I have a bootable XP system on each of two drives (c: and e.

Today I have to change the master/slave jumper to change the drive I want to
boot from, making the boot drive master and the other drive slave. This
works good, but it's awkward as I have to open the case and move those
little jumpers without dropping them.

Is there an easier way to alternate between these two drives?

Does your BIOS list boot order?? change the boot order so that the device
you wish to start from is 1st...or 2nd after a floppy or CD.
I guess you installed XP the 2nd time with the 1st drive
disconnected.......as XP would have seen the 1st installation and created a
dual boot menu which would show when you boot wih the choice of which XP to
start with.
You could still accomplish this by doing a repair installation.
peter
"Don" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:%(E-Mail Removed)...
>I have a bootable XP system on each of two drives (c: and e.
>
> Today I have to change the master/slave jumper to change the drive I want
> to boot from, making the boot drive master and the other drive slave. This
> works good, but it's awkward as I have to open the case and move those
> little jumpers without dropping them.
>
> Is there an easier way to alternate between these two drives?
>

Hi Don,

You could try editing the boot.ini file on C when you have it jumpered and
cabled for Master. At the Desktop, right-click on My Computer, select
Properties and then Advanced tab. In the Startup and Recovery section, click
on the Settings button and then in the System startup section click on the
Edit Button. This will open the Boot.ini file in a Notepad window. Edit it to
reflect the XP (I have assumed Home Edition of XP, but you can change the
Home to Professional if that is the case) on the second drive (i.e.,
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS="XP Home" /NoExecute=OptIn). It
would then look something like this:

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="XP Home" /NoExecute=OptIn
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS="XP Home" /NoExecute=OptIn

The name of the operating system appearing in italics can be altered, as
this displays how the name will appear on the boot menu. You could change
them to something like:
"XP Home C"
and
"XP Home E"
to reflect the drive letter for distinguishing between the two, if necessary.


Another option would be to check the boot device order in the system BIOS to
see if it allows you to boot from a hard drive other than C drive, and they
may be listed like this:
HDD-0
HDD-1

HDD-0 being the Primary drive and HDD-1 being the secondary drive. You could
change the boot order to HDD-0 or HDD-1 depending on which XP you want to
boot into at any given time.



Regards,

--
Patti MacLeod
Microsoft MVP - Windows Shell/User


"Don" wrote:

> I have a bootable XP system on each of two drives (c: and e.
>
> Today I have to change the master/slave jumper to change the drive I want to
> boot from, making the boot drive master and the other drive slave. This
> works good, but it's awkward as I have to open the case and move those
> little jumpers without dropping them.
>
> Is there an easier way to alternate between these two drives?
>
>
>

Thank you Peter and Patti.

I looked at my BIOS and I don't think it has the capability needed.

Next I'm going to look at Patti's BOOT.INI suggestion.

I'm avoiding the reinstall suggestion, because I am hoping this situation is
temporary. I am migrating to a new hard drive by doing a complete new
install. My original Windows (home XP) system has problems and doing a
repair did not work.

Thanks again to all.

Don

"Patti MacLeod" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:89359BA5-9482-4877-B402-(E-Mail Removed)...
> Hi Don,
>
> You could try editing the boot.ini file on C when you have it jumpered and
> cabled for Master. At the Desktop, right-click on My Computer, select
> Properties and then Advanced tab. In the Startup and Recovery section,
> click
> on the Settings button and then in the System startup section click on the
> Edit Button. This will open the Boot.ini file in a Notepad window. Edit it
> to
> reflect the XP (I have assumed Home Edition of XP, but you can change the
> Home to Professional if that is the case) on the second drive (i.e.,
> multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS="XP Home" /NoExecute=OptIn).
> It
> would then look something like this:
>
> [boot loader]
> timeout=30
> default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
> [operating systems]
> multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="XP Home" /NoExecute=OptIn
> multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS="XP Home" /NoExecute=OptIn
>
> The name of the operating system appearing in italics can be altered, as
> this displays how the name will appear on the boot menu. You could change
> them to something like:
> "XP Home C"
> and
> "XP Home E"
> to reflect the drive letter for distinguishing between the two, if
> necessary.
>
>
> Another option would be to check the boot device order in the system BIOS
> to
> see if it allows you to boot from a hard drive other than C drive, and
> they
> may be listed like this:
> HDD-0
> HDD-1
>
> HDD-0 being the Primary drive and HDD-1 being the secondary drive. You
> could
> change the boot order to HDD-0 or HDD-1 depending on which XP you want to
> boot into at any given time.
>
>
>
> Regards,
>
> --
> Patti MacLeod
> Microsoft MVP - Windows Shell/User
>
>
> "Don" wrote:
>
>> I have a bootable XP system on each of two drives (c: and e.
>>
>> Today I have to change the master/slave jumper to change the drive I want
>> to
>> boot from, making the boot drive master and the other drive slave. This
>> works good, but it's awkward as I have to open the case and move those
>> little jumpers without dropping them.
>>
>> Is there an easier way to alternate between these two drives?
>>
>>
>>

Patti,

I tried your Boot.ini suggestion and I got the following error when
accessing the E disk: "could not read from the selected boot disk. Check
boot path and disk hardware".

