Re: Partition and Dual Boot Vol IV (Options/Inclinations)
- From: "pmj" <post@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 05 Dec 2005 22:05:10 GMT
"Hawkeye23" <me@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:hph8p1ld1a8a5869fu59hpr8t61i6u3ckc@xxxxxxxxxx
>
> Over the last couple of weeks I have received an enormous,almost
> embarassing amount of help and advice on this topic, which almost
> always ends up with the advice that you can do whatever you want
> but you must decide what that is.
Yep!
That's basically it!
:-)
& of course, it can sometimes be a bit difficult, trying to decide
what it is that you *do* actually want, when you haven't tried it out
& don't really know what there is that you can do, that you might want!
:-)
>... I have decided that I had better try to make a fist of that,
> however much I think that I still only see through the glass very
> darkly.
Yes, good idea...
I'm sure that a lot of it will become *much* clearer, once you
*have* actually tried doing some of it!
> I should start perhaps with an attempt to describe what my basic
> motivation is - and what it is not.I am not embarking on this project
> in order to achieve a quantum leap in my computing capability in order
> to embark on some major project which requires major computing.
> My interest is in the process of how the different OS's work and in
> how different versions of a given OS work differently.
OK, thanks for clarifying that a bit.
> This arises I suppose from 4+ years of experience/frustration with
> W98SE and all its hangs and BSOD which I think have got worse with
> time.That is why I would like to have a new and unblemished version
> of W98SE to compare with my 4 year old version to see for example
> how much of the problems are due to accumulated detritus on the
> system,etc.
OK.
& now that you know that you *can* actually do a completely Fresh
Install of W98SE, (cos you *do* have the necessary Install Files -
the .CAB Files & all that stuff) you'll be able to do that OK.
>... Also having suffered 4 years of anxiety due to not having had
> a proper W98SE CD but only a Product Recovery CD, I am determined
> to get to the bottom of that and install a new version of W98SE on
> the (new?) HD via that route.
> Then I know I have a real W98SE recovery capability.
OK.
You can Install the w98SE on *either* of the hard Disks - the Old
one *or* the New one!
As we mentioned, it *could* actually be Installed on both, but that's
something that is a bit more difficult & involved.
> Why not throw W98SE out altogether and start again with XP Home
> I hear you cry.
Yes, some people may well say that, but I fully understand & agree
that you (& many people in a similar situation) would want to have
both WinXP & w98 Installed so as to be able to Dual Boot between them.
That's no prob.
>... Because of what I explained about my interest being in the
> process not the product.I want to have XP so that I can see how it
> performs compared to W98SE.I want to have two versions so that I can
> play with one without worrying about breaking the other.
All perfectly reasonable & sensible!
:-)
> But I don't have a great program of computing waiting for an improved
> OS to come along to implement it.I suppose this is illustrated by the
> fact that after 4 years the 40 GB HD has only 7GB data on it and that
> includes the OS and everything else.So I've not just bought a second
> HD because of shortage of room.
Yes - you *could* actually have done all this Mucking around
& installing Dual Boot w98SE & WinXP on just *one* Physical Hard Disk -
using separate Partitions on it...
But having an additional (Physical) Hard Disk, to Install it on,
just makes it easier (& paradoxically, also opens up more choices
& decisions!)
> That also is probably why the great debate about the priority to be
> given to data storage leaves me rather cold.My data and OS and
> programs have shared a single partition disk all this while without
> losing any.In the new more spatious surroundings I would like to have
> a copy of the data on each HD but I don't feel the need to have the
> data on a separate HD from the OSs.
OK.
& thanks for clarifying that as well.
So long as you *are* aware of what stuff (if any) you do really want
to keep & don't want to lose.
>... I'd much rather have a copy of each OS on each HD so that we
> can play.
OK!
:-)
> One final thought on the data issue.Though there's all sorts of
> interesting stuff on there, none of it is really valuable or
> irreplaceable.Maybe I undervalue it.
Maybe.
It might be that until you *do* actually lose it, you may not think
you would miss it?
Ali (& all of us) have mentioned various that you might like to consider
whether you do need to make a point of (Finding &) keeping/Saving.
> Finally a few short comments/reactions to some of the issues debated
> in the earlier threads.
> On File Systems I am happy to go with FAT32 as the simplest and lowest
> common denominator.
> I am happy to have more rather than less partitions to accomodate
> FAT32 and keep down the slack/waste even if we don't know what some of
> the partitions are for at this stage.
Right OK.
