DOS & XP and some Ghost questions - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

Prince · 02-18-2004, 03:13 PM

I've wanted to work on my own distro of FreeDOS (for the hell of it), but haven't gotten around to installing FreeDOS on my machine. I was hoping to find a really cheap old 486 or something to do dev work on, but since I have not found one I am considering using my Dell for this.

As I recall, DOS has to be installed on the first partition of the first hard drive. Or was it that it simply must be installed on whichever is set as the primary partition? My memory fails me. Currently, I have two hard drives, the first HD consists of "drive" C, on which I have XP, on NTFS. The second HD consists of two partitions for data storage purposes. My question is, can I simply use PartitionMagic to create a new "first, primary partition" on the HD 1 without having this affect XP?

I have Norton Ghost, but I've never even used it. I've also considered a total reformat, repartition and reinstall, but I'd prefer not to have to go down that road. I know this very basic stuff that I've pretty much forgotten, but...any suggestions?

Also, if anyone has any tips on how to use Ghost, that'd be lovely. I've looked at it, but didn't really go into it. It'd be grand if it were possible to just make an image of the OS with drivers and all, so I would not have to download all the WinUpdates everytime I reformat and reinstall.

JohnnyRoyale · 02-18-2004, 04:51 PM

I believe that you need Boot Magic (inclluded with Partition Magic) to setup your boot options, but you can use Partition Magic to resize the XP partition, then install DOS onto the new, unused partition. Then, when you boot, the menu will let you select which parition wou boot from, and thusly, which OS.

hrdwareguy · 02-19-2004, 05:31 AM

JohnnyRoyale is correct. One additional note is that DOS must be installed on the Active partition. So once you get it created, you will need to use fdisk to set the partition as active.

You can use ghost but the problem is that the ghost is of your hard drive. If you restore from the ghost image, it will restore to your hard drive wiping out any partitions you may have created.

02-18-2004, 03:13 PM	#1 (permalink)
Prince /nɑndəsˈkrɪpt/ Location: LV-426	DOS & XP and some Ghost questions I've wanted to work on my own distro of FreeDOS (for the hell of it), but haven't gotten around to installing FreeDOS on my machine. I was hoping to find a really cheap old 486 or something to do dev work on, but since I have not found one I am considering using my Dell for this. As I recall, DOS has to be installed on the first partition of the first hard drive. Or was it that it simply must be installed on whichever is set as the primary partition? My memory fails me. Currently, I have two hard drives, the first HD consists of "drive" C, on which I have XP, on NTFS. The second HD consists of two partitions for data storage purposes. My question is, can I simply use PartitionMagic to create a new "first, primary partition" on the HD 1 without having this affect XP? I have Norton Ghost, but I've never even used it. I've also considered a total reformat, repartition and reinstall, but I'd prefer not to have to go down that road. I know this very basic stuff that I've pretty much forgotten, but...any suggestions? Also, if anyone has any tips on how to use Ghost, that'd be lovely. I've looked at it, but didn't really go into it. It'd be grand if it were possible to just make an image of the OS with drivers and all, so I would not have to download all the WinUpdates everytime I reformat and reinstall. __________________ Who is John Galt?

02-18-2004, 04:51 PM	#2 (permalink)
JohnnyRoyale Psycho Location: Boston, MAss., USA	I believe that you need Boot Magic (inclluded with Partition Magic) to setup your boot options, but you can use Partition Magic to resize the XP partition, then install DOS onto the new, unused partition. Then, when you boot, the menu will let you select which parition wou boot from, and thusly, which OS. __________________ I'm gonna be rich and famous, as soon I invent a device that lets you stab people in the face over the internet.

02-19-2004, 05:31 AM	#3 (permalink)
hrdwareguy "Officer, I was in fear for my life" Location: Oklahoma City	JohnnyRoyale is correct. One additional note is that DOS must be installed on the Active partition. So once you get it created, you will need to use fdisk to set the partition as active. You can use ghost but the problem is that the ghost is of your hard drive. If you restore from the ghost image, it will restore to your hard drive wiping out any partitions you may have created. __________________ Gun Control is hitting what you aim at Aim for the TFP, Donate Today