Getting into Dos from Dual Boot System (W98)

[ciscoman1]

After setting up my dual boot system with 98SE primary boot and Win2K Server if I want to get into PURE DOS and press the F8 key I will go into the Win2K bootup options in dos and I want to be able to get into 98 bootup options. The only way I have figured out to get into the 98 bootup options is to put in my FLOPPY disc(Startup disk) to boot into a regular A:\ prompt and then change to a C:\ PROMPT. Is there another way to get into the 98 dos options as I may want to use the scanreg /restore option on occasion. Also if I'm at the C:\ prompt and then type Win I can not boot into windows like I used to before the dual boot, so is there a way to boot into windows using the Win command or do I have to shutdown and just boot up through Win2K boot loader?

Thanks Ciscoman1

[reghakr]

I don't know why Win2K server would be different. I'm running Win2K Pro and Win98.

When I hit F8, I'm first given the choices, then sent to the operating system choices and can select Win98 right here.

Have you tried changing the boot order?

reghakr

[BertImmenschuh]

Ciscoman, here's how I do it: When the menu comes up, I select Win98, hit Enter, and IMMEDIATELY hit the Ctrl key. Then I get the Win98 bootup menu. As they say in love and war, timing is everything.

[ciscoman1]

To reghakr
Do you have the choice of Active Directory Recovery Console option as I think when I installed the recovery console which gives me the AD recovery console that when I select F8 it automatically sends me into the dos which is similar to the 98 dos options but sends you into Win2K recovery. The way I have it setup now is that 98SE boots up automatically within 5 seconds as I changed this in the advanced settings in the startup of Server and I want 98 to bootup first. I think because I installed recovery console that this is the reason it will only boot into dos for Server ciscoman

[ciscoman1]

To Bert
I will give it a try and tell you if it worked thanks ciscoman

[ciscoman1]

Bert
I tried your suggestion but it won't work. I can see the normal dos bootup selections and then the window says loading MS-Dos files and then NEXT in the same window it says No Previous MS-Dos Files Found and it proceeds to load windows as usual, so for now the only way I can get to a normal C PROMPT is to use my 98 startup floppy. Maybe I am doing something wrong, but I can see the 6 options for booting into 98 but I can not select any of them. ciscoman1

[BertImmenschuh]

How are you trying to select them?

[ciscoman1]

Bert
I figured out another way to get a C prompt, which is to select Start, shutdown and then MS dos Mode, which then gives me a C:\Windows Dos prompt, BUT then I get another warning message which says that I am in MS-Dos COMPATIBILITY MODE which is no big deal I guess ciscoman1

[BertImmenschuh]

That warning is just that, an alert that you are not in a DOS-window inside Windows. One thing you can do at a DOS prompt is edit the boot.ini and increase the delay on the menu.

[ciscoman1]

Bert
I first tried the up and down arrows and then I tried using a number but both ways didn't work. Is there another way to try?? ciscoman

[ciscoman1]

To Bert
I want the delay short so windows will load faster. I have no problem selecting which OS I want to boot to, so if I decide to load Server I just hit the down arrow within the 5 seconds and Server loads. What do you think of using the ms-dos mode selection to boot up to??? ciscoman1

[ciscoman1]

To Bert
I tried changing the time to 10 seconds to see if that would give me more time to make a selection in the 98 bootup options but it still says 0 selections chosen and 00 seconds left to select and then it just loads windows so I am stumped ciscoman

[BertImmenschuh]

I just was wondering if a USB mouse or keyboard was an issue.

DOS-mode is fine for troubleshooting or if necessary for some older programs. I don't need it at all on WinXP as the few DOS-based programs I have work just fine in a Command Prompt window. I kept the drives at FAT32 just so I could boot a Win98 disk and work with them if need be. If you got to NTFS on the Server side, you can't access them, there is no boot floppy for NTFS.

[BertImmenschuh]

Here's some links that may help:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q311578 (http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q99743>http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q99743</a>

<a)

<a target="_blank" href=http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q311578>http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q311578</a>

[ciscoman1]

To Bert
The Win2K Server is NTFS and I have the recovery console installed which gives me the dos options to recover domain controllers plus the normal 2K bootup options. I can use the floppy but I was just wondering if I was missing something, but it is still strange that I can't get into the 98 bootup options(or that I can't select any of the options for 98) since you are able to use the ctrl key to get to the 98 options. ciscoman

[ciscoman1]

To Bert
I will check out the links you gave me and see if there is something I might be able to use. I set the delay time and which OS starts first or default by right clicking My Computer(in 2K Server) and selecting advanced then startup and recovery to set the time delay and which OS so I don't know if I really need to edit the boot.ini file, but maybe I need to set the timeout to the default of 30 seconds(just a thought) ciscoman1

[BertImmenschuh]

As far as I know in WinXP, when changing the boot sequence it is supposed to re-write the boot.ini. But I don't have my Win98/Win2K notebook fired up just now.

[reghakr]

ciscoman,

No, I'm not using AD at all. Could be why you're not getting the same sceen choices as I am.

reghakr

[ciscoman1]

To reghakr
The AD(Domain Controller) recovery option may have some effect as to why I can't get into 98 bootup options, I don't really know Thanks ciscoman

[ciscoman1]

To Bert
I changed my partitions with Partition Magic and I was just wondering if this might be WHY I can't get into a 98 dos options window??? Any thoughts on this???? Thanks ciscoman1

[BertImmenschuh]

I'm trying to remember a Microsoft seminar on Active Directory a couple of years ago and to the best of my recollection, the server couldn't be a dual-boot with anything due to security requirements with AD. Wish I could find my notes.

[ciscoman1]

Bert
That could be true about AD and also I was wondering if after using Partition Magic that PM may have something to do with how I access the 98 dos prompt?? ciscoman1

[BertImmenschuh]

PM doesn't usually change the boot-up sequence as long as the installations stay on the same partitions.