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I'm going to try OSL2000 to dual boot between XP and 98se on my Athlon 2500+ box.

Question is, I've got 1gig of ram on this puppy. I know XP can handle it, and I also know that 98se doesn't really know what to do with anything over 512.

Will the other 512 cause problems when I'm running 98? I've heard that it slows the system down, and I've also heard that it basically just ignores it.

Also, online reviews indicate OSL2000 is pretty solid. Any recommendations here?

Thanks.

First off, be aware that you don't need a boot manager unless you want to use it for another reason. XP itself will setup a multi-boot if you install it along with 98. However you usually want to install 98 first, then install XP and tell it to do a seperate install instead of an upgrade.

You can install 98 after XP but it's a bit tricker. More detailed info here: http://www.soton.ac.uk/~dg8/korean/dual ... _win9x.htm

I recommend you use seperate partitions for each OS, although you don't have to.

98 itself doesn't have a problem with a lot of RAM (unless you go over 1Gb), but some older mobos do have a problem addressing large ram with Win98. If this is a modern mobo you won't have a problem.

98 may run a bit slower with 1Gb in it because it's not designed to run efficiently with that much memory, but it should still run fine.

Originally posted by FlyingPenguin
However you usually want to install 98 first, then install XP and tell it to do a seperate install instead of an upgrade.
I recommend you use seperate partitions for each OS, although you don't have to.

Yep, it is pretty much that easy!

Unfortunately, I've already got XP installed and nicely tweaked, and I really don't want to wipe the drive and start over with 98 first.

OSL2000 is cheap enough -- I've already got this install ghosted onto my secondary drive, so if something goes horribly wrong, I can just go back to my original setup.

Thanks. I probably won't notice the performance hit that much, then.

As I stated above, no need to wipe the XP partition - just involves a little work. Go to the link I posted & it shows you how to install dual-boot XP/98 even if you installed XP first.

You might want to try this

Microsoft Virtual PC 2004 45-Day Free Trial Editionhttp://www.microsoft.com/downloads/deta ... laylang=en

A "virtual PC" lets you experiment with software and system settings in a nearly 100% safe way, without affecting your current setup--- and without even having to reboot or leave your main OS. Everything about your current setup--- your OS, your apps, everything--- stays up and running normally while the virtual PC is in operation.

You see, a virtual PC is a standard desktop computer completely emulated in software. You can install an operating system, applications, or utilities on a virtual PC and use it exactly the same way you do on a standard PC. The installed software thinks it's running on a normal, stand-alone physical system, but it's not: Instead, it's running inside a protected memory space on a host system, with special emulation software masquerading as a separate and standalone BIOS, motherboard, hard drive, floppy, CD drive, display adapter, network card, and so on. A virtual PC provides all the normal hardware of a standard PC, created entirely in software