How to ADD Win9X or WinMe to EXISTING WINXP Computer

[Alan Wil]

RE: Debug program will not work properly in Windows XP Pro.
Debug program denied FULL access to hard drive under XP unlike NT4.0 /Windows 2000 Pro. Will not create /modify bootsect.dos to show Win98 SE on 2nd Primary partition.




Hello Everyone,


I am HOPING with fingers crossed that someone has a work-around for the below problem.


I had used the "Debug -read.scr" procedure here :

http://www.bcpl.net/~dbryan/ntfs-dual-boot.html


To setup a dual boot of Win2000Pro and Win98se.... With Win2000 Pro on the FIRST primary partition formatted NTFS... and Win 98se on the second primary partition formatted as Fat32.


Note... that the 1st partition is formatted NTFS... and the 2nd is formatted Fat32. NT bootloader was used to boot both OS's once I ran the above debug


I was VERY happy to find the above info describing how to have NT on the first partition formatted as NTFS... and Win 95, etc to be on the second partition. I especially liked the fact the NT bootloader was used instead of 3rd party boot mangers. (Most write ups you read say you "have" to format the first partition FAT), Install Win95 /98 to first partition, etc.


I am very surprised Microsoft does not provide the debug information as the process was VERY simple.... And worked flawlessly for several years. ( I believe before that I had done the same thing with NT4.0 and 95 /98 /98se.)





The problem I have now, and the reason I write is I am trying to do the same thing with XP Pro (NTFS) and 98 (fat32).


The debug

To setup a dual boot of Win2000Pro and Win98se.... With Win2000 Pro on the FIRST primary partition formatted NTFS... and Win 98se on the second primary partition formatted as Fat32.


Note... that the 1st partition is formatted NTFS... and the 2nd is formatted Fat32. NT bootloader was used to boot both OS's once I ran the above debug


I was VERY happy to find the above info describing how to have NT on the first partition formatted as NTFS... and Win 95, etc to be on the second partition. I especially liked the fact the NT bootloader was used instead of 3rd party boot mangers. (Most write ups you read say you "have" to format the first partition FAT)


I am very surprised Microsoft does not provide the debug information as the process was VERY simple.... And has worked flawlessly for several years. ( I believe before that I had done the same thing with NT4.0 and 95 /98 /98se.)





The problem I have now, and the reason I write is I am trying to do the same thing with XP Pro (NTFS) and 98 (fat32).


The debug

I am hoping that there is a registry "hack"/ work around, or another program that can do the job...

Each time I run the command the following message appears:

16 Bit MS-DOS Subsystem, Command Prompt debug, An application has directly attempted to access the hard drive, which cannot be supported. This may cause the application to function incorrectly. Choose "close" to terminate the application.


So it seems the "debug" program does NOT have access to the hard drive in XP as it did in Win2000 PRO ?????



Any ideas on how to get the debug program full access? A thought had occurred about using the debug program from Win 2000, but I feel that the XP operating system itself is denying access. That's why I thought of the registry hack.


I also thought about using Partition Magic to set the Win 98 partition as "active" (Currently the first partition, XP Pro, NTFS is set as "active")... Run the debug from 98, then transfer the data to the XP partition???? Since this is XP (NT5.0) we're talking about I'm afraid to do that as NT seems to freak out when you go to changing which partition is active using Partition Magic. (Running ver 7+ that woks with XP.) I may be just paranoid on that issue, but I don't want to screw up my XP installation.


I've got all the disks etc, so that's not a problem... I'm just hoping there's a "working" version of debug (32 bit version?)...Or some kind of hack that enables the debug program to read the hard drive parameters... I understand XP "IS" different than Win2000... They've changed the core components... But debug not working? Error Box says is a 16 bit program?




PS: I have installed the XP recovery console... ran the bootcfg scan... Did NOT find the 98se OS.


Machine set up:
Three primary partitions, (single hard drive in machine.)

1st Primary partition formatted NTFS... XP Pro installed and running.
2nd Primary partition formatted FAT 32, Win 98 SE had been set up with Win2000 Pro using debug procedure above to build bootsect.dos file.

