Daul Boot of Two WinXP. How to get "C:\WINDOWS" in both cases?

[q_q_anonymous]

Not true, as Pegasus found out. As long as an OS was installed
without another previous installation in view (i.e. not "hidden" or
on a disconnected HD), the new installation forever after will,
when its running, know its own partition as "C:", and it will call the
other partitions - including the partition containing the OS that
calls its partition "C:" - by other letter designatins. This is true
even when using Microsoft's standard ntldr boot manager.

You can check this out easily by simply cloning an OS that calls
its own partition "C:" to another HD. Then boot that clone OS
up in isolation from the original OS's HD (e.g. by first disconnecting
the original HD). The clone will boot up as "C:". Then reconnect
the original HD. The original OS will boot up as "C:" and call the
clone's partition something like "D:" or some other letter. Then,
by adjusting the boot.ini file that the original OS uses or by changing
the BIOS's HD boot order, boot up the clone. Now the clone will
call its partition "C:" and call the original OS's partition "D:" or some
other letter. Each OS - WHEN IT IS RUNNING - will call its own
partition "C:". This NOT to say that there are two partitions called
"C:" simultaneously by either running OS, but that each of the 2 OSes
will call its partition "C:" when it is running.

*TimDaniels*

no doubt that by disconnecting a HDD you don't want to use, one could
cause the OS on an active partition of the other HDD to be C.
And yes, by telling the BIOS (boot sequwence or enable/disable a hdd)
to boot off a particular HDD, one would use the active partition on
that drive

But what would one change in boot.ini to cause C to apply to whichever
partition it boots from?

From my limited use of boot.ini I have found that the partition

boot.ini is on which is also the active partition, will be C. And
whichever other windows is booted through it, will not be C. (and I
think won't and may as well not have boot.ini either, though irelevant,
it's not active).

The desktop of the 'other' windows loaded throug boot.ini
("d:\documents and settings\...." or e:\doc... ) uses D or E e.t.c.
I'll bet the windows directory is d:\windows e.t.c.

So I am not clear on what you say about boot.ini


Regarding methods-
The way of "Hiding a partition"/ "making a partition hidden". But
AFAIK that cannot be done in windows without 3rd party software.

I do of course agree with you that one doesn't need 3rd party software
...

I think changing the BIOS boot sequence is reasonable. So i'd agree
that one can boot from 2 different OSs (if 2 different HDDs). Very
easily .

 

[q_q_anonymous]

Disk Management will not let you make a second partition active.

he never said it could.

INFACT
Maybe it could- on another HDD. Eaach HDD can have a max of 1 active
partition.

Even if he had said "make partition 1 active..............makw
partition 2 active" (and he was referring to the same HDD. Those are
operations.. Of course. behind the scenes, partition 1 will not be
active anymore. Only partition 2 will be. But he never claimed
otherwise. He never even misled us with the statement I suggested
where he could have been accused..

Disk Management is running on the active partition.
--

no
it runs on what one might call the "current partition" or perhaps "the
boot partition". The partition that the OS loads from.
it works on whatever partitions you tell it to work on.

<snip>

 

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Northerntravel.net and Northerntravel.co.uk is a premier online travel
planning and flight-booking site. You are able to purchase airline tickets
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[Ron Sommer]

Ok, Disk Management will change the active partition.

Disk Management works on whatever partitions you tell it to work on except
for the partition that it is on.
--
Ron Sommer

:
: Ron Sommer wrote:
: > Disk Management will not let you make a second partition active.
:
: he never said it could.
:
: INFACT
: Maybe it could- on another HDD. Eaach HDD can have a max of 1 active
: partition.
:
: Even if he had said "make partition 1 active..............makw
: partition 2 active" (and he was referring to the same HDD. Those are
: operations.. Of course. behind the scenes, partition 1 will not be
: active anymore. Only partition 2 will be. But he never claimed
: otherwise. He never even misled us with the statement I suggested
: where he could have been accused..
:
:
:
: > Disk Management is running on the active partition.
: > --
:
: no
: it runs on what one might call the "current partition" or perhaps "the
: boot partition". The partition that the OS loads from.
: it works on whatever partitions you tell it to work on.
:
: <snip>
:

