🚀 go-pugleaf

James wrote:

> How can I setup a built boot envoriment using windows 95/98 on fat32 and be
> able to boot to winnt on ntfs without using a fat partition as a common
> partition - is this possible???
>
> Mailto:richard@alltronics.com.au

Hi James,

U post to a NG U come back for the answer.

"It was fairly straightforward...and not nearly as hard as it may seem from all
of the long-winded
                                   explanation that follows, I figure "better to

say too much than too little".... <g>

                                   The best part of this procedure is that it
will allow you to dual-boot between Windows 95 and Windows
                                   98 (or even TRIPLE-boot Win95-Win98-NT4.0) on

the same machine without resorting to third-party
                                   utilities, and best of all, this method won't

cost you a dime!

                                   In short, what the following procedure
explains, is very much like what takes place whenever you boot
               between Win95 and your old DOS, if it still exists on your
machine.
               If you use the multi-boot menu, or use <F8> whenever you see the
"Starting Windows 95" message, you'll get the option to start
               your "Previous version of MS-DOS". When you choose this option,
all of your root directory start-up files are renamed to *.W40,
               while the same set of DOS files (*.DOS) are renamed to take their

place. The next time your reboot, the process reverses itself and
               the *.W40 files are renamed to boot into Win95, while the DOS
versions get renamed back to *.DOS.

               Therefore, this procedure is completely non-destructive and very
easy to set up and use.
               All we're doing here is renaming start-up files via batch files.
               OK, let's get started... and make sure you read our DISCLAIMER
below.

               First things first...
               Before you begin you're going to need your system startup disk
for Windows 95, and if you're also running Windows NT 4.0, the
               Windows NT install disks, and the NT Repair disk. So if you don't

already have them, make them - then test them to make sure they
               work, then test them again.
                 To see how to make the Win95 Startup disk, CLICK HERE.
                 To see how to make (or replace) the NT install disks, CLICK
HERE.
                 To see how to make the NT Repair disk, CLICK HERE.

               My machine is setup with three hard drives, all SCSI and all
running FAT (NOT FAT32!)
               Drive 1 = 2.5Gb partitioned as C:, F:, G: and H: (approx 530Mb
each)
               Drive 2 = 1.2Gb all D:
               Drive 3 = 1.2Gb all E:

               The reason I'm running all drives as FAT is so that I didn't lose

any drives between W95 and NT, besides, NTFS wasn't really
               necessary on my stand-alone home machine since security isn't a
big issue and I have plenty of hard drive space so there wasn't
               much to be gained by NTFS's cluster schemes, besides running NT
on a FAT drive is just plain faster.

               I really can't verify any of the following if you're running
FAT32. (Generally speaking, these instructions DO NOT pertain to FAT32
               machines)

               My original Windows 95 installation resides in C:\Win95.
               NT4.0 resides in D:\Winnt.

               The above setup required absolutely no intervention on my part,
NT installs its own BootLoader and each copy leaves all others
               unaffected, even leaving me with a BootMenu at Startup so I can
choose between Win95\NT4\ every time.

               The trick was getting Win98 installed... Here's how I did it.

               First of all, I backed up all of my Windows 95 bootfiles into a
folder on C: (even the splash screen - logo.sys, but this is optional...):

                    IO.SYS
                    MSDOS.SYS
                    COMMAND.COM
                    DRVSPACE.BIN
                    DBLSPACE.BIN
                    LOGO.SYS
                    AUTOEXEC.BAT
                    CONFIG.SYS

               The first five files are mandatory, the last three are optional,
but I figured as long as I was going this far I may as well, so now I can
               even specify different startup parameters for each OS and also
have the right splash screen, hey - why not?
               A side note: One thing I discovered was that, since I'm running
Norton Anti-Virus at Startup, it always tried to tell me that the MBR
               had changed everytime I installed another OS, so I just "rem'd"
that one line out of the Win98 version of Autoexec.bat... with no ill
               effects.

               Next, once you have these files backed up, go ahead and install
Windows 98, but NOT OVER TOP of Windows 95, and NOT EVEN
               on the SAME PARTITION. You MUST install Windows 98 to its own
partition (even away from NT) because it writes a new
               "\Program Files" folder, and you don't want the W95 or NT
versions overwritten) It will leave your NT BootLoader alone.

