Thank you muchly for a very comprehensive reply Timothy!
I will have to get local help to do it, but I now know it is possible (and
also legal... <g>)
I quite expect to be back again........:-)
"Timothy Daniels" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:46d84334$0$15408$(E-Mail Removed)...
> "zulu" wrote:
>>I have a one year old Dell Dimension 9150 running (Dell OEM)
>> Windows XP Pro.
>>
>> It has 2 identical 26GB hard drives (C & D) an 1 GB of RAM
>>
>> I really want to start over, but to make it as easy as possible
>> (I have VERY poor eyesight) I would like to reformat the
>> second drive (D) and install a new (yet to be purchased)
>> Windows XP Pro (non OEM!) and have the choice when I boot up of either.
>> When I have the new version running to
>> my satisfaction I would then like to reformat the *C* drive.
>>
>> I would then have a "new" computer _without_ all the Dell
>> crap and without all the crap that I have introduced/
>>
>> Is this possible?
>>
>> I assume that this would be legal as I would own both copies
>> of XP Pro...
>
>
> That is legal and easily possible. Since you plan to eventually
> get rid of the OEM WinXP, it would be easier on your psyche
> if the 2nd OS also called its partition "C:" and not "D:" (although
> "D:" works just as well as "C:"). That is done by disconnecting
> the 1st HD before doing the installation on the 2nd HD. That
> will give you a 2nd OS that will mono-boot itself when in
> isolation. Then re-connect the 1st HD. Assuming that the
> HDs are SATA drives, the HD on the 1st SATA port will boot -
> probably the original HD. To make the 2nd HD boot at startup,
> go into the BIOS at startup by pressing DEL, and adjust the
> Hard Drive Boot Order so that the other HD is at the top of
> the list of HDs. (This is *not* the Device Boot Order which
> prioritizes the device *types*.) The Hard Drive Boot Order
> is called different things, depending on the BIOS, but it will be
> recognizable as a list of HD model nos. which identifiy the HDs.
> For this reason, it is best if the model nos. differ by having the
> HDs of different makes or of different capacities or of different
> model lines. Once the Hard Drive Boot Order is re-set, exit
> the BIOS with the re-start option, and the subsequent bootup
> will be controlled by the MBR and boot files of the HD at the
> head of the Hard Drive Boot Order list.
>
> If the HDs are PATA ("IDE" HDs), jumpering does not matter
> as long as the 2 HDs are jumpered differently. The 1st HD is
> probably Master on IDE ch. 0 (although it doesn't have to be),
> and in the default mode (before the Hard Drive Boot Order is
> changed) it will get control at startup. When it is disconnected,
> the 2nd HD in the Hard Drive Boot Order will get control -
> the default being the Slave on IDE ch. 0 unless the Hard Drive
> Boot Order has been changed.
>
> The BIOS settings persist in ROM, so that unless the Hard Drive
> Boot Order is changed, the same HD will control booting at
> each startup. Each OS, when it is the running OS, will call its
> own partition "C:" and it will call other partitions in the system by
> other names. This is OK as long as you don't have any shortcuts
> which involve other than the one that it's on.
>
> You can use this BIOS adjustment to change which OS boots
> until such time as you get rid of the 1st WinXP on the 1st HD.
> You can then move the 2nd HD to the current position of the
> 1st HD, or you can just leave it where it is.
>
> Another method involves software dual-booting. If the 1st HD
> is connected when the OS installation is done for the 2nd HD,
> the installer will see the 1st installed OS, and if you let the
> installer
> do it, it will set up a dual-boot menu for you that will allow you
> to choose at startup which OS to boot. This form of dual-boot
> will be a little simpler procedurally, but even after you eventually
> reformat the 1st HD, the 2nd OS will persist in calling its own
> partition "D:", and you will have to change the boot menu to re-
> establish a mono-boot procedure. This is simple to do, but you
> *will* be back here asking us how to do it. :-)
>
> *TimDaniels*
>
>
>
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