How To Dual-Boot Windows 2000
How To's | Technology
How To Dual-Boot Windows 2000
Getting any new operating system up and running can be a nerve-wracking affair, let alone installing it alongside an existing platform. And yet running a dual-boot configuration can hold certain advantages. This could be, for example, when users are unsure if their existing hardware and software will continue to work with the new operating system.
This is especially true when moving over to Windows 2000 because it is a one-way upgrade. In other words, Windows 2000 does not include an uninstall program.
Reverting to the previous version of Windows is not possible without
reinstalling
the old operating system and its applications. Thus a dual-boot configuration
can
be regarded as something of an insurance policy; an escape route back to
normality
should the upgrade not go as smoothly as one would hope. Just imagine, for
instance, installing Windows 2000 only to discover that the tape backup unit
refuses to work. With a dual-boot configuration, your users simply restart the
computer and load the alternative operating system. The solution is not ideal,
of
course, but it will suffice until the latest Windows 2000 drivers are acquired.
Considerations
Windows 2000 can be installed as part of a dual-boot or a multiple-boot
combination,
and with a variety of operating systems. These include Windows 95 or
Windows 98 - but not together - and Windows NT 4.0. It can even be installed
alongside another member of the same Windows 2000 family. Windows 2000 can
also run in a multiple-boot environment containing non-Microsoft products, such
as Linux and BeOS. However, in such cases, obtaining a third-party booting
utility
like Power Quest’s Boot Magic is recommended.
Disk Space
Compared to a single-boot configuration, requirements for setting up a dual-boot
system are relatively minimal. As one might expect, the biggest drain on
resources
is disk space, since on its own Windows 2000 requires a 2 GB hard disk with at
least 1 GB free. That is considerably more than the amount of free spaceWindows
98 requires (between 140 MB and 400 MB, depending which features are installed).
Windows NT, meanwhile, can get away with a minimum of 117 MB of
free disk space.
Partitions
In a dual-boot combination, each operating system should be installed on a
separate drive or onto its own disk partition. Failing to install Windows 2000
in
this way can result in your users receiving numerous critical and non-critical
error
messages. Difficulties arise because each operating system installs its own
files
into certain shared folders. These files may not work under the other operating
system. Some typical problem files are located under the Common Files folder,
Microsoft Internet Explorer folder, Microsoft Outlook Express folder, the
Accessories
folder, and the Program Files folder. Error messages may occur in Windows
2000, the existing version of Windows NT 4.0, or Windows 9x. Versions of
Windows that are not affected are Windows 3.x,Windows for Workgroups 3.1x,
and windows NT 3.x.
Although under certain conditions Windows 2000 can be installed on the same
partition - but in a different folder - to the existing operating system, this
type of
setup is not recommended. Installing Windows 2000 to a different partition
negates the risk of Setup replacing important files that the previous operating
system requires in order to start.
The easiest way to install Windows 2000 as part of a dual-boot combination is to
create a new partition beforehand. To this end, I recommend use of a
disk-partitioning
utility such as PowerQuest’s PartitionMagic 5.0 (www.powerquest.com)
or Partition Commander from V Communications (www.v-com.com). The advantage
of using a commercial software application over FDISK, the DOS utility,
is that it is possible to partition the hard drive without losing any data.
While
FDISK is readily available to most users, it will destroy the current data in
order
to create the new partition.
File Systems
Where more than one operating system is installed, the ability to both read from
and rite to other partitions, though not essential, can make life a whole lot
easier.
Windows 2000 certainly helps in this respect because it supports FAT, FAT32 and
NTFS file systems. NTFS is the recommended file system for Windows 2000.
Indeed, there is no alternative if your users wish to take advantage of some of
the
operating system’s most powerful features such as the Encrypting File System,
which uses public key technology to encrypt files and folders. The downside to
using NTFS is that only Windows 2000 can gain access to files subsequently
created on that partition.
Using NTFS in a dual-boot configuration is supported, but such a choice is not
usually recommended. This is because Windows 2000 includes several new
features, such as disk quotas, encryption, and reparse points - also called
mount
points or junction points. These new features required changes to the existing
NTFS format, which means Windows NT 4.0 may not interpret the version of
NTFS included with Windows 2000 correctly. Thankfully, the updated NTFS.SYS
driver provided in Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack 4 enables Windows NT 4.0 to
read from and write to NTFS volumes or partitions in Windows 2000. Be aware,
though, that the new NTFS features found in Windows 2000 are disabled when
booting to Windows NT 4.0.
