Dual Boot Question

[Anon]

I have an older drive- its a boot drive, and I have a new drive, already
formatted and with XP installed (both XP home)

I would like to be able to select which to boot from. (so I can take my time
instaling software on the new drive, and backing up the old one).

I could use some pointers on how to do this.

I originally had cable problems- so I ended up installing the new drive by
itself, then found I had cable problems.

Thanks
Paul

 

[Brian A.]

I have an older drive- its a boot drive, and I have a new drive, already formatted
and with XP installed (both XP home)

I would like to be able to select which to boot from. (so I can take my time
instaling software on the new drive, and backing up the old one).

I could use some pointers on how to do this.

I originally had cable problems- so I ended up installing the new drive by itself,
then found I had cable problems.

Thanks
Paul

You need to edit the boot.ini file, or you could rebuild the boot.ini using the
bootcfg /rebuild command in the Recovery Console.
See both:
Info on editing
http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000492.htm

Info on rebuilding
http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000648.htm

--

Brian A. Sesko { MS MVP_Shell/User }
Conflicts start where information lacks.
http://basconotw.mvps.org/

Suggested posting do's/don'ts: http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555375

 

[Timothy Daniels]

You could accomplish this dual-booting in many ways.
The two simplest, since you have these OSes on
separate HDs and both OSes are of the Win2K/NT/XP
family, are by editing the boot.ini file and by changing
the hard drive boot order in the BIOS.

BOOT.INI FILE

The boot.ini file (at C:\boot.ini) is a system file, and you may
have to enable viewability of system files to see its name in
Explorer. The entries in this file control where the boot
loader goes to find the OS. You can edit this file easily with
Notepad. Since you have only one partition in each HD (I
presume), there will be a single entry under the line
"[operating systems]". The "rdisk()" argument in that entry
will be "0", as "rdisk(0)". Just add an identical line after it
with the "rdisk()" arg "1". These values tell the boot loader
(ntldr) which HD contains the OS.

Also set the timeout value to some reasonable number of
seconds such as "10" to give you 10 seconds to select
which OS to boot.

You can also make the arbitrary character strings (between
the quotes) something different in order to distinguish between
the two OSes during bootup. Then, at boot time, the boot
loader will display these two character strings on the screen
to let you choose which OS to load.

HARD DRIVE BOOT ORDER

Most BIOSes allow the user to set which HD's MBR gets
control a boot time. This HD is the one which the BIOS
presents to ntldr as being at the head of the BIOS's hard drive
boot order (not the same as the Device Boot Order). This
is the HD referred to in boot.ini as "rdisk(0)". In the default
case, this is the first HD that the BIOS finds as it picks through
the sequence:
Master, ch. 0,
Slave, ch. 0,
Master, ch. 1,
Slave, ch. 1.
(The sequence for SATA HDs is similar.)

The second HD in the sequence is referred to as "rdisk(1)",
and so forth. But this sequence can be changed by the
user via keyboard input to the BIOS, and thus, which HD's
MBR gets control. The MBR getting control will find the
ntldr on its own HD, and that ntldr will find its boot.ini file
with the single entry with the "rdisk(0)" parameter in it - which
means "the OS can be found in this HD" So by setting in the
BIOS which HD is "rdisk(0)", you can control which HD the
OS comes from.

*TimDaniels*

 

[Anon]

Thanks!
Can I have this boot ini file on both drives- so if I swap them (currently
cable select), I don't have to worry about BIOS boot order?

 

[Anon]

I have 3 partitions (100, 100, 50) in the new drive and 4 (20,20,20,20) in
the older drive.
The first partition in each is the boot partition.

You could accomplish this dual-booting in many ways.
The two simplest, since you have these OSes on
separate HDs and both OSes are of the Win2K/NT/XP
family, are by editing the boot.ini file and by changing
the hard drive boot order in the BIOS.

BOOT.INI FILE

The boot.ini file (at C:\boot.ini) is a system file, and you may
have to enable viewability of system files to see its name in
Explorer. The entries in this file control where the boot
loader goes to find the OS. You can edit this file easily with
Notepad. Since you have only one partition in each HD (I
presume), there will be a single entry under the line
"[operating systems]". The "rdisk()" argument in that entry
will be "0", as "rdisk(0)". Just add an identical line after it
with the "rdisk()" arg "1". These values tell the boot loader
(ntldr) which HD contains the OS.

