dual boot???

ok i have so many things going wrong with my computer i am just going to reformat but i am going to install win 98 first as suggested then windows xp, now do i need to go ahead and partition the drive into 2 separate partions before i do anything??

Yes. Each os needs its own partition.

Here's some advice from Microsoft on Multiple booting with XP.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/p.../multiboot.asp

http://support.microsoft.com/default...;EN-US;q217210

http://support.microsoft.com/default...;EN-US;q306559

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/e...eptember10.asp

personally i would yes.

Or you could make three partitions two only big enough for the O/S and then the third to hold all your data from both O/S in a central place (NOTE: This would need to be FAT)

Otherwise two partitions would be the safest bet for you :)

You might find this article helpful:

How to Use Fdisk and Format

ok, i will probably have alot of the same programs for both OS's. can i create a third partition like C M said and install alll my programs and all my documents and such dto that thrid partition, so i dont have to use twice as much diskspace and be able to use the programs in either OS?

Yes you can. You may find the occasional program that needs to be installed independantly on each OS, but for the most part you can share the files. You do need to install the apps separatey in each OS, to get the registry settings, etc., but just point the installer to the same partition each time and the bulk of the files will be shared.

My Docs and all that can easily be shared, TweakUI is a good way of changing the location of those folders.

so what should i do when it asks if it should put a folder int the start menu?? wont it just put it on the start menu in the os i am in? same with the shortcuts on the desktop?

Originally posted by globe_shoes15
so what should i do when it asks if it should put a folder int the start menu??

If you want one there, then let it. It's only a shortcut anyway and doesn't take up much space.

wont it just put it on the start menu in the os i am in? same with the shortcuts on the desktop?

Yes to both questions. It's already been said that you'll have to install it twice, once in each OS. When you install a prog into the second OS, install it into the same prog folder as the first OS, but now it'll put the launch icons into the second OS's start menu and desktop.

At this point you'll have the lauch icons present in each OS.

ok so whats instead of having 2 places the programs are installed, i have 3 places? how is that better im not understanding sorry

globe_shoes15, I'll use my biggest program to explain.

The Adobe Photoshop program is installed on both my XP and 98 partitions. But it's installed to a third partition.

The Photoshop program folder on the third partition is 300MB in size. That's alot of space used.

The Photoshop registry entries and launch icons on each of the OS's only takes up a few KB's. That isn't very much space at all.

The object is to keep that huge program folder off of the XP and 98 partitions.

o ok thank u

globe_shoes15, if you're serious about installing all programs to a third partition and saving all data to the same partition, you're going to end up with fairly small OS installations.

That's the way I do it and my XP install is only 1.1G in size on a 3.5G partition.

My 98 is about 700MB in size on a 1.5G partition.

With these small OS's it's very easy to create Ghost images of each OS and store the image on your data partition. These images end up about half the size of the original so they don't take up alot of room.

Then when things go wrong with an OS, you can restore a recent image and be back up and running in a few minutes.

It takes me less than 4 minutes to image the XP and less than 2 minutes for the 98. So it's not a problem to image once a week.

the only thing i am confused on is arent u installing a program 3 times? otherwise, how do u get the information onto the two OS partitions without having to install the program. does that make sense?

I created a folder on my third partition called "Programs". When I wanted to install Photoshop I created a folder within that Programs folder and I named it "Photoshop".

I installed Photoshop in XP. At one point of the install it says "Photoshop will be installed to C:\Program files\Photoshop". Then it gives you the option to "browse" to a different location. So I "browse" to my newly created folder, E:\Programs\Photoshop. Now the install will put the bulk of the files (300MB) into that folder while it puts the registry entries and launch icons onto my XP OS.

Then I installed Photoshop in my 98 following the same procedure. Directing it to install into E:\Programs\Photoshop. It will see that the necessary files are already in the Photoshop folder and won't overwrite them. But it puts the registry entries and launch icons onto my 98 OS.

So I've installed it twice, once in XP and once in 98. And I've kept the huge program folder off of both OS's.


Hope this helps