It is important to note, therefore, that the NTFS update for Windows NT 4.0 is
provided only to assist users in evaluating and upgrading to Windows 2000.
Microsoft does not recommend running a dual-boot configuration between Windows
NT 4.0 and Windows 2000 as part of a long-term solution.
Combinations
The trick to setting up a multiple-boot combination to boot Windows 2000,
Windows NT and windows 9x is to install Windows NT first. Windows 9xshould
be installed next, with Windows 2000 installed last. Alternatively, to create a
dual-boot setup with just Windows 2000 and Windows 95, install Windows 95
first so that it cannot overwrite the startup files required to start Windows
2000.
When creating a dual-boot configuration of Windows 98 and Windows 2000,
either operating system can be installed first.
When Windows 2000 is dual-booted with Windows NT or an early version of
Windows 95, the primary partition must be formatted as FAT. For a dual-boot of
Windows 2000withWindows 95 OSR2 or Windows 98, the primary partition can
be formatted as FAT or FAT32, with the latter being the preferred choice.
Likewise,
if both Windows 2000 andWindows98 require access to a common partition
- perhaps a partition holding the My Documents folder - then that partition can
be formatted as FAT or FAT32. Again, FAT32 is the preferred option.
FAT32 is likely to have been installed on PCs shipped with OSR2 versions of
Windows 95 since December 1996. Note that OSR2 versions of Windows 95 can
be identified from the General tab of the System applet in Control Panel - they
have a B or C after the 4.00.950 version number. The majority of windows 98 PCs
will almost certainly contain drives that have been formatted to FAT32.
Final Checks
- To eliminate any nasty
surprises later, a little further preparation is needed before starting the
installation process. Take a full backup of the existing
system and have it verified. Disconnect the uninterruptible power supply(UPS)
if present, and check that the system BIOS is running the most up-to-date
firmware version. - Prior to setting up a dual-boot betweenWindows NT 4.0 and Windows 2000,
ensure Service Pack 4 or later has been installed to the former. Note also
that
Windows 2000 cannot be installed on a compressed partition - unless the
partition is compressed using NTFS. Be aware also that Windows 2000 does
not support DriveSpace or DoubleSpace compression technologies found in
Windows 95 and Windows 98. While it isn’t strictly necessary to uncompress
these partitions in a dual-boot configuration, they won’t be available when
running Windows 2000.
It is important to ensure that the computer’s components are registered on
Microsoft’s Hardware Compatibility List (HCL). This list is maintained and
updated regularly and can be accessed at
www.microsoft.com/hcl. Microsoft will be in a much better position to offer
your organisation support if components
are certified.
Installation
To help avoid potential problems, Windows NT users should invoke the Setup
utility by runningWINNT32.EXE from the command prompt. Windows 9x users
should simply insert the Windows 2000 CD in the CD-ROM drive and wait for
the Auto run feature to automatically fire up the Setup Wizard.
For the most part, installing Windows 2000 as part of a dual-boot configuration
is as straightforward as installing it to a single-boot configuration. There are
a
couple of points to look out for, however, and these appear early in the
installation.
For instance, when the Windows Setup screen appears (see Figure 1), you
need to specify that you want to “Install a new copy of Windows 2000 (Clean
Install)” rather than choosing the “Upgrade to Windows 2000" option. After
completing the license agreement, click the Special Options button and select
Advanced Options.
Next, tick the “I want to choose the installation partition during Setup” box,
click
OK, and then click Next. Setup will copy the installation files to the hard disk
and
reboot. There will be a brief glimpse of the boot menu, just before you are
invited
to continue with the installation. The Setup screen now shows all existing
partitions,
along with any un-partitioned space on the computer. Select the empty
partition you created earlier, before starting the installation process.
Obviously,
in order to avoid a major calamity later, it is extremely important to install
Windows 2000 to the correct partition. If this partition is FAT orFAT32, your
users
will then be given the choice of converting the partition to NTFS.