 

[Ron Sommer]

:
: Timothy Daniels wrote:
: > "Bruce Chambers" wrote:
: > > You'll need to use a 3rd party partition and boot manager to hide each
: > > partition from one another, so that each installation will "think"
it's
: > > on C:.
: >
: > Not true, as Pegasus found out. As long as an OS was installed
: > without another previous installation in view (i.e. not "hidden" or
: > on a disconnected HD), the new installation forever after will,
: > when its running, know its own partition as "C:", and it will call
the
: > other partitions - including the partition containing the OS that
: > calls its partition "C:" - by other letter designatins. This is
true
: > even when using Microsoft's standard ntldr boot manager.
: >
: > You can check this out easily by simply cloning an OS that calls
: > its own partition "C:" to another HD. Then boot that clone OS
: > up in isolation from the original OS's HD (e.g. by first
disconnecting
: > the original HD). The clone will boot up as "C:". Then reconnect
: > the original HD. The original OS will boot up as "C:" and call the
: > clone's partition something like "D:" or some other letter. Then,
: > by adjusting the boot.ini file that the original OS uses or by
changing
: > the BIOS's HD boot order, boot up the clone. Now the clone will
: > call its partition "C:" and call the original OS's partition "D:" or
some
: > other letter. Each OS - WHEN IT IS RUNNING - will call its own
: > partition "C:". This NOT to say that there are two partitions
called
: > "C:" simultaneously by either running OS, but that each of the 2
OSes
: > will call its partition "C:" when it is running.
: >
: > *TimDaniels*
:
: no doubt that by disconnecting a HDD you don't want to use, one could
: cause the OS on an active partition of the other HDD to be C.
: And yes, by telling the BIOS (boot sequwence or enable/disable a hdd)
: to boot off a particular HDD, one would use the active partition on
: that drive
:
: But what would one change in boot.ini to cause C to apply to whichever
: partition it boots from?
: >From my limited use of boot.ini I have found that the partition
: boot.ini is on which is also the active partition, will be C. And
: whichever other windows is booted through it, will not be C. (and I
: think won't and may as well not have boot.ini either, though irelevant,
: it's not active).
:
: The desktop of the 'other' windows loaded throug boot.ini
: ("d:\documents and settings\...." or e:\doc... ) uses D or E e.t.c.
: I'll bet the windows directory is d:\windows e.t.c.
:
: So I am not clear on what you say about boot.ini
:
:
: Regarding methods-
: The way of "Hiding a partition"/ "making a partition hidden". But
: AFAIK that cannot be done in windows without 3rd party software.
:
: I do of course agree with you that one doesn't need 3rd party software
: ..
:
: I think changing the BIOS boot sequence is reasonable. So i'd agree
: that one can boot from 2 different OSs (if 2 different HDDs). Very
: easily .
:

For simplicity I will only talk about Windows XP Home and Pro.
If Windows XP Home is installed on an active partition, then it will be on
C.
If you change the first active partition either by installing another drive
or making a different partition active, you can install Windows XP Pro. It
will be installed on C.
You will still be able to boot either Home or Pro, by adding the partition
location of XP Home to the XP Pro boot.ini file.
If you boot Home or Pro, they will be on C.

If you don't change the active partition and install XP Pro on a different
partition, it will have a different drive letter and the Home boot.ini file
will be updated to boot Home or Pro.

 

[Timothy Daniels]

Disk Management will change the "active" flag on ANY partition.
Specifically, it can set the "active" flag on another partition to
"active", unsetting the "active" flag on its own partition in the process.
On the next boot, the HD's MBR will pass control to the boot sector on
whichever Primary partition is marked "active", and that boot sector
(if there is one) will then look on its own partition for ntldr to do the
loading.

