Hello, a client with a hp notebook with this spec..

ATLHON XP 1800+
512MB DDR 266
ATI RADEON IGP 320
40GB HD
HP ze4145

want to have a dual boot system, one OS for work, and the other for games, dvd rip, etc, etc
(Because the graphic card is not very powerful)

So i think in a W98 & WXP dual boot system...... but Hp haven't w98 drivers for this laptop so i decided to install 2 Win Xp, one with all the visual effect off, to bring the best performance, and the other with default settings.

Partition 1 3 GB..................Win Xp Gaming,DVD, etc.....NTFS

Partition2 5GB ....................Win Xp Office, Internet,etc NTFS

Partition 3 27GB...............NTFS in this one, he will install all the thing that then will uninstall so only this partition will be fragmented, like big .AVI, 3CDs Games, etc


I think that in Partition 1 and 2 a 4k cluster size is ok, and in P 3 a 8k cluster is better for big files.

But I don't know what version of Windows Xp is better, meanwhile the Pro edition is more expensive than the Home ed., The Service Pack 2 is recommend, or not yet....................

Tell me what do your think about the Disk partitioning and the OS.....


kservice

If the sole purpose of having a dual boot is to distinguish the file saved and hardware drivers for work and play, you can just create two accounts with different hardware profiles installed. Wouldn't that be easier? The only resort of installing a multiple OS is to run a specific program that only run under certain OS or, because for some security reasons, secure OS to link with work. But, if so that files are separated from work and games it's easier to create two different accounts with two different hardware profile settings. Windows XP (any version) offers option called "RUN AS" and "PROFILE" under user profile, hardware profile or by right-clicking the EXE file, and selecting RUN AS.

You should have install VMware and then install OS on top of it....life will be easier..

Try...It is very easy..You can also try Microsoft Virtual PC, which is same as VMware.

I know that it is easier create 2 accounts, but in this case the idea of 2 system is that all the soft that you install in one OS, not affect the performance of the other, if behind the Game OS, are kids and a virus gain access, all the system is affected.......so taking in mind that the Office Os need to have the best protection i think that is better if it separated from the Game OS.

Because is a notebook without the best hard for games, if i install a antivirus and firewall software i going to pull down the performance of it .

I am Wrong?

kservice

A virus in the game OS can still destroy the office OS. It's best to create 2 accout instead of installing 2 OS.


I think having xp is fine since it's microsoft most stable OS