As discussed earlier, NTFS is not the best choice in a dual-boot combination
because it is not fully compatible with Windows NT’s version of NTFS. And, since
Windows 9x operating systems cannot access NTFS, the best solution all round
is to avoid the option to upgrade to NTFS and stick with FAT or FAT32. Setup
will then go about detecting the devices installed on the computer. To all
intents
and purposes, the installation from that point onwards is just like any other.
Boot Menu
Once installation is complete, managing a dual-boot or multiple-boot combination
is achieved via a simple set of controls. Basically, these controls take the
form
of a boot menu, allowing your users to specify which version of Windows is
launched at startup by default. If no selection is confirmed then the default
version
of Windows will load automatically after a set amount of time. Although these
settings are configurable, they are buried a little more deeply in Windows 2000
than they are in Windows NT.
To find them, right-click My Computer and choose Properties, click the Advanced
tab and then the Startup and Recovery button. Make the selections from the
“Default Operating System” drop-down (see Figure 2), and the “Display the list
of operating systems for X seconds” box, which will show 30 seconds by default.
Shortening the boot waiting time to 10 or 15 seconds will likely be the best
option
for the majority of your users.
To change or delete the names that appear in the boot menu, use the BOOT.INI
file found in the root folder of the system’s bootable partition. However,
before
editing the file with an application such as Notepad, it is quite likely that
its
Read-only attribute will need to be removed. This is achieved by right-clicking
the file in anExplorer window, choosing Properties and deselecting the Read-only
attribute. Remember to turn the Read-only attribute back on once the file has
been
successfully edited. Editing BOOT.INI is extremely straightforward. To remove
Windows 9x from the boot menu, for example, your users would remove the
following line (where C: is assumed to be the boot drive letter):
C:\="Microsoft Windows"
With the line deleted, the system will boot directly toWindows 2000 without the
option to boot Windows 9x. Alternatively, your users might wish to disable the
countdown timer indefinitely, so that the bootmenu is displayed until a
selection
is made manually. To disable the timer, simply edit BOOT.INI by changing the
timeout setting to:
timeout=-1
Applications
With Windows 2000 up and running, most (but not all) software applications will
need to be re-installed in order to update the registry. In cases where
partitions
are file system compatible, the applications can safely be re-installed to the
same
directory in which they currently reside. A few applications, such as Paint Shop
Pro, for example, should not need to be reinstalled and should continue to
function if a shortcut is added to the Windows 2000 Desktop. This can be
achieved
by opening Windows Explorer, dragging the target’s application extension file
onto the Desktop with the right mouse button, and selecting “Create Shortcut(s)
Here” from the pop-up menu.
If your users use the My Documents folder to store files, they may find it makes
sense to point both Windows 2000 and Windows 9x to the same directory. In
Windows 2000, for example, simply right-click on the My Documents icon, click
on Properties and type in - or browse to - the favoured location. Of course,
none
of this will be possible if Windows 2000 is installed with the NTFS format. If
NTFS
is used, all applications and files will need to be installed to the Windows
2000
partition. This wastes considerable disk space since it results in two copies of
each
application residing on each machine.
Summary
With certain reservations, Windows NT and Windows 2000 can be set up to
dual-boot reasonably well together. But, with Windows 2000 being touted as a
direct upgrade to NT, most users are likely to regard this combination as
nothing
more than a short-term solution. Once Windows 2000 is seen to be running
smoothly, the general idea will be to get rid of NT as quickly as possible.
Amore permanent dual-boot arrangement between Windows 2000 and Windows
98 makes greater sense, especially if all of the partitions have been formatted
as
FAT32. Indeed, there is every reason to expect a dual-boot combination of this
nature to run trouble-free for some considerable time.
Windows 2000 as part of a dual-boot combination is to
create a new partition beforehand. To this end, I recommend use of a disk-partitioning
utility such as PowerQuest’s PartitionMagic 5.0 (www.powerquest.com)
or Partition Commander from V Communications (www.v-com.com). The advantage
of using a commercial software application over FDISK, the DOS utility,
is that it is possible to partition the hard drive without losing any data. While
FDISK is readily available to most users, it will destroy the current data in order
to create the new partition.
File Systems
Where more than one operating system is installed, the ability to both read from
andwrite to other partitions, though not essential, canmake life awhole lot easier.
Windows 2000 certainly helps in this respect because it supports FAT, FAT32 and
NTFS file systems. NTFS is the recommended file system for Windows 2000.