*TimDaniels*

 

[q_q_anonymous]

:
: Timothy Daniels wrote:
: > "Bruce Chambers" wrote:
: > > You'll need to use a 3rd party partition and boot manager to hide each
: > > partition from one another, so that each installation will "think"
it's
: > > on C:.
: >
: > Not true, as Pegasus found out. As long as an OS was installed
: > without another previous installation in view (i.e. not "hidden" or
: > on a disconnected HD), the new installation forever after will,
: > when its running, know its own partition as "C:", and it will call
the
: > other partitions - including the partition containing the OS that
: > calls its partition "C:" - by other letter designatins. This is
true
: > even when using Microsoft's standard ntldr boot manager.
: >
: > You can check this out easily by simply cloning an OS that calls
: > its own partition "C:" to another HD. Then boot that clone OS
: > up in isolation from the original OS's HD (e.g. by first
disconnecting
: > the original HD). The clone will boot up as "C:". Then reconnect
: > the original HD. The original OS will boot up as "C:" and call the
: > clone's partition something like "D:" or some other letter. Then,
: > by adjusting the boot.ini file that the original OS uses or by
changing
: > the BIOS's HD boot order, boot up the clone. Now the clone will
: > call its partition "C:" and call the original OS's partition "D:" or
some
: > other letter. Each OS - WHEN IT IS RUNNING - will call its own
: > partition "C:". This NOT to say that there are two partitions
called
: > "C:" simultaneously by either running OS, but that each of the 2
OSes
: > will call its partition "C:" when it is running.
: >
: > *TimDaniels*
:
: no doubt that by disconnecting a HDD you don't want to use, one could
: cause the OS on an active partition of the other HDD to be C.
: And yes, by telling the BIOS (boot sequwence or enable/disable a hdd)
: to boot off a particular HDD, one would use the active partition on
: that drive
:
: But what would one change in boot.ini to cause C to apply to whichever
: partition it boots from?
: >From my limited use of boot.ini I have found that the partition
: boot.ini is on which is also the active partition, will be C. And
: whichever other windows is booted through it, will not be C. (and I
: think won't and may as well not have boot.ini either, though irelevant,
: it's not active).
:
: The desktop of the 'other' windows loaded throug boot.ini
: ("d:\documents and settings\...." or e:\doc... ) uses D or E e.t.c.
: I'll bet the windows directory is d:\windows e.t.c.
:
: So I am not clear on what you say about boot.ini
:
:
: Regarding methods-
: The way of "Hiding a partition"/ "making a partition hidden". But
: AFAIK that cannot be done in windows without 3rd party software.
:
: I do of course agree with you that one doesn't need 3rd party software
: ..
:
: I think changing the BIOS boot sequence is reasonable. So i'd agree
: that one can boot from 2 different OSs (if 2 different HDDs). Very
: easily .
:

For simplicity I will only talk about Windows XP Home and Pro.
If Windows XP Home is installed on an active partition, then it will be on
C.
If you change the first active partition either by installing another drive
or making a different partition active, you can install Windows XP Pro. It
will be installed on C.
You will still be able to boot either Home or Pro, by adding the partition
location of XP Home to the XP Pro boot.ini file.
If you boot Home or Pro, they will be on C.

If you don't change the active partition and install XP Pro on a different
partition, it will have a different drive letter and the Home boot.ini file
will be updated to boot Home or Pro.

I think you're right..
though tim didn't mention about needing to change the active paortition
ALONG with the boot.ini change, I think he meant that.

Even if you tell boot.ini to boot from a partition of another disk
whose partition is active, that partition still won't be C. The
partition boot.ini was run from is C. There is a case where you can
boot from anothe rpartition, and let that partition be C, without
changing the active partition. THat is when you tell the BIOS to boot
from another drive which has an active partition. But of course , I
wasn't referring to that. In relation to just changing boot.ini, what
tim referred to, You have to change the active partition to change
which is C..
Funnily enough, when you do that, changing boot.ini is irrelevant, it's
a different boot.ini that is loaded.
So I don't see what Tim was getting at talking about changing boot.ini
causing a change in C. Without mentioning changing the active
partition.
I think you're right talking about changing the active partition. But
that's not quite what Tim said.