Also set the timeout value to some reasonable number of
seconds such as "10" to give you 10 seconds to select
which OS to boot.

You can also make the arbitrary character strings (between
the quotes) something different in order to distinguish between
the two OSes during bootup. Then, at boot time, the boot
loader will display these two character strings on the screen
to let you choose which OS to load.

HARD DRIVE BOOT ORDER

Most BIOSes allow the user to set which HD's MBR gets
control a boot time. This HD is the one which the BIOS
presents to ntldr as being at the head of the BIOS's hard drive
boot order (not the same as the Device Boot Order). This
is the HD referred to in boot.ini as "rdisk(0)". In the default
case, this is the first HD that the BIOS finds as it picks through
the sequence:
Master, ch. 0,
Slave, ch. 0,
Master, ch. 1,
Slave, ch. 1.
(The sequence for SATA HDs is similar.)

The second HD in the sequence is referred to as "rdisk(1)",
and so forth. But this sequence can be changed by the
user via keyboard input to the BIOS, and thus, which HD's
MBR gets control. The MBR getting control will find the
ntldr on its own HD, and that ntldr will find its boot.ini file
with the single entry with the "rdisk(0)" parameter in it - which
means "the OS can be found in this HD" So by setting in the
BIOS which HD is "rdisk(0)", you can control which HD the
OS comes from.

*TimDaniels*

I have an older drive- its a boot drive, and I have a new drive,
already formatted and with XP installed (both XP home)

I would like to be able to select which to boot from. (so I can
take my time instaling software on the new drive, and backing
up the old one).

 

[Timothy Daniels]

My comments still apply with multiple partitions on each HD.
Each entry in boot.ini will include the parameter "partition(1)"
to refer to the 1st partition, which I presume is the location
of the OS. But remember that a change in the HD boot order
will change the meanings of "rdisk(0)" and "rdisk(1)" in the
boot.ini file.

BTW, in Microsoft parlance, the "boot partition" is where
the OS resides. The "system partition" is where the boot
files are (i.e. ntldr, boot.ini, and ntdetect.com).
(Yes, that is intuitively backwards, but that's Microsoft.)
In the boot process, the boot partition and system partition
need NOT be the same partition. Although the system
partition must be a Primary partition (in order to have a
boot sector), the boot partition (where the OS is) can be
either a Primary partition or a logical drive in an Extended
partition on any HD in the system.

*TimDaniels*

I have 3 partitions (100, 100, 50) in the new drive and
4 (20,20,20,20) in the older drive.
The first partition in each is the boot partition.

You could accomplish this dual-booting in many ways.
The two simplest, since you have these OSes on
separate HDs and both OSes are of the Win2K/NT/XP
family, are by editing the boot.ini file and by changing
the hard drive boot order in the BIOS.

BOOT.INI FILE

The boot.ini file (at C:\boot.ini) is a system file, and you may
have to enable viewability of system files to see its name in
Explorer. The entries in this file control where the boot
loader goes to find the OS. You can edit this file easily with
Notepad. Since you have only one partition in each HD (I
presume), there will be a single entry under the line
"[operating systems]". The "rdisk()" argument in that entry
will be "0", as "rdisk(0)". Just add an identical line after it
with the "rdisk()" arg "1". These values tell the boot loader
(ntldr) which HD contains the OS.

Also set the timeout value to some reasonable number of
seconds such as "10" to give you 10 seconds to select
which OS to boot.

You can also make the arbitrary character strings (between
the quotes) something different in order to distinguish between
the two OSes during bootup. Then, at boot time, the boot
loader will display these two character strings on the screen
to let you choose which OS to load.

HARD DRIVE BOOT ORDER

Most BIOSes allow the user to set which HD's MBR gets
control a boot time. This HD is the one which the BIOS
presents to ntldr as being at the head of the BIOS's hard drive
boot order (not the same as the Device Boot Order). This
is the HD referred to in boot.ini as "rdisk(0)". In the default
case, this is the first HD that the BIOS finds as it picks through
the sequence:
Master, ch. 0,
Slave, ch. 0,
Master, ch. 1,
Slave, ch. 1.
(The sequence for SATA HDs is similar.)

