having 2 OS's

Right now I am running winxp pro, but I cant run some old DOS games in xp, so I want to install an old version of MS-DOS or something... Is there a way for me to install MS-DOS or even Win95(if I cant find ms-dos) without messing up xp. I would like it to run xp by default, but I would also like to run dos when I needed. Thank you

cant you use that 'run in compatabilty mode for...' thing on xp. ive never used it before but im guessing thats what its for.

yeah try and set it for 95

you could create a separate partition on your hard drive and then install another OS on that new partition.

I already tried the compatability option with no luck . If I put another HD in my pc, and put win95 on it how would the pc know which OS to run, and how could I switch between OS's

if you put another hard drive in you pc go into the bios and configure your boot up setting, set which hard drive you want to boot up first (make that your main OS) then set ur hard drive with win95 to boot up second. before windows starts you should be able to select which OS you want to start.

If you need any more help let mo know, I might be able be help.

Compatability in win xp is not very good. It cant play alot of the old msdos games.

Be very carefull playing with dual boot and remember the golden rules:\

Install OS systems from OLDEST to newest.

Use a differant partition for each os.

By doing this the booter will be created so that at startup u can choose which os to boot to.

what if I install win98 on a harddrive using another comp, then put the harddrive in this computer. Will that cause any problems?

Your hardware specs will be differant and will have all sorts of problems. You might get lucky and windows 98 will install the correct drivers and run, but the fact still remains you wont have a valid boot file.

I do know this program that might help if u wanna get your hands dirty but I've never had to try it.
this is a part of the readme file in the program tellin u what it does:


OSL2000 - an advanced multi boot manager. Using OSL2000 boot manager,
you can easily install, boot and manage up to 100 independent OSs in
your computer. A multi boot manager is a program that lets you have
multiple operating systems in your personal computer. OSL2000 boot
manager, in addition to being a normal multi boot manager, has
advanced features that let you seamlessly multiboot, install, and
manage multiple OSs like Windows, Linux, etc. It lets you have
multiple copies of Windows in your system. It lets you boot Windows
even from your second harddisk! OSL2000 boot manager does not require
any configuration. In fact, OSL2000 boot manager is so advanced that
it does not even have a configuration screen!

For more information:
http://www.osloader.com

if I use this OSL2000, and put win98 on this harddrive, will I have problems because my harddrive is nfts and not fat32? Also, if I put a freshly formated fat32 drive in here, would that give me any problems? thanks for the replies!

edit: Can I create a partition that is fat32 on a nfts harddrive?

U can create differant partitions on a hard drive and each partition acts like a seperate hdd. U can format them any way u wish but win98 WILL NOT reconise ntfs as a valid windows partition. U can use any partition u want with win nt/xp (maybe 2000)

Did I read on that os2000 page that it helps u install operatings systems too? I havent used it so I dunno. Maybe u CAN install win98 AFTER XP!? Try it.

i dont understand the partition program provided by OSL2000 so I am downloading a Partition Magic Trial, then I will try to install win98 on the new partition...

doh' you cant actualy do anything with the partition magic trial. I think I am going to reformat, I need to do it anyway... But would I be able to create a fat 32 partition with the winxp tool when I am installing, and then install win98 on that partition without a hitch?

U MUST INSTALL THE OLDEST TO NEWEST OS!!!!!!

WIN 98 F I R S T.

With the win98 startup disk u can use fdisk to create/deleate partitions or just do it in the win98 setup program.

The winxp disk DOES NOT go near the computer untill win 98 is installed. OK?

Remember seperate partitions and its no prob to have differant file systems but remember win98 will not be able to read the ntfs partitions on the computer. XP will be able to read all file systems.

verbatim said:

U MUST INSTALL THE OLDEST TO NEWEST OS!!!!!!

WIN 98 F I R S T.

With the win98 startup disk u can use fdisk to create/deleate partitions or just do it in the win98 setup program.

The winxp disk DOES NOT go near the computer untill win 98 is installed. OK?

Remember seperate partitions and its no prob to have differant file systems but remember win98 will not be able to read the ntfs partitions on the computer. XP will be able to read all file systems.

Click to expand...

Installing 98 then XP DOES WORK FINE with nothing extra but it does a few querky things like putting the boot selector on the Win98 partition, windowsXP doesn't make itself C it uses the next etter it can. Both of which are not really problems rather than annoyances.
If you have two hard drives here is what I would do:
(Assuming you're going to use the second HD you metioned and you want to keep your current XP install)
Get Partition Magic [w/ boot Magic].
Well call HD A your XP harddrive, and HD B your Win98 Harddrive
1. Take out HD A and but in HD B and set it as Master.
2. Install Win98 on HD B
3. in Win98 install Partition Magic and boot magic.
4. Turn off ur comp and set HD B as slave and HD A as master.
5. In your Bios tell your computer to boot from the slave Harddrive [HD B]
6. When you boot up you will go to Win98 where you will configure Bootmagic to boot from 98 or XP, you can even set them to hide from each other.
7. Restart and you'll see Bootmagic which will give you the option or booting Win98 or XP

So XP will retain its drive letters, you wont have to reformat, and win98 will be the boot partition but BootMAgic will select where you go from there. If you want to you can actually make a 16mb Fat partition at the beginning of HD B and install Boot Magic on that if you prefer, that way if you reformatted the Win98 partition youd have no worries with booting.

well if win98 cannot read nfts, how am I going to install win98 first?

o0OBruceLeeO0o said:

well if win98 cannot read nfts, how am I going to install win98 first?

Click to expand...

What do you mean? You aren't installing Windows98 on a NTFS partition, you use Fat32. HD B should be Fat32 HD A should be NTFS

I changed my mind about the second HDD, I was thinking of puting a partition on this hardrive....I cant get the winxp partition thing to work while in windows, so I figured I would do it when I reformat...

U have to use partition manager or a add on program to resize your partitions.(shrink the cuurant one and use the rest of the space for the fat32 win 98 partition)

Win xp cannot change existing partitions and keep the data intact, it must re-format after changes.

are there any freeware programs that work like Partition Magic ?(meaning it needs to be pretty simple for me ) I did a google search without much luck