I Have Two Hard Drives, I Want Two O/S' To Choose To Boot From (ie: WinXp & 98SE)

Hello and thank you for viewing,

I currently have two hard drives and what I want to do is have two operating systems to choose from when I boot. I have XP on one of the drives already, and I have been using this XP drive for some time so I do not want to reformat it or anything like that as I have data on it, so I still want to use this one as is. What I do have is an old (disconnected) hard drive that I want to put Win98SE on, and use it as an optional o/s to boot with. I have heard that people can use people can have two operating systems in a computer and choose to boot from one, and I find this very useful. But remember I do not want to create a partition on my current connected drive that has XP. I want to use the old disconnected drive I have for Win98SE!


1. What is the best way to go about doing so?

2. How do I install Win98SE on the old (disconnected) hard drive without a boot floppy? I have the actual cd-rom, I can delete and create a partition with it when I boot from the disc, but for some reason I cannot format it. It tells me I input the wrong command or something. Could this be because I am using a 2006 dvd drive causing some sort of virtual driver errors or something?

 

Hi Superstar.
This is what I would try. Make sure the "old" drive is 127 GB or less. If its more, scandisk won't work and win98 won't install.
1) Pull the plug, open the box and set drive jumper on the [XP] drive to M or Master. set the drive jumper on the [98] drive to S or Slave.
2) Reconnect both drives to the ribbon cable and motherboard [MB] like:
[MB]=========[98]===[XP]
3) Next - partition the [98] drive, set the parttion to active but don't format.
Start=>Run=>diskmgmt.msc
Disk 0 is your WinXP install and Disk 1 will be partitioned.
Right-click on the Disk 1 graphic and select Delete Partition.
Right-click again to Create Partition - Welcome Wizard =>
Select Partition Type: (Select) Primary partition =>
Specify Partition Size: select size of 127000 MB or 127 GB maximum. =>
Assign a Drive Letter ( the default is probably wise ) =>
Format Partition: (Select) Do not format this partition.=> Finish
Right-click the Drive 1 graphic and select Mark Partition Active
So - far so-good. Next-
4) You need to protect your XP installation.
Pull the plug, open your case and remove the 40 pin ribbon cable from your XP-Drive.
5) Set the [98] drive jumper to M or Master. and connect only your [98] drive to your motherboard, like:.
[MB]==========[ ]===[98]
make sure your CD or DVD drive is on its own cable, on another IDE port.
6) You need to boot from your win98 CD. Set BIOS to boot from CD. ( if necessary)
At this point the win98 setup program sees your 127GB partition and does a format and installs.
(If it still won't go - find a drive that's smaller than 127GB.)
7) Once you've got a working Win98SE install with all the drivers loaded and she boots up fine and shuts down OK, then you're ready to add XP to the build.
8) Pull the plug, open the box and set drive jumper on the [XP] drive to M or Master. set the drive jumper on the [98] drive to S or Slave.
9) Reconnect both drives to the ribbon cable and motherboard [MB] like:
[MB]=========[98]===[XP]
10) Download the program BootPart: http://www.winimage.com/bootpart.htm -- Read the supplied instructions and apply them to your situation.
BootPart is a command line utility that automatically finds all partitons and will alter the boot.ini file for the NT/XP boot loader.
Copy BootPart.exe into your C:\Windows\System32 folder. Open a command console: Start=>Run=>cmd
At the C:\> prompt type bootpart <enter>
You'll get a screenful of useful data like mine here:

C:\>bootpart
Boot Partition 2.60 for WinNT/2K/XP (c)1995-2005 G. Vollant (info@winimage.com)
WEB : http://www.winimage.com and http://www.winimage.com/bootpart.htm
Add partition in the Windows NT/2000/XP Multi-boot loader
Run "bootpart /?" for more information

Physical number of disk 0 : e6403325
0 : C:* type=7 (HPFS/NTFS), size= 5116671 KB, Lba Pos=63
1 : C: type=f (Win95 XInt 13 extended), size= 74919127 KB, Lba Pos=10233405
2 : C: type=7 (HPFS/NTFS), size= 35840983 KB, Lba Pos=10233468
3 : C: type=5 (Extended), size= 39078112 KB, Lba Pos=81915435
4 : C: type=7 (HPFS/NTFS), size= 39078081 KB, Lba Pos=81915498
Physical number of disk 1 : 33ca33c9
5 : D:* type=83 (Linux native), size= 102280 KB, Lba Pos=63
6 : D: type=83 (Linux native), size= 30719808 KB, Lba Pos=204624
7 : D: type=82 (Linux swap), size= 2252880 KB, Lba Pos=61644240
8 : D: type=c (Win95 Fat32 LBA), size= 6005664 KB, Lba Pos=66150000
Physical number of disk 2 : a7f2eb90
9 : E:* type=6 (BIGDOS Fat16), size= 500592 KB, Lba Pos=32

Let me translate this a bit. I've got 3 separate physical drives. Disk 0 has my Windows install, Disk 1 has my Linux and Disk 2 is a Flash drive.
BootPart has conveniently numbered these partitions for the next step. The asterisk beside the Drive letter represents an active partition.
In my case, my Linux Loader is on partition 5 but since it loads GRUB which then points to partition 6 I chose to boot partition 6 directly.
So I ran:
bootpart 6 hdb1.bin RedHat Linux 9.0 (2.4.20-8)
I chose the filename hdb1.bin ( using Linux naming convention) as a reminder of where the file originated.
"RedHat Linux 9.0 (2.4.20-8)" is the text that shows up on the screen as a boot option.
So my C:\boot.ini file now looks like this:

