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In what order should I install OSs if I want to multiboot?
John Savill
May 23, 2001
1 Min Read
A. The rule is to install the oldest OS first and work forward. For example, if you want to install DOS, Windows Me, and Windows 2000, you should install them in that order. Below, I've listed the requirements for each OS when you plan a multiboot environment.
MS-DOS—Requires a FAT partition on a basic disk, and if you don't install DOS on the system partition, the system partition must also be FAT.
Windows 95—Requires a FAT partition on a basic disk, and if you don't install Win95 on the system partition, the system partition must also be FAT. Windows XP and Win2K won't be able to see any volumes compressed with DriveSpace or DoubleSpace.
Windows Me, Windows 98, Windows 95 OEM Service Release 2 (OSR2)—Requires a FAT/FAT32 partition on a basic disk, and if you don't install the OS on the system partition, the system partition must also be FAT/FAT32. Windows XP and Win2K won't be able to see any volumes compressed with DriveSpace or DoubleSpace.
Windows NT 4.0—Requires a FAT/NTFS partition on a basic disk, and if you don't install NT 4.0 on the system partition, the system partition must not be FAT32 or NTFS 5.0 (NTFS5). Any NTFS-formatted volumes won't be available to any Windows Me or Win9x OSs.
XP, Win2K—Requires a FAT/FAT32/NTFS or NTFS5 partition on a basic or dynamic disk. Any NTFS-formatted volumes won't available to any Windows Me or Win9x OSs. Any NTFS5-formatted volumes will be available to NT 4.0 machines only if you've installed Service Pack 4 (SP4).
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