 

[Jonny]

I think you're right..
though tim didn't mention about needing to change the active paortition
ALONG with the boot.ini change, I think he meant that.

Even if you tell boot.ini to boot from a partition of another disk
whose partition is active, that partition still won't be C. The
partition boot.ini was run from is C. There is a case where you can
boot from anothe rpartition, and let that partition be C, without
changing the active partition. THat is when you tell the BIOS to boot
from another drive which has an active partition. But of course , I
wasn't referring to that. In relation to just changing boot.ini, what
tim referred to, You have to change the active partition to change
which is C..
Funnily enough, when you do that, changing boot.ini is irrelevant, it's
a different boot.ini that is loaded.
So I don't see what Tim was getting at talking about changing boot.ini
causing a change in C. Without mentioning changing the active
partition.
I think you're right talking about changing the active partition. But
that's not quite what Tim said.

Doesn't matter. The active primary partition (there can only be one on a
hard drive) has to contain the boot.ini file. This is always drive letter
(partition designation) C: Doesn't matter which of singular or multiple
hard drive its on. Doesn't matter if the boot.ini redirects to another
partition for actual continuing of windows loading. Doesn't matter if
windows folder is on the same partition or not. Doesn't matter if you're
using a boot manager. Doesn't matter if you're hiding other OS partitions
(that one may be active when set so by the boot manager when booting from
one of these).

There can only be one C:\windows in relation to this concept. There can be
more than one C:\windows if there are other such instances of boot.ini
whether on the same hard drive with multiple primary partitions or another
physical hard drive if one of these partitions are active, others
alternately hidden whether by simple non-presence of the alternate hard
drive, or hiding the other partitions on the same hard drive. But, only one
can be accessed at any give time as that partition and folder designation:
"C:\windows".

 

[q_q_anonymous]

Doesn't matter. The active primary partition (there can only be one on a
hard drive) has to contain the boot.ini file. This is always drive letter
(partition designation) C: Doesn't matter which of singular or multiple
hard drive its on. Doesn't matter if the boot.ini redirects to another
partition for actual continuing of windows loading. Doesn't matter if
windows folder is on the same partition or not. Doesn't matter if you're
using a boot manager. Doesn't matter if you're hiding other OS partitions
(that one may be active when set so by the boot manager when booting from
one of these).

There can only be one C:\windows in relation to this concept. There can be
more than one C:\windows if there are other such instances of boot.ini
whether on the same hard drive with multiple primary partitions or another
physical hard drive if one of these partitions are active, others
alternately hidden whether by simple non-presence of the alternate hard
drive, or hiding the other partitions on the same hard drive. But, only one
can be accessed at any give time as that partition and folder designation:
"C:\windows".

I agree with that..
But my point is that a mere change of boot.ini will not cause a
different partition to become C.

 

[Timothy Daniels]

So I don't see what Tim was getting at talking about
changing boot.ini causing a change in C. Without
mentioning changing the active partition.
I think you're right talking about changing the active
partition. But that's not quite what Tim said.

You're confusing me with someone else. I did not
in any way associate boot.ini with the assignment
of the partition name "C:".

And the "active" flag on a partition has NOTHING
to do with whether the OS running off it calls itself
"C:" or not. The partition marked "active" is the
one where the MBR looks for a boot sector to
which to pass control at boot time. The boot
sector there expects to find ntldr in its own
partition so it can pass control to it. Ntldr then
looks for boot.ini at the same level of the file
structure so it can be told in what folder in what
partition on what hard drive to find the OS so it
can load that OS. In other words, the registry of
an OS tells it what to call its partition when the OS
runs, and that was determined at the time of
installation, not by the current location of boot.ini
or any other file.

