Cannot Dual-Boot DBCS and SBCS Versions of Windows 95/98 (172860)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Windows 95
  • Microsoft Windows 98
  • Microsoft Windows 98 Second Edition
  • Microsoft Windows 95 OEM Service Release 2.1
  • Microsoft Windows 95 OEM Service Release 2.5
This article was previously published under Q172860

SUMMARY

Microsoft does not support dual-booting double-byte character set (DBCS) and single-byte character set (SBCS) versions of Windows 95/98. DBCS versions of Windows 95/98 include the Chinese and Japanese versions.

MORE INFORMATION

Dual-booting DBCS and SBCS versions of Windows 95/98 can cause the Following problems:
  • File names that contain DBCS characters are unreadable when you boot the SBCS version of Windows 95/98.
  • Using disk tools that are not designed to work with DBCS files could damage the file allocation table (FAT) and cause data loss.
  • You may not be able to delete files whose names contain DBCS characters when you boot the SBCS version of Windows 95/98. If you remove the DBCS version of Windows 95/98 and then want to remove such files, you may have to reinstall the DBCS version of Windows 95/98 to delete the files.
  • Both versions of Windows 95/98 attempt to use the same Program Files folder. Therefore, the default items in the Program Files folder created by the first installed version of Windows 95/98 are overwritten by the second installed version.
For additional information about how to determine which folder Windows is installed in, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

305792 How to Determine Which Folder Windows Is Installed In

Modification Type:MinorLast Reviewed:12/16/2004
Keywords:kbenv kbinfo KB172860
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