two XPs on one machine

[yaelede]

I'd like to know whether it is possible to install two different
language versions of xp on one machine PROPERLY.

Actually I did it, using Partition Magic, but the main problem is that
I can't hide partitions from each other. BootMagic doesn't seem to
like to boot 2 XPs..
If I turn BootMagic off, then I can choose between the 2 XPs upon
booting up using XP's built-in booting option, but then all partions
are unhided, which is not too safe...at least for me.
BootMagic has a very useful "Advanced partition hiding"

I would appreciate any advice.

 

[Geddy Lee]

Hi,

no problem. I have the german XP home on one partition and XP Pro in english
on the other.(Being that I live in germany it is always good to have an OS
that I can refer to.) Simply put the Xp Cd into the drive and partition your
HD. Then put the second language Xp on the new partition. Simple.

Any more questions, please feel free to ask

GL

 

[Tom Porterfield]

I'd like to know whether it is possible to install two different
language versions of xp on one machine PROPERLY.

Actually I did it, using Partition Magic, but the main problem is that
I can't hide partitions from each other. BootMagic doesn't seem to
like to boot 2 XPs..
If I turn BootMagic off, then I can choose between the 2 XPs upon
booting up using XP's built-in booting option, but then all partions
are unhided, which is not too safe...at least for me.
BootMagic has a very useful "Advanced partition hiding"

I would appreciate any advice.

BootMagic can work well with two XP's installed, but not the way you did
it. Both of your XP installs have their boot files on the same partition.
In order to get the hide feature of BootMagic to work with this type setup
you need to have each XP install (including boot files) on its own
partition. In order to do that you need to hide the first XP partition
before you start the install of the second instance of XP.
--
Tom Porterfield
MS-MVP MCE
http://support.telop.org

Please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup only.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

Greetings --

For conflicting language versions of operating systems, and the
hiding of one's partition from another, I've found System Commander
from V-Communications very useful, in the past.

Bruce Chambers
--
Help us help you:



You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on
having both at once. -- RAH

 

[johnf]

BootMagic is not compatible with XP & should never be used, that's why
you're having those problems.
I'm running two XPs on separate drives and boot.ini sorts itself out, giving
you an option screen during boot-up.

 

[J&P Steele]

BootMagic is not compatible with XP & should never be used, that's why
you're having those problems.

John, doesn't that just apply to PM version 6 and earlier?

Regards,
Joe Steele

 

[yaelede]

thank you for all your advices, though it's a little bit hard to sort
the best solution out..

I know that there is no problem with XP with win9x system, but xp
seems to work in another way. I suppose it's because XP needs a
primary partition.
It seems that BootMagic can't solve my hide/unhide problem. That would
be important because TWO different persons will use the two different
XPs..

yaelede

 

[johnf]

I just did a check on that.

The older version (the one that created its own small partition) definitely
was not to be used with XP, but I notice that now that Symantec has taken PM
over, their page states that the PM V8.0 package is for XP, but doesn't
mention BootMagic.

I'd look carefully into it before using it, as it used to grab a small
portion of the drive to create its own partition, which had to be FAT32 &
XP's normally NTFS.
Perhaps they've changed the way it works, but I remember having all sorts of
probs when I first upgraded to XP and it was a bugger of a thing to
uninstall and tidy up the partitions afterwards.

 

[J&P Steele]

Appreciate your concern, John, re Boot Magic and NTFS, I formatted my drive
to FAT32 before using it to avoid problems.

Also, although I have W98 & XP partitions, I have PM & Boot Magic installed
on W98.

I have also configured the Boot Magic boot screen to appear for one second
only. If I want to pause it to change partitions, I press the Up Arrow key
(NOT the Pause key) as soon as its screen appears. Quite surprisingly that
one second gives plenty of time to press the key.

This may be of help to anyone wanting to "almost" hide the second partition,
especially if you rename it "BlankDir" or similar.

Regards,
Joe Steele

 

[johnf]

Fine. If you're booting from '98 & it's your primary OS, then there's no
problem with BM.
But in that case I would definitely recommend converting XP to NTFS.

 

[J&P Steele]

Fine. If you're booting from '98 & it's your primary OS, then there's no
problem with BM.
But in that case I would definitely recommend converting XP to NTFS.

Will seriously consider it, thanks.

Regards
Joe Steele