The second HD in the sequence is referred to as "rdisk(1)",
and so forth. But this sequence can be changed by the
user via keyboard input to the BIOS, and thus, which HD's
MBR gets control. The MBR getting control will find the
ntldr on its own HD, and that ntldr will find its boot.ini file
with the single entry with the "rdisk(0)" parameter in it - which
means "the OS can be found in this HD" So by setting in the
BIOS which HD is "rdisk(0)", you can control which HD the
OS comes from.

*TimDaniels*

I have an older drive- its a boot drive, and I have a new drive,
already formatted and with XP installed (both XP home)

I would like to be able to select which to boot from. (so I can
take my time instaling software on the new drive, and backing
up the old one).

 

[Timothy Daniels]

Yes. You can even copy the boot.ini file from one HD to
the other HD's system partition (the partition containing
the boot files ntldr, boot.ini and ntdetect.com) and just
change the character strings in the 2 menu options. The
entry with "rdisk(0)" should name the OS on its own HD,
and the entry with "rdisk(1)" should name the OS on the
other HD. When you swap HDs, you will reverse the order
of the HDs in the HD boot order, and thus reverse the
meanings of "rdisk(0)" of "rdisk(1)", that is, the meanings
of "this HD" and "the other HD".

*TimDaniels*

"Anon" asked:

 

[Anon]

Would a better way be to leave the boot.ini (modified) on each drive, and
amend the slave like: boot.ini.old unless you want to go into the bios and
change the boot order, so, your master is putting up the boot menu.

My problem is I have a 40Gb with the "boot ini" (single partition) and want
to replace with a 250GB (3 partitions) as main drive and keep my 80GB as a
second drive (4x 20GB partitions)

Suggestions?

Thanks

You could accomplish this dual-booting in many ways.
The two simplest, since you have these OSes on
separate HDs and both OSes are of the Win2K/NT/XP
family, are by editing the boot.ini file and by changing
the hard drive boot order in the BIOS.

BOOT.INI FILE

The boot.ini file (at C:\boot.ini) is a system file, and you may
have to enable viewability of system files to see its name in
Explorer. The entries in this file control where the boot
loader goes to find the OS. You can edit this file easily with
Notepad. Since you have only one partition in each HD (I
presume), there will be a single entry under the line
"[operating systems]". The "rdisk()" argument in that entry
will be "0", as "rdisk(0)". Just add an identical line after it
with the "rdisk()" arg "1". These values tell the boot loader
(ntldr) which HD contains the OS.

Also set the timeout value to some reasonable number of
seconds such as "10" to give you 10 seconds to select
which OS to boot.

You can also make the arbitrary character strings (between
the quotes) something different in order to distinguish between
the two OSes during bootup. Then, at boot time, the boot
loader will display these two character strings on the screen
to let you choose which OS to load.

HARD DRIVE BOOT ORDER

Most BIOSes allow the user to set which HD's MBR gets
control a boot time. This HD is the one which the BIOS
presents to ntldr as being at the head of the BIOS's hard drive
boot order (not the same as the Device Boot Order). This
is the HD referred to in boot.ini as "rdisk(0)". In the default
case, this is the first HD that the BIOS finds as it picks through
the sequence:
Master, ch. 0,
Slave, ch. 0,
Master, ch. 1,
Slave, ch. 1.
(The sequence for SATA HDs is similar.)

The second HD in the sequence is referred to as "rdisk(1)",
and so forth. But this sequence can be changed by the
user via keyboard input to the BIOS, and thus, which HD's
MBR gets control. The MBR getting control will find the
ntldr on its own HD, and that ntldr will find its boot.ini file
with the single entry with the "rdisk(0)" parameter in it - which
means "the OS can be found in this HD" So by setting in the
BIOS which HD is "rdisk(0)", you can control which HD the
OS comes from.

*TimDaniels*

I have an older drive- its a boot drive, and I have a new drive,
already formatted and with XP installed (both XP home)

I would like to be able to select which to boot from. (so I can
take my time instaling software on the new drive, and backing
up the old one).

 

[Timothy Daniels]

OK, you said (in another message) that:
You have 3 partitions (100, 100, 50) in the new drive
and 4 (20,20,20,20) in the older drive, and
the first partition in each is the boot partition.

