Member Avatar for hexstar

Hi, I'm getting a NetServer LH3R with 6 9GB SCSI drives installed and 2 Pentium III 500MHz processors along with 1GB of RAM and 2 10/100 NICs and I would like to multiboot on it Windows NT 3.51 and Windows2000. I've tried googling around for information on this but could not find a good guide on doing this. Could someone here please provide me with the information I need to successfully multiboot these OSes? (e.g. partitioning setup, order of installation, etc) Thanks in advance! :)

EDIT: And if anyone's wondering why I would like to multiboot these two OSes the reason is that I've already bought Windows NT 3.51 off eBay for another NetServer I had gotten handed down to me (but unfortunately it was on its last legs and within a week just stopped working :( ) and am now buying a replacement server and thus would feel kind of guilty not putting this OS I just bought into use, but would also like to be able to use a more recent OS as well...and in case anyone's wondering no this is not going to be a production server, it's going to be something for me to play with (they come cheap off eBay...this one was only $350 with all these specs and in a used but good condition), so again thanks in advance for any help you can offer! :)

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by jbennet

Dani AI

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Short, practical plan that avoids the usual pitfalls (references to replies below): install the older OS first (NT 3.51), then Windows 2000; put each OS on its own primary volume or — even better given your six SCSI disks — on separate physical disks so you avoid NTFS-version and boot-sector conflicts. Windows 2000’s installer will normally detect an existing NT installation and update the NT loader (NTLDR/boot.ini) for you; doing NT first keeps recovery simple. (itprotoday.com)

Preparation and partitioning checklist you can follow:

  • Collect SCSI/motherboard drivers for both OSes before you start. NT 3.51 setup expects manufacturer driver floppies (ntbootdd.sys style) for many SCSI controllers; Windows 2000 uses the F6-floppy method for third‑party mass‑storage drivers. Test each driver on a spare machine or diskette image first. (ibm.com)
  • Make primary partitions (not extended) for each OS. Keep NT 3.51’s system/boot partition modest (historical setups often kept it under a few GB); if you must share volumes, plan formats carefully because Windows 2000 will upgrade NTFS structures that very old NT kernels can’t understand. (ibm.com)

Install sequence

  1. Physically configure disks and set BIOS boot order for the disk you want active.
  2. Install Windows NT 3.51 on its primary disk/partition, loading the SCSI driver disk when prompted. Create an Emergency Repair Disk per NT practice.
  3. Install Windows 2000 on a different disk/partition. Setup should place NTLDR/ntdetect and a boot menu on the active system partition and add an entry for NT 3.51. If the older OS disappears from the menu, restore/copy ntldr, ntdetect.com and a correct Boot.ini to the active root or use the Recovery Console to repair it. (ibm.com)

Troubleshooting notes: if NT 3.51 can’t see drives/partitions >8GB or FAT32 volumes, that’s a driver/age issue — use the vendor’s legacy driver disks or keep partition sizes compatible with 3.51, and apply SP5 where available. Back up images before each step so you can restore quickly. (Good suggestions in the thread from and — a boot manager can help, but the physical- disk + correct driver approach is far more reliable for legacy NT.) (bearwindows.zcm.com.au)

Recommended Answers

All 4 Replies

Member Avatar for fry

you can you special for this. As i know Acronis OS Selector supports both of os's you want to install.

Member Avatar for jbennet

2k and nt4 is possible. something like (i dunno the bootloaders name but it comes with some partitionmagics) dunno bout 3.51

Member Avatar for gemini4

Honestly even if you bought NT it's not worth to use it as long as you have 2000. However each os should be on it's own partition. NT goes first on the partition that contains the MBR lets say c: and 2000 should be installed in top of NT on the second partition (d: ).

That's it.

Member Avatar for jbennet

i got a proliant 1600 and nt4 server wif 5 cals for cheap of ebay lately have a look, reliable and built like tanks

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