If you would like to have two or more operating systems (2 Windows XP versions or a combination of Windows XP, 98, ME, Linux,...), it's wise to start with multiple primary partitions before you setup any operating system! After you installed a boot manager, you can switch easily between the installed operating systems. If you setup two separate Windows XP operating systems, you can use one of them for office applications (with security in mind) while the other is optimized for gaming or testing.
Actually it is possible to place two Windows operating systems (as a workaround) on your primary partition (without using multiple primary partitions....). I advise NOT to do this! Problems in one operating system can create problems in the other operating system. Create a multiboot system with multiple primary partitions in combination with a boot manager.
Actually, creating a multiboot-system is not that difficult. First you need multiple (bootable) primary partitions (NTFS or FAT32). Install the oldest Windows version first, the newest Windows version last. I prefer to place the oldest Windows version on the latest primary partition and the newest Windows version on the first primary partition. Format FAT32 partitions before installing Windows 98/ME. A boot manager is needed to be able to boot the different operating systems.
|
|
Partitioning and formatting are discussed earlier. However, creating multiple primary partitions is not possible with the Microsoft FDISK utility. You will need second party software to be able to create multiple primary partitions, I prefer the software from MasterBooter (download: www.masterbooter.com). With this utility you have flexible partitioning software and a boot manager.
Copy the files EFDISK.EXE and MRBOOTER.EXE to your MS-DOS boot disk (use the MasterBooter software in MS-DOS, not in Windows!). With the command EFDISK and MRBOOTER you are respectively able to create primary partitions and to load a boot manager. Copy the MRESCUE.COM file as well, to be able to backup and recover your partition table, in case something goes terribly wrong.
Here you see the an example of partitioning with EFDISK. You see two hard disks, the second hard disk is already provided with an extended partition, containing logical drives. The first hard disk has four partitions, the second is an extended partition as well, created with Microsoft FDISK.
The first, third and fourth partitions on the first hard disk are primary partitions. As you can see, the third and fourth are hidden: if you boot from the first partition, you can not view or change the other partitions. You are able to hide/unhide a partition with the H-key. Furthermore you see '**' behind the first partition, which means that the first partition is the partition which is booted from at the next system boot (you can change this setting by toggling the space bar).
After you created the different primary partitions, run the MasterBooter tool with the MRBOOTER command. Here you see an example of the MasterBooter tool with the above created primary partitions. First you select all the bootable partitions, which will appear in the boot menu, here all bootable partitions are selected:
Press F10 to continue. It is important to hide all non active partitions, which is done with the 1 entries in the hiding map (011 will hide the second and third partition). The other variables can be changed as you wish.
After you press F10, you have created your own boot manager. Now you can install an operating system on one of the primary partitions. Before running the setup, activate the reserved partitions (and by doing so, hiding the others) by rebooting. Install the Windows version on the active partition, as you are used to do so. Take into account that the Windows setup will overwrite the boot sector and remove the installed boot manager: you need to install MrBooter again, each time you install Windows.
TIP: to remove the boot manager, use the following command: FDISK /MBR
If your Windows XP boot is damaged, you can fix this with commands like FIXBOOT and FIXMBR, in the recovery console (press R after booting from your Windows XP CD-ROM). Select your Windows XP and enter the password (press ENTER if you haven't set a password). With the command HELP you will find other commands and with the command EXIT you are able to stop the recovery console. Be careful with these commands, don't use them if you don't need them.
One of the other frequent problems is the error 'missing hal.dll'. If this file is really gone, you can fix it by replacing the missing file with the following command (X is the drive letter of your Windows XP CD-ROM, you need to change it with the drive letter of yours):
EXPAND X:\I386\HAL.DL_ C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32
If the HALL.DLL is still in the C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32 folder (almost always the case), try the following commands:
ATTRIB C:\BOOT.INI -a -h -r -s
DEL C:\BOOT.INI
BOOTCFG /rebuild
FIXBOOT
IF YOU CREATE AN IMAGE OF YOUR WINDOWS XP PARTITION AND PLACE IT ON ONE OF THE OTHER PRIMARY PARTITIONS, YOU WILL HAVE TO READ THIS VERY CAREFULLY!!!!!!!!
If you would like to have multiple Windows XP partitions, I advise to image and copy to one of the other partitions with free software like Partition Saving (download: www.partition-saving.com), as discussed in on the Windows system imaging page. This way you need to setup only once!
But you will have to be careful: Windows XP has a file called BOOT.INI which is placed in the root of your primary partition. The BOOT.INI file tells Windows which partition contains the Windows XP boot files. Although Windows XP boots from your second partition, any changes will be made in the first original partition (like changes in the services settings, even is this partition is hidden). This can go terribly wrong, to prevent this you have to edit the BOOT.INI file! This is the first thing to do in your new system, after you have booted from your new Windows XP partition.
NOTE: C:\BOOT.INI is a hidden system file, do the following in the Windows Explorer: Tools, Folder Options, tab View, enable Display the content of system folders, enable Show hidden files and folders, disable Hide extensions for known file types and disable Hide protected operating system files.
You can also use the Bart's PE boot CD-ROM (or one of the other bootable CD's) to edit the BOOT.INI file. In your new Windows XP, you can do this by clicking the System icon in the Control Panel, tab Advanced, third Settings button (Startup and Recovery), button Edit. The BOOT.INI file will probably be something like this:
[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Windows XP
.......
You will have to replace partition(1) with partition(2), partition(3) or partition(4), depending on what partition your new Windows XP is placed. Use the Disk Manager to find out (Control Panel, Administrative Tools, Computer Management, Disk Management).
Optimizing Windows Home Install Windows XP Optimize Windows XP