I have 5 seperate winxp Pro's on my 40 and 30G HD's. I had an extra drive
here and there and just threw them in. I can boot to the most recent one
(turns out to be a winxp CD copy to a HD directory to try and make a
bootable cd) but it is bare of all of my old icons. They are all there on
the HD;s but in different locations. I tried to point my boot.ini file to
the other ones but it always gives me a "hal.dll corrupt or missing" error.
They all have the hal.dll, but they are all different sizes. Ill wipe em all
out and start over but I would really just like to have my original one
back, and reclaim a gouple of G's in disk space!
While it is software, an operating system is a special type. An operating
system provides an environment for the user to interact with hardware and
application software.
While some applications are "stand alone" and need only a folder filled
with their files to run, most Windows programs need more and should be
installed while working within the operating system environment. Extra and
necessary files placed in locations other than the program's folder,
registry entries, convenience items such as shortcuts -- these are all
created during the installation process for each program. And they are
recorded within that instance of the operating system.
Consequently, you cannot install Windows and programs over "here" and then
later install Windows over "there" and expect it know about the programs in
the first Windows. It just doesn't work that way. Also, hal.dll and
boot.ini have nothing to do with installed programs. No need to shuffle
those around at all for this problem. I suspect your misunderstanding of
the operating system functions is why you've even attempted this. Do a
little bit of research before going too much further so that you have a
clearer understanding. Then...
Figure out how you're going to organize your system: single boot of Windows
XP or a dual boot configuration of some type. Gather up all your install
media: installation disks for Windows and programs, drivers that are not
included with windows, etc. Have an product keys or other numbers needed
for installing programs on hand. I keep these in an Excel list that is
updated with every new software purchase. I keep a copy of this on my
computer and a hard copy (printed out on paper). Get all personal data
files backed up to CD, DVD or some other media.
Prepare your drives. Depending on how you've decided to set all of this up,
you will probably do this step during XP setup.
Get the operating system(s) setup. Then install the programs. If you are
going to dual boot, boot with operating system 1. Install programs. Then
boot with operating system 2 and install them again.
A good reference for doing a "clean install" can be found here:
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html
NOTE: If you have OEM install media, follow the OEM's directions for
installing/restoring the system.
If you opt for dual booting also known as multi-booting, you can read up on
that a little bit before hand too. Type those terms into XP's Help and
Support while online and you'll get some nice references to review.
