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windows2000 and win98

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by sarmad_farooq

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Hi
can we have two operating systems running on the same machine one is windows 2000 and other is windows 98. the condition is that windows 2000 must have a NTFS partition.

The other thing is that if we have an NTFS parttion how can we delete it.

11 replies

by thechas

Yes you can "dual boot" both OS's.
You need at least 2 partitions or 2 drives.
Install 98 first, then 2000.

Do not attempt to share application installations between the 2 OSs. Install the needed aps. in the respective partitions for each OS.
You can share data files.

To delete the ntsf partition, you can use fdisk or most partition manager utilities to delete the ntsf and replace it with a fat32, or a new ntsf.

Windows XP can be installed in either a fat32 or an ntsf partition.

by sarmad_farooq

the problem is to have one partition of NTFS. but when i do that win2k works allright but win98 can not boot, ithink its because, win 98 is unable to read from master boot record

by timthetoolman

Hi,

Yep, TheChas has given you the answer you'll almost certainly go for. Most people do...

If you've got a little money and you're feeling adventurous, you can go for "VMWARE". This software allows you to run both operating systems simultaneously on the one machine! You switch between them as easily as bringing an application to the foreground! Very nifty!!

http://www.vmware.com/products/desktop/ws_features.html

(remove spaces in the above URL)

You'd also need to buy the following tool which allows windows 98 to read and write to ntfs partitions. Actually even with TheChas' answer you may still consider buying this...

http://www.winternals.com/products/fct/ntfswin98.asp

(remove spaces from the above URL)

There is ademo version of VMWARE available if you just wanted to try it. You've got to be a bit of a computer buff to gof this solution, though.

Oh... many people use VMWARE to switch between Linux and Windows. To get the best from both worlds.

Just FYI...

Cheers,
Tim.

by timthetoolman

Hi,

Yep, You've hit the nail on the head, yourself.

You cant do it all on ntfs. You must have a fat32 partition to boot out of for Win98.

Furthermore, you MUST have win98 itself in fat32 - even the utility I mentioned in my other post willonly allow win98 to read from ntfs *after* its booted.

Cant you have two partitions - say a couple of Gb for Win98 and the rest for Win2k (on ntfs)?

This is certainly technically feasible - most people go for this configuration, but if for some reason you *have* to have your whole disk formatted with ntfs, then I'm sorry but you cant have Win98...

Cheers,
Tim.

by timthetoolman

...and if you're not happy with this answer - I get the feeling you want someone to tell you you CAN have Win98 on ntfs somehow, then check out the following article...

http://www.telemarkgruppen.no/TSoft/Winternals/ntfs_for_win98.htm

(remove spaces from the above URL)

Its from the makers of the Win98/ntfs reader/writer software. I have included an extract from that page below...

Notes
Do not convert your first partition, or your Windows 95/98 boot partition (the one with Windows on it), to NTFS as there is no support in Windows 95 or Windows 98 for reading NTFS drives during the boot sequence. For maximum compatibility in dual boot systems, the recommended partition configuration is to maintain a FAT partition as the firstpartition on the primary drive. This partition should contain Windows 95/98 and should not be used to store applications or data files. The rest of the primary disks, and any other disks that you wish to share between Windows 98 and Windows NT/2000 can be formatted with NTFS or other file system types (FAT16 or FAT32) that are understood by the operating systems from which you wish to access them. Your Windows NT/2000 system directory can be placed on either a FAT or NTFS drive (note that Windows NT 4.0 cannot be placed on a FAT32 drive, nor boot from a FAT32 drive).

by timthetoolman

So, in essence, you will need to start over with your machine the get a dual boot setup.

You'll need to remove the existing partition, create a partition for Win98 (use fdisk for that)

Install Win98 into that partition.

Then Install Win2k and when the installation asks you "where", specify the part of the disk that hasn't been used yet and tell it to format to ntfs.

I'm not sure what the smallest partition you could have for Win98 will be but I expect its only a couple of hundred Mb. Unless you're planning to buy the Win98 ntfs reader/writer, you're going to need more space than that to be useful.

Good luck with it,
Cheers,
Tim.

by thechas

As Tim and I have both said, you cannot have your cake and eat it to.
The best way to dual boot is to have the C drive be a fat 32 formated drive with win98 installed.
Then have W2k on a second partition/drive formated ntsf.

All applications will need to be installed seperately for each OS.

Check out this link for more information.

http://www.webtechgeek.com/center_Frame_win_SuperTechGeek_Dual_Boot_Removing_NTFS.html

If what you are looking to do is remove the ntsf format so that you can go back to w98, this may help.

I would however, backup any critical files first.

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