XP SR2
My system is showing signs of corruption and I would like to reinstall
XP. Did this on my old PC (try to save all needed files, reformat C:\,
and reinstall) but ended up losing some files I needed. This time I
would like to install XP as a dual boot - keep existing XP on drive C:\
and install a fresh XP on drive D:\. I hope, with this setup, I can go
back to the old install and retrieve data. I have printed out a set of
instructions on how to install a dual boot. With this as background, I
have a few questions.
Once I accomplish this, is there an advantage to moving the D:\ XP back
to C:\? If so, what is the easiest way to do this?
Since the existing XP is over 1 1/2 years old, will XP install all
necessary updates to the D:\ copy that have been installed on the c:\ copy?
Any tips that can make this a little more painless?

"J Lunis" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:tZ2_g.80$(E-Mail Removed)...
> XP SR2
> My system is showing signs of corruption and I would like to reinstall
> XP. Did this on my old PC (try to save all needed files, reformat C:\,
> and reinstall) but ended up losing some files I needed. This time I
> would like to install XP as a dual boot - keep existing XP on drive C:\
> and install a fresh XP on drive D:\. I hope, with this setup, I can go
> back to the old install and retrieve data. I have printed out a set of
> instructions on how to install a dual boot. With this as background, I
> have a few questions.
> Once I accomplish this, is there an advantage to moving the D:\ XP back
> to C:\? If so, what is the easiest way to do this?

There is no advantage in moving D:\XP back to C:\ but a slight
drawback: You will cripple the installation on drive C:.

> Since the existing XP is over 1 1/2 years old, will XP install all
> necessary updates to the D:\ copy that have been installed on the c:\
copy?

No - why should it? It has no knowledge of what's on drive C:.

> Any tips that can make this a little more painless?

Leave each OS where it is.

Pegasus (MVP) wrote:
> "J Lunis" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:tZ2_g.80$(E-Mail Removed)...
>> XP SR2
>> My system is showing signs of corruption and I would like to reinstall
>> XP. Did this on my old PC (try to save all needed files, reformat C:\,
>> and reinstall) but ended up losing some files I needed. This time I
>> would like to install XP as a dual boot - keep existing XP on drive C:\
>> and install a fresh XP on drive D:\. I hope, with this setup, I can go
>> back to the old install and retrieve data. I have printed out a set of
>> instructions on how to install a dual boot. With this as background, I
>> have a few questions.
>> Once I accomplish this, is there an advantage to moving the D:\ XP back
>> to C:\? If so, what is the easiest way to do this?
>
> There is no advantage in moving D:\XP back to C:\ but a slight
> drawback: You will cripple the installation on drive C:.
>
>> Since the existing XP is over 1 1/2 years old, will XP install all
>> necessary updates to the D:\ copy that have been installed on the c:\
> copy?
>
> No - why should it? It has no knowledge of what's on drive C:.
>
>> Any tips that can make this a little more painless?
>
> Leave each OS where it is.
>
>
Thanks. Let me make sure I worded this correctly.
> Since the existing XP is over 1 1/2 years old, will XP install all
> > necessary updates to the D:\ copy that have been installed on the
c:\ copy?
Currently, I am alerted to updates to XP through AutoUpdate - usually
security updates. Over the past 18 months I have installed a number of
these (as well as updates to IE, Office, and others). My question was
how to add all necessary updates to the D:\ copy.
BTW, does the D:\ drive have t obe clean? That is, I currently have
some files on D:\. Will XP install to this drive without problems or
must the D:\ drive have no files already existing?

