Charlie said:
I don't need dual boot, but at the moment have way to much time on my
hands.
I'm trying to learn more about setting up computers. I just don't know
which
OS disk (home or 64 bit) to use on which active OS (home or 64 bit) to get
the dual boot option.
Charlie:
Assuming this is practical in your situation, why not consider using (at
least) one removable HDD in your system.
I'm assuming that you're working with a desktop computer case that has at
least one vacant 5 1/4" bay presently available. If so, you could equip that
PC with at least one removable HDD perhaps in addition to the internal HDD
that's already installed. In case you're not familiar with these mobile rack
devices that contain a removable HDD, here's some add'l information on
them...
They're two-piece affairs - the rack itself and the inner tray or caddy (in
which the hard drive resides) that slides into the rack. They come in
all-aluminum models or a combination of aluminum-plastic, or all-plastic,
ranging in price from about $15 to $50. Mobile racks come in various
versions, depending upon whether the hard drive to be housed is an IDE/ATA,
SATA, or SCSI device. A Google search for "removable hard drive mobile
racks" will result
in a wealth of information on these products and their vendors.
For the past three years or so we've been primarily using the Athena Power
MR-125 mobile rack. See
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817123302. It's an
all-plastic model but has proven very reliable for us. (It also comes in an
all-aluminum version at slightly higher cost). It has a bottom-mounted 80mm
fan that's virtually inaudible. What we particularly like about it (aside
from its reliability) is that rather than use an ON-OFF keylock, a simple
push-to-release lever turns the device on or off, thus it can be easily
physically connected or /disconnected from the system. It's an important
consideration for us since we're continually changing HDDs and trying to
find the key can be a pain. But most of these devices do come with the
keylock mechanism.
The installation of these devices is simplicity itself - no more difficult
than installing an optical drive. After the rack is installed you just plop
the hard drive into the removable tray (caddy), make two simple connections
(power & data cable), and slide the tray into the mobile rack. Note that the
removable hard drive mobile racks we are discussing are designed to be
installed in desktop computers and not laptop or notebook computers. The
size, weight, and design considerations of laptops/notebooks (generally) do
not allow for this hardware configuration.
As I previously indicated, these mobile racks are nearly always equipped
with a ON-OFF keylock, so a simple turn of the key, in effect, activates the
HDD. For added security you can push or pull the removable tray in or out
using the tray's handle and thus electrically/physically connect or
disconnect the HDD from the system. No more difficult than opening or
closing a small desk drawer.
Do you see the enormous advantage of this type of hardware configuration as
it applies to your particular objective? In your particular situation
(assuming you would be working with a single removable HDD) you would
install one of your SATA HDDs internally and the other SATA HDD would be
housed in the removable tray of the mobile rack. The latter would be
connected to your motherboard's first (SATA0 or SATA1) connector, while the
internally-connected SATA HDD would be connected to the second (SATA1 or
SATA2) connector. (Naturally I'm assuming this is a non-RAID configuration).
So when the removable HDD is "on", the system will boot to that drive and
the internally-connected HDD would serve as a secondary HDD.
When the removable HDD is set to the "off" position, the system will boot to
the internally-installed HDD. Again, no need to fiddle with modifications of
the BIOS settings or system files affecting the boot process. It's an ideal
system for computing with multiple operating systems or meeting one's
special interests.
For even additional flexibility working with your HDDs, installing *two*
removable HDDs would be even better. Obviously you would need *two* vacant 5
1/4" bays on your desktop case to achieve this configuration. With this
configuration, each drive is effectively isolated from each other, but if
for any reason you want both drives connected during bootup, you can easily
achieve that configuration as well.
Keep in mind that another significant advantage of using a removable HDD is
that now you can have an *unlimited* number of HDDs at your disposal by
simply using additional removable trays to house additional drives. So that
another important advantage of using this hardware configuration is that
you'll be able to use one or more other removable HDDs as one or more
backups drive for your day-to-day working HDDs.
We've worked with these removable hard drive affairs for about 10 years now
and have helped hundreds of users install & operate this kind of system.
Virtually ever user we're aware of has found this hardware arrangement a
most desirable configuration in a desktop PC environment. We've encountered
no negative performance issues using these devices in comparison with
internally-installed HDDs and find the flexibility and peace of mind you
gain from this configuration an enormous advantage.
So do give it some thought if it is practical in your situation.
Anna