               **If you absolutely CAN'T install Windows 98 to its own
partition, because maybe you don't HAVE an extra one, I suppose you could
               add a line to these batch files to rename the "\Program Files"
folders back and forth as well, although I haven't tried this...

               The way I boot is that I first get the NT BootLoader menu, then
if I select "DOS-Windows95" I have it setup (via MSDOS.SYS) to
               take me to THAT boot menu, in case I ever want to boot in
SafeMode or go to old DOS.

               Once Windows 98 is installed, back up the same files that you
backed up for Windows 95 (into another folder).

               Now you should have two sets of Bootfiles saved - and you're
currently booting into Windows 98...

               You're almost home... <g>

               The set of bootfiles that currently exist in the root of C:
belong to Windows 98, leave these alone...
               Take you Windows 95 bootfile backups and rename them all to
*.W95:

                    IO.W95
                    MSDOS.W95
                    COMMAND.W95
                    DRVSPACE.W95
                    DBLSPACE.W95
                    LOGO.W95
                    AUTOEXEC.W95
                    CONFIG.W95

               Copy all of these files to C:\

               You should now have two complete sets of boot files in C:\:
               IO.SYS and IO.W95
               MSDOS.SYS and MSDOS.W95
               COMMAND.COM and COMMAND.W95
               etc. etc. etc...

               Copy these two attached .BAT files to C:\.
               (Simply download this small .ZIP file, unZIP it, and it will
contain three files: W95.BAT, W98.BAT, and a .TXT file containg the entire
               text of this page)
               I named these files to tell you where they'll eventually TAKE
you. In other words, I keep a shortcut to W95.BAT on my Win98
               Desktop, double-clicking it changes all my bootfiles back to the
Win95 versions, so on my next restart, I'll get the old Win95
               Startup.
               Alternately, I keep a shortcut to W98.BAT on my Win95 Desktop,
double-clicking that changes all my bootfiles back to the Win98
               versions. (FYI - the W95.BAT renames all old files to *.W98 and
the W98.BAT renames all old files to *.W95)

               You're going to have to look these batch files over (in Notepad)
and make SURE the file listings match your machine, for instance,
               you may not even HAVE the AUTOEXEC.BAT, CONFIG.SYS or LOGO.SYS
files. If you don't, simply delete all references to them
               in these .BAT files.
               If you DO have an AUTOEXEC.BAT and/or CONFIG.SYS, you get the
extra benefit of being able to specify different start-up
               parameters for each OS if needed.

               Now.... You're still running from the Win98 bootfiles, the first
change you can make is to switch to Win95. You have to be careful
               here that you don't run the wrong batch file. You could render
your system unstartable. You don't want to run WIN98.BAT if you're
               currently booting WIN98!! You won't really kill anything if you
mess up, but at the very least you may wind up having to restore your
               two sets of backups and renaming all over again.... As a last
resort, you can always boot from a DOS disk to fix anything you do
               wrong, since there isn't a long filename in sight....

               So... Once you've done all of the above, go ahead and run
WIN95.BAT from the Windows 98 Desktop to get back to your original
               configuration (Windows 95). Once that's succesfull, you have to
do one last thing...

               Boot to DOS, use your Windows 95 Startup Disk and re-sys C: (SYS
C:) Then using your NT4 BootDisks and the NT4 Repair Disk,
               go ahead and restore the MBR...

               These last two steps are not -entirely- necessary, unless you
still want to boot to your old DOS now and then. If you -don't- do these
               last two steps, and you decide to boot to your old DOS via a menu

<F8> or straight from "Starting Windows 95" via <F4>, then
               Win95 may not rearrange (rename) all of THOSE bootup files
correctly: (COMMAND.DOS becomes COMMAND.COM etc....)

               Once you've completed all of these steps, you'll have your
machine back exactly as it was before you ever installed Windows 98,
               Master Boot Record and all, except that now, you'll be able to
swap out your bootfiles and start Windows 98 anytime you want.
               Best of all, if you ever decide to delete Windows 98, all you
have to do is locate the new \Windows folder and its accompanying
               \Program Files folder and delete them, and all of the *.W98
files, and the batch files...."

               Hope this helps...


                                        Son Of Spy


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