Does Windows 2000 SP4 fit on 2 GB? It will be tight.

ETA: I see that one of my computers has W2KSP4 on a 2 GB partition, however my notes say "boot partition is very full". This is without having to share the partition with another OS.

you have t install win9x first, because win2k will be able to detect that installation and install a bootmanager. It will not work the other way around, because windows 98 will not be able to find win2k or assuming you use NTFS not even be able to recognize its partition.

That is why you install dos based systems (dos, Win9x) first and NT based systems after, with the newest OS last when multibooting Microsoft operating systems.

I would seriously recommend getting a bigger CF card, while theoretically 2GB should be enouigh, in practice the best case scenario is that it gets just VERY cramped, worst case is that win2k will have issues due to not enough free space.

Koltoroc wrote:

you have t install win9x first, because win2k will be able to detect that installation and install a bootmanager. It will not work the other way around, because windows 98 will not be able to find win2k or assuming you use NTFS not even be able to recognize its partition.

That is why you install dos based systems (dos, Win9x) first and NT based systems after, with the newest OS last when multibooting Microsoft operating systems.

I would seriously recommend getting a bigger CF card, while theoretically 2GB should be enouigh, in practice the best case scenario is that it gets just VERY cramped, worst case is that win2k will have issues due to not enough free space.

You can do any way, NTLDR will be able to boot both, however you will ned to manually edit the boot.ini to insert Windows 98.
Of course it is much easier to install first Windows 98, and then Windows 2000 so all the settings would be done automatically.

OK, I am about to:

Clone my current 2GB CF card, to a bigger sized one, using Acronis True Image

Create a separate partition on it for Win2

Install Win2K

Question:
What partition type should I create for Win2K? NTFS or FAT32?

NTFS

C0deHunter wrote:

What partition type should I create for Win2K? NTFS or FAT32?

Do you want to be able to see the contents of your Win2K partition when booted to Windows 98?
If so, use FAT32.

skitters wrote:

C0deHunter wrote:

What partition type should I create for Win2K? NTFS or FAT32?

Do you want to be able to see the contents of your Win2K partition when booted to Windows 98?
If so, use FAT32.

No, therefore, I will choose NTFS.

The nice thing is all my Windows based installed games (Quake, SiN, Quake II, Unreal, etc.), are installed on a separate CF card, so *theoretically* I can run most of them from Win2K as well (I just have to find the correct executable files for each game, since I have originally installed them under Win98SE)

.legaCy wrote:

Koltoroc wrote:

you have t install win9x first, because win2k will be able to detect that installation and install a bootmanager. It will not work the other way around, because windows 98 will not be able to find win2k or assuming you use NTFS not even be able to recognize its partition.

You can do any way, NTLDR will be able to boot both, however you will ned to manually edit the boot.ini to insert Windows 98.
Of course it is much easier to install first Windows 98, and then Windows 2000 so all the settings would be done automatically.

The problem with installing Win98 after Win2K is that Win98 will destroy the Win2K boot sector, and you will have to manually repair it. Been there, done that. Installing Win98 first avoids this problem.

C0deHunter likes his file systems like his women... FAT and 32

oeuvre wrote:

C0deHunter likes his file systems like his women... FAT and 32

😊 😊 😊

oeuvre wrote:

C0deHunter likes his file systems like his women... FAT and 32

Very fortunate for the women in question he doesn't like ReiserFS 😈

UPDATE

OK, this is the project from hell, as I have been all sorts of issue since this morning:

* Bought a 32GB CF (SanDisk Extreme), and partitioned into FAT32 and NTFS, using the following sizes:

FAT32 (4GB), and NTFS (the remaining 28GB) on the CF

* Cloned my existing Win98SE (previously installed on a 2GB SanDisk Ultra CF), using Acronis True Image 2017.

* It successfully cloned the Win98SE on the FAT32 partition that I have created, leaving the NTFS partition intact.

* Attempted to install Windows 2000, and although it recognizes and *sees* the 28GB NTFS partition on the CF , forces me to format it (and delete the partition), but for some reason does not format it. I get the:

"Setup was unable to format the partition. The disk may be damaged."

* This time, used a real, mechanical 80GB WD hard drive, and repeated the steps above, which it successfully formatted, and installed Windows 2000 Pro on it.

