Tech Files
Dual Booting: Two PCs in One!
You’ve probably heard of the psychological condition called split personality disorder, which can cause a person to behave like two very different individuals at different times. As much as Hollywood has enjoyed making films on the subject, this condition is certainly a hardship for a human being. On the other hand, a computer that can act like two different systems at different times could come in pretty handy—and you can set up and run such a computer, using a technique known as dual booting.
A dual-boot computer is one that’s set up to give the user a choice between two different operating systems. Dual booting in the Microsoft world is usually a choice between a personal operating system, such as Windows 9x/ME, and a professional operating system, such as Windows NT/2000/XP.
So, why would anyone want to set up a dual-boot computer? Well, there are a couple of reasons. Suppose you use Windows NT at work, and Windows 98 at home. You think it would be cool if you could use some of your home software at the office (maybe your favorite game, when the boss isn’t around), or maybe bring in some nice new USB hardware.
Sadly, you discover that your home software isn’t compatible with NT, nor is the USB hardware. One solution would be to set up a dual-boot system at work with Windows NT and Windows 98, to get the best of both worlds.
Or suppose you decide to upgrade Windows ME to Windows 2000, but you’re concerned about how Windows 2000 will work with your existing software and hardware. You’d sure hate to install the upgrade, only to end up regretting that you abandoned your old setup! In this case, a dual-boot system with Windows ME and Windows 2000 may be a better choice than an upgrade—after all, if Windows 2000 doesn’t work out for you, your original Windows ME setup still exists.
Creating a dual-boot system is a fairly straightforward process; after installing the first operating system, you simply repeat the normal installation procedure to add the second operating system. There are, however, certain considerations you must take into account when creating a dual-boot system:
1. The two operating systems must be installed in different
partitions.
2. You cannot dual boot two personal operating systems, such
as Windows 98 and Windows ME.
3. If your dual-boot system includes Windows 9x/ME, that operating
system must be installed in the primary active partition (C:\).
4. If you’re installing two professional operating systems—for
example, Windows NT and Windows 2000—you should install the older OS
first.
5. Give careful consideration to the file systems you use
for the partitions that will contain the operating systems. Windows 9x/ME must
be installed in a FAT32 partition. Windows NT must be installed in an NTFS
partition. Windows 2000 can be installed in a FAT32 partition, but it’s
designed to use NTFS, and some features won’t work in FAT32, in particular
security features. Bear in mind that an OS installed in a FAT32 partition cannot
access an NTFS partition.
Microsoft’s web site includes many Knowledge Base documents that give
great information about dual booting. Take a look at Knowledge Base document
number Q289283 to
get a good start.