Pegasus (MVP) wrote:
> "J Lunis" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:tZ2_g.80$(E-Mail Removed)...
>> XP SR2
>> My system is showing signs of corruption and I would like to reinstall
>> XP. Did this on my old PC (try to save all needed files, reformat C:\,
>> and reinstall) but ended up losing some files I needed. This time I
>> would like to install XP as a dual boot - keep existing XP on drive C:\
>> and install a fresh XP on drive D:\. I hope, with this setup, I can go
>> back to the old install and retrieve data. I have printed out a set of
>> instructions on how to install a dual boot. With this as background, I
>> have a few questions.
>> Once I accomplish this, is there an advantage to moving the D:\ XP back
>> to C:\? If so, what is the easiest way to do this?
>
> There is no advantage in moving D:\XP back to C:\ but a slight
> drawback: You will cripple the installation on drive C:.
>
>> Since the existing XP is over 1 1/2 years old, will XP install all
>> necessary updates to the D:\ copy that have been installed on the c:\
> copy?
>
> No - why should it? It has no knowledge of what's on drive C:.
>
>> Any tips that can make this a little more painless?
>
> Leave each OS where it is.
>
>
BTW, the MS article I found on this is
"How to create a multiple-boot system in Windows XP"
Article ID : 306559
Pretty bare bones. Any suggestions on more complete instructions?

"J Lunis" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:wJ3_g.1$(E-Mail Removed)...
> Pegasus (MVP) wrote:
> > "J Lunis" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> > news:tZ2_g.80$(E-Mail Removed)...
> >> XP SR2
> >> My system is showing signs of corruption and I would like to reinstall
> >> XP. Did this on my old PC (try to save all needed files, reformat C:\,
> >> and reinstall) but ended up losing some files I needed. This time I
> >> would like to install XP as a dual boot - keep existing XP on drive C:\
> >> and install a fresh XP on drive D:\. I hope, with this setup, I can go
> >> back to the old install and retrieve data. I have printed out a set of
> >> instructions on how to install a dual boot. With this as background, I
> >> have a few questions.
> >> Once I accomplish this, is there an advantage to moving the D:\ XP back
> >> to C:\? If so, what is the easiest way to do this?
> >
> > There is no advantage in moving D:\XP back to C:\ but a slight
> > drawback: You will cripple the installation on drive C:.
> >
> >> Since the existing XP is over 1 1/2 years old, will XP install all
> >> necessary updates to the D:\ copy that have been installed on the c:\
> > copy?
> >
> > No - why should it? It has no knowledge of what's on drive C:.
> >
> >> Any tips that can make this a little more painless?
> >
> > Leave each OS where it is.
> >
> >
> Thanks. Let me make sure I worded this correctly.
> > Since the existing XP is over 1 1/2 years old, will XP install all
> > > necessary updates to the D:\ copy that have been installed on the
> c:\ copy?
> Currently, I am alerted to updates to XP through AutoUpdate - usually
> security updates. Over the past 18 months I have installed a number of
> these (as well as updates to IE, Office, and others). My question was
> how to add all necessary updates to the D:\ copy.

You have to let the automatic Windows Update mechanism take care of them.

> BTW, does the D:\ drive have t obe clean? That is, I currently have
> some files on D:\. Will XP install to this drive without problems or
> must the D:\ drive have no files already existing?

Drive D: does not have to be clean. Just make sure there
is no folder called d:\Windows.

I really think you may be making this harder than what it needs to be.
The best solution: buy a new hard drive and either use it to completely
backup your current files or (even better); Install the OS fresh on the new
hard drive using your old one as a backup. This not only solves the problem
of backing up all your files, it will allow you to use the old drive for file
storage.

In short creating dual boot can create more problems than it's worth, using
allot of unnecessary disk space and dragging down the performance of your PC.
A new hardrive (Western Digital 80GB 7200RPM Ultra-ATA) costs less than $50
online and you could be done already.


"J Lunis" wrote:

> Pegasus (MVP) wrote:
> > "J Lunis" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> > news:tZ2_g.80$(E-Mail Removed)...
> >> XP SR2
> >> My system is showing signs of corruption and I would like to reinstall
> >> XP. Did this on my old PC (try to save all needed files, reformat C:\,
> >> and reinstall) but ended up losing some files I needed. This time I
> >> would like to install XP as a dual boot - keep existing XP on drive C:\
> >> and install a fresh XP on drive D:\. I hope, with this setup, I can go
> >> back to the old install and retrieve data. I have printed out a set of
> >> instructions on how to install a dual boot. With this as background, I
> >> have a few questions.
> >> Once I accomplish this, is there an advantage to moving the D:\ XP back
> >> to C:\? If so, what is the easiest way to do this?
> >
> > There is no advantage in moving D:\XP back to C:\ but a slight
> > drawback: You will cripple the installation on drive C:.
> >
> >> Since the existing XP is over 1 1/2 years old, will XP install all
> >> necessary updates to the D:\ copy that have been installed on the c:\
> > copy?
> >
> > No - why should it? It has no knowledge of what's on drive C:.
> >
> >> Any tips that can make this a little more painless?
> >
> > Leave each OS where it is.
> >
> >
> BTW, the MS article I found on this is
> "How to create a multiple-boot system in Windows XP"
> Article ID : 306559
> Pretty bare bones. Any suggestions on more complete instructions?
>

<snip>
> In short creating dual boot can create more problems than it's worth,
using
> allot of unnecessary disk space and dragging down the performance of your
PC.

Why should a dual boot system drag down PC performance?

Pegasus (MVP) wrote:
> <snip>
>> In short creating dual boot can create more problems than it's worth,
> using
>> allot of unnecessary disk space and dragging down the performance of your
> PC.
>
> Why should a dual boot system drag down PC performance?
>
>
Next problem.
Tried to install XP on my D:\ drive. (Also have E:\;F:\;G:\.)
XP complains it can't install. Specifically, "Your computer start up
program cannot gain access to the disk drive containing the partition or
free disk space." All have far more than enough space for XP. I have
noticed each partition seems to have a different file(?) system - FAT,
FAT32, NTFS?.
Will XP only install on one type of file system?
How do I change a partition from one type to another?
Does it involve reformat (which means lose data)?

"J Lunis" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:lUm_g.4170$_(E-Mail Removed)...
> Pegasus (MVP) wrote:
> > <snip>
> >> In short creating dual boot can create more problems than it's worth,
> > using
> >> allot of unnecessary disk space and dragging down the performance of
your
> > PC.
> >
> > Why should a dual boot system drag down PC performance?
> >
> >
> Next problem.
> Tried to install XP on my D:\ drive. (Also have E:\;F:\;G:\.)
> XP complains it can't install. Specifically, "Your computer start up
> program cannot gain access to the disk drive containing the partition or
> free disk space." All have far more than enough space for XP. I have
> noticed each partition seems to have a different file(?) system - FAT,
> FAT32, NTFS?.
> Will XP only install on one type of file system?
> How do I change a partition from one type to another?
> Does it involve reformat (which means lose data)?

FAT partitions are limited to 2 GBytes. You have to remove/
recreate this partition to turn it into FAT32.

FAT32 partitons can be converted to NTFS with this
command:

convert d: /fs:ntfs

Pegasus (MVP) wrote:
> "J Lunis" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:lUm_g.4170$_(E-Mail Removed)...
>> Pegasus (MVP) wrote:
>>> <snip>
>>>> In short creating dual boot can create more problems than it's worth,
>>> using
>>>> allot of unnecessary disk space and dragging down the performance of
> your
>>> PC.
>>>
>>> Why should a dual boot system drag down PC performance?
>>>
>>>
>> Next problem.
>> Tried to install XP on my D:\ drive. (Also have E:\;F:\;G:\.)
>> XP complains it can't install. Specifically, "Your computer start up
>> program cannot gain access to the disk drive containing the partition or
>> free disk space." All have far more than enough space for XP. I have
>> noticed each partition seems to have a different file(?) system - FAT,
>> FAT32, NTFS?.
>> Will XP only install on one type of file system?
>> How do I change a partition from one type to another?
>> Does it involve reformat (which means lose data)?
>
> FAT partitions are limited to 2 GBytes. You have to remove/
> recreate this partition to turn it into FAT32.
>
> FAT32 partitons can be converted to NTFS with this
> command:
>
> convert d: /fs:ntfs
>
>
Very good. Why won't XP load to either a FAT32 or NTFS partition? Both
have >50g space remaining.