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Windows XP and Windows 98 Dual Boot

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7 replies

by hjmart

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I installed Windows XP to upgrade from Win 98. The XP proved problematic so I tried to reinstall Windows 98. Windows 98 installed as a seperate OS in another partition. Windows is not reporting HD space correctly. Since then, Windows XP has somehow stabilised and is running fine. My question is, How do I now delete the Windows 98 OS from the hard drive to regain the disk space and delete the partition. Windows 98 won't uninstall itself and the Add/Remove programs in XP doesn't even see the Windows 98. I don't want to reformat the HD because of the data on the disk and the time involved.

7 replies

by sfhsgrad00

Windows 98 installed as a seperate "entity" because the way software is written, in this case WinXP will not allow an older version to be installed over it. To get rid of the partition that contains Win98, you should use PartitionMagic. PartitionMagic will allow you to remove the Win98 partition and add the freed up space to the partition containing WinXP.

by sfhsgrad00

PartitionMagic will not cause you to lose your data, when you delete the win 98 partition. You shouldn't have any problems there

by hjmart

Poster rated this answer.
Partition magic showed only one partition. Yet on boot up I still get a selection of Operating systems to choose from.

by pweegar1

Be VERY careful in using Partition Magic. It WILL overwrite data in existing partitions if you don't specify the correct size or where to create the partition (i.e the end of existing space). It CAN leave your system in an unbootable state. I know, I've done this, thinking I was safe..

Also BACK UP ALL IMPORTANT DATA BEFORE YOU ATTEMPT ANY KIND OF OPERATION THAT CHANGES YOUR DISK SIZE.

by hjmart

Poster rated this answer.
Partition magic showed only one partition yet I still get the choice of 2 operating systems. I know a back up should be performed but I'm not changing the size of the disk. The disk size is being reported incorrectly PM says only one Partition

by dansolution7000

Well, I will say that the windows 98 can be also upgradable to winXP. At this point you can easly remove one out of the two winXP. Also your data can be safely kept and have enough hard drive space. Since you can easly remove winXP.

by jfortin1

In Win Xp, right click on my computer, select manage and then select disk management. You can delete the Win 98 Partition and recreate the partition. It will now be MT. You cannot merge this partition with another in Win XP's disk management but all of the disk space will be free. Partition Magic is a utility wich will combine partitions.

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