two OSs

[Demonwithin]

How would i get two OSs on a laptop such as at the begining how would i do it and another question if i want to wipe my HD and reinstall a new OS but it wasw previouly owned and i cant cause of admin probs cpuld i just delete My Computer?

 

[m3trj]

To have 2 operating systems on your computer is known as dual booting. To be able to select at the system startup which OS to load depends on the OS's you are trying to install. For example, if you are trying to install 2 versions of Windows, then install the newest version second and it should automatically detect the other OS and give you a list at startup. With Linux, install this after any other OS and it will do the same.

Also each operating system will require its own partition on the hard drive.

 

[Alvin.C]

Re:

Hello,

If you want to erase your Hard Drive, you'll have to format it. Deleting My Computer isn't possible.

 

[Demonwithin]

I cant cause it says that files are being used by the system

 

[m3trj]

You can't erase your hard drive, it's a piece of metal in your computer.

To erase the data, then you need to format the drive. You can't do this from Windows because it can't delete files that are in use. You can use the Windows XP CD, boot from it and it'll format the drive.

 

[bigbmxdave]

you didnt say which OS you are using at the moment. if you are using an old version that allows you to go into real DOS
get into it and type "DELTREE C*.*"
WARNING - this will delete everything on your C drive. make sure youve saved everything you want to keep.

 

[C.Ingram]

When multiple copies of Windows are installed together, they do some intresting things. I would not advise deleteing anything by hand unless you are absolutly certian where everything is installed. A clean reinstall would be the safest thing to do.

 

[CntdwnToExtn]

formatting the computer.

depending on what o/s you have:
xp and 2k -- instert your cd, follow instructions, you will eventually get to a spot where it will format

95/98 -- instert your boot floppy, when it is loaded type c:format, that will erase everything on your drive. then type a:fdisk and follow the instructions to delete your partition, then create a new one.
then, install your o/s


duel OS's

start with a clean HD
when installing your first OS (assuming xp or 2k) create two partitoins with the size your desire.
install the 1 os to the first partition
install the 2nd os to the second partiton.

 

[bigstanklo]

Just curious, why do you want / need to OS's on a laptop?

 

[Erind]

Hmm... I recently bought a new HardDrive. It came with a cd. The cd was a formatting cd. it installs like 10 files on the drive and then the next time you can boot from those files. I forget what it is called and I am too lazy to search but try searching. You can format drives on your harddrive, make new drives ( c,d,f,e etc... ) and even clean your hard drive but then you wil need a new cd with the os on it. Boot from the os cd and install. Seems complicated but I did it in less than 5 minutes. Good Luck.