So, as a competent computer user you are getting tired of the usual blue screens of death (BSOD’s) and the ever so common lockups of a Microsoft Windows 9x system. You have heard about the greatly increased stability of Windows NT and 2000, but some of the hardware incompatibilities have you running the other way with your tail between your legs. You are afraid to simply format and start over again and then run into problems mid way through a Windows 2000 install. I’m here to remove those doubts and worries and instruct you on a proper way to dual boot a Windows 98/2000 system. While many gamers complain that Win2k does not supply the general high FPS scores that Win98 does, with a few simple tweaks it can be made nearly as high (if not higher) and far more stable. If you are happy with how your Win98 box does for gaming but not for business or other common place apps, then you could just partition your drive and run such apps as Word ®, Lotus Notes ®, etc. from the Win2k partition. Application speed is a big plus of Win2k as well. Let’s get this ball rolling…

As long as you pay attention to a few basic but important rules, this will be very easy to set up.

• The C: partition on your hard drive can be either FAT16 or FAT32. W2K can recognize FAT16, FAT32 and NTFS. Unless you are making this a server or have a high need for security…then I would stick to FAT32 for compatibility sakes.
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  Sharing files/folders will be the same as Win98 as it is in Win2k.
  
• Install Windows 98 first as the Win2k install will locate the Win98 partition and will write its own boot loader. This boot loader will allow you to switch operating systems during boot up via a "Boot Loader" screen.
  
• I would recommend a third party partitioning tool such as "Partition Magic." Keep in mind that many of these will not function properly in WinME because of Microsoft’s decision to remove MS-DOS. Many of these have trial versions, which can get you through the partitioning phase. Check download.com. If you are determined to dual boot Win2k on a WinME box, then either buy a second hard drive…or partition the hard drive using FDISK before you install WinME.

I would suggest doing a clean install of Win9x before hand. This will minimize any problems you will run into. Also many companies make Win2k compatible drivers…these function far better than the ones installed by default by Win2k. I would download these beforehand (check www.windrivers.com) and save them all to a universal location…such as C:\drivers for example.