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| Article ID | : | 306559 |
| Last Review | : | June 8, 2005 |
| Revision | : | 2.0 |
This article was previously published under Q306559
This article explains how to set up Windows XP as a multiple-boot system with the following operating systems:
| • | Microsoft Windows 2000, Microsoft Windows NT 4.0, and Microsoft Windows NT 3.51 |
| • | Microsoft Windows 95 Operating System Release 2 (OSR2), Microsoft Windows 98, and Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition (Me) |
| • | MS-DOS or Microsoft Windows 3.x |
You can install more than one operating system on your
computer and choose which operating system you want to use every
time you start your computer. This is often called a dual-boot or
multiple-boot configuration (see the glossary at the end of this
article for definitions of unfamiliar terminology).
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Note that Encrypting File System (EFS) is not available in the
Windows XP Home Edition.
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You may need to reformat and repartition your hard disk if:
| • | You have only one volume. You have to install each operating system on a separate volume of your computer so that each installation can retain its own files and configuration information. |
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| • | The boot partition is not formatted with
the correct file system:
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The following table lists the supported file systems for Microsoft operating systems:
Operating system Supported file systems ----------------------------------------- MS-DOS FAT Windows 3.1 FAT Windows NT FAT, NTFS Windows 95 FAT Windows 95 OSR2 FAT, FAT32 Windows 98 FAT, FAT32 Windows Me FAT, FAT32 Windows 2000 FAT, FAT32, NTFS Windows XP FAT, FAT32, NTFS
Before creating a multiple-boot configuration with Windows XP and another operating system, review the following precautions:
| • | Before attempting to create a multiple-boot system, be sure to back up your current system and all data files. | ||||||||||
| • | Each operating system must be installed on a separate volume. Microsoft does not support installing multiple operating systems on the same volume. | ||||||||||
| • | If you have only one volume on your computer, you have to reformat and repartition your hard disk to contain multiple volumes before you begin creating a multiple-boot configuration, unless you are simply installing another copy of Windows XP. | ||||||||||
| • | Do not install Windows XP on a compressed drive that was not compressed using the NTFS compression utility. | ||||||||||
| • | You have to use a different computer name for each operating system if the computer is on a Windows 2000 or Windows XP secure domain. | ||||||||||
| • | Install the operating systems in the
following order:
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Note You can only install a single instance of Windows
95, Windows 98, or Windows Me in a multiple-boot configuration.
You cannot configure a computer to multiple-boot Windows 95,
Windows 98, or Windows Me because each of these platforms use the
same boot file. For example, you can use Windows 95, Windows
2000, and Windows XP, but you cannot use Windows 95, Windows 98,
and Windows XP.
You have to install Windows XP only after installing MS-DOS,
Windows 95, Windows 98, or Windows Me to prevent these operating
systems from overwriting the Windows XP boot sector and the
Windows XP startup files.
To create a multiple-boot system with Windows XP and MS-DOS,
Windows 95, Windows 98 or Windows Me:
| 1. | Ensure that your hard disk is formatted with the correct file system. | ||||
| 2. | Install the multiple operating systems into separate volumes, in the following order: MS-DOS; Windows 95, Windows 98, or Windows Me; and then Windows XP. | ||||
| 3. | Do one of the following:
Install each operating system according to the standard installation procedure. |
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Using a multiple-boot system with both Windows NT 4.0 and
Windows XP is not recommended as a long-term solution. The NTFS
update in Service Pack 5 (SP5) for Windows NT 4.0 is provided
only to help you evaluate and upgrade to Windows XP.
To create a multiple-boot system with Windows NT 4.0 and Windows
XP:
| 1. | Ensure that your hard disk is formatted with the correct file system. |
| 2. | Install Windows NT 4.0 and apply SP5, and then install Windows XP to a separate volume. Install each operating system according to the standard installation procedure. |
Note If you intend to install more than one operating
system consisting of some combination of Windows NT 4.0, with
either Windows 2000, or Windows XP as the only installed
operating systems, you must ensure that you have installed SP5
for Windows NT 4.0. Windows XP automatically upgrades any NTFS
partitions that it finds on your system to the version of NTFS
that is used in Windows 2000 and Windows XP. However, Windows NT
4.0 requires SP5 to read and write files on a volume that is
formatted with the version of NTFS used in Windows 2000 and
Windows XP.
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If you are installing programs on more than one operating
system, you have to treat each operating system as a separate
entity. Any programs and drivers that you want to use must be
installed under each operating system under which you want to use
it. For example, if you want to use Microsoft Word on the same
computer under both Windows 98 and Windows XP, you have to start
Windows 98 and install Microsoft Word, and then, you have to
restart your computer under Windows XP and reinstall Microsoft
Word.
Note Windows 95 or Windows 98 might reconfigure hardware
settings the first time you use them, which may cause
configuration problems when you start Windows XP.
