Existing Dual Boot - question about ISP and removing old OS

[GoatyGoat]

I have a dual boot with 98 SE and XP Pro. (Home PC used for games, office and internet)

Current Situation (2nd HDD split cos FAT32 cant have partitons larger than 32GB...):

HDD1 - 19GB (Windows 98 + Apps)
HDD2 - 1GB (Swap File + Page File)
- 15GB (Windows XP + Apps)
- 28.5GB (Data)
- 30GB (Games)

After installing XP as second OS, all I had to do to access the internet (Broadband) was to let Windows install drivers for my NIC Card, and open Internet Explorer...

After realising that 98 hasn't been used once since XP was installed, I wan't to change to this (Using NTFS for larger partitions):

HDD1 - 19GB (Windows XP + Apps)
HDD2 - 1GB (Page File)
- 73.5GB (Games + Data)

I know how to do this (using Partiton Magic 8), but my question is this:

"Without a dual boot and a clean install of Windows XP Pro, will the internet work automatically like before, or will I need to contact my ISP with my Account Number and Password?"

Thanks for any replies.

 

[wolluf]

I would contact your ISP and ask them (I suspect you may need to set up the connection again, but they will be able to advise).

btw - you can have fat32 partitions > 32GB with XP - but you need to create them using other partitioning/formattting tools (eg, fdisk/format from 98)

 

[GoatyGoat]

Thanks for the fast reply.

The thing is I'm terrible at losing things...I can't remember my ISP number or password...

Also, I'd rather format as NTFS anyway, but thanks for the info.

Another Question I just thought I'd ask...:
I copied my Windows XP Pro CD to a CD-RW in case I lost it...and I have P)...but can the BIOS still boot from it? Can DOS even read it?

 

[GoatyGoat]

Can anyone enlighten me? Is there a reason that my Internet worked automatically or will it do that again with a non-dual boot system??

Can I use my CD-RW version of the XP CD to install??

Any help appreciated - I want to do this soon.

 

[soaplover]

You don't really have to reinstall xp do you ?
Just remove the w98 os from boot.ini .

You want to boot system from HD2 (ide1 slave)
If boot.ini,ntldr,ntdetect.com are on HDD1 you can copy them to HDD2 (XP partition) and make sure that your BIOS can BOOT from HDD2 .
Just make sure to correct data in boot.ini on the xp-part.
You can test it by keeping the boot files on HDD1 for now
and just alter in bios if booting fram HDD-0 or HDD-1 until you get it right .

//Soaplover

 

[wolluf]

GoatyGoat - can't advise exactly about ISP - because they all have their own way of doing things. Eg, my current ISP - NTL cable broadband - after getting the physical connection ok, I had to supply a user name/password to set it up on the machine I'm using as a 'server' for our network. If I want to change the machine that's connecting, I'd have to go through this again - but if I want to reformat/reinstall current machine I'm not sure if it will recognise the MAC address of the network card and just be ok. But if not, I'll just go through the original process again (but I'd definitely call them first for advice).

As for your backup of XP on CD - how did you do the backup? What you really need is an image of the XP partition (eg, use Ghost or Drive Image - and even then you've got more to do, as its a dual boot, which means XP's boot sector is on the 98 partition). Also, is XP on a primary partition? (it will need to be if you want to create a new boot sector on it or a copy of its partition to make it boot on its own).

PS. Unless you know what you're doing with your dual boot, don't just go messing with boot.ini. As i said above, you need XP on a primary partition with its own boot sector to boot it on its own.

 

[soaplover]

Thats right it has to be a primary from start .
You can se in disk management if HDD2 has "boot sector" ust
select view-top-disk list .
As if xp partition is primary depends on your installation choice.Sure you don't remeber it now .

//soaplover

 

[GoatyGoat]

The reason i need to remove XP and 98 is cos I want XP on the HDD1 (Where 98 is at the moment) - so it's not with all my data, games etc.

I didn't backup my XP installation....I made a backup copy of the installation CD.

I use Blueyonder Broadband (512Kbps) - I will email them for advice.

 

[GoatyGoat]

Well I checked the Blueyonder website....and they said every NIC device has an MAC address....and this must be registered with them - or it won't work. If the MAC Changes, it must be registered.

So, if i reformat and reinstall, will the MAC Address of NIC stay the same? Or does Windows Assign it the MAC Address?

 

[soaplover]

Mac address is in the NIC card it self . So reintalling won't change it.

 

[GoatyGoat]

Good. Thanks for the help and you all smell of cheese...although I havent actually smelt you all yet....oh well. Thnx