Installing more than one operating systems on one partition...

Status
Not open for further replies.

Techy_Heidi

Baseband Member
Messages
22
I wonder if anyone can help me.

I've been asked to research if there is a way to build a dual boot pc with only one partition, using Windows, not linux etc.

Can anyone tell me if this is possible, and if so, how it is done?

Thank you in advance.
 
Sure is...are you asking in general or with a specific OS in mind? For example you can have Windows 2000 installed at C:\WINNT and Windows XP at C:\WINDOWS. Just be sure you use differnt account names as the user accounts for both OS's would reside at the same location c:\documents and settings.
 
It will probably be Windows 2000 and Windows XP, if i have to build it. It is for training at work.

Would you know how i exactly went about it? As I do not believe that i could install the second operating system the same way as the first, due to the partition being formatted before it installs.

Thank you. :)
 
It is pretty easy actually..I would start with Windows 2000, format with NTFS, run the setup, install all drivers etc etc get the base system up. By default it will go to C:\WINNT for its install directory.

Once that is completed boot from the Windows XP CD, begin the setup. When it comes time to choose the partition select the one already in place with windows 2000 on it most likey the c:\. Be SURE to select "leave the partition as is do not make any changes" or something like that. This will leave the current data/OS in tact. Now the next step is choosing which folder to install Windows XP on. It should default to C:\WINDOWS, which would work fine for you since win2k should be at C:\WINNT. Just verify the install path of win2k once you install it to be sure. Worse case scenario you can select a new location to install XP such as creating a new folder saying WINXP or something. Then just proceed with the XP Install as normal.

Once completed you should be prompted which OS you would like to boot to as the BOOT.INI file gets altered to reflect the dual boot setup.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top Bottom