First, which is the best way to go? I have all my software and hardware working on 98 and plan on upgrading to XP. Would it be best to a) upgrade over 98 b) clean format and install xp or c) make a dual boot drive. Second, no matter which option I choose, I was planning on partitioning my drive. What is the best space allocation for a 20GB HD (ie. how much should I devote to a drive meant to have only XP and its necessary files and how much to all my other programs)? If making a dual boot is best, how should I allocate that space? Thank you!!

Also, how would I go about creating the partions without use partition magic? Thanks again.

Since you asked... You can do your ALL of your partitioning in the evil empire's best kept secret: their new fdisk for Win98. DO consider an additional physical drive. Cheap gigantic hard drives are this miilenium's greatest gift. Get maybe a 30 gigger. Partioning is NOT just for multi-booting. Only use the "Boot Magic" part of Partition Magic after you've fdisked/formatted your system as follows: Drive 1:..(new).................total 30 gigs Primary(active) W98/fat32.."CSTM9x"..2 gigs Primary.........WXP/fat32.."CSTMXP"..4 gigs Xtended/logical.....fat32.."EXES"....8 gigs Xtended/logical.....Fat32.."FILE"...balance Drive 2:..(old).................total 20 gigs Primary.............fat16.."DUMY"....1 gig Xtended/logical.....fat32.."GARD"...balance In the finished system, all OS/system files will be stored on their respective boot partitions. Boot Magic will toggle the first two primary OS partitions while shielding the alternate primary from DOS's drive letter assignment. Drivers and system utils should also be installed here...for each OS Swap/temp/cache/throwaway files for each OS can be redirected onto a shared and nimbly FAT16 "DUMY" partition at the very front of the second physical drive. Both OS's can share the larger "EXES" partition. Of course, apps, suites, games, etc. will require seperate installs for each OS. But they can share the same folders here. Perhaps most important is your data partition for those "FILE"s you've poured your own heart and blood into. Should include "_My_Files" folder, mp3's, raw downloads, e-mail, etc. But finally, we'll "GARD" everything with our last partition. Get Ghost or Drive Image and enjoy the everyday security of quick convenient backup/imaging. The order in which you set this up is important: 1. Fdisk/format new (first) drive per above. Then copy existing data, email, mp3's, etc onto last partition of this drive. It will be F, or "FILES" when you're done here. Then fdisk/format original (second) physical drive. 2. Do fresh install of Win98se onto first primary partition. 3. Install Boot Magic 7...and earmark 2nd primary partition for XP. 4. Install XP. 5. Set up shared swapping/temping/caching on D, or "DUMY" drive. That kinda summarizes it. Good luck.