Setting up a dual boot: How To

[Drisos]

Hi there people!

I've decided it's about time to go for a new 'format C' very soon. Fresh new start.
The thought of a dual boot has crossed my mind for a few times... Why the hell? Well, because of TW/other gaming. That's why I'm posting here and not on a devoted-nerds-forum.

I want an older/other OS for gaming purposes, next to just xp or vista for normal stuff. (email, office-like stuff, sharing, playing music and movies, MSN, and of course just a lot of web browsing)

So... two questions:

- Which old/other OS to pick? It's supposed to run at least M:TW and S:TW. Compatibility with other games and the mainstream software needed for the 'email, office, sharing, music&movies, msn, browsing' is a pro, but not a must.
- I'm not too techy... How to achieve this dual boot system?

I have a 500 GB HDD. Right now I have: 1 large nfts partition with windows, other software and documents. 1 large ntfs partition with music n stuff. 1 mini FAT32 partition on which S:TW is installed. (long story. but the fat32 thing didn't help)
I don't need that third partition, but I want to keep that music/data one of course. (comes in handy, need a backup partition for during this process anyway)
So, I'm going to cut off one partition, and create a new one. (must be bigger than before.. it needs space for an os and several games and perhaps some minor software shizzle) than format these two.. and then?
I Mean, what steps to take when I've come to the actual installing of these operation systems?

Thanks loads in advance.
D.

[Geezer57]

OK, no one else seems to have anything to offer, so I'll take a stab at it.

Shogun-TW doesn't like running under WinXP, so you'll have to install an older OS. I suggest Win98se - it will need a FAT32 partition, as it doesn't recognize NTFS. For everyday use, I still stick with WinXP, preferably on a NTFS partition.

So after you get your hard drive partitioned the way you want, install Win98se first onto the FAT32 partition. When you go to install WinXP afterwards, it will ask if you want to install over the existing OS. Refuse that option, and redirect the install to the NTFS partition. When it's done, you should have a boot menu appear at startup, asking you which OS you want to launch. You can edit a text file in WinXP (the file name escapes me at the moment) to change the appearance of the menu, the length of time it's displayed, etc.

Do these installs with the machine disconnected from the internet. After Win98se is installed, go into the hardware device manager and disable the ethernet connection (or whatever hardware you're using to connect with). You don't want to allow an older, insecure, OS to go online - it will be compromised in seconds.

Similarly with WinXP, don't connect the computer to your cable/DSL modem until after you've installed your antivirus (D/L the virus definition updates, etc., before starting this project), firewall, anti-spyware, etc. Once you feel fairly secure, do the Windows Update thing, install your game software, etc., you should be good to go.

I've glossed over some of the details, but the outline is there. Since you seem to be familiar with partitions and file systems, I assume you're not lacking in the basics of computer tech. Good luck, and Cheers!

P.S. If you have to play Shogun-TW online, it would be smarter to mod Medieval-TW with Samurai Warlords. That way you're not online with Win98se, and should get the same (or better) gaming experience.

[Drisos]

Hey there! Thanks!

I have the big picture of the steps to be taken in my head now. Only have to get myself a copy of Windows '98SE. (It's like 5-10 euro's here. So, no problem. ) And I have to get a CD/DVD with installation material for anti-virus stuff etc. (I'll be on AVG Free + Hitman Pro I guess... it's just freeware I download so I don't have an install CD.) Last time I did a Format C I just plugged the internet stuff in and starting by downloading AVG and some anti spyware stuff. Went fine too, but I'll see if I can do it the '100%-safe-way' now.
If I run into trouble I'll be in touch: I'll have other PC's with internet close.

P.S. If you have to play Shogun-TW online, it would be smarter to mod Medieval-TW with Samurai Warlords. That way you're not online with Win98se, and should get the same (or better) gaming experience.

What I'm aiming at is playing both online, in fact. Haven't played Samurai Wars before, but I've done quite a while of S:TW multiplayer gaming. This dual boot with a different OS than XP is an attempt to solve the forever connection trouble that started when I switched to XP.
(My computer does run Shogun quite normally under XP. Some trouble with my video card though, but for the rest it's all ok)

I'm not quite sure if I took the correct steps to log in at the M:TW server, but I couldn't login there either when I tried. Windows '98 may be a breaktrough. (BTW! Trying out hamachi meanwhile... might be a much more simple breakthrough. I can't do the formatting anyway in the next two weeks.) But if hamachi get's the trouble over with, I still might get this dual boot.. other old cool games might prefer it over XP as well.