This article explains how to set up Windows XP as a multiple-boot system with the

following operating systems:

• Microsoft Windows 2000, Microsoft Windows NT 4.0, and Microsoft Windows

NT 3.51

• Microsoft Windows 95 Operating System Release 2 (OSR2), Microsoft Windows

98, and Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition (Me)

• MS-DOS or Microsoft Windows 3.x

You can install more than one operating system on your computer and choose which
operating system you want to use every time you start your computer. This is often called
a dual-boot or multiple-boot configuration (see the glossary at the end of this article for
definitions of unfamiliar terminology).

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Glossary
• Boot Partition

• ∆υ α λ− Βο ο τ

• Εξ τ ε ν δ ε δ Πα ρ τ ι τ ι ο ν

• ΦΑ Τ (Φ ι λ ε Αλ λ ο χ α τ ι ο ν Τα β λ ε )

• ΦΑ Τ 32

• Φιλ ε Σψσ τ ε µ

• Λο γ ι χ α λ Πα ρ τ ι τ ι ο ν

• Μυ λ τ ι π λ ε − Β ο ο τ

• ΝΤΦ Σ Φιλ ε Σψσ τ ε µ

• Πρ ι µ α ρ ψ Πα ρ τ ι τ ι ο ν

• Σψσ τ ε µ Πα ρ τ ι τ ι ο ν

ςολ υ µ ε
Boot Partition
The boot partition contains the Windows operating system and its support files. The boot
partition can be, but does not have to be, the same as the system partition. There will be
one, and only one, system partition, but there will be one boot partition for each operating
system in a multi-boot system.

Note On dynamic disks, this is known as the boot volume.

For more information about disk storage in Windows XP, click the following article
number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
314343 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314343/ ) Basic Storage Versus Dynamic
Storage in Windows XP See also: System Partition, Volume

Dual-Boot
A computer configuration that can start two different operating systems.
See also: Multiple-Boot

Extended Partition
Extended partitions were developed in response to the need for more than four partitions
per disk drive. An extended partition can itself contain multiple partitions and this
extends the number of partitions possible on a single drive. An extended partition is a
container for logical drives that are formatted and assigned drive letters. The introduction
of extended partitions was driven by increasing capacities of new disk drives.

FAT (File Allocation Table)

A file system that is used by MS-DOS and other Windows-based operating systems to
organize and manage files. The file allocation table (FAT) is a data structure that
Windows creates when you format a volume by using the FAT or FAT32 file systems.
Windows stores information about each file in the FAT so that it can retrieve the file
later.
See also: FAT32, File System, NTFS File System

FAT32
A derivative of the FAT file system. FAT32 supports smaller cluster sizes and larger
volumes than FAT, which results in more efficient space allocation on FAT32 volumes.
See also: File Allocation Table (FAT), NTFS File System, Volume
File System
In an operating system, the file system is the overall structure in which files are named,
stored, and organized. NTFS, FAT, and FAT32 are types of file systems.
See also: NTFS File System, FAT, FAT32

Logical Partition
Logical partitions are those partitions contained within an extended partition. In terms of
use they are no different than a non-extended primary partition. The number of logical
drives that may be created in extended partition is limited by the number of available
drive letters and the amount of hard drive space available for creating drives.

Multiple-Boot
A computer configuration that can start two different operating systems.
See also: Dual-Boot

NTFS File System

An advanced file system that provides performance, security (i.e.,file and folder
permissions), reliability, and advanced features that are not found in any version of FAT.
For example, NTFS guarantees volume consistency by using standard transaction logging
and recovery techniques. If a system fails, NTFS uses its log file and checkpoint
information to restore the consistency of the file system. In Windows 2000 and Windows
XP, NTFS also provides advanced features such as encryption, Reparse points, Sparse
files, USN Journal, and disk quotas.
See also: FAT32, File Allocation Table (FAT), File System

Primary Partition
A partition that is used to start an operating system. Primary partitions are partitions that
take up one of the four primary partition slots in the disk drive's partition table. You can
also use primary partitions that do not contain the operating system.

System Partition
The system partition refers to the disk volume that contains the hardware-specific files
that are needed to start Windows, such as Ntldr, Boot.ini, and Ntdetect.com. The system
partition can be, but does not have to be, the same volume as the boot partition.
Note On dynamic disks, this is known as the system volume.

See also: Boot Partition, Volume

Volume
A volume is an area of storage on a hard disk that is either a primary partition or a logical
drive in an extended partition.A volume is formatted by using a file system, such as FAT
or NTFS, and has a drive letter assigned to it. You can view the contents of a volume by
clicking its icon in Windows Explorer or in My Computer. A single hard disk can have
multiple volumes, and volumes can also span multiple disks.
See also: File Allocation Table (FAT), NTFS File System