So you want to divide up the new 250GB drive as
100GB, 100GB, 50GB partitions,
and you want to divide up the old 80GB drive as
20GB, 20GB, 20GB, 20GB partitions,
but the boot.ini file is on a 40GB hard drive(?)
that has just one partition? This is a new development.
Why don't you tell us where the installed OSes are,
where the existing boot files are, and we'll go from
there. The quality of the answer cannot exceed the
quality of the question.

*TimDaniels*

Would a better way be to leave the boot.ini (modified) on
each drive, and amend the slave like:
boot.ini.old unless you want to go into the bios and
change the boot order, so, your master is putting up
the boot menu.

My problem is I have a 40Gb with the "boot ini" (single partition)
and want to replace with a 250GB (3 partitions) as main drive
and keep my 80GB as a second drive (4x 20GB partitions)

Suggestions?

Thanks

You could accomplish this dual-booting in many ways.
The two simplest, since you have these OSes on
separate HDs and both OSes are of the Win2K/NT/XP
family, are by editing the boot.ini file and by changing
the hard drive boot order in the BIOS.

BOOT.INI FILE

The boot.ini file (at C:\boot.ini) is a system file, and you may
have to enable viewability of system files to see its name in
Explorer. The entries in this file control where the boot
loader goes to find the OS. You can edit this file easily with
Notepad. Since you have only one partition in each HD (I
presume), there will be a single entry under the line
"[operating systems]". The "rdisk()" argument in that entry
will be "0", as "rdisk(0)". Just add an identical line after it
with the "rdisk()" arg "1". These values tell the boot loader
(ntldr) which HD contains the OS.

Also set the timeout value to some reasonable number of
seconds such as "10" to give you 10 seconds to select
which OS to boot.

You can also make the arbitrary character strings (between
the quotes) something different in order to distinguish between
the two OSes during bootup. Then, at boot time, the boot
loader will display these two character strings on the screen
to let you choose which OS to load.

HARD DRIVE BOOT ORDER

Most BIOSes allow the user to set which HD's MBR gets
control a boot time. This HD is the one which the BIOS
presents to ntldr as being at the head of the BIOS's hard drive
boot order (not the same as the Device Boot Order). This
is the HD referred to in boot.ini as "rdisk(0)". In the default
case, this is the first HD that the BIOS finds as it picks through
the sequence:
Master, ch. 0,
Slave, ch. 0,
Master, ch. 1,
Slave, ch. 1.
(The sequence for SATA HDs is similar.)

The second HD in the sequence is referred to as "rdisk(1)",
and so forth. But this sequence can be changed by the
user via keyboard input to the BIOS, and thus, which HD's
MBR gets control. The MBR getting control will find the
ntldr on its own HD, and that ntldr will find its boot.ini file
with the single entry with the "rdisk(0)" parameter in it - which
means "the OS can be found in this HD" So by setting in the
BIOS which HD is "rdisk(0)", you can control which HD the
OS comes from.

*TimDaniels*

I have an older drive- its a boot drive, and I have a new drive,
already formatted and with XP installed (both XP home)

I would like to be able to select which to boot from. (so I can
take my time instaling software on the new drive, and backing
up the old one).

 

[Anon]

My config currently has a dual boot:

Existing old 40GB C: drive Windows XP: (original installation XP) (I moved Outlook express over to the D drive
(not sure where I found directions on how to do this- but I managed to make it work- will have to find that web link once again)


boot.ini:

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition" /fastdetect

Existing newer D, E, F, G drive(80 GB: 4 partitions 20 Gb each) has XP installed on "D" drive, but is about 18 months old- time for new installation to get rid of operating system decay, (Norton System works has found a few problems- and it zonks out here and there) but would be nice to dual boot so I can take my time installing software on the newest 250GB drive (move outlook over, etc)


New desired configuration:
New 250GB (100, 100, 50) with XP on "C" drive (first partition)
Middle age 80GB (F, G, H, I drives) XP home installed on "F" drive (first partition).

Thanks
Paul

OK, you said (in another message) that:
You have 3 partitions (100, 100, 50) in the new drive
and 4 (20,20,20,20) in the older drive, and
the first partition in each is the boot partition.

