by installing another drive.

Any reason you aren't using a more modern operating system and a free virtual machine program with 'fake' drives to run these operating systems?

 

[slightnitpick]

I assume you aren't modifying the operating system installations. If so you should be able to make a bootable live CD, or thumbdrive to make it modifiable, for each of them, or just for Win 2000 if you want to keep the others as is, and then just have your data on the HDD.

 

[USAFRet]

What is the use case for these older OS's?

Why not VM's for each?

 

[psaez84]

What is the use case for these older OS's?

Why not VM's for each?

this is a retro computer system, it's old hardware

 

[USAFRet]

this is a retro computer system, it's old hardware

Moving this to the Windows Legacy Forum.

 

[USAFRet]

Individual physical hard drives?

 

[fzabkar]

For Windows 2000 users: XFDisk is not able to hide any partition for
Windows 2000, because Windows 2000 does not care for the partition
type; instead, it analyses the partition directly. If you don't like to see
all your partitions under Windows 2000, remove the drive letter in the
system settings (Start -> Settings -> Control Panel -> Administrative Tools ->
Computer Management -> Storage -> Disk Management).

https://www.ibiblio.org/pub/micro/pc-stuff/freedos/files/dos/fdisk/xfdisk/

 

[aoresteen]

MBR only supports 4 primary partitions. Add a 2nd hard drive for your data. Now put W2K in the 4th partition.

DOS & W311 can only see FAT16 partitions and the 1st primary patition. Make the 1st patition of your data drive FAT16, the rests can be FAT32. You will need the 2nd version of W95 to read FAT32 partitions.

Good luck.