There is far too much urban lore and mythology
being bandied here. Go Microsoft's website and
look for the long write-up on Windows XP's
startup process. You will find that a much of what
is written on websites and "known" by the MVPs
is part urban lore carried down from the DOS days
and part assumption based on default cases.

*TimDaniels*

 

[Ron Sommer]

:
: Ron Sommer wrote:
: > : > :
: > : Timothy Daniels wrote:
: > : > "Bruce Chambers" wrote:
: > : > > You'll need to use a 3rd party partition and boot manager to hide
each
: > : > > partition from one another, so that each installation will "think"
: > it's
: > : > > on C:.
: > : >
: > : > Not true, as Pegasus found out. As long as an OS was installed
: > : > without another previous installation in view (i.e. not "hidden"
or
: > : > on a disconnected HD), the new installation forever after will,
: > : > when its running, know its own partition as "C:", and it will
call
: > the
: > : > other partitions - including the partition containing the OS
that
: > : > calls its partition "C:" - by other letter designatins. This is
: > true
: > : > even when using Microsoft's standard ntldr boot manager.
: > : >
: > : > You can check this out easily by simply cloning an OS that calls
: > : > its own partition "C:" to another HD. Then boot that clone OS
: > : > up in isolation from the original OS's HD (e.g. by first
: > disconnecting
: > : > the original HD). The clone will boot up as "C:". Then
reconnect
: > : > the original HD. The original OS will boot up as "C:" and call
the
: > : > clone's partition something like "D:" or some other letter.
Then,
: > : > by adjusting the boot.ini file that the original OS uses or by
: > changing
: > : > the BIOS's HD boot order, boot up the clone. Now the clone will
: > : > call its partition "C:" and call the original OS's partition
"D:" or
: > some
: > : > other letter. Each OS - WHEN IT IS RUNNING - will call its own
: > : > partition "C:". This NOT to say that there are two partitions
: > called
: > : > "C:" simultaneously by either running OS, but that each of the 2
: > OSes
: > : > will call its partition "C:" when it is running.
: > : >
: > : > *TimDaniels*
: > :
: > : no doubt that by disconnecting a HDD you don't want to use, one could
: > : cause the OS on an active partition of the other HDD to be C.
: > : And yes, by telling the BIOS (boot sequwence or enable/disable a hdd)
: > : to boot off a particular HDD, one would use the active partition on
: > : that drive
: > :
: > : But what would one change in boot.ini to cause C to apply to whichever
: > : partition it boots from?
: > : >From my limited use of boot.ini I have found that the partition
: > : boot.ini is on which is also the active partition, will be C. And
: > : whichever other windows is booted through it, will not be C. (and I
: > : think won't and may as well not have boot.ini either, though
irelevant,
: > : it's not active).
: > :
: > : The desktop of the 'other' windows loaded throug boot.ini
: > : ("d:\documents and settings\...." or e:\doc... ) uses D or E e.t.c.
: > : I'll bet the windows directory is d:\windows e.t.c.
: > :
: > : So I am not clear on what you say about boot.ini
: > :
: > :
: > : Regarding methods-
: > : The way of "Hiding a partition"/ "making a partition hidden". But
: > : AFAIK that cannot be done in windows without 3rd party software.
: > :
: > : I do of course agree with you that one doesn't need 3rd party software
: > : ..
: > :
: > : I think changing the BIOS boot sequence is reasonable. So i'd agree
: > : that one can boot from 2 different OSs (if 2 different HDDs). Very
: > : easily .
: > :
: >
: > For simplicity I will only talk about Windows XP Home and Pro.
: > If Windows XP Home is installed on an active partition, then it will be
on
: > C.
: > If you change the first active partition either by installing another
drive
: > or making a different partition active, you can install Windows XP Pro.
It
: > will be installed on C.
: > You will still be able to boot either Home or Pro, by adding the
partition
: > location of XP Home to the XP Pro boot.ini file.
: > If you boot Home or Pro, they will be on C.
: >
: > If you don't change the active partition and install XP Pro on a
different
: > partition, it will have a different drive letter and the Home boot.ini
file
: > will be updated to boot Home or Pro.
: > --
: > Ron Sommer
:
: I think you're right..
: though tim didn't mention about needing to change the active paortition
: ALONG with the boot.ini change, I think he meant that.
:
: Even if you tell boot.ini to boot from a partition of another disk
: whose partition is active, that partition still won't be C. The
: partition boot.ini was run from is C. There is a case where you can
: boot from anothe rpartition, and let that partition be C, without
: changing the active partition. THat is when you tell the BIOS to boot
: from another drive which has an active partition. But of course , I
: wasn't referring to that. In relation to just changing boot.ini, what
: tim referred to, You have to change the active partition to change
: which is C..
: Funnily enough, when you do that, changing boot.ini is irrelevant, it's
: a different boot.ini that is loaded.
: So I don't see what Tim was getting at talking about changing boot.ini
: causing a change in C. Without mentioning changing the active
: partition.
: I think you're right talking about changing the active partition. But
: that's not quite what Tim said.
:

