Re: New to XP and confused

From: Colin Barnhorst (colinbarharst(nojunk)_at_msn.com)
Date: 02/19/05 

Date: Sat, 19 Feb 2005 01:02:45 -0700

Rather than dual booting, consider Virtual PC 2004.
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtualpc/default.mspx

Then you could run Win98 right on your XP desktop. You can drag and drop
between them. You can also run other operating systems without
multibooting, such as Linux and other versions of Windows (as long as you
have licenses for each one). Is your Win98 cd a retail cd or an OEM or
restore cd? 

-- 
Colin Barnhorst [MVP  Windows - Virtual Machine]
(Reply to the group only unless otherwise requested)
"Smoker" <schmo@aol.com> wrote in message 
news:cGuRd.31497$s16.12010@trndny02...
> Thank you once again. I will give it a go and let you know how it goes.
>
> Meanwhile I ordered another hdd, a SATA this time and also 80GB in case 
> this doesn't workout.
>
> I partition because I have the Win 98 mindset I guess. If the system went 
> afoul on C: and I had to reformat it, I'd still have my backed up junk 
> (lots of little customizing apps, drivers, personal stuff, My Documents 
> contents, etc.) on a partition.
>
> Why would you not partition? Because an 80GB drive is small these days?
>
> WinXP has proven to me from the get-go that it isn't foolproof and even 
> having backups on a separate hdd made no difference (I'll be getting a DVD 
> burner or external hdd). I don't play games and the only massive program I 
> have is MS Picture It which used to take 1GB space on Win98 and I'd still 
> like to install '98 again on a partition or separate drive once I learn 
> about dual booting.
>
> Currently I have no data on D (a copy of the WinXP disk), but backups are 
> on E. I don't mind combining C & D into a 50GB partition if that's 
> advisible. I feel fortunate to have an MVP helping me along.
>
>
>
> "Colin Barnhorst" <colinbarharst(nojunk)@msn.com> wrote in message 
> news:OZAYAAVFFHA.2876@TK2MSFTNGP12.phx.gbl...
>> Boot order should be floppy, cd, hdd.
>>
>> What is in the D: and E: partitions?  Do you have data stored there?
>>
>> To determine if the OEM cd will ignore what you have done so far (I hope 
>> so, but doubt it):
>>
>> Put the XP cd in the drive and reboot into the installer.  If all goes 
>> well you will reach a screen which lists the partitions on the drive and 
>> asks which one you want to use.  Use the first partition, since you want 
>> to use the C: drive.  Do a full NTFS format and then proceed.
>>
>> If you get a message along the way that you cannot use the OEM cd because 
>> there is a copy of Windows on the drive, then we will have to take 
>> additional steps.  I don't want to use fdisk unless we have to or you 
>> decide you do not want the present partitioning of the drive (I would not 
>> partition it, but it does not matter).
>>
>> -- 
>> Colin Barnhorst [MVP  Windows - Virtual Machine]
>> (Reply to the group only unless otherwise requested)
>> "Smoker" <schmo@aol.com> wrote in message 
>> news:w2aRd.31115$f%5.14306@trndny03...
>>> Thanks for your response Colin. I'll be happy to start over.
>>>
>>> The only drive in the system now is an IDE 80GB Seagate with 3 
>>> partitions on it, C - E - F according to XP. The C:\ partition is 20GB.
>>>
>>> The CD is an OEM disk for new PCs. I copied it to a partition hoping I 
>>> could either install from there or at least not be bothered by Windows' 
>>> request to shove the install CD in the drive every once in awhile like 
>>> Win98 does.
>>>
>>> I have a Win98 CD and Win98 boot disk that I use often when I want to do 
>>> things from DOS. I can change the BIOS to boot first from wherever you 
>>> advise.
>>>
>>> I have read most everything on this site:
>>>
>>> http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html#steps
>>>