3rd partition formatted as a "Logical partition"

Containing within it the following partitions:

D:\ Applications (NTFS).... (Also have a D:\ as Fat32, marked hidden) Win98 partition is marked as hidden right now also.
E:\ Games (FAT32)
F: Data (FAT)


X:\ Zip disc (internal)
Y: CD Writer
Z: DVD / CDR-RW Reader




Look forward to hearing from all of you. ANY ideas would be greatly appreciated!



Alan

[roy66]

Dual Boot question

If you have two hard drives, one with Win 98 installed on it and the other with Windows XP installed on it, how do you tell the computer which OS to boot to?

My new PC came with XP Home (OEM) installed.
I have the hard drive from my old PC with Win 98 installed + all software programs, file etc.

I want my new PC to be able to handle a dual boot into either system.

This is not an empty hard drive as has been discussed.

Can you please advise.

Thank you
roy66

[roy66]

My question is.

I have Win XP HOME installed.
I also have my previous hard drive with Win 98 plus heaps of installed info.

Am I able to install the Win 98 Hard Drive and dual boot between both without the assistance of of additional software or hardware utilities?????

Thankyou
roy66

[glc]

No. Think about this - your previous hard drive had Win98 on C: and all its apps are installed on it, expecting to see the OS on C: and I'd bet the apps were on C: too. The XP drive is the same way - it's C:

Now - unless you use a nondestructive partitioning tool and a 3rd party boot manager that can hide and unhide partitions at boot time, there is no way both drives can be C:

If you have the full OEM XP install CD, this is pretty easy to take care of. You can install the 98 drive standalone into the machine, remove the ENUM key (as described in another thread in this forum), then slave the NEW drive into the machine, wipe it, and reinstall XP on it as the D drive - and XP will put a boot manager on which will work. If XP is a preload with either just a recovery CD or none at all, you need 3rd party boot managers to be able to have both drives in, and have each one seen as C: when you boot to that particular drive.

I've never done what you propose, so I'm sorry I can't be more detailed, I'm working off of pure theory now.

[roy66]

OK, let me rephrase.

I have purchased a new PC it came with Win XP OEM installed as C drive.

I have installed my Win 98 hard drive ex my previous PC as slave D.

I can alternate between both drives C (XP)and D ('98).

What do I need to do to be able to select which drive I boot into???? thereby having each independant of each other.

Thankyou
roy66

[glc]

Duplicate post removed

You may get a better response if you post a new thread in the NT/2K/XP forum.

[isepiq]

Just a little note that I have found to be a nice little helper working with computers. Set ALL your hard drives, cdrom drives, etc., to CS (Cable Select). That way no matter where you move them, they will automatically set themselves as Master or Slave depending where they are on the cable. You will never have to move the pins again!!! All of the new hard drives, cdrom, cdr, etc., have been coming with the pin set to Cable Select recently. One less headache to worry about.
And thanx for the great info. Putting a copy of Win98se on another drive is just exactly what I was thinking of doing. GREAT job and directions!!!
CS (Cable Select), drive on first connector at end of cable, auto Master. Drive on second connector on cable, auto Slave. Only one drive on cable, auto Master. Change a drive from master to slave (or cd rom drive etc.) just by moving its position. Never hook them up wrong again. Let the computer take care of it for you. What the heck we got 'puters for anyways???!!!

[glc]

isepiq: Let me add that you must use cable select type cables to do this - old standard 40 wire IDE cables are not capable but new 80 wire color coded cables are.

[kazzz]

I just got a new hard drive and intalled it with XP and set it as my master drive. My old hard drive had WIN ME OS on it and is now is the slave drive. I don't need or want ME and I wish to format the old drive. My question is... Will XP continue to work fine if I do this? I want to move my programs from the slave to the master (by drag and drop?), are there system files that are within ME that my programs will have to read? I hope this is easy to understand.

Thanks!

[glc]

Please start a new thread in the XP forum - it's off topic for this thread.

[lordlekidos]

Hi,

I am wondering if it would be possible of dual-boot Windows Xp Home Edition and Professional Edition. I have looked all through Microsoft's Support page and there it nothing about this. And my Hd is seperated into two partitions.

Thank you.

[glc]

lord, that's off topic for this thread. Please post a new thread in the WinXP forum.