Re: Advice on DOS / WinXP co-existence

From: R. C. White (rc_at_corridor.net)
Date: 12/31/04 

Date: Fri, 31 Dec 2004 14:32:26 -0600

Hi, René.

Your plan should work fine, so long as you keep a few basic facts in mind.

First, MS-DOS can't read, write, boot from or even SEE and NTFS partition,
so be sure to keep Drive C: formatted FAT (12, 16 or 32). You should be
able to simply move it into the new computer as primary master.

Second, no matter how many drives and partitions you have in the computer
and no matter where WinXP is installed, the boot process must start in the
"System Partition", which is the Active partition on the first HD -
typically Drive C:.

Third, WinXP can be installed into just about any volume (primary partition
or logical drive in an extended partition) on any HD in your computer. The
boot process will still start in C:, but C:\ntldr will use C:\boot.ini to
find WinXP on D: or X: or whichever volume you choose.

Fourth, note some counterintuitive terminology: As many writers have
pointed out, we boot from the system partition and keep the operating system
files in the boot volume. This is legacy terminology that MS inherited and
we're all stuck with it, at least for now. If you choose to install WinXP
in D:, then D: will be your "boot volume" and D:\Windows will be your "boot
folder".

Fifth, as you said, install the newest OS last. (Don't buy a computer with
WinXP pre-installed; install it from a retail CD-ROM. Either the Home or
Professional Edition should work unless you need some of the networking
functions left out of the Home Edition. An upgrade CD should work, so long
as you have a CD from a qualifying earlier Windows version to show when
Setup asks for it.) When WinXP Setup detects that MS-DOS is already
installed, it will automatically create the dual-boot configuration. It
will save the MS-DOS-style boot sector that is on Drive C: into a new file,
C:\bootsect.dos, then write the NT-style boot sector into the first physical
sector of C: and write WinXP's system files (ntldr, ntdetect.com and
boot.ini) into the Root of C: and the rest of WinXP into \Windows on
whichever volume you choose.

After installation of WinXP, each time she reboots, she should see a menu
from which she can choose to boot into MS-DOS or into WinXP (and she can set
it to default to either one). When she chooses MS-DOS, the bootsect.dos
file will be used to load C:\io.sys and C:\msdos.sys, just as if the
computer was booting from an MS-DOS boot sector and all her DOS programs
should run as before.

WinXP includes two MS-DOS emulators; the 16-bit version is Command.com and
the 32-bit version is Cmd.exe, also known as Command Prompt. Most MS-DOS
programs run just fine in one of these "DOS" windows. WinXP deals with
hardware through the HAL, so DOS programs that try to directly manipulate
hardware often have problems in WinXP. Perhaps that legacy dBase
application will run in a "DOS" window inside WinXP. Have you tried it?

As Al Dykes pointed out, there are other ways to handle the dual boot
situation. The only one I have experience with is the system that Microsoft
built into all the NT-style Windows versions, which works as I have
described.

RC 

-- 
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
rc@corridor.net
Microsoft Windows MVP
"Rene" <presse_spammerssuck@hotmail.com> wrote in message 
news:qYgBd.54511$Tn1.1893832@news20.bellglobal.com...
> Hello,
>
> My mom has an old DOS PC on which she is running a legacy DBase 
> application. We don't want nor can we change/upgrade/disturb this setup.
>
> But I want to provide her with access to Internet/email/browsing 
> capabilities - all on ONE platform.
>
> I'm looking for advice/comments on the following plan of mine.
>
> Get her a modern PC and install for dual boot: DOS, WinXP; I've read on 
> microsoft that WinXP must be installed last - that's fine by me.
>
> Questions:
> Can I take her old disk (from the old Dos PC), and swap it into the new 
> system? (I will configure this as C: drive just to make sure!)
> I plan to install WinXP on a separate drive (D:\).  Is this Okay?
> During the WinXP installation, is it straightforward to configure dual 
> boot (1) WinXP, (2) DOS ?
> When I boot from the old DOS disk, will her legacy apps still work, 
> without reinstalling DBase for example?!
>
> Any comments/pointers/hints are greatly appreciated!
>
> René

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