>>> Seems it assumes you are using a retail version. How do you recommend I 
>>> proceed? I've never used Fdisk before.
>>>
>>>
>>> "Colin Barnhorst" <colinbarharst(nojunk)@msn.com> wrote in message 
>>> news:eS849hHFFHA.3384@tk2msftngp13.phx.gbl...
>>>>I recommend that you start over.  However, starting over with an OEM cd 
>>>>is trickier than it is with a retail cd.  We probably need to know a 
>>>>couple of things before we can go further.  There are some issues in 
>>>>getting the hard drive back to its original condition.
>>>>
>>>> What do you mean by "OEM full version"?  (there is no upgrade version) 
>>>> Does the cd say on it "only for a new computer"?
>>>> What size is your hard drive and is it on an IDE, SATA, or SCSI 
>>>> controller?
>>>> Do you have any other Windows installation media for any other 
>>>> computers? (doesn't have to be XP)
>>>>
>>>> As for XP using 4GB with just the system and a 'few' programs, that 
>>>> does not surprise me.  It sounds pretty normal, given that you have 
>>>> some duplicate files.
>>>>
>>>> -- 
>>>> Colin Barnhorst [MVP  Windows - Virtual Machine]
>>>> (Reply to the group only unless otherwise requested)
>>>> "Smoker" <schmo@aol.com> wrote in message 
>>>> news:wdOQd.59573$g16.7554@trndny08...
>>>>> I'm having trouble getting used to XP. It's very slow at doing 
>>>>> anything.
>>>>>
>>>>> I formatted a new hard drive and XP (OEM full version) had at least 
>>>>> one hickup during the NTFS install. It didn't seem to behave correctly 
>>>>> on the desktop so I tried to reinstall it ontop of itself which wasn't 
>>>>> any help.
>>>>>
>>>>> I decided to start over by reformatting C:\ and it deleted everything 
>>>>> on my primary slave D:\ drive! (In DOS mode or whatever, it was 
>>>>> obviously C:\)
>>>>>
>>>>> Now when I boot I get asked which version I want to use... two XPs are 
>>>>> listed with identical names and they appear to act identical on the 
>>>>> desktop/operating environment regardless of which one I choose when I 
>>>>> boot. Except now one won't boot having lost <windows 
>>>>> root>system32\hal.dll
>>>>>
>>>>> XP is using up 4GB of space even though I've installed no programs 
>>>>> except for small apps like AntiVir, Spybot, etc.
>>>>>
>>>>> I went to PC Pitstop and ran the full tests. It said my hard drive was 
>>>>> running about 1/3 of what it should and it was badly fragmentd. I 
>>>>> defragged, rebooted and that helped very little. When I click on 
>>>>> something the mouse cursor turns into the hourglass while I wait for a 
>>>>> folder or anything else to open. The video is goofy too, sometimes 
>>>>> dripping down the screen and taking awhile before bringing a window in 
>>>>> the back to the front when it's clicked on.
>>>>>
>>>>> MSCONFIG shows only 7 items starting up and I deleted a few Services: 
>>>>> Infrared Monitor, Task Scheduler, UPS, & Automatic Updates.
>>>>>
>>>>> The BIOS is the next most recent as the most recent one wouldn't let 
>>>>> me POST. I installed .NET Framework to get my video card drivers 
>>>>> updated. My hdd is in DMA 5 mode.
>>>>>
>>>>> Should I start over and how is that done without erasing everything on 
>>>>> my other patitions? (I don't trust because it wiped out by D drive 
>>>>> earl;ier which was claimed to be C.) BTW, with only one hdd in now the 
>>>>> sequence goes C - E - F drives skipping the D drive that used to be 
>>>>> there. Is that normal? Trying to find help on Google was futile. 
>>>>> Please give me some direction, thanks.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> System:
>>>>>
>>>>> Win XP home SP2 OEM full version
>>>>> ASrock K8 Combo-Z mobo
>>>>> Athlon 64 3000 socket 939
>>>>> 2x 256MB DDR 2100
>>>>> Radeon 9550 128MB video
>>>>> Enermax 431W PSU
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>
>

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