Before you begin, preparation is key.
For best results, do a fresh install when building a dual boot system.
If you already have Windows ME installed and don't want to go through re-installing it then you have two options.
Use a program such as Partition Magic to add a partition to your existing drive.
Add a second hard drive that will house Windows 2000.
Windows ME is already installed on your PC, that's fine. You don't need to re-install.
Boot into Windows ME. Insert your Windows 2000 CD. When prompted if you would like to upgrade, select "No." You will see a menu with two options:
Upgrade to Windows 2000 (Recommended)
Install a New Copy of Windows 2000 (Clean Install)
Select the second option, which allows you to maintain your working Windows 98 installation.
Accept the license agreement and type in your Windows 2000 registry key.
Windows 2000 setup will give you a special options menu. Click on Advanced Options and put a check mark next to "I want to choose the installation partition during setup." This allows you to have Windows 2000 installed on a separate partition for better ease of use with a second operating. If you have a large hard drive, it is also a good idea to have Windows 2000 setup files copied onto it. Select OK and press Next.
Windows 2000 setup will copy files and manually restart to continue the installation process.
Choose the available partition for Windows 2000 to install itself onto and allow it to be formatted. You will have two formatting options:
NTFS
FAT32
If you want Windows ME to be able to access files from the Windows 2000 partition, select FAT32. Your Windows ME installation is on a FAT32 partition and will not see any NTFS partitions.
The best performance for Windows 2000 will come from using an NTFS partition. Windows 2000 has built-in security features that use the NTFS file system. It is also possible to select NTFS and still allow both operating systems to access the same files, but they will have to either remain on the Windows ME partition or on an third FAT32 partition.
Once you've selected the formatting options, Windows 2000 setup will begin the installation and manually restart again. It will restart into the "Windows 2000 Setup Wizard" and begin detection and installation of devices.
You will now be prompted on the keyboard and language settings. Click Next.
Type in your owner information.
Select an administrator password.
Set the date and time and click Next.
Setup will now continue with the installation and proceed to "performing final tasks" and then ask you to remove any install disk and click Finish.
You will be prompted with the Network Identification Wizard. Click Next.
In Windows 2000 you must always login. Here you have the option to tell the operating system which user to have as default. You can always change this later. Pick Administrator or your own name and click Next and then Finish.
You can now log in to Windows 2000. Don't forget your administrator password.
In order to change the default operating system:
Start up in Windows 2000
Right-click on My Computer, select Properties, Advanced, Start Up and Recovery, and choose the OS you want.
Restart the comptuer for changes to take effect. You're all set.
