How to ADD Win9X or WinMe to EXISTING WINXP Computer

[Hpro]

Hi all there - did some work here - If you already have WinXP installed and like to add Win9X or WinME ON A NEW HARD DRIVE - then follow the steps below -it will take you as much time as to install Win98 + 10 minutes configuring time - a lot less than to REINSTALL BOTH OS's..

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STEP BY STEP
After a accidental deletion of My Test Computers WinXp drive - and a successful RESTORE of it I went on this morning to get this issue solved - to HOW TO ADD WINDOWS 98 or WINME to a Existing WinXP configuration..

I searched through the Microsoft Q/A section but didn't actually helped me much - as I can do this but
The prior tries were - more or less complicated and I was lookking for a "EASY WAY" so everyone with general computer knowledge could do this.. and here are the resuslts..

You can see those in the pictures I made..Link Below

First of all this here accounts only to add a Windows 98 on a newly installed hard drive after WinXp had been installed..

I'm working on a similar case for Multipartitions - and if verythings turns out OK then it should be Online within tomorrow..

Steps to take -
1.Disable or unplug your WinXP the drive in the BIOS
2.Connect your NEW DRIVE as SLAVE to the Primary IDE controller. The new Drive will be Automatically be C:\ as there is no C:\Drive found as it has either been disabled or has been Disconnected = see number 1.
3.Set the BOOT SEQUENCE in the Bios to CDROM C A
4.Insert the Win9X or WinME CDROM and restart your computer with this configuration
5.From the Windows Setup menu select SETUP WINDOWS 98 or WINME
6.complete SETUP Then shut down..
7.Now either you have to Reconnect the drive WinXp drive or enable it in the BIOS -

NOTE - The best configuration would be if you Switch the WinXP drive to become SLAVE in the BIOS
This meaning that you have to configure the jumpers again on the drives..Making the NEW DRIVE MASTER!!!
But this is not really necessary.. just look at STEP 8 how to configure this

8.Again set the boot to CDROM in the bios and then use your WinXP CDrom to boot the computer -
9.When you come to the setup Screen CHOOSE R For RECOVERY CONSOLE this will ask you
a.) to what Windows Configuration you would like to logon - default Windows (1) will be shown so
press 1 and then press enter
b.) You will be asked for the ADMINISTRATOR PASSWORD - type it and press enter -
c.) C:\Windows> will appear on the screen if the DRIVE IS SET TO MASTER - D:\Windows>will appear If the drive is Set to slave..
10.Change to your WINDOWS9X or WinME drive with the follwing command
C:\ and enter if your WinXP configuration DISPLAYED D:\Windows>
D:\ and enter if your WinXP configuration DISPLAYED C:\Windows>
any other drive letter if depends on your configuration -

11.Make sure that what you see on the screen is Windows9X or WinME You will see this if there are
Following files in the ROOT FOLDER
a.)IO.SYS
b.)MSDOS.SYS
C.)COMMAND.COM
12.TYPE at this prompt the line you see below - EXACLTY PLEASE -
FIXBOOT C:and press enter - If your WinXP was found at D:\ !!! (Windows respond to you)
FIXBOOT D:and press enter - if your WinXP was found at C:\ !!!(Windows respond to you)
[B]FIXBOOT YOUR DRIVE LETTER - where you placed Windows9X or WinME (Windows respond to you)

13. when done type exit this will restart your computer ..
NOTE:
If your WinXP drive is master then you have to set the Win98 hard drive in the bios BOOT option
as FIRST BOOT DEVICE !!! if you Switched drive and jumpers - and the Win98 drive is MASTER then make
sure that the FIRST BOOT DEVICEis set to A C CDROM or just to the primary master for newer Bioses..

This will then make the necessary changes to the Boot.ini - and start your computer - boot back into WinXP first and excute the line from the command prompt below first - as this will enable the RECOVERY option without to have to insert the WinXP cdrom each time if you like to go to the recovery console Command line from START RUN In the Open box,
type d:\i386\winnt32.exe /cmdcons where d is the drive letter for the CD-ROM drive then follow the instructions on the screen - made a few screenshots of this..

Now you are done and finish - you are able to boot to either os from WinXp bootmanager - Look at the Pictures below.. and compare the DISKMANAGEMENT you will see the DRIVE do NOT CHANGE Posisition in
WinXP even it wasn't booted from that drive - Look for the SYSTEM which means in that case The BOOT DRIVE>>.!
Any problem - just email me or post back here..
There is no danger so far for this - as your WinXP will be in working condition - If you make a mistake then Step 12 FIXBOOT and YOUR WINXP drive letter will clear the problem

Hope could be of help here and may the Mods will place this on TOP..

To see the pictures click on this Link because those pics taking over 500K in space..

[Alfie]

Hpro,
I followed your advice in the thread that I had started
http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?threadid=23521
As you said,I had copied the files to Drive G: where WinME is.
I then changed the names of the specfic files in XP.
Shutdown and changed the G: drive to master and set XP as slave.
Started computer and attempted to repair the boot in XP.Restarted and was told NTLDR not found.
PANIC CITY!
Booted off cdrom,feeling that now I had to reinstall XP,clicked on setup,and the option to repair XP was offered,repaired,system failure!
Restarted and WinXP continued to repair.
After it had finished,rebooted,DUAL BOOT is enabled.!!!
The curious thing is the files that I had renamed,remained as I had changed them,I dare not change them back,so I'll live with NTLDR1,etc.
Although,this is a strange approach and not as concise as the one you've outlined,it works.
Both systems are intact,and nothing was changed in XP,excluding the changed file names.
The bootsect.file that I couldn't find,now shows in WinME,so that's solved.
Christoph,
If you read this the line that XP added to the boot.ini file is:
C:= Windows,go figure!
The new configuration is the same as the old,although Drive G:is set to master,XP changed all the drive letters for me,XP is C:
although the command line for WinME is C:=Windows,interesting...

As I said the drives are configured so that the XP drive is divided into 2 partitions where XP is on a NTFS partition and the 2nd partition is using Fat32,WinME is on a smaller drive configured to Fat32,it's cool when you're in ME that you see Drive D:it's late I'm rambling,but thanks for all your help and although they say it can't be done,it can be!!!
I must say Hpro,you almost gave me an anxiety attack,when XP wouldn't load!and repair console fixboot,fixmbr,etc.did nothing!!
But by letting the XP disk repair XP.all worked out well.
Thanks again
Alfie.

[Hpro]

The files you are talking about - if they are on the WinXp partition then those files ARE NOT IN USE ANYMOREthat's why WinXP didn't renewed them and left them alone -

another thing is - that you are working with a DUAL PARTITION and not dual drives - tommorow morning - the DUAL PARTITION -FIX will be online - As you can see I made the most difficult setup there can be done and this is Setting up TWO Win98 drives - one which was already on the computer before and the other one I added this morning.. and not to forget - your WinXP didn't went down the drain - but mine was completely destroyed - may you also like to read the post of RESTORING DATA - the the General Software Forum - I made yesterday - ..

Anyway I'm happe that it worked out and I can only say one thing if you add a hard drive - as described in my Post on this thread - and go exactly by the steps - then no one will run into troubles..

[Alfie]

Hpro,
I'm using 2 drives.I had 1 drive that I had split into 2 partitions and had installed XP,remembering that I had anothe drive,I followed reboots suggestion and had disconnected the XP drive installed the new drive as master and had installed WinMe.
After doing this,I switched the drives,making XP master and Me as slave.
It was with this arrangement I was trying to get to dual boot.
It was on your advice that I swapped the 2,making Me as master.
I understand what you mean about XP keeping the files,but what I'm saying is that XP obviouly replaced the files,but kept the name!
If it had just added it would show ntldr as one and ntldr1 as another,but it only shows ntldr1!
I believe if I were to change it back to ntldr,I would end up with the fatal message NTLDR IS MISSING.

[Hpro]

If WindowsXp is setup it will remember how many drives and partitions were made on that computer - If you look at the pictures I made - then you will see that the Drives in WinXP do not change positions even you hook up the drive Physically in a other way in the bios - as long WinXP can call back to the SYSTEM DRIVE - this in your case isn't WINXP but is WinME as it keeps the BOOTLOADER -= NTLDR and NTDETECT.COM - now if you look again at the WinMe drive then you will also find the missing BOOTSECT.DOS file..

I went on this morning 5 AM to disolve this problem starting with setting up WINDOWS 98 on a Separate hard drive - just to bad was a Western Drive - and it would make some problem - like Invalid System Disk - after I used FIXBOOT D: - got tired of the drive - took out a BRAND NEW MAXTOR 20GB - and Ghosted the partition to that drive hoocked it up and it booted like a dream -

Tomorrow morning you will see the PARTITION Trick in the same manner as I did with the HARD DRIVES this morning - just to do something for the community.. LOL otherwise I have no work on those machines - BTW the drive which was acidentally Fdisked and formatted - I have restored to 100%...

So ANYWAY, the BOTTOM LINE IS (as Stone Cold Steve Austin calls it ) Win9X and WinME can be added to WinXp and also Win2k after those OS's have been setup before ..and this within a few minutes - but I would to urge anyone who uses WinXP - place the System RECOVERY CONSOLE on the hard drive as the way I described it in my first POST here - it is worth it - as it helps to save a lot of time ..

No more need to go to all through the setup files booting of the CDROM - takes 10 seconds and you are on the RECOVERY CONSOLE.. and the WinXP recovery console ROCKS..!!!Just use it the proper way..!

[Alfie]

Hpro,
I attempted to install the console,it went on line and did all the things you said it would,but then said installation failed,Drive G: wrong handle.
It took away the dual boot,so now no matter what i try,it won't run dual boot.
I've attempted the repair console and followed your instructions above,but still nothing.
It seems XP may have taken over WinME,because even when I disconnected the drive with XP on it,it still wouldn't boot to ME,what's up with that?
Any suggestions?
I was thinking of formatting the ME disk,but if I did that the infamous NTLDR can't be found will appear as NTLDR resides on the ME disk(set up as master)
I had hoped that by reversing the NTLDR and copying the files back to XP would let XP boot on it's own,but it wouldn't.
Chose repair previous installation option and all it did was recopy all the files to ME disk.
Do you think by formatting the ME disk and then reinstalling ME and then follow the procedure above might work(I would also have to run repair on the existing XP installation,which is now configured for dual boot,but doesn't know it

[Hpro]

You see in my picture about the RECOVERY CONSOLE - I did SKIP the online - this was the major issue -

Boot with the WinXP cdrom in the drive and then use HELP FIXBOOT at the command prompt this will explain which of the drives are availabe to create the boot - then you have to check this out by changing to that drive and actually type a DIR command at the prompt - to see the drive contends - If you read my prior post then you will note that WinXP doesn't care how the drives are set in BIOS but it does care how many partition there where and how many drives where as it was installed first time and then it will add drives which have been installed afterwards as well and only a MANUAL REMOVAL from it's list in RECOVERY CONSOLE will keep WinXP from playing crazy....

a few questions before you do anything

IN RECOVERY CONSOLE
1.What is the DEFAULT DRIVE WinXP logs you on?
2.What is the DRIVE LETTER OF THE WINME configuration
3.What does WinXP display when you enterd FIXBOOT - the drive letter - is this the same as the one WinXP logged you on?
4.Does the WinMe drive has a bootable Partition ? Fat32 or FAT ?
Please answer me those questions and I can give you a answer which works..

[Alfie]

XP logs on as D:it's set as slave.
C: is WinME
Yes,XP remains constant at D:
WinME is on a Fat32 file system

[Alfie]

I got it back!
Redid boot.ini,hopefully all is well,needless to say,trying to install the Console in this current configuration is a no-no.
I suspect that it installed on C: which is really G:and then realizing it wasn't XP,ripped the guts out of dual boot!
I wonder if there's a way to install it to a directory of your choosing.but then where to install it.
I must learn more about the Repair Console,any suggestions?

[Hpro]

You can run this install from the Winme boot as well then it will install to winme instead.. read this

HOW TO: Install and Use the Recovery Console for Windows XP (Q307654)
You will find it from the IE Help Online Support Tool , then enter the Q number and read it..

Most important is that if you use FIXBOOT you make sure to type the drive letter - this will then tell you that it has created the boot successful.. I just done this here on 4 differend computer - added Win98 and WinMe to the already Existing WinXP and all worked the first time..without a hitch..

and here the definitons on Dual boot and more same here as above..
HOW TO: Create a Multiple-Boot System with Windows XP (Q306559)

Alfie - I just send you a PM..

[Alfie]

I was able to install the Console as an optional boot,did it from the cd and skipped the dynamic update(the online method is what screwed the initial attempt)so for those wanting the repair console as a bootable configuration,it may be adviseable to just install from cd.

[Carl Price]

Mr. Mod.

I think this whole thread should be placed in tricks and tips since it is more of a how-to instead of a problemsolver. If you agree please move it!

HiPro, please keep researching. I just think this will serve a wider audience in tricks and tips instead of here. Please don't get offended.

[Hpro]

CARL - whatfor I should get offended for ??
I absolutely agree with you.. I placed this here because there are so many times this very same question and I thought this would actually fit and may poeple read it - yes look at the poll and then you see that people may read it but aren't concerned too much as long it doens't is on their computer .. so for me where ever is OK. no problems with that..
I actuallly made the same for the mutlipartitions - finished but not online yet - as for the reason was waiting for someone to come up with this particualr problem ...and then post.Oh it's 4 am here just got out of bed..

[Techno Student]

Hpro,

Hey thanks for this info. I've got Win xp and Win Me, and I was too chicken to try a dual install. I've got another HDD that I will install and put Win Me on. Thanks.

[Electron]

Hpro,

I would like to follow these instructions to dual boot Win XP and Win 98SE.

Will Step 8 in your first post work if using a Recovery CD with Win XP, drivers and Software on. (XP was pre-loaded on this machine).

Can i use FDISK and partition the existing drive before using the Recovery disk to replace WinXP and software, do you know. Or will it erase the partitions again.

Thanks.

[TWHarvey]

Hello,

Hpro have a quick question. If I decide to take the option of configuring the drives using your advice in the NOTE for best configuration. is there any other configuration steps that need to be followed. I believe I'm one of your general knowledge of computers people, and I'm still a little hesitant on tring things the first time without a net.

[piasabird]

I think doing the dual boot via software is one option, however I have seen some other options.

There is one device that lets you select which Hard Drive to boot from that physically turns one harddrive on at a time. From what I understood, you can have up to 3 harddrives all on one IDE cable. I think they called it a Trio Hard Drive Selector.

A second option was a switch that plugs into the jumpers and lets you change the jumper settings with a switch. This method would just change a drive from Master to Slave and vice versa. I don't remember what they called this or who makes it. The switch looked like a key that goes in a round hole.

[TedEBear]

Ok.. I need some advice. I have XP installed on a brand new drive and it works fine. I have 98 on another HD that was working fine and I decided to add it back to my system using the method outlined here for multi-boot.

I added the older (98) drive as slave and the XP drive is set as master. I booted into the recovery console and switch to the drive partition containing Win98 (shown as drive g: due to other partitions on the XP drive ) and executed the fixboot command which says it completes successfully. When I exit and the system reboots, it does not show on the boot menu.. only XP and the recovery console which I had already installed to the XP drive.

I had seen mention in the post of a possible problem with the update to the recovery console when installing it to HD (which it did), so I booted from the CD and ran it from there and navigated to the Win98 drive partition (this time shown as d: ) and executed the fixboot again. Upon exit and reboot it the boot menu still does not show the Win98 installation.

I went into recovery console again and executed 'bootcfg /scan' but the only thing it finds is the XP installation. Does this only look for XP installs or any Windows installation? Is there something I'm missing.. something I should've done that I didn't? I know the 98 drive works because I can navigate to it and see the file both in recovery console and in XP.

I didn't have more time to tinker any further as I had to leave for work, but when I get home I will try unhooking the XP drive and seeing if the 98 drive will boot. Also may try switching the jumpers on the drives as well and see if that makes a difference.

I just wanted to throw this out here before then to see if there were any other suggestions.

Any help would be appreciated!

[TedEBear]

I think I may have figured out the problem. After going over this procedure once more (being more awake this time) I realize I missed one detail... that the Win98 drive has to be set as the first drive in the BIOS. How did I miss that??.. in bold letters no less!

Oh well... this will be the first thing I try when I get home.

Thanks anyways!

[dudu]

Well, I already have win98 and I want to add win2000 on a new drive and then install it in same computer with win98 drive.
1. how do I go about it?
2. which drive should be master?
3. what problem exists?

Thanks for your suggestions.

[HAL9000]

You are already getting answers to your question in the WinNT/2K/XP forum. Please do not make multiple posts as it gets too difficult for everyone to track your progress.

[Hpro]

Hi there -
Just answered your email - so by now you should have it- may I give a copy of the mail here once more...

It's not a big business to install Win2K on top of Win98 on a separate hard drive - and differes complete from the above instruction to ADD Win98 or WinME to a existing WinXP...

The proper way you can see below - this is for a installation where each OS has it's own hard drive - so we don't talk about creating partitions - then also as for Security reasons the Win2K drive will be formatted using NTFS so no one can abuse or copy data out while working or playing on Win98 drive - it's just a precaution -

I assume that you will use Win2k mainly when installed but that you can use Win98 the same time or at least using the boot manager of Win2k you don't need to change the Hard drives - (Festplatten) leave it as it is and then SLAVE the NEW WIN2K DRIVE to the existing WIN98 as Primary SLAVE where Win98 is Primary MASTER>!

In the bios change the boot sequence to boot from CDROM - if you have a newer Motherboard then on most of them you will find a Special Key function with which you can change boot devices after the computer has POST already as example ASUS boards have the CTRL+ESC Key combination while booting the computer (STRG + ESC German Keyboard) to bring up the hidden Boot menu of the bios after Post.
This above is just the introduction - here the proper installation procedure.

1.Disconnect Power & Cover of computer
2.Slave the new hard drive to existing Primary IDE channel - if this is a new UDMA 4 100 or 133 mhz drive use CS or CABLE SELECT on both drives and make sure that you use UDMA CABLE - which should be inserted the following way
Blue = Motherboard
Black = MASTER Drive (Existing Win98 Drive)
Grey = SLAVE Drive (NEW WIN2K Drive)
3.Recheck the connections to the drives in the computer and then close the cover and reconnect the main power.
4.Insert the Win2k Cdrom into the drive and restart your computer ( make sure that the boot sequence reads the Cdrom first)
5. when asked to "press any key" to boot from CDrom then press any key - this will start Win2K installation -
6.You will have the choice to select the drive where you like to install Win2k too - it will not overwrite the existing Win98 drive unless you tell setup to overwrite - you can use either FAT32 or NTFS as a format for Win2K but remember - using NTFS is more secure and also when using Win98, then the Win2k Drive will not be seen.
7.let setup continue to finish Win2k installation and then you will be able to use the build in Bootmanager of Win2k to boot to either hard drive - .

Some words of caution -
Even it's very seldom that Win2K will cause problem while installing here just a few points..
1.Make sure your computers hardware is compatible with the system requirements of Win2k installation.
2.Make sure you have all the drivers you need for your hard ware..
3.Make sure you crosschecked your hardware against this - ftp://ftp.microsoft.com/services/whql/hcl/
4.Make sure you have at least 64Mb Ram (minimum) installed - I would advise to use 128 or 256 Mb..
5.Make sure you have at least a Pentium 133Mhz or compatible processor in your computer..

Usually Win2K will install verys smooth and easy without problem - hope to be some help for you. If you need more documentation then let me know..

[TedEBear]

OK.. This still is NOT working for me. I rejumpered the drives and set the 98 drive as first device. When I tried to boot I got NTLDR not found message (when I set the XP drive as first it boots fine.) I copied the files listed here elsewhere (ntldr, ntdetect, etc) to the drive and tried to boot and received "the following file is missing or corrupt: \system32\hal.dll" I copied the file to the folder only to come up with another missing dll file. Since I had no clue as to how many missing files there might be I decided to try another tactic.

I made a 2nd install of XP on a separate partition on the drive containing 98, with that drive set as first device (I did this booting from the cd). Upon completion the system would only boot to that version of XP automatically. I went into the repair console and did a fixboot... same result. Went back into repair console did a scan and added the original XP installation. Then I got a boot menu with both XP installations I can boot into, but no 98. Edited boot.ini to add 98 which now shows on the menu, but when I try to load it I'm back to the missing file messages. So as it stands I can boot into either XP installation but the 98 still will not work.

What should I do/try next?

[Sauron]

Why not just use System Commander? I did, and for a while I had 95 and the earliest version of 98, plus DOS 6.22...it worked fine for me.

[TedEBear]

Well.. if it comes down to that I guess I will have to. I just wanted to try and avoid putting out any more cash at this point. I checked out their site and saw that their Partition Commander product, which is about half the price, comes with a scaled down version of System Commander... unfortunately, although it will run under XP, it has to be installed using 95/98/ME which I am unable to get into at this point.

For now, I'll tinker around some more.

[Theron]

TedEBear:
Any luck? I believe I'm having the same issue with ntldr missing. The only thing I haven't tried tonight is cracking open the case and putting the drives on the same cable (from primary and secondary masters to primary master/slave). I found a trial-ware product called Symon ($15), but haven't installed yet. I'll post again, if I resort to 3rd party software fixing a Microsoft problem and let you know the results.

One thing I thought I'd try is loading the ntldr on the Win98 drive - bad idea. The machine just repeatedly reboots over and over.

Short of it -
1. When the 98 drive is ahead of the XP drive in booting order and 98 is picked from the boot menu:
"ntldr is missing".
2. When the 98 drive is behind the XP drive in order, and 98 is picked, the all the Windows files are missing - because the computer is looking on the XP drive to boot 98???

Anybody have any thoughts???

[martin]

hi this is slightly different Q,but can some one plz help me, iam running win98SE,its ok, ihave two hard drives both 20GB each,ddr ram 512,i want to install win2000 or xp and run both on the same pc,i have ACRONISo/s selector5.0.BUT NOT INSTALLED YET,just don't no what to do drives c-d ,d is empty but installed many thanks in advance, bye chaps

[HAL9000]

It's even easier that way. Just run the setup for 2K or XP and specify the 2nd hard drive for an installation directory and 2K or XP will load it's own bootloader.

[justins]

Hello,

This is my scenario:

I have an old PC with 2 hard discs running windows 95 (os2). I've just bought a new pc with windows xp installed. What I'd really like to do is lift the master disc out of my old pc, put it into the new one (with xp installed) and set up a dual boot. The top thread explains how to do this with a new (blank) hard drive. Is there and esier way to do it with my hard drive (which already has windows 95 installed) without losing the data?

Thanks,

Justin

[rnoxious]

well i tried the method in this link but i couldnt
get to a c:\ prompt as he says you need to do
xp shows as f:\windows

i tried fixboot c:\ but all i get when i reboot
is ntldr missing

any ideas??