Win Xp and Win NT

[lt31]

Hi guys, I am currently running win xp home on my system and want to install win NT so I can boot to either one at start up.

Is this possible to do without formating my H/D? I dont want to lose what is already on the H/D.

Any help gratefully recieved.

Lee

[kc0arf]

Hello,

If I were you, I would re-partition the HardDrive, and that means re-formatting it. I would make three partitions - one for each OS, and the third for the data on that OS. That third one should be formatted FAT, so that it will be functional in either environment. Remember that NTFS writes file security permissions, and if you have XP, you have one set of permissions, and NT will have another set of permissions, and they will conflict. By going FAT on the third drive, you eliminate any file security. IN your private case, this should be acceptable.

Treat each partition as a it's own separate computer environment. Remember to put antivirus on both, and keep patches up on both.

Christian

[alc6379]

Also, if you run NTFS on the Windows XP side, be sure to run NT service Pack 4, if I'm not mistaken.

The version of NTFS that Win2k and XP use is a little bit different from NT's version. If you update to SP4, you should be able to exchange files between the two OSes.

[JR85023]

I never installed WinNT but on dual boots with win98, ME, and 2000. I had to install Win XP last so it can create a menu when you boot up so you can select which operating system to boot. If you install XP 1st, you do not get this menu. However, if you do not want to destroy, you NT install which you stated; you are going to have to figure out how to boot between OS’s.

[alc6379]

You can get this menu by editing your boot.ini file in the root of c:. There are plenty of tutorials out there on this, let Google be your guide.

You can install the OSes in any order, just so long as you know how to edit c:\boot.ini :)

[lt31]

Thanks everybody. I will let you know how I get on.
Lee