With boot menu inside config.sys/autoexec.bat there is no need to do that. Remember to have Logo=0 and BootGUI=0 in msdos.sys

Yes you can.
I use Win2000/XP's boot manager and have 2 primary FAT32 partitions then.
However, you need to temporarily hide one of that FAT32 partitions so that Win98/DOS does not see a colliding primary FAT partition during setup.
Register the dumped boot sectors to boot.ini and have fun.
I use old NU.EXE from Norton Utilities 4.5 Adv. Edition for that.

You can but no real benefit.

Using a boot disk does the same thing as was common back in the day but what I've always done is create a shortcut to command.com on my desktop and in the property's force it to MS-DOS mode.
Yep sure enough Phils done a video on it 😀
https://www.philscomputerlab.com/ms-dos-mode-super-easy.html

This will give the computer a full reboot clearing out any windows variables, likewise when you type exit it'll clear out dos in effect keeping the 2 configs completely separate but still been able to access data from both enviroments.

Alright thanks. I’ll try it out that way.
f it doesnt work I’ll buy a CF or SD card adapter maybe. Or I might try to install Dos 6.22 or 7.1 on the same disk *after* installation of Windows 98SE.

d3vilsadvocate wrote on 2023-02-09, 08:14:

I know that D7.1 comes preinstalled with W98, but is there any benefit in running it in a ‚clean‘ install alongside W98 on a separate partition?

No and it is redundant. It is possible to have a "separate" DOS option in the same partition with the configuration menu set in CONFIG.SYS or for a hassle-free option, using Phil's MS-DOS Mode Super Easy mentioned above.

The main reason I’m asking is because I worry that W98‘s variables will impact DOS, i.e. I have 2 soundcards (PCI and ISA) and am wondering if the ISA card will work just fine when the W98 portion will mostly use the PCI card…

The ISA sound card works fine in Windows 98 SE as long as there isn't any resource conflict with the PCI sound card.

d3vilsadvocate wrote on 2023-02-09, 11:31:

Alright thanks. I’ll try it out that way.
f it doesnt work I’ll buy a CF or SD card adapter maybe. Or I might try to install Dos 6.22 or 7.1 on the same disk *after* installation of Windows 98SE.

I did this on a CF, both 98 and 6.22, but use PLOP boot manager which can hide the partitions from each OS. It was more for the experiment than anything else, as nothing I run has compatibility problems between DOS versions. It is useful if you also want Win 3 with DOS 6, but I never got that far as I'm rebuilding the machine anyway.

X3J11 wrote on 2023-02-09, 20:46:

I did this on a CF, both 98 and 6.22, but use PLOP boot manager which can hide the partitions from each OS. It was more for the experiment than anything else, as nothing I run has compatibility problems between DOS versions. It is useful if you also want Win 3 with DOS 6, but I never got that far as I'm rebuilding the machine anyway.

And when your Win98 partition is FAT32 and (logical; position in MBR) before the FAT16 DOS partition, there is even no need to hide the FAT16 DOS partition.

Disruptor wrote on 2023-02-09, 21:30:

X3J11 wrote on 2023-02-09, 20:46:

I did this on a CF, both 98 and 6.22, but use PLOP boot manager which can hide the partitions from each OS. It was more for the experiment than anything else, as nothing I run has compatibility problems between DOS versions. It is useful if you also want Win 3 with DOS 6, but I never got that far as I'm rebuilding the machine anyway.

And when you the Win98 partition is FAT32 and (logical; position in MBR) before the FAT16 DOS partition, there is even no need to hide the FAT16 DOS partition.

I think you might need to rephrase that since I don't understand it as there is probably a word or two missing. Also, what do you mean by "position" in MBR?

Note that people like me haven't played around with this stuff in over 20 years so it helps to describe things with as much idiot proofing as possible...

Edited, thanks.

Well, for each partition there is a physical order on the disk, defined by starting block or cylinder.
But there is also a logical position, defined by number of entry in the partition table.

That does not need to match. Beware, some utilities may reorder this.
Some utilities also care whether there is just one primary FAT partition.
To create the partitions I sometimes need to temporarily need to hide a partition (by temporarily changing partition type).

The result is that
- plain DOS can see DOS-FAT16-primary, FAT-16-logical
- Win98 can see W98-FAT32-primary, FAT-16-logical, DOS-FAT16-primary
- Win2k can see all partitions

Here's an alternative, it's much cleaner - software wise.

You can simply use two IDE CF card adapters or PATA HDDs in Cable Select mode.

Then use a switch and a modified IDE cable.

Someone's homepage with a schematic:
http://www.stefanv.com/electronics/ide_dual_boot.html

That way, both HDDs are available and the DOS/Windows installations are fully independent.

No extended partition headache to worry about, no MBR and PBR hacks needed.

i just posted a fairly elaborate win98 boot menu that covers around a dozen different boot scenarios. i bet you could adapt a subset of it to suit your purposes. absolutely no benefit in dual-booting dos.

windows 98 / dos config.sys menu template

Interesting ideas so far. Unfortunately, the IDE cable hack is not for me right now as I ran out of 5.25 slots with all the similar hacks that I've applied so far xD (notably Gotek, MT-32 emulator panel, CD ROM, fan control).

For now I just use W98 and plan to use its Dos 7.1. I don't even have a dos-compatible monitor and am waiting for a scaler right now....