Windows XP + 98

(Sidenote: I hate IE! I'm on a computer that isn't mine and I'm having to use IE. Somehow it managed to mysteriously log me out of this site after I logged in, causing me to get a forum error when I tried to submit my post. I then used the back button to come back to the submittion page, and everything I typed was gone! 30 minutes down the drain. Why does anybody tolerate this crap?)

Anyway, back to my real issue. I don't have much time at all, so forgive me if it seems like I hurry through this now.

I have a 150 GB SATA2 hard drive. I want to partition it so it boots to Windows XP, which will be installed on a 100 GB NTFS partition, along with other core system components. The other 50 GB will be a FAT32 partition with a Windows 98 installation and old games.

The hardware in this PC is too new to be Windows 98 friendly (ASUS P5WD2 Premium, 2 GB DDR2-667 RAM, SATA2 HDD, Pentium D 805, GeForce 7900GT, SB Audigy 2 ZS Platinum) so I can't simply install both operating systems and boot to whichever one I want. I assume I need to use some hardware emulation software to run Windows 98 on this PC, but I don't know what I need, and that's what brings me here.

Can anyone recommend any software that will allow me to run both Windows XP and 98 on this PC? It would be wonderful if the software would allow me to switch between the operating systems in the Windows environments without recquiring system reboots.

Also, my Windows 98 installation disc does not contain many updates at all for the OS (it may be the original version). Where can I go to quickly get *all* of the updates for the OS (I do know about the unofficial patches hosted on this site)?

And now that I've run out of time thanks to IE and can't make a trip to the Microsoft support page, I'll go ahead and ask this here too. It's likely that I've misplaced my XP Pro (retail) disc, but I still have my serial license and I definitely registered the product with Microsoft. Is there any way for me to order a replacement disc? Am I clear out of luck? Or will I just have to find some time to talk with a MS support agent...?

 

Quite simply, this is not going to happen. The reasons why are too lengthy and boring to go into here, but it is basically impossible to flip back-and-forth between any operating systems on the fly. If you think about the technical logistics of it, it should be fairly obvious as to why it won't work.

RE: Windows 98 OS-

Microsoft no longer offers any support for Windows 98 in the form of updates, however downloads are still available, as are hotfixes; you just have to know where to find them (one of the links I provided below has links to the hotfix download pages). You've mentioned the unofficial updates and service packs, and these may be your best (and only) bet. I did a little bit of web searching, and found the following stuff in less than 10 minutes:
http://exuberant.ms11.net/98sesp.html (for Win98 Second Edition ONLY; aka Win98SE)
http://www.download.com/Windows-98-System-Update/3000-2098_4-10030551.html?tag=dl.2
http://www.download.com/Auto-Patcher-For-Windows-98SE-English-/3000-2094_4-10653137.html?tag=dl.17 (Win98SE)
http://web.archive.org/web/20031203012646/http://www.walbeehm.com/win98upd.html
http://www.hpcfactor.com/support/patching/win98/ (excellent! with download links, tips, and more)
http://www.msfn.org/board/Service-pack-for-Windows-98-Standard-Fi-t44732.html (many download links; good info)

That should be enough to give you a serious start.

There are many free boot managers that will allow you do choose which OS you want to boot into when you power on your PC. As you mentioned, your hardware is too new for Win98 and finding drivers may be next to impossible. However, to install Win98 to your SATA drive, you can install Win98 to a regular old IDE drive you have laying around, an old 4gb will be fine. You can do the install on a different PC 'cuz w98 doesn't crash like XP does when it's introduced to different hardware; you'll get errors, but it will eventually load to the desktop. Anyway, get w98 installed on the old IDE drive, then use your favorite HD cloning app to copy it to the 2nd partition on your SATA drive, then install a boot manager. Here's some links to free boot managers:
http://www.majorgeeks.com/Boot_Switcher_d3754.html
http://www.majorgeeks.com/GAG_d2588.html
http://www.majorgeeks.com/OSL2000_Boot_Manager_d2165.html (it says shareware, but I think after the trial, all you get is a nag screen, but I could be wrong)
http://www.majorgeeks.com/Ranish_Partition_Manager_d1145.html
http://sourceforge.net/projects/btmgr/
http://www.boot-us.com/
http://martin.hinner.info/mbtmgr/
Again, that should be than enough to get you going.....

Good luck!
-[dlb]-
:major

(I was just thinking.... you might be able to run the Win98 in a virtual machine -aka VM- from inside of WinXP, but I'm no expert on VM by any stretch, so it's just a thought and theory)

 

edit - I originally posted this before dlb's reply, so I'm editing this right now to make it relevant. :^)

Heh, wouldn't you know that my dinner plans would be cancelled. Now I've got plenty of time! :^)

First thing - I found my XP Pro disc, so cancel that question.

Second thing - I'm sorry I wasn't clear about this, dlb, but I was asking about VM software the whole time. I blame my sloppiness on IE putting me in such a big hurry. :^P

Now, this is what I'm looking at - Microsoft Virtual PC

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/virtualpc/default.mspx

This software has been recommended to me to accomplish what I'd like to do with the Windows operating systems. It has also been explained to me that VMWare is a viable alternative, but I'm leaning towards MS Virtual PC unless anybody has a good reason not to (I'm not interested in using any non-Windows operating systems). I have one problem, though, the Win98 disc I have is not SE, it is the original release. And according to an article on Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Virtual_PC), the newest version of MS Virtual PC only supports Win98 SE. Do I have any choice but to get a Win98 SE disc?

Thank you very much for the help finding updates for Win98, dlb. I found many similar sites from my google results, I'm sure I can put everything together nicely.

 

:confused Oh. You failed to mention that in the first post. LOL No biggie
Microsoft's VM should be fine. Like I said, I have little no experience with virtual PCs and VM, but I've heard good things about the MS VM, and it's totally free, and it's supported by Microsoft so tech help should be fairly easy to get. As to the Win98SE, if your CD is not SE, then you're going to have to either buy one from EBay or from your local used PC shop if they have it. You might be able to build one like you'd do with slipstreaming XP service pack 2 into an XP SP1 installation CD; I'm sure the info is out there somewhere. It would be an interesting project and I'd like to see you pull it off. When it comes to Win98 these days, almost everything you run into will be for Win98SE only. Recently I was using Win98 on someone's PC and then used Win98SE shortly afterwards, and they're almost totally different operating systems. Yeah they look the same, and lots of stuff is the same, but mainly the way it works on the internet and configuring IE is really different, and overall w98SE just seemed easier to navigate and use, and seemed faster and smoother on the whole....

Good luck!