It booted okay from the "C" disk.

I changed the master/slave jumpers and was able to boot from the "E" disk
(now "C" of course).

Any ideas?

BTW, your instructions were amazingly clear.

Don

"Patti MacLeod" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:89359BA5-9482-4877-B402-(E-Mail Removed)...
> Hi Don,
>
> You could try editing the boot.ini file on C when you have it jumpered and
> cabled for Master. At the Desktop, right-click on My Computer, select
> Properties and then Advanced tab. In the Startup and Recovery section,
> click
> on the Settings button and then in the System startup section click on the
> Edit Button. This will open the Boot.ini file in a Notepad window. Edit it
> to
> reflect the XP (I have assumed Home Edition of XP, but you can change the
> Home to Professional if that is the case) on the second drive (i.e.,
> multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS="XP Home" /NoExecute=OptIn).
> It
> would then look something like this:
>
> [boot loader]
> timeout=30
> default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
> [operating systems]
> multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="XP Home" /NoExecute=OptIn
> multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS="XP Home" /NoExecute=OptIn
>
> The name of the operating system appearing in italics can be altered, as
> this displays how the name will appear on the boot menu. You could change
> them to something like:
> "XP Home C"
> and
> "XP Home E"
> to reflect the drive letter for distinguishing between the two, if
> necessary.
>
>
> Another option would be to check the boot device order in the system BIOS
> to
> see if it allows you to boot from a hard drive other than C drive, and
> they
> may be listed like this:
> HDD-0
> HDD-1
>
> HDD-0 being the Primary drive and HDD-1 being the secondary drive. You
> could
> change the boot order to HDD-0 or HDD-1 depending on which XP you want to
> boot into at any given time.
>
>
>
> Regards,
>
> --
> Patti MacLeod
> Microsoft MVP - Windows Shell/User
>
>
> "Don" wrote:
>
>> I have a bootable XP system on each of two drives (c: and e.
>>
>> Today I have to change the master/slave jumper to change the drive I want
>> to
>> boot from, making the boot drive master and the other drive slave. This
>> works good, but it's awkward as I have to open the case and move those
>> little jumpers without dropping them.
>>
>> Is there an easier way to alternate between these two drives?
>>
>>
>>

I'm glad that my instructions were clear for you :-)

Well, editing the boot.ini file was a shot in the dark but I thought, for
the few minutes it takes to do, it might be worth it to give it a try. You
may have to do a repair installation yet, but you could give running the
bootcfg command from the Recovery Console a go, just to see, if you
want........

In case you're not familiar with Recovery Console, here is the MSKB article
that describes it, including how to boot into it:

Description of the Windows XP Recovery Console
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314058/en-us

Here is a description of bootcfg:

A discussion about the Bootcfg command and its uses
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/291980/en-us

I would run the bootcfg /scan command first, to see if it picks up on both
Windows installations or not. If it does and lists them as both being on
drive C, I would not continue any further and would highly consider the
repair install option. If it lists them with different drive letters, then
you could run the bootcfg /rebuild command.
In the bootcfg /rebuild instructions, it says:
Enter Load Identifier: (Custom description for an operating system loading
from the Boot menu)
What is being referred to is the name for the operating system that is in
quotation marks (I mistakenly said "in italics" in my first post), for
example from my first post:
"XP Home C"
and
"XP Home E"
When using the Bootcfg command, I would name them a little differently (eg.,
XP Home 1 and XP Home 2), just in case the C and E entries remain, that way
you can distinguish between your manual edit and the bootcfg one.

it also states:
Enter Operating System Load Options: (that is: /fastdetect)
Here you could use:
/fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn



Regards,

--
Patti MacLeod
Microsoft MVP - Windows Shell/User


"Don" wrote:

> Patti,
>
> I tried your Boot.ini suggestion and I got the following error when
> accessing the E disk: "could not read from the selected boot disk. Check
> boot path and disk hardware".
>
> It booted okay from the "C" disk.
>
> I changed the master/slave jumpers and was able to boot from the "E" disk
> (now "C" of course).
>
> Any ideas?
>
> BTW, your instructions were amazingly clear.
>
> Don

Patti,

Thank you, I'll give it a try.

