Re: The non multibooters return

"Hawkeye23" <me@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:kfanq1tavh6soi50us22ighdivh3hu743q@xxxxxxxxxx
>
> After all the help and advice over several weeks and threads
> plus all the simulation work by pmj on my behalf - you must all
> think me very rude to then disappear for two weeks.
> There is a reason.

Well, I don't think we would think you were "rude"!
:-)

But yes, I (at least & prolly some others?) have been wondering
how you were getting on with it!
:-)

> After studying the not altogether unanimous advice on how to
> go about it I decided I'd better make a start.

Yep - Since there are lots of different ways of doing it & lots
of different aproaches that can be taken, very often, you will
find that you have to *try* one (or some!<g>) of the ways, to be
able to decide which one(s) you want to do...

> The (possibly ambitious) target was with the aid of a new HDD
> to end up with a partitioned multiboot system involving two
> versions each of W98SE and XPH.

The only real prob with that "target" is trying to get 2 w9x
Operating Systems to MultiBoot - to do that will always either
involve Faffing around with Files such as MSDOS.SYS or a 3rd party Boot
Manager.

But MultiBooting between (any number of) WinXP Installations
& just *one* w9x Installation is a Doddle!
:-)

WinXp comes with it's own, (very basic) Boot Manager thingy,
which just handles the Boot Menu to MultiBoot between any (single)w9x
Installation & Multiple WinXP Installations.

> Having got the new 80 GB HD installed as the slave I then
> partitioned it with FDISK from DOS to one primary and one
> extended prtition which I then divided again into 4 logical
> partitions.I then formatted the lot as FAT32.

OK, that sounds reasonable.

> Then remembering the early advice that was unanimous to the
> effect that if I wanted a version of W98SE on the new HD it
> must be put on first or it would mess up XP.

Well, all it does is OverWrite the WinXP Boot Loader Files - but
they can be Re-Instated OK.
So long as you are aware of (& expect) that, then you can get
around the prob.

>... So I installed a version of W98SE from a proper borrowed
> CD onto the primary but not active partition on the second HD
> ie on D:\.

But that means that *some* of the (Boot) Files for it will be
(*must* be!) actually on the "Active" Partition.

It's *that* that can cause probs, if you don't realise what's
happening...


>... At the end of this sprang to life a quick clean and new
> version of W98SE.Wonderful.

Great!!!

> The bad news which emerged shortly thereafter was that I had
> lost access to my old slow and cluttered version of W98SE and
> my internet connection with it.Hence the two weeks silence.

Well, yes!
Installing w98 onto any other hard disk will (by definition)
mean that the (any) existing Installation is no longer (directly)
accessible.

But yes, it's all that sort of thing that you do have to find out.
It's very difficult to understand that sort of thing (& get your
head round what's going on) until you actually try it!

> Then there is the complication of System Commander Personal
> Edition,the bootmanager bit of Partition Commander which I had
> a copy of from an old PC Magazine cover.(I told you it would
> I hear pmj say.)

LOL!!!

I am saying nothing!
:-)

Apoart from, yes Boot managers *can* be very useful, but they
can also cause all sorts of Confuzzlement - cos the whole point
of them is to *hide* things, so they appear to be different from
what they really are!

> Anyway I did eventualy get SCPE installed insofar as the error
> messages were gone and it presented you with a screen at bootup
> with two choices pointing to partitions/drives C/Donly one of
> which diid anything. I did this before I installed the second
> version of W98SEso maybe this was not surprising Any way C did
> boot up old W98 D did nothing.

I think it will Help if you try to remember that whatever the
Drive Letters happen to be (when viewed in one Operating System),
they may well *change* to different Drive Letters, whenViewed from
another Operating System! (or when a Boot Manager is involved)

> Now after installing the second version of W98 if you point SCPE
> at C:\ the new version of W98 boots up which is actually
> installed on D:\.(Are you with us so far).

LOL!

> If you point it at D:\ you get a DOStype error message 'Invalid
> System Disk - Replace the Disk and Press Any Key'.

Well, that's only cos the Partition that is (or shows up as)
"D:" (on the Second Physical Hard Disk?) isn't marked as Active.

When you Mark that Partition as Active, then that Error Message
will go away!
:-)

But you will then get other Error Messages - but they can be
sorted out.

The prob is caused by the fact that even when W9x is Installed
on a different Hard Disk (or Partition), it *still* puts some (Boot)
Files on the Active Partition on the first Physical Hard
Disk.

> I am not convinced that SCPE is installed properly and/or is
> doing anything other than presenting you with an apparent option
> but actually none.I would uninstall it if I knew how and wasn't
> fearful of getting into a bigger muddle.

Try Setting the (D:?) Partition as Active?

> Anyway we'll leave SCPE aside for the moment.Back to the missing
> OS and Internet Connection.
> I eventually noticed that the files Msdos.sys,autoexec.bat,
> config.sys which are in C:\ were actually inside pointing to
> D:\.

Exactly!!!

>... In addition the previous versions of thes files were also
> still there with different suffixes and inside pointed to C:\.
> So I swapped over the suffixes and my now much missed old W98
> at last reappeared and with it my connection to the also much
> missed Silversurfers.

Wey hey!!!

So...
You have actually ended up doing what everybody would consider
a whole load of "Faffing around"!
& you have m,anaged to get *2* Installations of w9x to exist!

OK, they aren't a true "MultiBoot" Setup, cos you have to ReName
the various Boot Files - all(?) you have to do now, is to get them
onto the *other* Partition & mark it as Active, then use the Boot
Manager Utility to Select between them!
:-)

> And other than heaving a big sigh of relief I have done no more
> for the moment.

Well, I think you've done pretty well!
:-)

> But having reread all that simulation work that pmj did (which
> of course I have been prevented from doing) athought along those
> lines occurs to me.If he could simulate my current situation of
> 2 versions of W98SE on drives C:&D: does he get exactly the
> behaviour I get or something different possibly caused by the
> function or malfunction of SCPE.

It's a while since I did anything with *2* w9x Operating Systems
on a single System - but yes, what yo uare describing seems to be
fairly logical.

> This could help in deciding whether to uninstall SCPE and any
> advice on how to do this safely would be much appreciated eg
> Has the Registry been messed up.

I think you will find taht things like Boot Managers work at
a much lower level than the (windoze) Registry.

The whole point of them is that they come into Operating *before*
windoze gets a look in.

I would be inclined to leave the idea of having 2 separate w9x
Installations for the mo (now that you know it *can* be done)!
:-)

& get the WinXP Installation(s) on.

> Then you might be able to suggest more elegant fiddling methods
> of multi booting than my suffix swapping.Though I should say
> I am relatively relaxed about that kind of fiddling.

Great!
:-)

>... I much prefer a slow approach that I control than an
> automatic system that I can't see and doesn't work.

Yep - I can understand that.

>... The DOS black screen is an old friend to me.It's the Windows
> coloured pictures that intimidate me.

LOL!!!
That's actually quite understandable as well!

> Anyway it's very very good to be back.Merry Xmas to one and all.

I'm glad you made it back OK!
:-)

Now, have a go at the WinXP Installs?
:-)

& then we p'raps we can carry on with the w9x Installations after
Xmas & the New year?

--
pmj


.

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