Multiple Boot Systems
Most computer users do all of their computing from within a singleoperating system, and thus only need a single Windows NT system, but there are other aspects of a multiple bootsystem that may be useful to you. A multiple boot system (meaning you have more than one operating system you canboot into) can allow you to run a wider range of programs, and can give you the means for faster and easier disasterrecovery and greater security.
Second Windows NT System
This is useful for swift recovery of a corrupted system. Normallyyou would have to recover through use of an Emergency Repair Disk or, in extreme cases, through a full reinstallationof Windows NT. Both of these methods take longer than recovery through a secondary system, and the full reinstallationwill likely lose your registry data and require reinstallation of your applications. But if you have a secondarysystem partition, restoring from backups can be all that you need to do, especially if your backup package canmake a full image backup.
A second Windows NT system is simply a minimal Windows NT installationwith no optional features, just what you need to boot up and access files. This would include your backup packageso you can run it to restore the primary system if necessary. When you cannot boot into your primary system, youboot into this one and use it to repair the primary. The repair can be done by copying a replacement for a knownbad file, or by restoring from a backup, or (if your backup package allows it) by reformating the primary systempartition and restoring an image backup. The third option, restoring an image backup, requires that the secondaryWindows NT system be installed into a separate partition. Ideally it would be on a separate physical disk, as thiswould allow you to recover should the hard disk containing the primary system partition fail. This is probablythe best system for most sites.
The primary system partition should be on a separate hard disk fromthe 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, withno recovery required. If the primary system partition fails, you can boot to the secondary system and restore theprimary from backup.
DOS
Installing DOS gives you the ability to use tools that may not beWindows NT compatible. Please be warned that many DOS applications do not work well from within Windows NT; youcan corrupt data or crash your system by running them when you have Windows NT booted. This is because DOS applicationsgenerally are designed under the assumption that they can use all of the resources of the system; this conflictswith Windows NT. Many DOS applications do run well under Windows NT, but before trying one, be sure you have afull backup! A very common problem is corrupting the data in memory, which is why Windows NT usually gives youthe 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 thatalso has Windows NT lies in the long Windows NT filenames. DOS cannot recognize them, and will truncate them, whichmay result in the applications that access those files being unable to find them. You could get around this underWindows 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 NTFSpartitions unless you have a special program to allow NTFS access. I have never used such a program, and I can'tsay how safe they are. We neither recommend nor discourage using them.
Windows
If you have installed DOS, you can also install Windows. Some Windowsapplications are not Windows NT compatible, so again, you should have a full backup before first trying to runone from Windows NT. However, running Windows application from Windows will not damage your Windows NT files, exceptas noted above for DOS.
When defragmenting with Diskeeper for Windows NT, there is a specialhazard to watch for if you run Windows for Workgroups: You must add the Windows for Workgroups paging file to theDiskeeper Exclusion List. If the Windows for Workgroups paging file is defragmented, it may become unusable.
Windows 95
Windows 95 can use the FAT-32 format, which Windows NT does not yetdo, and cannot access NTFS partitions. Many applications that will run under Windows 95 will not run under WindowsNT, and vice-versa. Aside from these points, I don't know of any file incompatibilites between the two systems.
The Configuration
Putting this all together, we can decide what will usually be thebest configuration. Most systems have a built-in boot sequence of A:, then C: (or C:, then A:). On those systems,you should have the Primary Windows NT System on D:, using the NTFS format, and the Secondary Windows NT Systemon C:. C: should be NTFS format (for security) unless you are using another operating system (DOS, Windows, Windows95), or your system is RISC-based, in which case C: must use the FAT format because DOS and the DOS-based systemsdo not support the NTFS format and require that C: be available. RISC-based systems require FAT format for thesystem partition, so D: would also have to be FAT. Windows NT does not require that the boot and system partitionsbe the same, so it can boot from drive D:.
Putting the Primary Windows NT system on an NTFS format device meansyou 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 partitionnot 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:, youcan make that other device a secondary boot partition. If your BIOS setup allows you to specify the bootable harddrive (say, C: or D:), you can use C: for your primary bootable NTFS format system partition, then, for a recoverysystem, change the boot device to D: and make that a bootable partition.
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