Re: on and off topic re purchase of new pc with dos for xywrite

[J R FOX jr_fox@xxxxxxxxxx]

>  Is it possible to create a dual boot system with
> xp where a dos
> kernel is already on the system or do I need to have
> windows 98se as
> the other operating system.

--- "Patricia M. Godfrey"  wrote:

> Jordan is the expert on this. I think you have to
> install DOS first.

Well, I'd have to correct you, in that the areas where
I can claim any sort of expertise are exceedingly few,
and this probably is not on that very short list. I
also don't run XP myself, though I have installed it a
couple times, and used it occasionally.

But otherwise, I think you were on the right track.
If Win-32 (W2K or XP) is not going to own and reside
on the C:, it must at least set up its boot loader
files there. For various reasons, I've always begun
with a real DOS on the first Primary, C:. (You can't
put it anywhere else, if you're going to have a DOS.
I think W98 also requires a Primary / C:, but I'm not
sure whether or not it has to be the _first_ Primary /
C:.) It may be possible to have your W98 on that
first C:, instead of DOS, but I can't endorse that
possibility, since I've never had my own functioning
W98. The one time I tried to install it was on a
second Primary partition, a second (hidden) C:, and
this failed, apparently because of the 1 meg. of
system RAM, and the drivers issue we were talking
about. (It was not a complete and utter failure, but
W98 only partly installed, and was hobbled to the
point of being unusable.)

With a dual or multi-boot system, *something* must
mediate the bootup options, Hide / Unhide the sole C:
that can be active at any given time, etc. Some of
the utilities in this category include System
Commander, Acronis Selector, AirBoot, but there are a
number of others. The "rules" of what you can have
(the OS layout) and how it will work may vary --
somewhat -- according to which of them you use.

Setting this all up and using it is not rocket
science, but it is probably not for the casual user
either. (Mainly because it falls into the "more than
I wanted to know or mess with" category.)


 Jordan