So you want to divide up the new 250GB drive as
100GB, 100GB, 50GB partitions,
and you want to divide up the old 80GB drive as
20GB, 20GB, 20GB, 20GB partitions,
but the boot.ini file is on a 40GB hard drive(?)
that has just one partition? This is a new development.
Why don't you tell us where the installed OSes are,
where the existing boot files are, and we'll go from
there. The quality of the answer cannot exceed the
quality of the question.

*TimDaniels*

Would a better way be to leave the boot.ini (modified) on
each drive, and amend the slave like:
boot.ini.old unless you want to go into the bios and
change the boot order, so, your master is putting up
the boot menu.

My problem is I have a 40Gb with the "boot ini" (single partition)
and want to replace with a 250GB (3 partitions) as main drive
and keep my 80GB as a second drive (4x 20GB partitions)

Suggestions?

Thanks

You could accomplish this dual-booting in many ways.
The two simplest, since you have these OSes on
separate HDs and both OSes are of the Win2K/NT/XP
family, are by editing the boot.ini file and by changing
the hard drive boot order in the BIOS.

BOOT.INI FILE

The boot.ini file (at C:\boot.ini) is a system file, and you may
have to enable viewability of system files to see its name in
Explorer. The entries in this file control where the boot
loader goes to find the OS. You can edit this file easily with
Notepad. Since you have only one partition in each HD (I
presume), there will be a single entry under the line
"[operating systems]". The "rdisk()" argument in that entry
will be "0", as "rdisk(0)". Just add an identical line after it
with the "rdisk()" arg "1". These values tell the boot loader
(ntldr) which HD contains the OS.

Also set the timeout value to some reasonable number of
seconds such as "10" to give you 10 seconds to select
which OS to boot.

You can also make the arbitrary character strings (between
the quotes) something different in order to distinguish between
the two OSes during bootup. Then, at boot time, the boot
loader will display these two character strings on the screen
to let you choose which OS to load.

HARD DRIVE BOOT ORDER

Most BIOSes allow the user to set which HD's MBR gets
control a boot time. This HD is the one which the BIOS
presents to ntldr as being at the head of the BIOS's hard drive
boot order (not the same as the Device Boot Order). This
is the HD referred to in boot.ini as "rdisk(0)". In the default
case, this is the first HD that the BIOS finds as it picks through
the sequence:
Master, ch. 0,
Slave, ch. 0,
Master, ch. 1,
Slave, ch. 1.
(The sequence for SATA HDs is similar.)

The second HD in the sequence is referred to as "rdisk(1)",
and so forth. But this sequence can be changed by the
user via keyboard input to the BIOS, and thus, which HD's
MBR gets control. The MBR getting control will find the
ntldr on its own HD, and that ntldr will find its boot.ini file
with the single entry with the "rdisk(0)" parameter in it - which
means "the OS can be found in this HD" So by setting in the
BIOS which HD is "rdisk(0)", you can control which HD the
OS comes from.

*TimDaniels*

:
I have an older drive- its a boot drive, and I have a new drive,
already formatted and with XP installed (both XP home)

I would like to be able to select which to boot from. (so I can
take my time instaling software on the new drive, and backing
up the old one).

 

[Timothy Daniels]

(Please don't use quoted-printable format. It requires the
responder to put the carets in by hand. Instead, use Plain Text.)

If you're dual booting in your current configuration,
why do you just list one HD in your current configuration?

If you want to dual-boot with your new configuration,
just copy the current boot.ini from the D: partition on your
40GB HD into the C: partition on your 250GB HD, and
make sure that the C: partition is marked "active" (use
Disk Management for that), and make sure that the 250GB
HD is at the head of the BIOS's hard drive boot order.
In the default case, the HD that is Master on IDE ch. 0
will be at the head of the hard drive boot order.

If you want to dual-boot by reversing the HDs in the
BIOS's hard drive boot order, copy the boot.ini file into
partition #1 of both HDs, and use the entry containing
"rdisk(0)" as the only entry under "[operating systems]" in
the boot.ini file. In the 250GB HD, put "Windows XP Home
250GB", the character string of the single entry, and in the
80GB HD, put "Windows XP Home 80GB" in the character
string of the single entry. Make sure that the partition #1 on
both HDs are marked "active".