Indeed, there is no alternative if your users wish to take advantage of some of the
operating system’s most powerful features such as the Encrypting File System,
which uses public key technology to encrypt files and folders. The downside to
using NTFS is that only Windows 2000 can gain access to files subsequently
created on that partition.
Using NTFS in a dual-boot configuration is supported, but such a choice is not
usually recommended. This is because Windows 2000 includes several new
features, such as disk quotas, encryption, and reparse points - also called mount
points or junction points. These new features required changes to the existing
NTFS format, which means Windows NT 4.0 may not interpret the version of
NTFS includedwithWindows 2000 correctly. Thankfully, the updated NTFS.SYS
driver provided in Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack 4 enables Windows NT 4.0 to
read from and write to NTFS volumes or partitions in Windows 2000. Be aware,
though, that the new NTFS features found in Windows 2000 are disabled when
booting to Windows NT 4.0.
It is important to note, therefore, that the NTFS update for Windows NT 4.0 is
provided only to assist users in evaluating and upgrading to Windows 2000.
Microsoft does not recommend running a dual-boot configuration betweenWindows
NT 4.0 and Windows 2000 as part of a long-term solution.
Combinations
The trick to setting up a multiple-boot combination to boot Windows 2000,
WindowsNTandWindows 9x is to installWindowsNT first.Windows 9xshould
be installed next, with Windows 2000 installed last. Alternatively, to create a
dual-boot setup with just Windows 2000 and Windows 95, install Windows 95
first so that it cannot overwrite the startup files required to start Windows 2000.
When creating a dual-boot configuration of Windows 98 and Windows 2000,
either operating system can be installed first.
When Windows 2000 is dual-booted with Windows NT or an early version of
Windows 95, the primary partition must be formatted as FAT. For a dual-boot of
Windows 2000withWindows 95 OSR2 or Windows 98, the primary partition can
be formatted as FAT or FAT32, with the latter being the preferred choice. Likewise,
if bothWindows 2000 andWindows98 require access to a commonpartition
- perhaps a partition holding the My Documents folder - then that partition can
be formatted as FAT or FAT32. Again, FAT32 is the preferred option.
FAT32 is likely to have been installed on PCs shipped with OSR2 versions of
Windows 95 since December 1996. Note that OSR2 versions of Windows 95 can
be identified from the General tab of the System applet in Control Panel - they
have a B or C after the 4.00.950 version number. Themajority ofWindows 98 PCs
will almost certainly contain drives that have been formatted to FAT32.
Final Checks
l To eliminate any nasty surprises later, a little further preparation is needed
before starting the installation process. Take a full backup of the existing
system and have it verified. Disconnect the uninterruptible power supply(UPS) if present, and check that the system BIOS is running the most up-to-date
firmware version.
l Prior to setting up a dual-boot betweenWindows NT 4.0 and Windows 2000,
ensure Service Pack 4 or later has been installed to the former. Note also that
Windows 2000 cannot be installed on a compressed partition - unless the
partition is compressed using NTFS. Be aware also that Windows 2000 does
not support DriveSpace or DoubleSpace compression technologies found in
Windows 95 and Windows 98. While it isn’t strictly necessary to uncompress
these partitions in a dual-boot configuration, they won’t be available when
runningWindows 2000.
l It is important to ensure that the computer’s components are registered on
Microsoft’s Hardware Compatibility List (HCL). This list is maintained and
updated regularly and can be accessed at www.microsoft.com/hcl.Microsoft
will be in a much better position to offer your organisation support if components
are certified.
Installation
To help avoid potential problems, Windows NT users should invoke the Setup
utility by runningWINNT32.EXE from the command prompt.Windows 9x users
should simply insert the Windows 2000 CD in the CD-ROM drive and wait for
the Autorun feature to automatically fire up the Setup Wizard.
For the most part, installing Windows 2000 as part of a dual-boot configuration
is as straightforward as installing it to a single-boot configuration. There are a
couple of points to look out for, however, and these appear early in the installation.
For instance, when the Windows Setup screen appears (see Figure 1), you
need to specify that you want to “Install a new copy of Windows 2000 (Clean
Install)” rather than choosing the “Upgrade to Windows 2000" option. After
completing the licence agreement, click the Special Options button and select
Advanced Options.