Don

"Patti MacLeod" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:F799FBDB-4AA7-45DC-967E-(E-Mail Removed)...
> I'm glad that my instructions were clear for you :-)
>
> Well, editing the boot.ini file was a shot in the dark but I thought, for
> the few minutes it takes to do, it might be worth it to give it a try. You
> may have to do a repair installation yet, but you could give running the
> bootcfg command from the Recovery Console a go, just to see, if you
> want........
>
> In case you're not familiar with Recovery Console, here is the MSKB
> article
> that describes it, including how to boot into it:
>
> Description of the Windows XP Recovery Console
> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314058/en-us
>
> Here is a description of bootcfg:
>
> A discussion about the Bootcfg command and its uses
> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/291980/en-us
>
> I would run the bootcfg /scan command first, to see if it picks up on both
> Windows installations or not. If it does and lists them as both being on
> drive C, I would not continue any further and would highly consider the
> repair install option. If it lists them with different drive letters, then
> you could run the bootcfg /rebuild command.
> In the bootcfg /rebuild instructions, it says:
> Enter Load Identifier: (Custom description for an operating system loading
> from the Boot menu)
> What is being referred to is the name for the operating system that is in
> quotation marks (I mistakenly said "in italics" in my first post), for
> example from my first post:
> "XP Home C"
> and
> "XP Home E"
> When using the Bootcfg command, I would name them a little differently
> (eg.,
> XP Home 1 and XP Home 2), just in case the C and E entries remain, that
> way
> you can distinguish between your manual edit and the bootcfg one.
>
> it also states:
> Enter Operating System Load Options: (that is: /fastdetect)
> Here you could use:
> /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn
>
>
>
> Regards,
>
> --
> Patti MacLeod
> Microsoft MVP - Windows Shell/User
>
>
> "Don" wrote:
>
>> Patti,
>>
>> I tried your Boot.ini suggestion and I got the following error when
>> accessing the E disk: "could not read from the selected boot disk. Check
>> boot path and disk hardware".
>>
>> It booted okay from the "C" disk.
>>
>> I changed the master/slave jumpers and was able to boot from the "E" disk
>> (now "C" of course).
>>
>> Any ideas?
>>
>> BTW, your instructions were amazingly clear.
>>
>> Don
>

Keep us posted as to how you are faring with this!



Regards,

--
Patti MacLeod
Microsoft MVP - Windows Shell/User


"Don" wrote:

> Patti,
>
> Thank you, I'll give it a try.
>
> Don

Patti,

Again, your instructions were crystal clear.

However, when trying to boot from the slave disk I get the same error as I
got with your manual edit suggestion. That error is:"could not read from the
selected boot disk. Check boot path and disk hardware".

The Recovery Console identifies the two disk as "C" and "D" (slave disk as
"D"), but when XP boots from the Primary disk ("C") it identifies the slave
disk as "E".

The error message says "check the boot path" and I wonder if the two
different identifiers (D and E) for the slave disk might be the problem?

Don

P.S. I decided to try the Recovery Console again and now it shows both
windows systems on the "C" drive like you warned me about. Should I try and
install the Recovery Console on my hard drive and try and apply updates? I
found the following Microsoft article that seems to explain the process
(although it is confusing).


"Patti MacLeod" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:AAFD524C-D03B-4B9E-BFD2-(E-Mail Removed)...
> Keep us posted as to how you are faring with this!
>
>
>
> Regards,
>
> --
> Patti MacLeod
> Microsoft MVP - Windows Shell/User
>
>
> "Don" wrote:
>
>> Patti,
>>
>> Thank you, I'll give it a try.
>>
>> Don

I think the problem has a lot to do with both XPs being installed on C drive
(even though whichever is hooked up as Slave is recognized as E drive in XP
on the current Master drive).
Since you stated in an earlier post that this is a temporary situation, you
may want to look into a third-party boot manager, such as:

GAG, the Graphical Boot Manager (freeware)
http://sourceforge.net/projects/gag/
http://users.bigpond.net.au/hermanzone/p12.htm

XOSL2 (freeware)
https://sourceforge.net/projects/xosl2/

OSL2000 (shareware)
http://www.osloader.com/

Acronis Disk Director Suite 10.0 OS Selector
http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing...tibooting.html
Acronis Disk Director Suite 10.0 trial version
http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing.../diskdirector/

I have not used any of the above, so do not have any recommendations or
install/usage tips. The only third-party boot manager that I have used is
Boot Magic, which comes bundled with Partition Magic, and I used it years ago
when it was still Powerquest (is now a Symantec/Norton product).



Regards,

--
Patti MacLeod
Microsoft MVP - Windows Shell/User


"Don" wrote:

> Patti,
>
> Again, your instructions were crystal clear.
>
> However, when trying to boot from the slave disk I get the same error as I
> got with your manual edit suggestion. That error is:"could not read from the
> selected boot disk. Check boot path and disk hardware".
>
> The Recovery Console identifies the two disk as "C" and "D" (slave disk as
> "D"), but when XP boots from the Primary disk ("C") it identifies the slave
> disk as "E".
>
> The error message says "check the boot path" and I wonder if the two
> different identifiers (D and E) for the slave disk might be the problem?
>
> Don
>
> P.S. I decided to try the Recovery Console again and now it shows both
> windows systems on the "C" drive like you warned me about. Should I try and
> install the Recovery Console on my hard drive and try and apply updates? I
> found the following Microsoft article that seems to explain the process
> (although it is confusing).