Dual boot (XP and 98SE) setup, 2 drives

[WalterK]

I've decided to try creating a dual boot system, with both Win98SE and Win XP Pro with SP2, and have a few questions.

98SE is presently installed on an 80 GB drive with three partitions, all of which have data on them. I plan to install XP on a separate 200 GB drive, which is still in its box. Right now, the existing drive is connected to a Promise Ultra 100 PCI card, and I plan to connect the new drive to the card too. The computer on which I'm gonna do this install is the primary PC on my wired home network, which uses a Netgear RP 614 v. 2 router.

I've read up on XP installation and it looks pretty straightforward, but I have a couple of questions. First, I'd like some advice on partitioning the new drive. What size partition should I use for the OS? Is there any major disadvantage to having 3 or 4 large partitions, other than the time it'll take to check the disk for problems?

Second, I know that XP is gonna need a name for the computer. It has a name in 98, should the name be the same for XP or should it be something different?

Third, should I try to convert the existing network to an XP based network, or just add the computer to the existing network?

Fourth, I understand that if I format the new drive as FAT32, it will be able to see the 98 files and vice versa. Is there any significant disadvantage to using FAT32?

Fifth, in the install, should I set the new drive as a slave to the existing 98 drive....or put it on the other IDE channel on the Ultra 100 card?

Finally, I imagine that at some point, Win98 will not be needed. Since I think the boot information will be stored on the existing 98 drive rather than the new one, if I take the 98 drive out of the loop, what will I have to do to let the XP disk be the only drive in the system?

Thanks for any words of wisdom on these and any questions I haven't asked!

[glc]

Partitioning is totally up to you, but see below. Naming is up to you, but consider connecting to shares and the possible confusion. Just add it to the network. FAT32 is nowhere near as robust and stable as NTFS, but 98 cannot see NTFS partitions on the local machine. XP cannot create FAT32 partitions larger than 32gb, so I would install XP on a NTFS partition, and consider making the rest of the drive FAT32 *if* you want 98 to be able to see it. You can always convert FAT32 to NTFS later, but you cannot convert it back the other way. Other computers on the network can see either FAT32 or NTFS regardless of OS. Put the drive on the other channel. Removing the boot drive later can be troublesome - both due to the boot.ini and drive letter assignments.

[Statica]

Originally Posted by WalterK First, I'd like some advice on partitioning the new drive. What size partition should I use for the OS? Is there any major disadvantage to having 3 or 4 large partitions, other than the time it'll take to check the disk for problems?

Generally speaking, it is more advantages to have 3 or 4 large partitions rather than have one partition; it keeps your system from being fragmented unevenly. What is recommended is to dedicate about 10GB for a system partition, where your XP and pagefile will reside along with other system critical files, drivers and core installation files.
What is further helpful (this is only a recommendation) is to have partitions based on usage, rather than arbitrary divisions to your drive. For example, I always recommend dedicating a large partition to your program files - like installing 3rd party programs to that drive. For example; I would put programs like Office, Acrobat, Photoshop, MP3 player etc etc etc on the second drive.
Subsequent partitions would contain documents and files that you access. Like spreadsheets, word documents, music files etc.
There is a reason to go with this .. generally, files that you use, like documents, music, images etc are those that are frequently replaced; while programs don't frequently change their files. This would keep the fragmentation on the program drives down to a minimum.
On mine, I have at least 4 partitions - one for the system; the second for programs; third for documents that are critical; and finally one for extremely low lifecycle files .. you know like files that I move before burning onto a CD for backup.
It's also advantageous because now you can dedicate separate resources to system restore - you can configure each partition to run on a separate % of the disk space.

Originally Posted by WalterK Second, I know that XP is gonna need a name for the computer. It has a name in 98, should the name be the same for XP or should it be something different?

You don't necessarily need a new name for the XP - mind you it is a computer name, not the computer name for a particular OS. It will help you immediately realize the computer and the drives that are being shared.

Originally Posted by WalterK Third, should I try to convert the existing network to an XP based network, or just add the computer to the existing network?

Depends on how your network is laid out. If you are using a router, the effect is the same .. all you are adding is a node to the network. Your router is controlling the network; your XP (or your Win98) operating system is just receiving an IP from the router.

Originally Posted by WalterK Fourth, I understand that if I format the new drive as FAT32, it will be able to see the 98 files and vice versa. Is there any significant disadvantage to using FAT32?

As GLC stated, unless you want to access your files from Win98, you should stay away from the archaic, buggy filesystem we know as FAT32. What you could probably do with a selective partitioning schema is to keep your system partition and your program partition in NTFS and your documents etc on FAT32. That way, you do not subject your critical partitions to the flakiness of FAT32.

Originally Posted by WalterK Fifth, in the install, should I set the new drive as a slave to the existing 98 drive....or put it on the other IDE channel on the Ultra 100 card?

If the Ultra100 is the fastest IDE connection you have available, and if your hard drive is capable of reaching those speeds, then go for Ultra100. You may have to prepare a driver disk if XP installation does not show the new drive during the setup. Usually that isn't the case, try booting with the XP CD during setup, if it only offers you a choice of installation on the drive containing 98, then you know that you will have to supply the drivers.