* Next, when I tried to clone this physical Hdd back onto my 32GB CF, although it successfully clones, and I can see the dual boot menu, when I choose the Win2K, I get a BSOD. (did not get it on physical hdd though)

* The Win98SE however boots fine (both on reall hdd, and cloned CF)

* The other issue is the Windows 2000 Pro can not see my other CF card (a 128GB SanDisk Extreme CF, set as D:\ which contains all my Windows based games (Quake, etc. installed under Win98SE), existing on a separate IDE channel, and *yes*, I made sure to disconnect it when I installed Windows 2000 Pro)

* Windows 2000 Pro simply sees the 128GB SanDisk Extreme CF as a Removable Disk, and when I click on it, it wants to format the drive!

* Win98SE can see 128GB SanDisk Extreme CF however.

As you can see, the idea of being able to boot into both systems, see my gaming CF card, and play off of either OS, has not been able to be successfully realized.

Therefore I am thinking maybe I should install Windows 2000 Pro as a standalone OS on this new 32GB CF card, and copy all the games on it as well, and swap (as painful as it is) between the CF cards, when I need to (between the 2GB Win98SE CF card, and this one that is)

Unless

I clone my games CF onto a real physical hdd, and stop using CF cards altogether, its frustrating that Win98SE sees the CF, but Win2K can not.
What do you think?

I think You need an industrial grade CF card to get a boot from it.
But I also remember reading about bypassing this limitation somehow...

This is the answer to the thread about 'so why do we need real IDE HDDs anymore?'.

I thought Win98 setup would have an error about installing to a removable drive as well, I could be wrong about that as it's been awhile.
Industrail cards are set to fixed mode by default but if you google CF card Fixed mode and you'll find a few workarounds/utilities to try for standard cards.

I would also stop cloning and use fdisk, at least for testing. its basic but it guarantee's your creating nice simple HDD layout that any MS OS understands.
Before installing Win98 do kick off the Win2k installer though and check its not coming up as a removable drive as that'll still not work.

dionb wrote:

oeuvre wrote:

C0deHunter likes his file systems like his women... FAT and 32

Very fortunate for the women in question he doesn't like ReiserFS 😈

I spilled my coffee. Cheers to you 😀

UPDATE 2

OK, I used ATCFWCHG utility on my older SanDisk CF cards with firmware HDX versions lower than 5.00, and on both, a 1GB SanDisk Ultra II, and a SanDisk 512MB, it successfully set the fix bit on them. (saw the P A S S message on the DOS screen) - I am sure both of them are from early 2000 or so, as I got them from an older friend who used these as his digital camera memory cards, back in the day.

However, the ATCFWCHG utility failed on the newer CF cards (32GB SanDisk Extreme - made in 2017)

The funny thing is, I just successfully installed Windows 2000 Pro, on the very same SanDisk 32GB Extreme CF, that Windows 2000 Setup would previously *insist* on formatting its NTFS partition, and then immediacy *refusing* to do the actual format, because it detected it as a *removable* drive.

The only good thing about this project is that I ended up ordering this:

So I can swap my Win98SE CF, and Windows 2000 Pro CF easily 😀 😀 😀 (compared to opening the actual computer case)

Question:
Where do I type the fdisk /mbr? I mean I am logged into the pure DOS mode of Win98SE, and I can see my SanDisk 32GB there. When I type fdisk /mbr, nothing happens.

dr_st wrote:

.legaCy wrote:

Koltoroc wrote:

you have t install win9x first, because win2k will be able to detect that installation and install a bootmanager. It will not work the other way around, because windows 98 will not be able to find win2k or assuming you use NTFS not even be able to recognize its partition.

You can do any way, NTLDR will be able to boot both, however you will ned to manually edit the boot.ini to insert Windows 98.
Of course it is much easier to install first Windows 98, and then Windows 2000 so all the settings would be done automatically.

The problem with installing Win98 after Win2K is that Win98 will destroy the Win2K boot sector, and you will have to manually repair it. Been there, done that. Installing Win98 first avoids this problem.

fixboot
fixmbr

not too difficult, but as i mentioned it is easier to install 98 first, but if you already have 2k installed it is doable, a little bit more of work but not a nightmare

fixboot
fixmbr

I am sorry, I don't follow you. What does this mean?

What I meant, was that I don't know how to force fdisk /mbr to choose the *correct* destination drive. What I have done, is that on a DOS prompt (under Win98SE pure DOS mode), have typed this:

c:\
fdisk /mbr

nothing happned.

Then I changed to my CF drive letter:

cd D:\
D:
typed fdisk /mbr

nothing happens.

How do I know if I am invoking this command for the proper drive?