Boot.ini has to run from the first active partition.
This does not have to be C after the operating system boots.
You do not have to change the active partition.

The boot files have to be on the first active partition.
The operating system determines the drive letter, not the boot files.
The operating system does not have to be on an active partition.

My XP is on the second partition.
My XP is on C.
The second partition is active.
I could make the first partition active and put the boot files there.
The boot.ini file already points to the second partition for the XP system
files, so it would not need to be changed.
XP will still be on C.

 

[Timothy Daniels]

"Jonny"wrote:

The active primary partition (there can only be one on a
hard drive) has to contain the boot.ini file. This is always
drive letter (partition designation) C:

Where the boot.ini file (and ntldr and ntdetect.com) are
found has nothing to do with whether the OS ultimately
loaded calls its partition "C:". There IS no "C:" - or any
other drive letter - that exists before the OS starts running.
Those designations are not contained in the partition table,
but in the running OS's registry. The only requirement on
the location of those boot files is that they are in the
Primary partition marked "active" on the hard drive at the
head of the BIOS's hard drive boot order. Then the OS
can be anywhere in the system - on any hard drive, on any
partition (even within an Extended partition), in any folder.
And the OS that gets loaded can call itself anything that it
wants. If it was installed on a partition named "Z:", it lwill
load and then call its partition "Z:", even if other OSes
(when they're running) do not call that partition "Z:".

Please stop reading websites and believing the MVPs
when it comes to the startup process. Just read what
Microsoft has to say about the startup process in
Windows XP. It's a long read, but worth it. You'll find
that 99% of what you read elsewhere is just myth that
is allowed to propagate by laziness.

*TimDaniels*

 

[q_q_anonymous]

You're confusing me with someone else. I did not
in any way associate boot.ini with the assignment
of the partition name "C:".

And the "active" flag on a partition has NOTHING
to do with whether the OS running off it calls itself
"C:" or not. The partition marked "active" is the
one where the MBR looks for a boot sector to
which to pass control at boot time. The boot
sector there expects to find ntldr in its own
partition so it can pass control to it. Ntldr then
looks for boot.ini at the same level of the file
structure so it can be told in what folder in what
partition on what hard drive to find the OS so it
can load that OS.

but that active partition that the MBR found , is C .

An amendment to the boot.ini on that active partition will not change
that. You say you agree .
So What will change it?
It seems to be determined as soon as that active partition is chosen by
the MBR . That partition is C.
But you say "the "active" flag on a partition has NOTHING to do with
whether the OS running off it calls itself "C:" or not."

Fair enough but i'm not clear what does then!

In other words, the registry of
an OS tells it what to call its partition when the OS
runs, and that was determined at the time of
installation, not by the current location of boot.ini
or any other file.

