Windows NT Tips & Tricks 12 September 1997 Multiple Boot Systems Most computer users do all of their computing from within a single operating system, and thus only need a single Windows NT system, but there are other aspects of a multiple boot system that may be useful to you. A multiple boot system (meaning you have more than one operating system you can boot into) can allow you to run a wider range of programs, and can give you the means for faster and easier disaster recovery, and greater security. Second Windows NT System This is useful for swift recovery of a corrupted system. Normally you would have to recover through use of an Emergency Repair Disk or, in extreme cases, through a full reinstallation of Windows NT. Both of these methods take longer than recovery through a secondary system, and the full reinstallation will likely lose your registry data and require reinstallation of your applications. But if you have a secondary system partition, restoring from backups can be all that you need to do, especially if your backup package can make a full image backup. A second Windows NT system is simply a minimal Windows NT installation with no optional features, just what you need to boot up and access files. This would include your backup package so you can run it to restore the primary system if necessary. When you cannot boot into your primary system, you boot into this one and use it to repair the primary. The repair can be done by copying a replacement for a known bad file, or by restoring from a backup, or (if your backup package allows it) by reformating the primary system partition and restoring an image backup. The third option, restoring an image backup, requires that the secondary Windows NT system be installed into a separate partition. Ideally it would be on a separate physical disk, as this would allow you to recover should the hard disk containing the primary system partition fail. This is probably the best system for most sites. The primary system partition should be on a separate hard disk from the boot partition. The boot partition will also be the secondary system partition. Then, if the boot partition (or disk) fails, you can reformat and reinstall your secondary system, and the primary will be untouched, with no recovery required. If the primary system partition fails, you can boot to the secondary system and restore the primary from backup. DOS Installing DOS gives you the ability to use tools that may not be Windows NT compatible. Please be warned that many DOS applications do not work well with Windows NT; you can corrupt data or crash your system by running them when you have Windows NT booted. This is because DOS applications generally are designed under the assumption that they can use all of the resources of the system; this conflicts with Windows NT. Many DOS applications do run well under Windows NT, but before trying one, be sure you have a full backup! A very common problem is corrupting the data in memory, which is why Windows NT usually gives you the option of running a DOS application in its own memory space. Always use this option. The most common hazard in running DOS applications on a system that also has Windows NT lies in the long Windows NT filenames. DOS cannot recognize them, and will truncate them, which may result in the applications that access those files being unable to find them. You could get around this under Windows NT 3.51 by simply not using long filenames, but Windows NT 4.0 uses some long names in the operating system. If any system files get their names truncated, you may not be able to bring up Windows NT. When you are booted to DOS you will not be able to access any NTFS partitions unless you have a special program to allow NTFS access. I have heard of such programs, but have never used one. I have not heard if any are out of beta test, nor do I know how to locate them, or how safe they are. We do not recommend their use. Windows If you have installed DOS, you can also install Windows. Some Windows applications are not NT compatible, so again, you should have a full backup before first trying to run one from Windows NT. However, running Windows application from Windows will not damage your Windows NT files, except as noted above for DOS. When defragmenting with Diskeeper for Windows NT, there is a special hazard to watch for if you run Windows for Workgroups: You must add the Windows for Workgroups pagefile to the Diskeeper Exclusion List. If the Windows for Workgroups pagefile is defragmented, it may become unuseable. Windows 95 Windows 95 can use the FAT-32 format, which Windows NT does not yet do, and cannot access NTFS partitions. Many applications that will run under Windows 95 will not run under Windows NT, and vice-versa. Aside from these points, I don't know of any incompatibilites between the two systems. The Configuration Now, putting this all together, we can decide what will usually be the best configuration. Most systems have a built-in boot sequence of A:, C: (or C:, A:). For these, you should have the Primary Windows NT System on D:, using the NTFS format, and the Secondary Windows NT System on C:. C: should be NTFS format (for security) unless you are using another operating system (DOS, Windows, Windows 95). Then C: must use the FAT format because DOS and the DOS-based systems do not support the NTFS format and require that C: be available. Windows NT does not require that the boot and system partitions be the same, so it will boot perfectly well from D:. Putting the Primary Windows NT system on an NTFS format device means you will be able to take advantage of all of the Windows NT security, which is not available on a FAT format partition; it will be that much harder for a criminal to get past your security setup. Having the Windows NT system partition not the same as the boot partition gives you an easier recovery path in the event of a boot partition failure, as described under Second Windows NT System. If your system allows a boot from a device other than A: or C:, you can make that other device a secondary boot partition. If your BIOS setup allows you to specify the bootable hard device (say, C: or D:), you can use C: for your primary bootable NTFS format system partition, then, for a recovery system, change the boot device to D: and make that a bootable partition. If you do not wish to receive these articles, please let me know by sending your request to DKNT_SUPPORT@EXECUTIVE.COM. If you have any problems or questions, please send them to me at dknt_support@executive.com. If you have any comments or suggestions, please send them to Quality Assurance at kosborne@executive.com. Lance Jensen Technical Support Executive Software International (c) Copyright 1997 Executive Software International, Inc. All rights reserved. [R] Diskeeper is a registered trademark owned by Executive Software International, Inc. [R] Windows NT is a registered trademark owned by Microsoft Corporation. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.