All this sort of stuff enables you to decide on an appropriate course
of Action to follow.
& it also helps *us* come up with suggestions that will be more directly
relevant to what you are doing.
> I would like the partitions on each HD (2xW98SE+2xXPH) to be bootable
> if possible.
OK.
See?
It's these sort of things that you do have to think about (even if
you don't know you need to think about them at first)!
:-)
Cos they *do* have a bearing on which way to do the *other* things...
> I am not so worried by Drive Letter complications arising from the
> above.
& that also makes a lot of difference!
Some people get really hung up about that.
But equally, (or conversely?0 you may *think* it doesn't really matter,
but there are lots of occasions when it really can be a right old pain,
if various Drive Letters have changed - especially if you are trying to
access common things from various different Drives, you can end up
having to (un-necessarily) duplicate a whole load of stuff, which can
make life a bit tedious.
> I hope the above inclinations are useful to my band of helpers even
> if they are still more gut reactions than considered judgements.
I think that it definitely *does* help!!!
Not only us, but you!
:-)
> Many thanks for your ongoing help and patience.
OK...
In the light of what you have said above (& bearing in mind what you
have also said in your other Posts about all this), I have a
suggestion...
:-)
Yes, I think that Jeff Gaines idea (of having a (separate, Physical)
Hard Disk for the Operating Systems & a *different* one for the "Data"
(with backups of the Data *also* stored elsewhere) makes eminent sense
& appeals to people who really don't want to run the risk of losing
stuff...
But it (doing it that way) really does involve a fair bit of chopping
& changing & mucking about, to get the *existing* Hard Disk (with it's
single Partition & OEM w98 Operating System & Data on it) Partitioned,
so as to be able to *then* Install all the Operating Systems on it (with
the Data elsewhere)
But as you have said that you can handle (possibly) losing some stuff,
(or can retrieve it from backups etc?), then I think there's a lot to be
said for using this *New* hard Disk for Installing the WinXP on - yes,
*also* have a partition (or several!) on it for the Data - the important
thing being that the Data is in a *separate* Partition from the OS(es) -
it doesn't actually *have* to be a separate (Physical) Hard Disk.
So...
Just Make an Install CD for your (existing) w98SE, from the .CAB Files
& also look up the w98 ProductKey, for it from in the Registry.
(do both of those as a sort of "Safety Net", in case you do decide you
want to Wipe it & Install it from Fresh)
& Install the WinXP into this New Hard Disk. (from within the w98
Installation, rather than Booted from the WinXP Install CD) so you can
choose the Option to do a Full Install, rather than an Upgrade)
Just Create a Partition for it (of say, about 10 or 15 GB?) during
the WinXP Install (or you can, if you want, Create the Partition on it
from within w98, using FDisk in an MSDOS Command Prompt Window).
When you Install WinXP (even into a different Hard Disk, like you are
going to do), it will actually ReWrite the Boot Sector on the *old*,
original Hard Disk, so as to offer you a "Boot Menu", so you can choose
w98 or WinXP when you Boot up.
& then, once you have the WinXP up & Running OK, on a Partition on
this new hard Disk (remembering that you will still be able to Boot Up
into w98SE if you want/need to), you can then Create any *other*
partitions you want, using the (built-in) Graphical User Interface
of the WinXP Disk Management thingy.
You can Create Partitions for another (test?) Installation of WinXP
& also Create Partition(s) that you can use for your Data (& by "Data"
I also mean anything that you want to Copy from one place to another,
even temporarily, which you might need to do, if & when you decide to
Re-Arrange &/or ReSize/Delete any of the other Partitions.)
Once you have got it all up & Running OK - That's the (existing) w98SE
Installation (on the existing Hard Disk), the New WinXP Installation,
(in a partition on the new hard Disk) & a "test" WinXP Installation (in
a separate Partition on the New hard Disk) & your Data Partition(s) on
the New hard Disk, *then* you can sit back, take a deep breath & think
about whether to just leave it all like it is...
Cos that will be perfectly usable...
Or to start embarking on it all over again!
:-)
Cos you may decide (in the light of the experience that you gain doing
that), that you might want, after all, to have the stuff arranged &
Installed differently!
:-)
That's no prob!!!
You can do that as well, if you want!
:-)
You will have the knowledge & ability (& more importantly(?) the
*confidence*) to do it pretty well however you want it!
HTH
--
pmj
.
- References:
- Partition and Dual Boot Vol IV (Options/Inclinations)
- From: Hawkeye23
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