*TimDaniels*

 

[Ron Sommer]

I don't understand your answers.
Inline

: (Please don't use quoted-printable format. It requires the
: responder to put the carets in by hand. Instead, use Plain Text.)

Quoted-printable format is available in HTML and Plain Text.
Anon posted in HTML.
I use Plain Text, quoted-printable format and the carets do not have to be
inserted by hand.
:
: If you're dual booting in your current configuration,
: why do you just list one HD in your current configuration?

Rdisk (0) and (1) would be two HDs.
:
: If you want to dual-boot with your new configuration,
: just copy the current boot.ini from the D: partition on your

Shouldn't D: be C:?

--
Ronald Sommer
: 40GB HD into the C: partition on your 250GB HD, and
: make sure that the C: partition is marked "active" (use
: Disk Management for that), and make sure that the 250GB
: HD is at the head of the BIOS's hard drive boot order.
: In the default case, the HD that is Master on IDE ch. 0
: will be at the head of the hard drive boot order.
:
: If you want to dual-boot by reversing the HDs in the
: BIOS's hard drive boot order, copy the boot.ini file into
: partition #1 of both HDs, and use the entry containing
: "rdisk(0)" as the only entry under "[operating systems]" in
: the boot.ini file. In the 250GB HD, put "Windows XP Home
: 250GB", the character string of the single entry, and in the
: 80GB HD, put "Windows XP Home 80GB" in the character
: string of the single entry. Make sure that the partition #1 on
: both HDs are marked "active".
:
: *TimDaniels*
:
:
: "Anon" wrote:
: > My config currently has a dual boot:
: >
: > Existing old 40GB C: drive Windows XP: (original installation XP)
: >
: > boot.ini:
: >
: > [boot loader]
: > timeout=30
: > default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS
: > [operating systems]
: > multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS=
: > "Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn
: > multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS=
: > "Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition" /fastdetect
: >
: >
: > Existing newer D, E, F, G drive (80 GB: 4 partitions 20 Gb each)
: > has XP installed on "D" drive,
: >
: > New desired configuration:
: > New 250GB (100, 100, 50)
: > with XP on "C" drive (first partition)
: > Middle age 80GB (F, G, H, I drives)
: > XP home installed on "F" drive (first partition).
: >
: > Thanks
: > Paul
:

 

[Ron Sommer]

You will have to partition the 250 GB with 3 primaries in order to get C, D,
and E.
--
Ronald Sommer

My config currently has a dual boot:

Existing old 40GB C: drive Windows XP: (original installation XP) (I
moved Outlook express over to the D drive
(not sure where I found directions on how to do this- but I managed to make
it work- will have to find that web link once again)


boot.ini:

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home
Edition" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home
Edition" /fastdetect

Existing newer D, E, F, G drive(80 GB: 4 partitions 20 Gb each) has XP
installed on "D" drive, but is about 18 months old- time for new
installation to get rid of operating system decay, (Norton System works has
found a few problems- and it zonks out here and there) but would be nice to
dual boot so I can take my time installing software on the newest 250GB
drive (move outlook over, etc)


New desired configuration:
New 250GB (100, 100, 50) with XP on "C" drive (first partition)
Middle age 80GB (F, G, H, I drives) XP home installed on "F" drive (first
partition).

Thanks
Paul

OK, you said (in another message) that:
You have 3 partitions (100, 100, 50) in the new drive
and 4 (20,20,20,20) in the older drive, and
the first partition in each is the boot partition.

So you want to divide up the new 250GB drive as
100GB, 100GB, 50GB partitions,
and you want to divide up the old 80GB drive as
20GB, 20GB, 20GB, 20GB partitions,
but the boot.ini file is on a 40GB hard drive(?)
that has just one partition? This is a new development.
Why don't you tell us where the installed OSes are,
where the existing boot files are, and we'll go from
there. The quality of the answer cannot exceed the
quality of the question.

*TimDaniels*

Would a better way be to leave the boot.ini (modified) on
each drive, and amend the slave like:
boot.ini.old unless you want to go into the bios and
change the boot order, so, your master is putting up
the boot menu.

My problem is I have a 40Gb with the "boot ini" (single partition)
and want to replace with a 250GB (3 partitions) as main drive
and keep my 80GB as a second drive (4x 20GB partitions)

Suggestions?

