Question:
How do I create a partition for Windows 95 in a machine installed with Windows NT Workstation (NTFS)?

Answer:
First, you CANNOT INSTALL WIN/95 or /98 ON A NTFS PARTITION. End of story. You must have either a FAT or (depending on the version of Win95) FAT32 partition. You can reformat one of your current partitions, or add another hard disk.

Also note that you must have enough space on the partition or disk to hold not only Win95 but also all the software you want to access while in this operating system. So, even though you have, say, Office97 installed under NT, you will have to reinstall it under Win95. And since your NT installation is on a NTFS partition, you will have to physically install Office97 on the FAT partition. If, on the other hand, you install Office on a network drive on another machine, no matter what the format of that drive, you could install the software from NT and then install it to the SAME LOCATION from Win95. The same applies if you want to use the FAT partition to share common installs. You will still have to install the software in both operating systems, but at least you won’t take up any more disk space.

If you are already dual-booting between DOS and NT (from the NT bootup selection, booting in DOS from a floppy doesn’t count), then it is easy. Just install Win95 from the DOS prompt.

ARTICLE-ID: Q136547
TITLE : Restoring Windows NT Dual Boot After Installing Windows 95