dual boot machine

[Runner7775]

I have a computer that i want to run two different operating systems on. I was wondering if i could repartition the hard drive and install one on the other partition and then just change which to boot off of from the bios. My last questions is where can i geet a good program that will partition drives on the fly(and preferably free).

 

[pelvis_3]

It's very doable to install two different operating systems and dual boot, but the boot loader on the hard drive controls the OS boot sequence, not the BIOS.
You can easily obtain trial versions of Partition Magic and Paragon Partition Manager
Free ones include SystemRescueCD , Ultimate Boot CD , Ranish and Diskman .

 

[Matt555]

yup its a very easy thing to do, i re-sized partitions and then installed lovely linux, the boot loader in linux takes care of the multiple boot options and allows me to choose when i load the computer up.
Its an easy thing to do and we're all here for help if you need it!

 

[Runner7775]

well i was messing around and i couldnt get win 95 or 98 to install because i couldnt get a command prompt in dos. (i have a laptop and no floppy drive)

 

[Runner7775]

the biggest problem is that i have windows xp and ther is no dos in xp. what do i do?

 

[Anti-Trend]

When you're multibooting, install the oldest OSes first, and the newest last. If you're multibooting with Linux, install Linux last. Using that method the newer/more-advanced systems handle the bootloader.

 

[Runner7775]

is there any way to do it with windows xp already installed?

 

[Anti-Trend]

is there any way to do it with windows xp already installed?

Windows has to be reinstalled all the time anyway. You're better of just reformatting and doing it properly from the start, IMHO. Less pain & suffering that way. ;)