Thanks

You could accomplish this dual-booting in many ways.
The two simplest, since you have these OSes on
separate HDs and both OSes are of the Win2K/NT/XP
family, are by editing the boot.ini file and by changing
the hard drive boot order in the BIOS.

BOOT.INI FILE

The boot.ini file (at C:\boot.ini) is a system file, and you may
have to enable viewability of system files to see its name in
Explorer. The entries in this file control where the boot
loader goes to find the OS. You can edit this file easily with
Notepad. Since you have only one partition in each HD (I
presume), there will be a single entry under the line
"[operating systems]". The "rdisk()" argument in that entry
will be "0", as "rdisk(0)". Just add an identical line after it
with the "rdisk()" arg "1". These values tell the boot loader
(ntldr) which HD contains the OS.

Also set the timeout value to some reasonable number of
seconds such as "10" to give you 10 seconds to select
which OS to boot.

You can also make the arbitrary character strings (between
the quotes) something different in order to distinguish between
the two OSes during bootup. Then, at boot time, the boot
loader will display these two character strings on the screen
to let you choose which OS to load.

HARD DRIVE BOOT ORDER

Most BIOSes allow the user to set which HD's MBR gets
control a boot time. This HD is the one which the BIOS
presents to ntldr as being at the head of the BIOS's hard drive
boot order (not the same as the Device Boot Order). This
is the HD referred to in boot.ini as "rdisk(0)". In the default
case, this is the first HD that the BIOS finds as it picks through
the sequence:
Master, ch. 0,
Slave, ch. 0,
Master, ch. 1,
Slave, ch. 1.
(The sequence for SATA HDs is similar.)

The second HD in the sequence is referred to as "rdisk(1)",
and so forth. But this sequence can be changed by the
user via keyboard input to the BIOS, and thus, which HD's
MBR gets control. The MBR getting control will find the
ntldr on its own HD, and that ntldr will find its boot.ini file
with the single entry with the "rdisk(0)" parameter in it - which
means "the OS can be found in this HD" So by setting in the
BIOS which HD is "rdisk(0)", you can control which HD the
OS comes from.

*TimDaniels*

:
I have an older drive- its a boot drive, and I have a new drive,
already formatted and with XP installed (both XP home)

I would like to be able to select which to boot from. (so I can
take my time instaling software on the new drive, and backing
up the old one).

 

[Timothy Daniels]

I don't understand your answers.
Inline

:
: (Please don't use quoted-printable format. It requires the
: responder to put the carets in by hand. Instead, use Plain Text.)

Quoted-printable format is available in HTML and Plain Text.
Anon posted in HTML.
I use Plain Text, quoted-printable format and the carets do not have to be
inserted by hand.

Whatever. Just keep it in Plain Text.

: If you're dual booting in your current configuration,
: why do you just list one HD in your current configuration?

Rdisk (0) and (1) would be two HDs.

But the OP only mentions one HD in his current
configuration - the 40GB HD. These "Oh! I forgot
to mention" threads are a bore.

: If you want to dual-boot with your new configuration,
: just copy the current boot.ini from the D: partition on your

Shouldn't D: be C:?

If you mean the C: partition of the old 40GB HD
to the C: partition of the new 250GB HD - yes.

Or, he could just edit the boot.ini file which is there
now on the C: partition of the 250GB HD. But I
was trying to avoid getting into editing boot.ini for
each of the 2 HDs.

*TimDaniels*

 

[Anon]

Thanks!!
I hope to find some time to get to it this weekend

Paul

(Please don't use quoted-printable format. It requires the
responder to put the carets in by hand. Instead, use Plain Text.)

If you're dual booting in your current configuration,
why do you just list one HD in your current configuration?

If you want to dual-boot with your new configuration,
just copy the current boot.ini from the D: partition on your
40GB HD into the C: partition on your 250GB HD, and
make sure that the C: partition is marked "active" (use
Disk Management for that), and make sure that the 250GB
HD is at the head of the BIOS's hard drive boot order.
In the default case, the HD that is Master on IDE ch. 0
will be at the head of the hard drive boot order.

