um, i have just spotted part of the problem.
the win9x OS's dont like more than 512 meg of ram in the machine. this is a known limitation of the OS its self.
it doesnt effect NT, 2k or XP.
as for installing a dual boot, its easy.
my advice is to clear the target drive (D in my case) first, and backup, just to be on the safe side
then insert the relivent CD-ROM.
select "advanced" install, since this will let you select which partition (drive) to install to.
when it asks which drive to use, pick drive D, and off it goes.
what it does is it updates your C drive so that when you boot the machine, instead of just booting into winME, you get a (text mode) menu listing winME and winXP, with 30 seconds to make a selection.
if you dont do anything, after 30 seconds it boots to the default OS (configurable from control pannel in XP).
this gives you simple access to both winME and winXP.
and since you have installed winXP to D drive, the only midification that it makes (as far as i can tell) to C drive is to add the boot menu. it leaves everything else alone.
it really is this easy
