>>dual boot question<<

[Guest]

I have a pc that I'm going to run 2k and XP on. My main OS is going to be XP
and I won't be installing any applications within 2k. Since they have to be
on 2 dif. partitions, I'm thinking that I would just make a 2 or 3gig
partition for 2k. Is that adequate for my situation or would someone suggest
another route to take.

THANX N ADVANCE. The Rookie/Wayne B.

 

[Galen]

In MrCmosDriver <[email protected]> had this to say:

My reply is at the bottom of your sent message:

I have a pc that I'm going to run 2k and XP on. My main OS is going
to be XP and I won't be installing any applications within 2k. Since
they have to be on 2 dif. partitions, I'm thinking that I would just
make a 2 or 3gig partition for 2k. Is that adequate for my situation
or would someone suggest another route to take.

THANX N ADVANCE. The Rookie/Wayne B.

I'd allow 2k a minimal of 6 to 15 GB for it's partition. Install it prior to
installing XP or you'll have a bit of a problem trying to get 2k to
recognize that XP exists and will only be able to boot to 2k without
modifications to the boot.ini file.

Galen

 

[Guest]

Hi Galen, let me ask you... Why do you recommend such a large partition for
2k if I'm really not going to be installing apps? Wayne B.

 

[Galen]

In MrCmosDriver <[email protected]> had this to say:

My reply is at the bottom of your sent message:

Hi Galen, let me ask you... Why do you recommend such a large
partition for 2k if I'm really not going to be installing apps?
Wayne B.

Two real reasons.

1: Disks are cheap.
2: You may change your mind and it's HARD to move a partition later if you
do. You can, and might, end up with errors.

The not so "real" reasons.

I'm not that old in real years, I'm only 31. I've been using a PC since 1978
(yes, I was 5.) In these years I've learned to backup, backup, backup. The
best way to do this is with a drive cloning application. I set partitions
small (only 15 GB or so) and back them up via cloning (the most effective
method) regularly as I trust NOTHING that works within the OS. I set a small
partition to FAT32 to use to boot from a simple DOS disk. I use Norton Ghost
(the only Norton product I'll lay my hands on) to back up the partitions
regularly. I keep almost all partitions at the same MB to insure that I'm
able to fit a backup onto a partition and to insure compatablilty. No matter
how many installations I do I NEVER need more than 15 GB with any OS be it
2k or XP or ME or 98... I've had a grand old time in the days of yore on
1200 MB harddrives so 15 GB is luxurious. Never do I need more though many
times I need less. I store on the main drive/partition ONLY the installed
applications and the OS. I store everything else on other drives and each is
labeled accordingly and can be backed up from within the OS if need be. Why
so large? Just because you might change your mind, you might want to add to
it later or install large applications or have large files there in the
future. Why take chances? Set it large enough to KNOW that you'll never need
more space on that partition again.

Galen

 

[John Barnett MVP]

I agree with Galen. I run a quad boot system (win XP Home, Win XP Pro,
Server 2003 and Longhorn) each have 20GB of hard disk space. Although i
regularly use XP Pro and have all my software installed on that partition i
do use xp home for a backup operating system just in case xp pro goes down
during the testing of beta software. You never know when you might need that
extra space.
Another thing worth doing is an Emergency Bootup disk This allows you to
boot to the windows desktop from a floppy disk. Ideal if you are having boot
problems.
Visit my web site http://freespace.virgin.net/john.freelanceit/index.htm
Click on the Win XP Faq button and take a look at question 10. That gives
you details of what files to copy to the emergency boot disk.

 

[Lester Stiefel]

In MrCmosDriver <[email protected]> had this to say:

My reply is at the bottom of your sent message:




Two real reasons.

1: Disks are cheap.
2: You may change your mind and it's HARD to move a partition later if you
do. You can, and might, end up with errors.

The not so "real" reasons.

I'm not that old in real years, I'm only 31. I've been using a PC since 1978
(yes, I was 5.) In these years I've learned to backup, backup, backup. The
best way to do this is with a drive cloning application. I set partitions
small (only 15 GB or so) and back them up via cloning (the most effective
method) regularly as I trust NOTHING that works within the OS. I set a small
partition to FAT32 to use to boot from a simple DOS disk. I use Norton Ghost
(the only Norton product I'll lay my hands on) to back up the partitions
regularly. I keep almost all partitions at the same MB to insure that I'm
able to fit a backup onto a partition and to insure compatablilty. No matter
how many installations I do I NEVER need more than 15 GB with any OS be it
2k or XP or ME or 98... I've had a grand old time in the days of yore on
1200 MB harddrives so 15 GB is luxurious. Never do I need more though many
times I need less. I store on the main drive/partition ONLY the installed
applications and the OS. I store everything else on other drives and each is
labeled accordingly and can be backed up from within the OS if need be. Why
so large? Just because you might change your mind, you might want to add to
it later or install large applications or have large files there in the
future. Why take chances? Set it large enough to KNOW that you'll never need
more space on that partition again.

Galen

Galen -- I salute you. I've also worked with PCs since the
DOS Days. and I use your same strategy as far as storage of
Data types. Pictures, Music, Movie Clips, Text Docs
(WordProc, Publish, PDF,etc) on differing partitions labeled
plainly. I keep them maintained well as nothing can replace
this data.

 

[Galen]

In Lester Stiefel <[email protected]> had this to say:

My reply is at the bottom of your sent message:

Galen -- I salute you. I've also worked with PCs since the
DOS Days. and I use your same strategy as far as storage of
Data types. Pictures, Music, Movie Clips, Text Docs
(WordProc, Publish, PDF,etc) on differing partitions labeled
plainly. I keep them maintained well as nothing can replace
this data.

Hey, this does NOT do partition ghosting (for that I actually use the old
Ghost 2k3 with a special FAT32 partition set for it... Am I lame or what???
<g> It means I can use a standard boot disk without NTFS support and still
ghost my NTFS drives) but here's a nice free utility that will clone your
entire drive to another drive. Today drive prices are so cheap there's no
real excuse for not being able to afford one if you have a decent drive
already and have a true desire to have a real backup solution:

http://www.pcinspector.de/clone-maxx/uk/welcome.htm

No, I'm not affiliated with them but I tried their utility on an older
non-important system and found it was easy, fast, free, and did the job very
well including testing it via booting with EDC (separate utility that I paid
out the nose for) and deleting the entire original drive securely and
re-ghosting the drive. I give it 9 out of 10. I'd give it 10 out of 10 if it
supported individual partition backups.

Galen