Running both Windows 98 and XP

I have some DOS programs that have difficulty in the XP system. I would like to run both Windows 98 and XP on the same disk. Is this possible?

I have some DOS programs that have difficulty in the XP system. I would like to run both Windows 98 and XP on the same disk. Is this possible?

– Lorand Neuwirth

lorand@steelshearinginc.com

There are two different ways you can approach this situation. One is to use Microsoft’s Virtual PC. This is an application that installs under Windows XP and allows you to run multiple “virtual” computers with the same or different operating systems. This is a quick way to run an application that requires a different operating system from what you currently have. The process involves creating a virtual machine where you “install” an operating system for which you have a license and then proceed to configure it to your requirements. With this approach, I would encourage you to have at least 500M bytes of memory in your machine, 1G byte would be better. A plus with Virtual PC is that if you need to move things to another computer, all you need to do is to install Virtual PC on the new system and move the system image with your application on to the new system. You should be up and running within a few minutes.

Another way is to get a disk partitioning tool such as Symantec’s Partition Magic. This will allow you to “reduce” the amount of disk space that the current operating system takes on your drive and carve out space for the additional operating system. After the process is complete, you will also have a new boot menu in place to be able to boot into one operating system or the other when the machine is turned on or restarted. The downside to this option is you won’t be able to remain in XP and go to the app you want to run in Windows 98 without rebooting.

Both options have their pros and cons. What I have discussed here is representative of two ways to accomplish your goals. As with anything involving computers, that are possibly other ways to accomplish what you are trying to do. I have included your e-mail in this column so that other readers with suggestions can get in contact with you directly.