I take some of that back - you cannot install NT4 while your drive letters are mapped around - sorry, just re-read your post.
You have:
HD1:
..Partition1: C: FAT32 (Primary)
..Partition2: D: NTFS (Primary)
Which ever partition you set active will become C: when you boot into a DOS-type mode.
When you hit NT your second partition would actually become D: - this is the problem.
Dont make the second partition active, boot from CD, install to the "empty" partition (I recommend zapping it completely, then create it again in the NT installation manager).
This will still give you the problem that if your 1st partition is FAT32 it cannot write the NTDLR to it...but if you set the second partition active NT will write some files into the wrong place (into the boot block of the 1st partition).
You will probably need to make the NT4 boot disks and use an ATAPI driver from NT4 SP4 or higher if your drive is > 8Gb too.
Well, basically Win98 in a primary partition of your HDD is a pain in the ass - it pretty much prevents anything else going onto the HDD.
The problem is caused by both NT and Win98 just handling HDDs in a completely different way;
NT4 looks at the entire HDD as a device, Win98 gets its info from the BIOS - the result is NT is more stable and less dependent (= more robust) but that Win98 is a lot "easier" to get up and running with new devices (which isn't exactly true either, so unlucky Win98 - just my opinion).
The only good way to get around it, requiring no patches or special disks is to make that small FAT16 C: BOOT-partition. Also means you can install 8 different OSes across many HDDs as every OS (NT, Win2k, Win9x, Win3x, DOS, LINUX, Solaris, ... , get the picture?) can read/write FAT16.
If you want to, or are planning to add different OSes, this is a good way to go.
For ultra compatibility make another 16MB empty partition at the front of another (different physical) HDD to make LINUX/UNIX even more convenient.
Never again will you need to find those /&%$(§$ floppies.
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Black Holes are where
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[This message has been edited by Tiberia (edited 04-05-2000).]