[maston]

hi chaps,

yeah, what I want to is have two instances of win98 installed so when I boot I can choose which one to go to.

The idea is to have work and personal separate.
They also need NOT to see each other.

can it be done

ive got partition magic 5 and one hard drive

cheers

Masten

 

[amie`]

isnt it easier having to different user logins except using the same harddrive?

unless u get a second harddrive and use one for personal and one for business...

but yeh thats just my opinion

 

[maston]

no, because then all files and programs for both work and home are exhibited together.
I need two separate systems, reallly I need two computers but if I can do it this way, it'll do for now...

Masten

 

[johnwill]

If you use a boot manager and install the two copies in different logical partitions, you can accomplish what you're looking for.

 

[maston]

johnwill:

right! I'm with you
where do I get a boot manager?

and I just install another copy into a free logical partition on my drive, right?

 

[johnwill]

Well, current versions of Partition Magic include Boot Magic, the boot loader I use on my W98/W2K/Linux system here. I don't know if PM5 included a boot manager or not. If you want a free one, Smart Boot Manager, GAG Boot Manager, XOSL Boot Manager, etc.

 

[maston]

cant find a boot manager on PM5m I'll try one of those you suggested...
I'll be back to ask a load more questions at a later date...
thanks for now

Masten

 

[maston]

a questions already...

what's the first step

do I create an extra logical partition in some free space on the drive (I already have one version of win98 installed using one primary partition with 3 logicals in it that I want to keep),

then install win98 to it and then use boot manager - or viceversa?


M

 

[johnwill]

Well, you'll certainly need a new partition for the second copy of W98, so you'll need to create that. After that, I'd install the second copy, then install the boot manager to manage both of them.

 

[maston]

Johnwill:

right

errr...primary or logical partition?
I thought it had to be primary as that makes the other partition invisible wheras a logical partition would show all the drives of the other partition, but I dont konw what Im talking about really so I could be wrong?!??
remember the priority here is that NO programs or files are shared between each version of win98. Doesnt that mean I have to install different filing systems i.e one with fat32 and one with fat16 so they won't see each other?

mank thanks for help so far,

Masten

 

[johnwill]

I'd use a boot manager that hides the other boot partition, BootMagic does that, I don't know what the ones I pointed you to do, since I haven't used them.

 

[Volt-Schwibe]

alright, here is my suggestion.

there are some places that sell a removable hard disk caddy that is installed in the face of your machine, in a cd-rom bay.

you put your hard disk in the carraige, and then insert it into the machine.

buy two of these, and get another hard disk.

put your current drive in one of the carraiges, and the extra hard disk in the other.

then, whenever you change hard disks, it will be like a totally different machine. (remember to NEVER swap the when the PC is on)

this should work, and its cheaper than having two whole machines yet will still make totally sure that user A can't look at user B's files, and vice versa.
they are like two completely different machines.
a good solution if someone wants to have a shared machine, but doesnt want the other person to poke around.

almost any major PC store will sell them usually about 20 bucks.

~BoB~

 

[maston]

bob: yeah, good idea, cept for the hassle of swapping hard-drives, also dont wanna spend any money at moment...
I did have an idea once to have two drives, then put on/off switches on the hard-drive power cables and then make a hole in the case with the switches sticking out so you could just switch to the drive u want before switching on...but I never did it.....cos I'm lazy to do anything in hardware...

johnwill: I went ahead to install a primary partition at the end of the drive in some free space, cept it said it wont be bootable cos its beyond the 1024 cylinder boundary...

so does the boot manager sort this out?

cheers

Masten

 

[johnwill]

For W98, that may indeed be an issue, it's not a problem for W2K/WXP or Linux. However, something in the back of my brain says that's an issue for W98...

 

[maston]

yeah, seems to be that way...

does that mean that as long as the beginning of the 2nd boot partition is before the boundary it's OK, or does everything have to fit into 8GB

 

[johnwill]

I think it's just the partition boot record, and perhaps the FAT tables.

 

[maston]

ok john, Ill give it a shot,
thanks for all your help