Originally Posted by WalterK Finally, I imagine that at some point, Win98 will not be needed. Since I think the boot information will be stored on the existing 98 drive rather than the new one, if I take the 98 drive out of the loop, what will I have to do to let the XP disk be the only drive in the system? Thanks for any words of wisdom on these and any questions I haven't asked!

It should be a simple matter of removing the choice for Win98 from the bootconfig and then deleting out the contents of the drive. I'm not certain about it though; if during formatting, you find that you no longer can get to XP; then all you would need to do is to run a repair installation to get back your XP.

[WalterK]

Thanks so much, GLC and Statica. I was delighted when I saw who had replied to my questions, since I know you guys are experts! I have read and followed your advice on other issues and have never gone wrong in doing so.

Another thought crossed my mind when I was reading your responses. I wonder if there is any way for the new XP drive to become the C drive, where the boot.ini information will be stored. I know that the older OS has to be installed first, then XP added...but does the 98 drive HAVE to be the boot drive, or is there a way to set up the system where the boot info is on the new XP drive? Maybe if I slaved the 98 drive to the new drive, then booted from the CD?

I hadn't thought about XP perhaps not seeing the new drive, Statica, but I imagine it might not with the drive on the Ultra100 card. Hmmm......how do I supply the drivers during setup? Via a floppy, maybe, or by pointing setup to them on the existing drive? Having never run XP setup, I have no idea.

Thank you again for your help!

[Statica]

Originally Posted by WalterK Another thought crossed my mind when I was reading your responses. I wonder if there is any way for the new XP drive to become the C drive, where the boot.ini information will be stored. I know that the older OS has to be installed first, then XP added...but does the 98 drive HAVE to be the boot drive, or is there a way to set up the system where the boot info is on the new XP drive? Maybe if I slaved the 98 drive to the new drive, then booted from the CD?

There is no seamless way to accomplish what you want; without physically swapping the drives between installations. Unless I am severely mistaken (or have forgotten my Win9x) Windows 9x will not install to any partition other than the first partition on the first drive of your system. XP is a lot more flexible in that respect.
The other workaround is, first install 98 to your old drive then put in the new drive as your primary one to install XP. The only way you could fool 98 into thinking that it was still C:\ was if you "either" turned off your 2ndary drive when booting to Win98 or made sure that you used NTFS; such that when you boot up Win98 it wouldnt detect the added partitions. Personally, I don't know if it will work.
If you want a stable dual boot, then you have to accept Win98's whims and go with what it wants . However, it is perhaps worthwhile to reconsider as to why you want Win98 still on your system. There isn't much that XP won't do that 98 will. If you are afraid of a program compatibility then maybe, but otherwise I would suggest you test out a program on an XP system and see if it will run. Incidentall, XP also has compatibility mode that will get old programs to play nice on it.

I hadn't thought about XP perhaps not seeing the new drive, Statica, but I imagine it might not with the drive on the Ultra100 card. Hmmm......how do I supply the drivers during setup? Via a floppy, maybe, or by pointing setup to them on the existing drive? Having never run XP setup, I have no idea. Thank you again for your help!

In general, of course, XP will support most Ultra100 cards (I am assuming your talking about the Promise Ultra100); try booting with it and if you get into an issue, then you will need to create a driver disk; download the drivers from the website if you haven't been provided a driver floppy disk. Boot from the XP CD with the driver disk in the drive.
Right at the beginning of the blue screen install stage, you should see an message to press F6 to load additional drivers. This is right at the beginning. Hit F6 a couple of times for good measure. Don't worry about not getting any acknowledgement from XP about the F6 - when it has completed copying some prelim files, it will get you to a screen where it asks you to specify an additional storage driver: so go ahead and press S - it will then search your floppy disk and prompt you when it has found something compatible.

I would strongly recommend seeing if you can get XP running without the need for additional drivers.. ie. see if Ultra100 is immediately recognizable by XP (you will know when you can select where to install your XP to and you see your new drive). The reason why I recommend it is because it provides one less conflict you need to troubleshoot. 3rd party mfger's are not the best when it comes to providing you the most stable drivers; get XP working with a stock configuration, later on if you find you want to see if there is any additional performance edge you can always install the drivers from the manufacturer after you have a working system (from the control panel > device manager .. no need to setup XP again). It gives you the added advantage of being able to roll-back to stock XP drivers should you experience any problems.

Here's a good site to walk you through XP installations: http://www.blackviper.com/Articles/O...tallxppro1.htm (the section for providing additional drivers is sadly missing, but just keep an eye out on your screen for it).

HTH

[WalterK]

Thanks again, Statica...excellent advice.

As for 98, if it were just me, I'd switch entirely. However, my kid has all kinds of stuff on the 98 system, and I'd be amazed if his CDs all still work, in view of how he tends just to stack 'em up carelessly.

I have the feeling that XP already recognized the card, now that I think about it. I booted from the CD last night, and progressed into setup until I think it was gonna begin installing XP onto the existing disk, which is attached to the Promise card. I wasn't paying much attention, but I would think it would have given me an error if it had seen no disk to install to. In any event, although I have no clue where the original drive disk is (I think it was a floppy!), I have the latest ones from Promise Tech's website. I got them over the weekend because they corrected the 137 GB limitation...and I flashed the card's BIOS, too, to get around the same problem.

With your input, I think I'm ready to go! Thx.