Next, tick the “I want to choose the installation partition during Setup” box, click
OK, and then clickNext. Setup will copy the installation files to the hard disk and
reboot. There will be a brief glimpse of the boot menu, just before you are invited
to continue with the installation. The Setup screen now shows all existing partitions,
along with any un-partitioned space on the computer. Select the empty
partition you created earlier, before starting the installation process. Obviously,
in order to avoid a major calamity later, it is extremely important to install
Windows 2000 to the correct partition. If this partition is FAT orFAT32, your users
will then be given the choice of converting the partition to NTFS.
As discussed earlier, NTFS is not the best choice in a dual-boot combination
because it is not fully compatiblewithWindows NT’s version ofNTFS. And, since
Windows 9x operating systems cannot access NTFS, the best solution all round
is to avoid the option to upgrade to NTFS and stick with FAT or FAT32. Setup
will then go about detecting the devices installed on the computer. To all intents
and purposes, the installation from that point onwards is just like any other.
Boot Menu
Once installation is complete, managing a dual-boot or multiple-boot combination
is achieved via a simple set of controls. Basically, these controls take the form
of a boot menu, allowing your users to specify which version of Windows is
launched at startup by default. If no selection is confirmed then the default version
of Windows will load automatically after a set amount of time. Although these
settings are configurable, they are buried a little more deeply in Windows 2000
than they are inWindows NT.
To find them, right-clickMyComputer and choose Properties, click theAdvanced
tab and then the Startup and Recovery button. Make the selections from the
“Default Operating System” drop-down (see Figure 2), and the “Display the list
of operating systems for X seconds” box, which will show 30 seconds by default.
Shortening the bootwaiting time to 10 or 15 seconds will likely be the best option
for the majority of your users.
To change or delete the names that appear in the boot menu, use the BOOT.INIfile found in the root folder of the system’s bootable partition. However, before
editing the file with an application such as Notepad, it is quite likely that its
Read-only attribute will need to be removed. This is achieved by right-clicking
the file in anExplorer window, choosing Properties anddeselecting the Read-only
attribute. Remember to turn the Read-only attribute back on once the file has been
successfully edited. Editing BOOT.INI is extremely straightforward. To remove
Windows 9x from the boot menu, for example, your users would remove the
following line (where C: is assumed to be the boot drive letter):
C:\="Microsoft Windows"
With the line deleted, the system will boot directly toWindows 2000 without the
option to boot Windows 9x. Alternatively, your users might wish to disable the
countdown timer indefinitely, so that the bootmenu is displayed until a selection
is made manually. To disable the timer, simply edit BOOT.INI by changing the
timeout setting to:
timeout=-1
Applications
With Windows 2000 up and running,most (but not all) software applicationswill
need to be re-installed in order to update the registry. In cases where partitions
are file system compatible, the applications can safely be re-installed to the same
directory in which they currently reside. A few applications, such as Paint Shop
Pro, for example, should not need to be reinstalled and should continue to
function if a shortcut is added to the Windows 2000 Desktop. This can be achieved
by opening Windows Explorer, dragging the target’s application extension file
onto the Desktop with the right mouse button, and selecting “Create Shortcut(s)
Here” from the pop-up menu.
If your users use the My Documents folder to store files, they may find it makes
sense to point both Windows 2000 and Windows 9x to the same directory. In
Windows 2000, for example, simply right-click on the My Documents icon, click
on Properties and type in - or browse to - the favoured location. Of course, none
of this will be possible ifWindows 2000 is installedwith the NTFS format. If NTFS
is used, all applications and files will need to be installed to the Windows 2000
partition. Thiswastes considerable disk space since it results in two copies of each
application residing on each machine.
Summary
With certain reservations, Windows NT and Windows 2000 can be set up to
dual-boot reasonably well together. But, with Windows 2000 being touted as a
direct upgrade to NT,most users are likely to regard this combination as nothing
more than a short-term solution. Once Windows 2000 is seen to be running
smoothly, the general idea will be to get rid of NT as quickly as possible.
Amore permanent dual-boot arrangement betweenWindows 2000 andWindows
98 makes greater sense, especially if all of the partitions have been formatted as
FAT32. Indeed, there is every reason to expect a dual-boot combination of this
nature to run trouble-free for some considerable time.