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If you have more than one operating system on your computer, you can set the operating system that you want to use as the default one for when you start your computer:
| • | Click Start, click Control Panel, and then double-click System. |
| • | On the Advanced tab, under Startup and Recovery, click Settings. |
| • | Under System startup, in the Default operating system list, click the operating system that you want to start when you turn on or restart your computer. |
| • | Select the Display list of
operating systems for check box, and then type
the number of seconds for which you want the list
displayed before the default operating system starts
automatically. To manually edit the boot options file, click Edit. Microsoft strongly recommends that you do not modify the boot options file (Boot.ini), because doing so may render your computer unusable. |
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| • | When you start Microsoft Internet
Explorer, Explorer may quit and you may receive an error
message that is similar to the following: iexplore caused
an Invalid Page Fault in module kernel32.dll This error
may occur if you install multiple operating systems on a
single volume. To resolve this issue, install each operating system on a separate volume. |
| • | You cannot configure your computer to
start both Windows 95 and Windows 98 (or Windows Me). You cannot configure a computer to multiple boot Windows 95 and Windows 98 (or Windows Me) because these platforms use the same boot file. Therefore, multiple booting Windows 95, Windows 98 and Windows Me at the same time is not supported. |
| • | When you start your computer, the boot
menu does not appear and you are unable to start Windows
XP. This issue may occur if you install Windows 95, Windows 98 or Windows Me after you install Windows XP. To resolve this issue, repair, or reinstall Windows XP. |
Boot Partition
The boot partition contains the Windows operating system and its
support files. The boot partition can be, but does not have to
be, the same as the system partition. There will be one, and only
one, system partition, but there will be one boot partition for
each operating system in a multi-boot system.
Note On dynamic disks, this is known as the boot volume.
For more information about disk storage in Windows XP, click the
following article number to view the article in the Microsoft
Knowledge Base: 314343
(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314343/) Basic Storage Versus
Dynamic Storage in Windows XP See also: System Partition, Volume
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Dual-Boot
A computer configuration that can start two different operating
systems.
See also: Multiple-Boot
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Extended Partition
Extended partitions were developed in response to the need for
more than four partitions per disk drive. An extended partition
can itself contain multiple partitions and this extends the
number of partitions possible on a single drive. An extended
partition is a container for logical drives that are formatted
and assigned drive letters. The introduction of extended
partitions was driven by increasing capacities of new disk
drives.
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FAT (File Allocation Table)
A file system that is used by MS-DOS and other Windows-based
operating systems to organize and manage files. The file
allocation table (FAT) is a data structure that Windows creates
when you format a volume by using the FAT or FAT32 file systems.
Windows stores information about each file in the FAT so that it
can retrieve the file later.
See also: FAT32, File System, NTFS File System
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FAT32
A derivative of the FAT file system. FAT32 supports smaller
cluster sizes and larger volumes than FAT, which results in more
efficient space allocation on FAT32 volumes.
See also: File Allocation Table (FAT), NTFS File System, Volume
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File System
In an operating system, the file system is the overall structure
in which files are named, stored, and organized. NTFS, FAT, and
FAT32 are types of file systems.
See also: NTFS File System, FAT, FAT32
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Logical Partition
Logical partitions are those partitions contained within an
extended partition. In terms of use they are no different than a
non-extended primary partition. The number of logical drives that
may be created in extended partition is limited by the number of
available drive letters and the amount of hard drive space
available for creating drives.
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Multiple-Boot
A computer configuration that can start two different operating
systems.
See also: Dual-Boot
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NTFS File System
An advanced file system that provides performance, security
(i.e.,file and folder permissions), reliability, and advanced
features that are not found in any version of FAT. For example,
NTFS guarantees volume consistency by using standard transaction
logging and recovery techniques. If a system fails, NTFS uses its
log file and checkpoint information to restore the consistency of
the file system. In Windows 2000 and Windows XP, NTFS also
provides advanced features such as encryption, Reparse points,
Sparse files, USN Journal, and disk quotas.
See also: FAT32, File Allocation Table (FAT), File System
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Primary Partition
A partition that is used to start an operating system. Primary
partitions are partitions that take up one of the four primary
partition slots in the disk drive's partition table. You can also
use primary partitions that do not contain the operating system.
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System Partition
The system partition refers to the disk volume that contains the
hardware-specific files that are needed to start Windows, such as
Ntldr, Boot.ini, and Ntdetect.com. The system partition can be,
but does not have to be, the same volume as the boot partition.
Note On dynamic disks, this is known as the system volume.
See also: Boot Partition, Volume
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Volume
A volume is an area of storage on a hard disk that is either a
primary partition or a logical drive in an extended partition.A
volume is formatted by using a file system, such as FAT or NTFS,
and has a drive letter assigned to it. You can view the contents
of a volume by clicking its icon in Windows Explorer or in My
Computer. A single hard disk can have multiple volumes, and
volumes can also span multiple disks.
See also: File Allocation Table (FAT), NTFS File System
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For more information about multibooting with Windows 2000 and Windows XP, see the following Microsoft Web page: Multibooting with Windows 2000 and Windows XP (http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/techinfo/administration/management/mltiboot.asp)