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT="Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect
C:\CMDCONS\BOOTSECT.DAT="Microsoft Windows 2000 Recovery Console" /cmdcons
C:Winnt\system32\hdb1.bin="Red Hat Linux 9.0 (2.4.20-8)"

In your case you'll run the bootpart with the number that has the asterisk beside the drive letter:
For instance: If I had Windows 98 instead of linux I would run
bootpart 5 w98boot.bin Windows 98 Second Edition
Then my C:\boot.ini file would be:

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT="Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect
C:\CMDCONS\BOOTSECT.DAT="Microsoft Windows 2000 Recovery Console" /cmdcons
C:Winnt\system32\w98boot.bin="Windows 98 Second Edition"

At this point just re-start your XP and see. You should end up with a boot option for either XP or Win98.

I hope that helps
Hey Superstar, I'll be away for a bit (leaving 22:00 DST) but if you have any more questions, I'll be back next Wednesday.(aug 2/06)

 

Actually, I have found to my sorrow, Win98se will install just fine to any size drive. It will eventually crash if the the drive is over 137Gig, and I had to drop the partition to 135 Gig to get scan disk to work, but they work just fine at 200Gig until they don't. Apparently any data written on the data field over 137Gig is mirrored on the front part, causing file corruption.

The way I do it is removable hard drives. It's like having a totally sparate computers. The bays are cheap, just try to find one with two fans (fans fail, and an enclosed drive with inadaquate cooling will also fail).

 

Okay thanx for the instructions.

prometheos
1. Is it possible to have two win xp to choose to boot from? That would be cool to because I can use on hard drive to use for normal use and the other one I could get virus' on, try new software, etc. I basically wouldnt care about the other one.

Bill marsden
2. Hey you told me to use an external drive bay. How would you get an o/s to boot off an external bay?

 

Actually I said a removable hard drive bay, which is entirely different. The HD pops out like a cartridge, and pop the other one in. If you have 2 computers that have the same hardware they can be used on more than one machine.

Another use is to lock the drive up. A good way to ground a kid off a computer. Most come with keyed locks, but I generally disable those.

 

Just for info, Win98SE can be made to work on HDs >137Gb using the Rudolf Loew high capacity patch. It's not free but cost only $10.

http://members.aol.com/rloew1/Programs/Patch137.htm

In respect of scandisk and format utilities. I use third party software to overcome those limitations but my understanding is that one can substitute the WinME utilities and that this will work.

If you look on this forum, there is lots of info on ugrades, service packs, etc, for Win98SE

http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showforum=91

I can also see a large thread offering what seems to be a free prog on HD working >137Gb.

Hope this helps

 

Hi Superstar.
While it is technically possible (desirable) to run 2 copies of XP on one machine, be advised that it imay be illegal to do so unless you have 2 valid licenses. Careful re-reading of the EULA indicated to me that "You may install, use, access, display and run one copy of the Software on a single computer..." So, this forum may not be the best place to receive further elaboration. Sorry about that

 

Yes but if I do have two licences how would I do so by putting xp on two seperate drives that I can choose to boot from? If so I'll buy another.

 

Hi Superstar
Here is an example for an installation with IDE drives:
Let's say you have WinXP-Home on your computer and it works well enough but you've heard that WinXP-Pro offers so many more features and much more security. You go to your retailer and purchase a copy of XP Pro. Insert the XP-Pro CD into your drive - cancel the install - leave the CD in the drive and shut down the computer. Unplug your computer and hook up your empty hard drive like:
[MB]==========[]===[PM]
[MB] - your motherboard
[PM] - your empty drive you'll be installing XP-Pro on set as Master.
Your CD or DVD drive should be set as Master and will go on it's own cable:
[MB]==========[]===[M]

Experienced computer users will tell you that there are other ways ( better ways) to do this. This way protects your XP-Home installation from damage, in the event that something goes wrong.

Set your BIOS to boot from CD, if necessary. Start your machine normally. You'll complete the XP-Pro installation - be sure to have assembled all your MotherBoard driver disks and video card drivers etc. It is preferable to take care of the Microsoft validation procedure after you get a fully working XP-Pro installation.
Start the machine - you're now running XP-Pro
Next, you need to edit your boot.ini file:
Start=>Run=>attrib -h -r -s c:\boot.ini
That resets the hidden, read-only and system flags to allow editing.
Start=>Run=>notepad c:\boot.ini

Notepad should be displaying something like this:

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Windows XP Professional Edition" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn

add this line at the bottom:
multi(0)disk(1)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Windows XP Home Edition" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn

Notepad should be displaying something like this:

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Windows XP Professional Edition" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn
multi(0)disk(1)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Windows XP Home Edition" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn

* note that disk(0) is Windows XP Pro and disk(1) is XP Home.

Save the file!

Shut down Windows, and unplug the computer. Hook up your drives like:
[MB]==========[HS]===[PM]
[MB] - your motherboard
[PM] - your XP-Pro drive set as Master.
[HS] - your XP-Home drive set as Slave

When you restart the machine you'll get the Microsoft Boot Loader Screen with an option to boot XP-Pro or XP-Home.
I hope that answers your question, Superstar.
Best of luck, to you
-John