Two Windows.

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Hi there people, here I am asking you for help.
Here's the thing: I want to install Win98 and WinXp, the reason for 98 is that I want to play some old games that I can't install on XP (I tried Red Alert 2 and couldn't install it) So the questions are:
- Can I have both of them and somehow choose which one I can use at start up?
- If so, which one I should install first? In which partion (C:, D: or E?
- In case I can install 98, how I do that, when the laptop can't read diskettes? The Win98 I have is a copy from my hard disk I brought from where I lived, so I can only copy it to a CD which won't boot at least someone teachs me how to do a bootable CD.
Well, that's for now. Thanks for any advice.
Best regards.

 

Should be possible.

Best way is probably XP Pro first on C:, then 98 on D:. I recommend having two physical hard drives though, none of that partitions crap.

The 98 CD is bootable. At least, my old one is (98 SE).

 

Before you even think about wasting that much disk space, I would strongly urge you to

a) try it with the Older Windows Emulator in XP
b) Search for patches.

 

Yes, I ran the same multi-system for a while. Try this, create two partitions. First, install WIN 98 on the "C" Partition. Then place the Win XP CD in the drive. DO NOT do express install, but go under options. From there you will see the two partitions. Select which one you want to install XP on - it will only install on the D partition. The first time your computer boots up you should get a start-up menu that will show both 98 and XP. Your system will give you 30 seconds to select which one before it starts 98 automatically. This worked for me, and I had no trouble installing or running both operating systems this way.

BTW, if you want to exchange files between the two partitions, be sure to use the same file system on both.

Here's more:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;306559#XSLTH3159121122120121120120

[ July 28, 2005, 08:00: Message edited by: Chandos the Red ]

 

Thank you guys, I'll try this out.
@Rastor: I had my Win98 CD back in Argentina, then I copied to the hard disk so no CD swap everytime I installed something new and everytime I formated it was faster to install from HD, so when I came to Spain I only brought the HD, and when I copied the Win98 folder in a CD, didn't make it bootable.
Well, hope it works, I already did backups, so now I'll try.

Well, it's done; the only problem is that I can't install Win98 because only installs from MS-DOS and I can't get there because WinXP doesn't have 'real' DOS.
I guess that the only way to start on DOS is to create a bootable CD like the win98 diskette which allows to start in DOS but I couldn't find anywhere the needed files or how to create a DOS bootable CD.
If you know where to look for it, please let me know.
Thanks.

[ July 29, 2005, 00:34: Message edited by: Sydax ]

 

Yes, you have to install Win98 first, otherwise XP will always start automatically and it won't let 98 boot at all.

 

No need to use the same file system on both. Install Win98 as FAT32 and WinXP as NTFS, and WinXP will be able to normally read the Win98 partition. Win98 will NOT see the WinXP partition, but that's actually a good thing (it means Win98 cannot mess up your WinXP install)

It is *theoretically* possible to install both Win98 and WinXP to the SAME partition. A friend of mine tried it once for the hell of it, but it is NOT advisable. If you have 2 hard drives, keep each OS on a separate drive. It tends to lessen the chances of them messing up each other.

 

The thing is that I can't find a way to boot in DOS mode, from XP is impossible because it doesn't have any (is emulated once starts XP), I made a 98 boot diskette and used those files to make a bootable CD but it doesn't start, so for now, I'm still with XP (so no old games for now).

 

Most games do actually work in XP, but you might have to search around for patches or other things to make them work.

 

I've never been able to get System Shock II to work on XP, even with the XP patch. I can get it running, but it crashes after a few minutes. In 98 it's flawless.

 

Well, I managed to install Red Alert 2 on XP so I don't need win98 anymore (untill I'll want to play Full Throtle ).

 

Instead of wasting all that disk space for two OSs, why didn't you just get one of those programs that acts like a Win98 or a DOS emulator or whatever it would be called.

I used to have something like that on my computer so I could play an old game from the days of Win95.

Sorry if that's not much help, but my brain isn't quite awake right now.

 

I don't think there's anything that properly emulates Win98 (if you know otherwise, I'd be very happy to know about it. Been looking for such a software for ages). Programs like VMware can do it, but without full graphics support, and I believe you'd need a VERY powerful system (read: one that doesn't exist yet) for the emulation to work at a decent speed.

DOS emulation is easy. DOSbox does a wonderful job, and if you need something that's easier to use there's VDMsound. But for Win98, some games will simply not work properly on XP, no matter how hard you try. Off the top of my head I can name System Shock 2, Might and Magic 6, 7 and 8 (7 in particular is a nightmare). SP2 hasn't made things any easier obviously.

 

Actually, Ziad, if you get the frontend for DOSbox, everybody should be able to use DOSbox. The frontend is very intuitive.

 

Never tried it actually... I think I'll give it a shot.