zulu said:
I have a one year old Dell Dimension 9150 running (Dell OEM)
Windows XP Pro.
It has 2 identical 26GB hard drives (C & D) an 1 GB of RAM
I really want to start over, but to make it as easy as possible
(I have VERY poor eyesight) I would like to reformat the
second drive (D) and install a new (yet to be purchased)
Windows XP Pro (non OEM!) and have the choice when I boot up of either. When I
have the new version running to
my satisfaction I would then like to reformat the *C* drive.
I would then have a "new" computer _without_ all the Dell
crap and without all the crap that I have introduced/
Is this possible?
I assume that this would be legal as I would own both copies
of XP Pro...
That is legal and easily possible. Since you plan to eventually
get rid of the OEM WinXP, it would be easier on your psyche
if the 2nd OS also called its partition "C:" and not "D:" (although
"D:" works just as well as "C:"). That is done by disconnecting
the 1st HD before doing the installation on the 2nd HD. That
will give you a 2nd OS that will mono-boot itself when in
isolation. Then re-connect the 1st HD. Assuming that the
HDs are SATA drives, the HD on the 1st SATA port will boot -
probably the original HD. To make the 2nd HD boot at startup,
go into the BIOS at startup by pressing DEL, and adjust the
Hard Drive Boot Order so that the other HD is at the top of
the list of HDs. (This is *not* the Device Boot Order which
prioritizes the device *types*.) The Hard Drive Boot Order
is called different things, depending on the BIOS, but it will be
recognizable as a list of HD model nos. which identifiy the HDs.
For this reason, it is best if the model nos. differ by having the
HDs of different makes or of different capacities or of different
model lines. Once the Hard Drive Boot Order is re-set, exit
the BIOS with the re-start option, and the subsequent bootup
will be controlled by the MBR and boot files of the HD at the
head of the Hard Drive Boot Order list.
If the HDs are PATA ("IDE" HDs), jumpering does not matter
as long as the 2 HDs are jumpered differently. The 1st HD is
probably Master on IDE ch. 0 (although it doesn't have to be),
and in the default mode (before the Hard Drive Boot Order is
changed) it will get control at startup. When it is disconnected,
the 2nd HD in the Hard Drive Boot Order will get control -
the default being the Slave on IDE ch. 0 unless the Hard Drive
Boot Order has been changed.
The BIOS settings persist in ROM, so that unless the Hard Drive
Boot Order is changed, the same HD will control booting at
each startup. Each OS, when it is the running OS, will call its
own partition "C:" and it will call other partitions in the system by
other names. This is OK as long as you don't have any shortcuts
which involve other than the one that it's on.
You can use this BIOS adjustment to change which OS boots
until such time as you get rid of the 1st WinXP on the 1st HD.
You can then move the 2nd HD to the current position of the
1st HD, or you can just leave it where it is.
Another method involves software dual-booting. If the 1st HD
is connected when the OS installation is done for the 2nd HD,
the installer will see the 1st installed OS, and if you let the installer
do it, it will set up a dual-boot menu for you that will allow you
to choose at startup which OS to boot. This form of dual-boot
will be a little simpler procedurally, but even after you eventually
reformat the 1st HD, the 2nd OS will persist in calling its own
partition "D:", and you will have to change the boot menu to re-
establish a mono-boot procedure. This is simple to do, but you
*will* be back here asking us how to do it.
*TimDaniels*
