Multiboot Your PC to Avoid UnXPected Problems

Kirk Steers

A new operating system version is like a new pair of shoes: It may look good, but you won't know how well it fits until you've traveled in it awhile. Getting used to Windows XP can be as painful as breaking in a pair of discount cowboy boots. Wouldn't it be nice if your PC could run your old Windows version and XP, so you could get acclimated to the new OS at your own pace? Well, it can.

Windows XP's installation lets you retain your old operating system by configuring your PC for multibooting. Each time you start your system, the Windows XP boot loader will offer you the choice of running XP or your previous OS.

Before we begin, back up your data. Let me say that again: Back up your data! Windows XP and boot-management utilities alter your hard disk's master boot record. This is usually safe, but an error can be disastrous. Your best bet is to use a program such as PowerQuest's $70 Drive Image 5 to back up your entire disk.

Load the XP installation CD-ROM into your PC. If it doesn't start automatically, click Start, Run and type x:setup, where x is your CD-ROM drive's letter designation. On the Welcome to Windows Setup screen, select New Installation (Advanced) under Installation Type. Continue the setup process until you see the Setup Options page. Select first Advanced Options and then I want to choose the install drive letter and partition during Setup.

For the new hard-drive partition, select a letter that differs from the letter your current OS uses (the letter C designates most users' hard drives). If you use all your available partitions already, you could install XP on the partition that your current OS resides on, but you'll be much less likely to encounter problems if you create a new partition for Windows XP.

Your system sees a drive partition as a discrete data storage area--one that's as distinct as a hard drive, CD-ROM drive, or floppy disk. Though a CD-ROM or floppy drive can hold only a single partition, the space on a hard drive can be assigned a single drive letter or divided into multiple partitions with their own drive letters.

To add a partition to your existing drive, you must have enough free space available to accommodate Windows XP: a minimum of 1.5GB, and preferably 2GB. To convert some of your drive's free space into a new partition, you need partitioning software such as PowerQuest's $69 PartitionMagic 7 or V Communications' $40 Partition Commander. (Windows' Fdisk will do the job free, but it requires that you delete all the data on the disk.)

Both PartitionMagic 7 and V Communications' $70 System Commander 7 include better multiboot utilities than the one in Windows XP. For example, System Commander features a helpful wizard. If you want to install two or more operating systems on your PC, or a second OS after Windows XP has already been installed, you would be wise to use one of these two programs to partition your drive.

Some applications that are installed under your old operating system may not work with your new Windows XP installation. Many programs use files stored in the original operating system's partition. While many programs will work fine when run from a version of Windows XP installed as the system's second OS, others won't. If you have disk space to spare, you can avoid potential hassles by installing second copies of your programs from within Windows XP. Just make sure that you install them to a drive partition other than your original OS's partition.

The Windows XP installation asks whether you want to update your hard disk to the NT file system (NTFS). If you're upgrading from Windows 2000 and don't plan to install Windows 9 x, say yes. But if you want to install Windows 9 x, say no. Windows 9 x can't read from or write to partitions formatted as NTFS; it sees only partitions that use the FAT or FAT32 file systems (see FIGURE 1).

Kirk Steers is a PC World contributing editor. You can reach him at kirk_steers@pcworld.com. Hardware Tips welcomes your tips and questions and pays $50 for published items.

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