Another dual boot question

[peter miller]

I want to run my pc recoording program as well as a few other odds and ends but I am confused a bit.
I'm aware of dual booting and partitioning but some what confused by it all.
I need to keep my recording program separate.
would not partitioning do the same? Without the need to have a dual windows98 setup.

A freind of mine is a games freak and loves flight sim pro he has partitioned his drive so flight sim is alone.
would this work the same with a high end sound card.
The sound card if dual booted would be picked up by both bootups I imagine. I may not be very clear to every one but I've done my best ..
Basically I need the partition and dual boot functions described I think. thanks
peter

 

[Slackmaster2K]

Over time, Windows9x tends to degrade. The more software you install and uninstall, the slower and less stable it becomes. When I was recording with Windows98 I would reinstall maybe once every 4-6 months, because I use my PC for more than just recording.

The idea of dual booting two copies of the same operating system is that you leave one remain "clean" (e.g. you only install your recording software) and let the other install get dirty (regular apps).

However, Windows98 does not come with a boot manager....so it's not really an option for you at this point.

You are on the right track with your partitioning idea though. While the physical location of windows and your applications has NOTHING to do with the performance of windows over time, it IS much easier to reinstall windows if it exists on its own partition.

Here's what you do: create a partition large enough to hold windows and all of your applications, *including* your recording applications, plus about 500-1000MB extra space. For me 2-3GB is sufficient. Then create a partition to hold your data...both audio and other crap. Now, when you want to reinstall windows, you just wipe that primary partition and reinstall....you don't have to worry about your data as it's safe on the extended partition. You will have to reinstall your applications of course...there's more to an "installation" than just copying files to the hard drive. All in all this is a good plan.

A better plan is to create a partition for windows and your apps, a second small to medium sized partition for your "boring" data (non-audio), and a third partition dedicated just for audio. The main benefit of this is that you can defrag just the partition that needs it, greatly decreasing your defrag times. Plus you can reformat your audio partitions (some people use several audio partitions) very easily. Make sure your audio partition is at a minimum large enough to hold your largest anticipated project, plus some breathing room. This plan only works well, however, if you have a means of backing up like CDR or DVDROM. (there's no point of keeping all the tracks from completed projects on your hard drive!)

Good luck!

Slackmaster 2000

 

[peter miller]

Thanks for the advice. I actually have masterbooter on my desktop ,I just have not worked up the guts to do it yet I'm not yet 100% computer confident.

I have a 13gb hard drive .Is this big enough for the job
128 ram 550mhz pentiumIII .
thanks again And I'LL think of giving it a go