Dual Boot Windows 98 and Windows XP - Part 1

[Chris]

Ever wanted to have Windows 98 and Windows XP installed onto the same computer? Well you can do just that with what is known a Dual Booting, in other words you will be able to choose which operating system you want to use.

Dual Booting has it's uses, overcome compatibilty between older software and newer operating systems.

You want to be able use what operating system you have come to like and want to make the change to another operating system slowly, by having two operating systems installed so the change over can be painless.

Here you will see how to dual boot with Windows 98 and Windows XP.

Before we begin insert your Windows 98 Installation Disk in to the CD-ROM drive and then restart your computer.

NOTE: Please make any backups before attempting this as your hard drive will be formatted.

In order to dual boot you will need to create two partitions, Windows 98 will be installed to one partition and Windows XP to the other...

[image 0.1]

You will need to boot from a Windows 98 Startup Disk [you can find one here] Allow it about a minute and you should eventually come to a startup menu. Select Start computer with CD-ROM support and press Enter. [see Image 0.1]

[image 0.2]

You should have now come to a A:\> prompt, type fdisk and press Enter. [see Image 0.2]

[image 0.3]

Your hard drive will most certainly be a large capacity drive [several GB or more] So you will now have to enable large disk support. Make sure Y is present and press Enter. [see Image 0.3]

[image 0.4]

We first have to create a partition, so choose option 1 and press Enter to Create DOS partition or Logical DOS Drive [see Image 0.4]

[image 0.5]

We now need to create a primary partition so choose option 1 to Create Primary DOS Partition [see Image 0.5]

[image 0.6]

The Drives Integrity will then be checked. [see Image 0.6]

[image 0.7]

Now you have the option to create one large partition or 2 or more partitions. Type N and press Enter as this will alow partitions to be created. [see Image 0.7] If you type Y you would use all of the drive space for just one partition.

[image 0.8]

The Drives Integrity will then be checked. [see Image 0.8]

[images 0.9 and 1.0 respectively]

Now as we want to create a partition you now have to define the partiton size by either entering the partition size Megabytes or by entering a percentage of the total disk space.

If you wanted to create a partiton size of 8000MB, type 8000 and press Enter. Or if you wanted to create a partiton size of half of the total space available type the percentage. So by typing 50% you will create a partiton size that is 50% of the total space available. So enter a partition size in MB or enter a Percentage and press Enter. [see Images 0.9 and 1.0 respectively]

Continue to part 2