Dual-install Windows 2000

If you have been hearing about having two operating systems on your computer and would like to give it a try then I have written this simple illustrated guide on how to accomplish just that. The example I give below has Windows 98se as the first Operating System and Windows 2000 as the second, but you can use any W9x/WinNT, or WinNT/WinNT combination, I do not recommend a W9x/W9x combination unless you want to bother with third party boot applications.

Before you begin you will have to do a little preparation of your system as it now is. The example I use below is the one I performed on my old computer with which to double check the procedure and to gather screen shots. I am assuming you already have an operating system installed; here I am working with Windows 98se already installed

Before You Begin

Before actually installing W2K as a second operating system it pays to do a little preparation first. In the computer I used there are two hard drives. The first one is the C: drive and has Windows 98se on it. The second hard drive is only 4GB and I have partitioned it into: D: (2GB), E: (1.5GB) and F: (.5GB). When installing a second OS always have it on a separate partition than the first or you will encounter problems with one or both OS's. If you are unsure about how to create partitions on your hard drive you can read and print out my guide. Just click Partitioning Guide on the menu. Before you begin here you should also print this page out.

I have Windows 98se on C: so I choose to install Windows 2000 on D:. To do so I recommend that you copy the Windows 2000 installation CD to a partition other than the one on which you will be installing Windows 2000. I created a folder on C: called W2000 and copied the CD into it. Now for a neat little trick:

1. Go into the folder in which you have just copied the Windows 2000 installation disc.
2. Go into the I386 folder and find the SETUPP.INI file.
3. Right click it and uncheck Read only.
4. Click OK then hold down the shift key and click the file.
5. Now click Open with... and in the open with dialog box select Notepad.
6. You should see:
   [Pid]
   ExtraData=646E77637A6F6D79626A1D94089595
   Pid=51873000
   
7. Change the final three zeros in the final line to 270
8. Save the edited SETUPP.INI file

Now when you install Windows 2000, do so by double-clicking the SETUP.EXE file in the W2000 folder you created. It will install much faster, and the section where you enter the product key will be bypassed.

Step 1

When you start the installation process you will see this dialog box. If you want a dual operating system it is very important that you click NO! If you click yes W2000 will upgrade the existing W98se.

Step 2

Now select Install Windows 2000, as indicated on the right, to begin the actual installation process.

Step 3

As indicate here, select Install a new copy of Windows 2000 (clean install). Once again, if you select Upgrade Windows will upgrade the existing Windows 98se instead of installing along with it.

Step 4

This screen is very important so do not skip it! Make sure you click Advanced options to get the following screen in Step 5.

Step 5

The first two lines here are self-explanatory. The important one is at the bottom: I want to choose the installation parition during setup. Make sure this is checked, then click OK to continue.

Step 6

The process will now switch the computer out of Windows 98se and into the blue Windows 2000 installation screen and you will see the following. Select ENTER

Step 7

You will now see the following screen. Select the partition you want Windows 2000 to install onto. Make sure you do not select C:, as that is what your windows 98se is on. The partitions, drives and sizes listed below are from the computer I installed on. Your information will be different.

Step 8

Once you have chosen which partition you wish to install to, it will confirm your selection and offer you a choice of file systems. If you wish to be able to use files created with Windows 2000 in Windows 98se then choose FAT32, as it cannot see NTFS partitions or files. Otherwise, I recommend installing Windows 2000 on NTFS, whish is a more secure and stable system. I recommend formatting to ensure a clean partition.

Step 9

This is now your last chance to skip formatting. If you are not 100% certain then ESC out of the process and choose again. If you are certain then once you press F formatting will begin. Below is the next screen you will see:

Step 10

Formatting will now begin. Once the partition is formatted, Windows 2000 will proceed with the normal installation procedure. Reboot if prompted. You will now see a new feature: the boot menu. There will be two selections. Windows 2000 Professional or Windows (this is Windows 98se). Unless you select Windows, the computer will boot into Windows 2000.

To change which is the default Operating system:

• Right click My Computer.
• Click Properties.
• Click the Advanced tab.
• Click the Startup and Recovery button.
• In the window to the right select which OS you wish to be the default.
• Below that you can choose the time that the choice is displayed before automatically booting into the default OS, or you can eliminate the boot menu by unchecking the box.

One final word on running dual operating systems. You must install all software exclusively for each operating system. If you install program A on Windows 98se it will not now run on Windows 2000. You must now reinstall it on that operating system for it to function. And remember: Windows 98se on FAT32 cannot see files created with Windows 2000 on NTFS, but NTFS can see and use FAT32 files.

Also realise that W98se must be installed first, as it overwrites the boot record, and does not naturally recognize any other operating system. If you have a problem with it and reinstall it you will no longer be able to boot into Windows 2000; the boot menu will be erased.

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