If you want to dual-boot by reversing the HDs in the
BIOS's hard drive boot order, copy the boot.ini file into
partition #1 of both HDs, and use the entry containing
"rdisk(0)" as the only entry under "[operating systems]" in
the boot.ini file. In the 250GB HD, put "Windows XP Home
250GB", the character string of the single entry, and in the
80GB HD, put "Windows XP Home 80GB" in the character
string of the single entry. Make sure that the partition #1 on
both HDs are marked "active".

*TimDaniels*

My config currently has a dual boot:

Existing old 40GB C: drive Windows XP: (original installation XP)

boot.ini:

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS=
"Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS=
"Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition" /fastdetect


Existing newer D, E, F, G drive (80 GB: 4 partitions 20 Gb each)
has XP installed on "D" drive,

New desired configuration:
New 250GB (100, 100, 50)
with XP on "C" drive (first partition)
Middle age 80GB (F, G, H, I drives)
XP home installed on "F" drive (first partition).

Thanks
Paul

 

[Anon]

Worked like a charm!
Thanks
Paul

Thanks!!
I hope to find some time to get to it this weekend

Paul

(Please don't use quoted-printable format. It requires the
responder to put the carets in by hand. Instead, use Plain Text.)

If you're dual booting in your current configuration,
why do you just list one HD in your current configuration?

If you want to dual-boot with your new configuration,
just copy the current boot.ini from the D: partition on your
40GB HD into the C: partition on your 250GB HD, and
make sure that the C: partition is marked "active" (use
Disk Management for that), and make sure that the 250GB
HD is at the head of the BIOS's hard drive boot order.
In the default case, the HD that is Master on IDE ch. 0
will be at the head of the hard drive boot order.

If you want to dual-boot by reversing the HDs in the
BIOS's hard drive boot order, copy the boot.ini file into
partition #1 of both HDs, and use the entry containing
"rdisk(0)" as the only entry under "[operating systems]" in
the boot.ini file. In the 250GB HD, put "Windows XP Home
250GB", the character string of the single entry, and in the
80GB HD, put "Windows XP Home 80GB" in the character
string of the single entry. Make sure that the partition #1 on
both HDs are marked "active".

*TimDaniels*

My config currently has a dual boot:

Existing old 40GB C: drive Windows XP: (original installation XP)

boot.ini:

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS=
"Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS=
"Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition" /fastdetect


Existing newer D, E, F, G drive (80 GB: 4 partitions 20 Gb each)
has XP installed on "D" drive,

New desired configuration:
New 250GB (100, 100, 50)
with XP on "C" drive (first partition)
Middle age 80GB (F, G, H, I drives)
XP home installed on "F" drive (first partition).

Thanks
Paul

 

[Timothy Daniels]

Good to hear. Go boldly forth and compute where no man has
computed before.

*TimDaniels*

Worked like a charm!
Thanks
Paul

Thanks!!
I hope to find some time to get to it this weekend

Paul

If you want to dual-boot with your new configuration,
just copy the current boot.ini from the C: partition on your
40GB HD into the C: partition on your 250GB HD, and
make sure that the C: partition is marked "active" (use
Disk Management for that), and make sure that the 250GB
HD is at the head of the BIOS's hard drive boot order.
In the default case, the HD that is Master on IDE ch. 0
will be at the head of the hard drive boot order.

If you want to dual-boot by reversing the HDs in the
BIOS's hard drive boot order, copy the boot.ini file into
partition #1 of both HDs, and use the entry containing
"rdisk(0)" as the only entry under "[operating systems]" in
the boot.ini file. In the 250GB HD, put "Windows XP Home
250GB", the character string of the single entry, and in the
80GB HD, put "Windows XP Home 80GB" in the character
string of the single entry. Make sure that the partition #1 on
both HDs are marked "active".

*TimDaniels*


:
My config currently has a dual boot:

Existing old 40GB C: drive Windows XP: (original installation XP)

boot.ini:

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS=
"Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS=
"Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition" /fastdetect


Existing newer D, E, F, G drive (80 GB: 4 partitions 20 Gb each)
has XP installed on "D" drive,

New desired configuration:
New 250GB (100, 100, 50)
with XP on "C" drive (first partition)
Middle age 80GB (F, G, H, I drives)
XP home installed on "F" drive (first partition).

Thanks
Paul