2 drives both with XP?

[asrai]

My motherboard went poof, taking most everything but the
hard drive. I have all of my documents on it, and was
told to buy a 2nd drive, load xp on it, then use the
other drive as a slave and transfer all of my info to the
new one. Can this be done, having xp on two drives in
the same computer? And how do I do it if not? TIA

 

[Moe]

It can be done as long as the newly installed OS is on
the master drive.

 

[Andrew E.]

XP needs to be on one only,two would cause problems
ecspecially on start-up.Try inserting the xp cd then
boot from it,enter recovery r,at the cmd prompt type:
FORMAT C: /FS:NTFS
Then exit r. Re-do with new disk,but continue the xp
installation after recovery.I usually physically dis-
connect a disk and run each solo,just pull the power
plug at shut-down on the hd.

 

[R. C. White]

Hi, Asrai.

No problem with having multiple copies of WinXP in the same computer - on
one HD or several. Many of us (including me) dual-boot to two or more
copies of Win2K and WinXP. Our computer can only run one at a time, of
course.

Windows always starts booting with the first partition on the first physical
drive (almost always Drive C, but except for the few "system files",
Windows can be installed into any volume on any HD in your computer. It
doesn't even have to be on the same HD as Drive C:.

Leave the old HD out of your computer until you've completed the
installation of WinXP and your applications on your new drive. Then plug
the old drive in as slave. Use Disk Management to assign (or reassign)
drive letters to suit yourself. If you plan to retire the old HD, then use
a temporary letter for it (X: ?) that won't confuse you during the
transition. Then use Copy (or Xcopy) to transfer all your data off the old
drive to your new one. Don't bother to copy WinXP's old boot folder
(probably \Windows) or all your application files, because you will have
newly-installed copies of all that on your new drive. Finally, unplug the
old HD for good.

If the old drive did not "go poof" and is still good, then you may not need
a new drive at all. Just plug the old drive in as primary master, leaving
WinXP and all your applications installed and all your data ready to use.
You will probably need to do the "in-place upgrade" to let WinXP Setup
detect your new hardware configuration and re-customize your installation of
WinXP to fit it. Follow Microsoft's instructions here:
How to Perform an In-Place Upgrade (Reinstallation) of Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;en-us;q315341

As the article says, this is not intended as a time-saver and will take
about as long as a fresh install of WinXP. But, it should preserve all or
most of your installed applications, all of your data - and most of your
tweaks. Be sure to visit Windows Update as soon as you get back online to
be sure you have all required Service Packs and other fixes.

If you do buy a new HD, put some thought into the organization of your hard
drives. Will you want to retire your old HD, or use it as a secondary drive
for additional storage? How many partitions will you want on it, and what
drive letter(s) will you assign? Will you want to dual-boot two copies of
WinXP? You will have many options from which to choose, especially if your
new drive is much larger than the old one.

RC