Creating 2 different startup options?

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Guest

When I play games on my pc (XP home), I want the minimal amount of stuff to
load to get the best system performance. I want to have the option of having
to select from 2 start up configurations... one barebones for my gaming and
then the regular starup config for regular use. I can find any options to do
this. Ive seen some utilities but Im looking for a no cost solution. Any
suggestions?
Thanks
 
Jiimy Jay said:
When I play games on my pc (XP home), I want the minimal amount of stuff to
load to get the best system performance. I want to have the option of having
to select from 2 start up configurations... one barebones for my gaming and
then the regular starup config for regular use. I can find any options to do
this. Ive seen some utilities but Im looking for a no cost solution. Any
suggestions?
Click to expand...


The cheapest way is contrary to MS's EULA - use your WinXP CD
to install a 2nd copy on a 2nd partition on the same HD. The installer
will see the other OS, and it will make a dual boot boot.ini file entry
for you. If you haven't done an activation using that CD's key in less
than 4 months, the activation will be automatic. (I don't know how
the new WGA system affects this.)

The next cheapest way is to use a downloaded free-trial cloning utility
to clone your WinXP to another partition on the same HD, and then
use a 3rd party utility (e.g. Partition Magic) to "hide" the source partition
before starting up the clone OS for its first run. Then you can edit the
boot.ini file in either (or both) of the "active" partitions to make it dual
boot. But "hiding" and then "unhiding" a partition can be dangerous
and tricky.

The next cheapest way is to uss a downloaded free-trial cloning utility
to clone your WinXP to another partition on another HD, then just
disconnect the source HD before running the new clone for the first
time. Then you can edit the boot.ini file in either (or both) of the
"active" partitions to make the boot.ini dual boot. I recommend
CasperXP for the cloning (go to www.FSSdev.com/products/casperxp ).
The only limitation on the 30-day free trial copy is that the new partition
will be the same size as the source partition.

*TimDaniels*
 
Thanks for the reply Tim.

Timothy Daniels said:
The cheapest way is contrary to MS's EULA - use your WinXP CD
to install a 2nd copy on a 2nd partition on the same HD. The installer
will see the other OS, and it will make a dual boot boot.ini file entry
for you. If you haven't done an activation using that CD's key in less
than 4 months, the activation will be automatic. (I don't know how
the new WGA system affects this.)

The next cheapest way is to use a downloaded free-trial cloning utility
to clone your WinXP to another partition on the same HD, and then
use a 3rd party utility (e.g. Partition Magic) to "hide" the source partition
before starting up the clone OS for its first run. Then you can edit the
boot.ini file in either (or both) of the "active" partitions to make it dual
boot. But "hiding" and then "unhiding" a partition can be dangerous
and tricky.

The next cheapest way is to uss a downloaded free-trial cloning utility
to clone your WinXP to another partition on another HD, then just
disconnect the source HD before running the new clone for the first
time. Then you can edit the boot.ini file in either (or both) of the
"active" partitions to make the boot.ini dual boot. I recommend
CasperXP for the cloning (go to www.FSSdev.com/products/casperxp ).
The only limitation on the 30-day free trial copy is that the new partition
will be the same size as the source partition.

*TimDaniels*
Click to expand...
 
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