There is far too much urban lore and mythology
being bandied here. Go Microsoft's website and
look for the long write-up on Windows XP's
startup process. You will find that a much of what
is written on websites and "known" by the MVPs
is part urban lore carried down from the DOS days
and part assumption based on default cases.

*TimDaniels*

I was around in the old DOS days.. I wasn't referring to any MVPs !!

I notice that xp's "disk management" lets you change drive letter. I
haven't tried it, but is that what you have in mind when you almost say
how you can set the registry to make a non active partition call itself
C? I'm not sure what you're getting at when you mention the registry.
Or (windows?) installation.

-useful links which I looked at and got something from. The latter is
thanks to your recommendation

http://ata-atapi.com/hiwmbr.htm
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/winxppro/reskit/c29621675.mspx

 

[Timothy Daniels]

but that active partition that the MBR found , is C .

An amendment to the boot.ini on that active partition
will not change that. You say you agree .
So What will change it?

This is a frequently-asked question in the MS NGs,
and the answer from the MVPs is essentially "Nothing".
Some people do manage to go into the registry and
change it, but I've never had the need or the courage
to do that. It seems that the name that the OS calls its
own partition is set at installation time for that OS, and
Disk Management won't do it for the partition of the
*running* OS. It will change the names of *other*
partitions - which the currently running OS will then use -
but not its own name. To change the name that an OS
will use for its own partition, you've got to do an install
or feign an install through cloning an OS that does call
its own partition by the name you want.

*TimDaniels*

 

[Ron Sommer]

:
: Timothy Daniels wrote:
: > > So I don't see what Tim was getting at talking about
: > > changing boot.ini causing a change in C. Without
: > > mentioning changing the active partition.
: > > I think you're right talking about changing the active
: > > partition. But that's not quite what Tim said.
: >
: > You're confusing me with someone else. I did not
: > in any way associate boot.ini with the assignment
: > of the partition name "C:".
: >
: > And the "active" flag on a partition has NOTHING
: > to do with whether the OS running off it calls itself
: > "C:" or not. The partition marked "active" is the
: > one where the MBR looks for a boot sector to
: > which to pass control at boot time. The boot
: > sector there expects to find ntldr in its own
: > partition so it can pass control to it. Ntldr then
: > looks for boot.ini at the same level of the file
: > structure so it can be told in what folder in what
: > partition on what hard drive to find the OS so it
: > can load that OS.
:
: but that active partition that the MBR found , is C .

C is not called C by the MBR.
A partition gets a drive letter from the operating system.
C does not have to be an active partition.
Your thinking may have been true for Dos based systems.
--
Ron Sommer

:
: An amendment to the boot.ini on that active partition will not change
: that. You say you agree .
: So What will change it?
: It seems to be determined as soon as that active partition is chosen by
: the MBR . That partition is C.
: But you say "the "active" flag on a partition has NOTHING to do with
: whether the OS running off it calls itself "C:" or not."
:
: Fair enough but i'm not clear what does then!
:
: > In other words, the registry of
: > an OS tells it what to call its partition when the OS
: > runs, and that was determined at the time of
: > installation, not by the current location of boot.ini
: > or any other file.
: >
: > There is far too much urban lore and mythology
: > being bandied here. Go Microsoft's website and
: > look for the long write-up on Windows XP's
: > startup process. You will find that a much of what
: > is written on websites and "known" by the MVPs
: > is part urban lore carried down from the DOS days
: > and part assumption based on default cases.
: >
: > *TimDaniels*
:
: I was around in the old DOS days.. I wasn't referring to any MVPs !!
:
: I notice that xp's "disk management" lets you change drive letter. I
: haven't tried it, but is that what you have in mind when you almost say
: how you can set the registry to make a non active partition call itself
: C? I'm not sure what you're getting at when you mention the registry.
: Or (windows?) installation.
:
: -useful links which I looked at and got something from. The latter is
: thanks to your recommendation
:
: http://ata-atapi.com/hiwmbr.htm
:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/winxppro/reskit/c29621675.mspx
: