Dual Boot Challenge

[aitai]

Hi, All

I am having a problem dual booting WIN98 (factory istalled) & NT Workstation 4.0. Whenever I try to install NT I get the following error message:"Setup can not detect any hard drives"

This is the deal. I have two hard drives configured as a Primary Master (WIN98, FAT32, 6.8GB [3.6GB loaded with applications], C:\) and a Primary Slave (for NT 4.0, FAT16, 1.99GB [x7], D-J:\). On the Primary Slave, the D:\ is the primary partition with the remainder as extensions. Both hard drive specifications are NT 4.0 compatible.

Objective
1. Retain the Primary Master setup (WIN98, FAT32, C:\)
i. Avoid re-installing WIN98
ii.Keep most, if not all, of currently installed applications
2. Install NT on Primary Slave (NT 4.0, FAT16, 1.99GB [x7], D-J:\)
3. Avoid as much pain as possible!

Tools
1. Partition Magic 6.0
2. Patience (albeit low, and ebbing)

Steps (please provide a 'dummy' style walk through)
1.
2.
etc.

I would greatly appreciate it if someone could give a detailed installation procedure from the information that I have provided. I have searched many forums, and read many articles without finding a concise set of instructions. Thanks.

 

[butchrecon]

Turn the Win98 Fat 32 partition into a FAT16 partition. To do this you need format the HDD FAT16. Read the post in the Win95/98 forum. James Collins
Computer Hardware Engineer
A+, MCP

email: butchrecon@skyenet.net

Please let us (Tek-tips members) know if the solutions we provide are helpful to you. Not only do they help you but they may help others.

 

[aitai]

Thanks, Jim

My concern is, since FAT16 can only be 2.1 GB in size, how will the applications on the FAT32 partition be affected by repartioning the Primary Master drive where they reside?

 

[butchrecon]

Basically you will have to reinstall all applications when you kill the FAT32 partition and go FAT16. Now if you can get a opy of Win2K pro you ont need to worry about fat 16 at all. Win2K upports FAT32. James Collins
Computer Hardware Engineer
A+, MCP

email: butchrecon@skyenet.net

Please let us (Tek-tips members) know if the solutions we provide are helpful to you. Not only do they help you but they may help others.

 

[Howi]

you need to refer to you part magic 6 manual page 39.
basically move the win98 partition up the drive to leave spare space within the first 1024 cylinders for the NT partition.

 

[Guest_imported]

I'm attempting to do the same thing. I have partition manager. There must be a way to do this without formatiing the first drive. or are you saying, format the second drive witha FAT 32, then the rest in NTFS?

 

[Guest_imported]

I would have thought this was a job for partition manager software like Master Booter. I have one hard disk with four partitions. First partition has W2K (NTFS), second WINNT4 (NTFS), third W98SE (FAT32) and lastly W95 ORS2 (FAT32). As I recall, you can get a workable trial version
from

http://www.masterbooter.com

with the full version just costing a few dollars.

Good luck!

ROGER - GØAOZ.

 

[Guest_imported]

Here's the simplest way that you can do this, I've done a similar thing with PMagic before and it worked fine.

1. Use PMagic to resize your first HDD (C partition down so that you can make a primary partition of at least 20M or so, make it FAT16. Reboot to make sure your WIN98 stuff still works, since it will only "see" 1 primary partition you should be working as usual.

2. From Win98, restart in DOS mode and run "PQBOOT" and tell it to boot to the new partion. At this point, you are ready to install NT4 preferably by booting from the CD if you have that option. You will tell it to install NT to the partition of your choice on your SECOND HDD. NT will put the few loader files on the first partition (the new one) of the first drive, and the OS files on the specified partition of the second drive.

3. Now once NT is installed, you can run "PQBOOTNT" to switch back to the WIN98 boot partition. You run it from the GUI. In WIN98, you will need to drop to DOS mode to switch back to NT by running "PQBOOT". I actually prefer this method over the NT startup method. The "PQBOOT" and "PQBOOTNT" utils are included with PMagic, make sure you have them on the FAT16 partition on the second HDD.

FWIW, while you are making the new partition on the first drive I would also change at least one of the partitions on the second HDD to NTFS just so you can play with file & directory permissions - something you can't do with FAT16.

Alternatively, you can load up the "Boot Magic" program included with Partition Magic but if you use the method I describe here it will work just fine.

Good luck

 

[Guest_imported]

P.S. In the above post I should have specified that you will resize your existing FAT32 partition on your first HDD (C in order to free up 20M or so and make a NEW primary partition with this space. WIN98 will only "see" one primary partition, the "active" one. What the PQBOOT and PQBOOTNT utils do is set the partition of your choice active.